The Warner weekly sun. (Warner, Brown Co., Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1885, 1883-11-24

| NlOWl hkl SlSAG A&0 bN~NNN W."
marked dislike.
~. and she seats herself ami motions
him 10 n chair beside her when he mas
brought her an ice.
DO O thiAk VI. lie Marquis, that 1t
was only 10 cat ices with you that | nave
forced my Socieiv so resolutely upon
vou?" she asks With a look Of eanerstneSs
very rare on her bright CoQuetuSh !ace.
Il think O an angel oi compassion
to an old friend Of your chIluUood'
Mile. Lucille
at was compassion. but more for my
sister than for YOU she says graveIy.
..Your sister, he echoes, bitterly,
ct has not occurred 10 me .nat Nine.
le Miramon is in need II compassion,
and yours is too sweet 10 be wasted
''Chut. monsieur she interrupted.
Forget that l am as fond Of pretty
| speeches as most y0uuG women. and
! think Of me only as Jeanne de Mira
mons sister, who believes that, much rs
she loves her, YOU love her even
more
For the second time this evening De-
PaIissier fOrgetS possible observers, and
| clasping both the girls slender hands in
his ne murmurs, unsteadily: God bless
YOU"
"You forget that we have an audience,
monsieur" she saws, Withdrawing her
hands Quickly, bat with Il smile OF frank
~c0mradeship. II have a story to tell
| v0u. and not much time to tel it in.
| Years ago, when Jeanne left her con-
| vent on becoming ianCe to NJ. de Mira
| mon, she met you at her first ball, and
YOU loved each other. It was very 70 i
ish, for YOU were q cadet of your house,
and ONLY a sous lieutenant, and Jeanne
! had not a sou, so both the families were
| furious; but all would have ended we'll
asa fairy tale if you had been reasonable.
Jeanne met YOU time alter time IN
secret, ami promised any amount OF
patience, but she would not run away
and marry you in defiance of her par.
ents; so YOU tOrmented her with doubts,
and shamed her with suspicious until
she dreaded those secret meeting almost
as much ~ she lOnCei Tor them. At
last, after maklnga more violent quarrel
than usual, YOU exchanged from your
regiment at Versailles to one in Algiers,
and left her no refuge from the re-
proache8 Of our father and mother bat
to marry II. de Marimou. II" might
have refused to marry her after hearing
her confess. as she DID, that she had
given her heart to You, and that
only your deSertlon had in
duCed her to consent to
their marriage. But ne did not; he had
a better revenge than that. He mar
ried her, and for eight years he tortured
Ger in every way that a jealous and cru
ct man can torment a proud, pure wo.
uIan. lie opened al her letters, he
,.,.Ir CyDino - bnr pavvnn+, and NOT N
Gay passed that he did not insult her
with some mention of your name. Our
parents died within a few months of the
marriage, and l was at the convent.
There was nothing to be done with her
misery but endure it, knowing that she
owed it all to her Impotence. Can you
wonder that she is unfoTgiying?"
He is leaning on the small table be-
tween them with folded arms and down
cast eyes, and he is very pale, even
through the bronze of ten African sum-
mers.
II loved her always" he says, almost
inaudibly, then pauses: o does he fin
ish his sentence, though she waits for
him to do SO.
you love her? You could not have
wrecked her life more utterly if you had
hated her. Can you wonder that she has
grown to fear the thought Of love that
has been so cruel to her as yours and her
husbands? Monsieur, my brother-in-
law died two years ago-God is good!"
continued Lucille, fiercely. "Since
then Jeanne has been at peace, ana she
shrinks with absolute horror from dis
turbing the calm which has come to her
after such storms. She fears you, she
avoids you, because-shaii | tell you
why?"
she can see his lips culver, even un.
der the heavy mustache, but he neither
speaks nor raises his eyes.
She loves you," murmurs Lucille
just aloud.
He lifts his eyes now and looks at her
dumbly for an instant; then rising alb
ruptly walks away.
he M back presently.
My child" he says, very gently, "Do
not try to make me believe that. unless
you are very sure, for If once believe
it again, IL
n am as sure as that I live that Jean
ne has " ceased to love you, and
that yeu can force her to confess it if
you will make love TO me-"
ZIP You? You are laughing at mel"
with a rush Of color into hIs dark face.
DO you think SO Ill Of Jeanne's sis
teri" she asked softly.
Pardon, / am scarcely myself, and /
cannot Imagine how"
Jeanne will not receive you because
she knows her own heart and is afraid
of it. She fears that you will destroy
the hard won peace she values so high
ly. But you are wealthy, distinguished,
the head of your name-a very different
person from what you were ten years
ago. and she can find no reason for refus-
ing you as my sutton, ifI consent, and
as my chaperon she must be present at
all our meetings. You begin to under
| stand? Make her see that your love is
not all jealousy; make her remember;
make her regret