, 1884-12-30

onoe mo-. al yoa ] an .. r0rth .sol


ZZ0 ZG/Z
"BasiI, do not t0sep, Once more, / tell vot,
am not teorth such lore as yours"
l covered her dear face with kisses. l
strained her to my heart 4 lHvished words
Of love upon her. She smiled family then
sighcd hopelessly-a sigh which almost broke
my heart u HrtN aarLra ZIG
TEL me all, my love-" she said calmly.
Lot mo know tho very worst"
l could not speak; for the life of me the
words would not come. Win tremDnng
hands ldrew out the nowHpapsr and pointed
to the fatal lines. She read them with a
calm which almost alarmed me.
II knew 1t must be- was all she said UrTI
threw myself on my knees before her. i
embraced hor. 1 was halt distraught. Save
for my wild ejaculations OF undying love
there was silence for many minutes between
US. "HI# IH
Presently, with great force, she raised my
head and looked at me with her sweet and
sorrowtul eyes. lr. N
Basil, my dearest, you have been wrong
Tho right Is right, the wrong N wrong. See
what you have donel Had you not striven
70 save me, only I should have had to answer
for this Now IL Is you and me, and per-
haps a third-an innocent, stainless life, that
Will be wreckedr1 t.U ..
Spare mel Spare mer' ! said. "As you
love me-, spare mef' i
one klhb-1 me- dearest IOIRlNe. Mt- L
should not blame you. Only ! am to blame"
Then, with n sudden change in her voice,
when do we start for England, BdsilF'
Although 1 expected this question, ] trem-
bled and shuddered as / heard 1t. Too we'll
i knew what England meant It meant
Phlllppa's standing in open court. In a'pris-
oner's dock, the centre of q gaping crowd,
self ACCUSED Of the murder OF her husbandl
And as ] pictured this onoe more, and for
tho last time, the temptation shook me-
Qpoka Init I n Nurfo1 fnu avoa from larg
j could not meet them My.voice was husky
and strange; IL sounded like the voice OF
another man A sort OF under current OF
thought ran through me, that II Philippe
any dishonor.
nListenP n / said. in quick accents 1--WE
are far away safe. We love each other.
We can DO happy. Let the man take his
chance. What docs anything matter. 50
long as We love and are ~togetherF'
felt that her eyes were seeking mine, ]
felt a change in the clasp of hor hand. l
knew that she was nobler and better than J..
Basil" she said. softly, and speaking
like one In a dream, 'it was not my hus.
band, not tho man I love, who said that. l
forgive you for tho sake OF your great love,
for the sake Of all you have done, or tried
TO do. for me. Tell me now, when do we
start for Englandf'
Her words brought back my senses. Never
In the widest height Of my passion had l
loved Philippa as / loved her at that mo-
ment l besought har pardon She gave
II, and once more repeated her question.
With the calm OF settled despair l con-
suited the railway-guide. and found that II
we left Seville tomorrow morning by the
first train, we might, by travelling day and
night, early on the morning Of the twenti-
9th reach the town in which the trial was to
bo held. Imade the result OF my researches
known TO my wife; and upon my assuring
her that we should haye time to spare, she
left all the Arrangements of the journey to
mo. NH
After this, another painful question arose.
Was my mother to ba toldi Philippa, who
may, perhaps, in her secret honrt have
cravod for n woman's support and sympa-
thy in her approaching trial, at first insisted
that my mother should be taken into our
confidenco-a confidence which, nlasl in a
few days time would be gossip to tho world.
l besought hor TO waive tho point, to spare
my mothers feelings until the very last mo-
ment. We could not take her with US on our
hurried journey. We were Dung; sho was
old Til fatigue. combined with tho grief,
would be more than her frame could endure.
l could not bear to think Of her waiting
lonely in Seville for the bad news which she
knew must come in a day or two from Eng
land. Lot us say nothing respecting the
vretched GRAND on which we are bound.
Let us depart in secret and leave some
plausible explanation behind us
To my relief Philippe at last consented to
this. Then, after a long, fearful embrace,
we steoled ourselves 20 Join my mother at
the evening meal, and to bear ourselves 30
that she should suspect nothing of the tom
pest within our hearts. We did not very
long subject ourselves to this strain upon
our nerves. IL seemed to me now that every
moment spent otherwise than alone with my
wife was a precious treasure wasted, a loss
which I should forever regret. So very
early we pleaded fatigue, and retired to our
Philippa babe my mother good night with
an embrace so long and passionate that !
feared it would awaken alarm, especially
when it was succeeded by my own yelled,
but scarcely less emotional, adieu. For who
could say that we should ever meet againl
] do not believe IL struck Philippe that in
accompanying her l was running the slight
est risk Had she thought 50, she would
have insisted upon going alone; But !
nights work would probably bring a severe
punishment upon my own head. What did
care for thatf HaFU ltN
Silently and sadly in tho retirement of
our room we made our preparations for the
Journey, which began with the morn. There
was no need to cumber ourselves with much
luggage. We should rest in no bed until
tho trial was over. What resting place
might then be Philippa's, Heaven only
knewl So our package was soon com
Then / wrote a letter, to DO given to or
found by my mother in the morning. I told
her that an important matter took me post
plhslo TO Euklhnus tnub ullppu hhu Qob0r-
mined to accompany me; that / would write
ks soon as we reached London. I gave no
further explanation. l hoped she would at
tribute my sudden flight to the erratic ma
lure which she often Rverred l possessed.
After all. the deception mattered little.
In a weeks time nothing would matter.
lGriof, overwhelming grief. would be my
portion; q portion which, by her affection
lior me and for Philippe, my poor mother
would be forced TO share.
All boing now ready for our start, we
Etrove to win some hours of sleep. Our
efforts were Knocked 10 scorn. Through
THAT, tho last night we could spend together.
i believe neither my wife nor myself closed
an oyelid. Let me draw a voil over my wild
distress and Philippa's calm acquiescence in
her fate. Some grief is too sacred to de
scribe. W
Morningl Bright, broad, clear, cool,
bdorous morningi Our sleeplessuess had at
elast spared us the anguish Of awaling. and,
while for a moment giorying in the beauty
lof tho world, TO remember what this morn
hng meant to us. Giving ourselves ample
thine TO reach tho railway station, we crept
iron our room. and, with eyes full OF blind
ing tears, crossed the pleasant patio. I
paused In the centre. and plucking a lovely
spray from the great orange tree. kissed II
and gave it to my wife. Without a word
she placed Il in the bosom OF her dress. As
A Great Discovery.