The Kimball graphic. (Kimball, Brule County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1905, 1883-11-23
clssping both the girls slender hands in
HE he murmurs, unsteadily: God bless

clasping both the girls slender hands in
his he murmurs, ~unsteadily: "'God bless
you'll.
monsieur" she. says. withdrawing her
comradeship. II have q story to tell !
you, and not much time to tell it in. |
Years ago, whom Jeanne left her con.
vent on becoming fiance to NJ. de Mira.
rnon. she met you at her first ball, and
you loved each other. It was.very 70 IL
lsh, for you were q cadet of your house,
and only y Sous. lieutenant, and Jeanne
had not q sou, 20 both the families were
furious; but all would have ended we'll
ass fairy tale II you had been reasonable.
Jeanne met you time after time in
secret. and promised any amount OF
patience, but she would not run away |
and marry you in defiance Of her PAP
ents; 30 you tormented her with doubts, /
she dreaded those secret meeting almost
as much as she lonGed for them. At
last, after makinga more violent quarrel
than usual, you exchanged from your
regiment at Versailles to one in Algiers.
and left her no refuge from the re-
breaches OF our father and mother but
to marry NJ. de Marimon. He 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 desertion had in
ducsd her to consent to
q better revenge than that. He mar
ried her, and for eight years he tortured
her in every way that a jealous ana cru
Ell man can torment q proud, pure wo-
He opened all her letters, he
made spies of her servants, and not a
day 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 impatience. Can you
wonder that she is unforgiving?"
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 loyed,h her always" he says, almost
inaudibly, then pauses: nor does he fin.
ish his s%entence, 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
husband's2 Monsieur, my brother-in-
law died two years ago-God is good!
continued Lucille, fiercely. "Since
then Jeanne has been at peace, and she
shrinks with absolute horror from dis
turbing the calm which has come to her
after such storms. She fears you, she
why?"
der the heavy mustache, but he neither
speaks nor raises his eyes.
"She loves you" murnurs Lucille
Just aloud.
He lifts his eyes now and looks at her
dumbly for IN instant; then rising abb
ruptly walks away.
He comes back presently.
MY child, he says. very gently, "Do
not try to make me believe that. unless
you are very sure, for i'll once believe
1t again, IL"
y am as sure as that I live that jean.
ne has never ceased to love you, and
that you can force her to confess it if
you will make love TO me-"
II? You? You are laughing at me!'
with a rush of color into his dark face.
"Do you think so ill of Jeanne's SIS
1 WI 0AsS n oOAtlys o. #r
Pardon, | am scarcely myself, and /
cannot imagine how"
Jeanne will not receive you because
she knows her own heart and is afraid
Oft. She fears tnat you will destroy
the hard won peace she values SO high
~. But you are wealthy, distinguished,
tine 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, i'll consent, and
ms my chapcron she mr7st 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"
But forgive me, when one has loved
a woman for ten years." with a faint
smile, there is no room in ones heart
for even a pretense at loving another"
IF there were, monsieur, l should
never have proposed my plan" she re-
plies with dignity. cit is because l have
watched you all these weeks, and know
that your love is worthy of nv sister,
that l trust you. But it is not with ones
heart that n nretends. Enfin it is with
| you to consent or decline?"
"Decline!" he echoes, with q passion
none the less intense for its quietness.
docs a dying man decline his last chance
oilliC hoWCSCI uSspoTdGo IL may DER
The next week is full of bitter sur
prises to the proud AMI patient oma
whose pathetic clinginR to her newly
found peace Lucille 80 well understands.
| Though it is SO long since she has per-
mltted herselfto remember anything of
the lover of her youth except his ieal-
ousy, she has believed in his faithfulness
as utterly as she dreamed it, and when
che receives De Palissier's note asking
the consent Of his old friend to his love
for her sister, the pain she feels bewil-
ders and dismays her. With a smile
whose cynicism is as much for herself
as for him, she gives the note to Lucille,
expecting aninstant rejection ofthe man
whose motives in pursuing them they
had both so misunderstood. But with a
gay laugh. "Then my sympathy has
been all without cause" the girl cries.
by all means let him come, my Jeanne.
1t canaot wound you who have long
ago ceased to regret him, and he is the
best party in Paris and tres bell homme
for his age"
It is quite true there can be no obiec-
tions 70 the wealthy and distinguished
Marquis de Pallissier il Lucille is willing
none but the pain at her heart, which
-lle is too ashamed even to confess to
herself. Sc a note is written, fixing an
hour for his first visit, and Nine. de
Miramon prepares herself to meet the
man whom she last saw alone in all the
passionate anger Of a lovers quarrel.
There is the sound of wheels in the
courtyard, and she rises with a hasty
glance at her reflection in the mirror,
Ellis old friendl" she murmurs, scorn.
fully, 81 dare say l look an old woman
beside Lucille"
Then she turns With a look of graceful
welcome, for the door is thrown open
and a servant Announces:
IN. le Marquis de Pallissier."