The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1883-07-04
was the brief letter in which Alice
Arnden had dismissed George Fenby.
r1l JIrorIor efooI FOR q 1orr lima

Ralph Warder stood for a long time
with the letter in his hand.
"Pve read it once it can do no harm
to read it again." he said.
And he read it again-not nee
merely, but a dozen times. 1t seemed
as if he was trying to draw something
from the bit of paper which he did not
find there.
After a time he stopped and picked
up the other paper, a long, folded dOcu-
ment, but the action was merely me-
chanical one. He did not open it to
see what it was, but with his head
bent forward on his breast. and with
a very grave face, he went on his way.
He walked more slowly than before ;
he sometimes stopped, and he talked
to himself from time to time.
elf this is final" he commenced
aloud, and then relapsed into silence.
ga hinderer.'" Then, after standing
and thinking for a while, he went on:
"She never was that to him. And she
never was moody and self-distrustful."
He thought for many minutes now.
al don't understand what she means
by his higher ambition His highest
| ambition lately seems to have been to
win her. 1t has cost her a great deal
to give him up-any = can see that
with half an eye. And his freedom is
not welcome to him; he neither want
ed it nor expected it,
Suddenly he stood still, and Il hot.
fierce flush crept up into his face.
Il wonder ii it is true that hearts
are ever caught in the rel ound, "a
they sometimes say they are? |
will"
And he clenched his hands and hur-
ried on his way.
lie did not stop again until he
reached his home, where his mother
and sister were waiting for him, nor
did he think his thoughts aloud any
more. With Il few words of greeting
and a few more Of excuse, he put his
mother and sister aside for the pres
ent. and went up to his OWN room.
The MONDAY sun was shining and
making everything pleasant. There
was a glow in the wintry air which
seemed to have a promise Of summer
in it.
He seated himself at his table, placed
| Alice Arnden's letter upon it, and real
it again. Then for the first time he
looked at the other paper which he had
picked up. He turned it over, and
saw at once what it was-a deed from
Bertrand Kingsley, conveying certain
lands and buildings to George Fenby.
Ralph Warder drew a long breath,
and the light faded slowly out of his
face. In a single moment he had
seen the whole secret of the misunder-
standing. 1t might be necessary to 60
over it all to see the details, but the
general outline Of the unfortunate
affair was, he felt, as certainly in his
possession as it could have been if he
had been given the privilege of look
ing fully and freely into the minds
of the two lovers whose lives were
drifting so far apart.
Down went his heal upon his hands
on the table-the winter sunshine shone
that day on no nobler head-and from
his lips came those words OF which
frail humanity las deepest need,
LEAD us not into temptation
He thought it all out. Bertrand
Kingsley owned the finest place in all
Marsham, or had until the deed was
made which conveyed it to George
Fenby. Estella Kingsley, the daughter
of Bertrand, was a beauty, and some
thing Of a firt.
More than one lady in Marsham had
quarreled with her lover on Estella
Kingsley's account. And last night
there had been a little gathering of the
young people in the church, and cir
cumstaDces had done their worst
seemingly. In the first place, George
Fenby came with Estella Kingsley ;
the meeting was not Of a character to
make it unkind for him to leave his
promised wife to come with her
father, as she had, but his coming with
Miss Kingsley had been noticed by
several. With the deed before him,
Ralph Wander had no difficulty in de-
Gliding why George had been at Mr..
Kingsley's, and consequently why he
had come as he had.
Ralph was well acquainted with a
young man living where the kingsley's
had formerly resided, and through him
he knew of the engagement OF Miss
Kingsley to a gentleman living there.
He had known this for a long time !;
and knowing it had thought little of
events which might otherwise have
deeply affected him.
Last night. for instance, a laughing
group of gentlemen had spoken of Miss
Kingsley. One had said, "She is a
beauty and an heiress. Whoever wins
her will have a beautiful home. The
Kingsley estate is the finest n in
Marsham."
Now, every gentleman in the group
knew that the Kingsley estate was for
sale, and every n had counted at its
true value the answer which George
Fenby had made. Indeed, his devo-
ton to Alice Arnden was SO absolute
and complete that no one, save her own
modest self, would ever have doubted
it for a moment.
ut is my highest ambition to be the
master of that estate" laughed George,
"and 1 have made an offer which l
think will be accepted. l am to have
an answer tonight. If 1 succeed, l
shall be Supremacy happy. If not
why, l will do as other men have done
failing of what l want, I will take
what l can get"
Ralph could not remember where
Alice Arnden had been when these fool
ish (possibly) but innocent words had
been spoken. That she Lad been near
enough to hear them was evidenced by
her letter, which was before him.
He could only dimly imagine how she
must have suffered in trying to evolve
the truth Gas she believed the truth to
be) from what she had heard. When
human idol falls from the place it has
filled in the heart, not the least of the
pain comes from what we see, or be-
lieve we see, Of it's unworthiness. TO
find our gold but gilded clay is a sor-
rowful thing. So he sat there, and
pitied Alice Arnden for the faith in
man which she had lost, as well as for
the man himself who had been put