Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-05-25


posSloie 70 put IN words that something
which gives attractiyeneSs or ugliness
beyond anything that mere features can
do.
Seen thus, Miss Pace did not have that
look Of glrlhOOd which had been hers when
l had looked upon her from a distance;
still she was Singularly youthful-lOoking
for her years. l would have called her
perhaps twenty EIGHT. There was moth
ing IN look or manner of that repulsiye-
ness that one associates usually with the
insane. She did not smile in the least,
nut her voice was peculiarly sweet as she
said first:
win you tell me your nameg'
told her and then she went on:
i hope, Miss Mars, YOU Will forgive me
for thus breaking all conventional rules
In regard to our meeting. Indeed, l have
oeen SO long out of the world that such
rules are nullity 10 me. Will you not
sit downg"
She motiOned to 9 chair near her; when
l was seated she resumed her own chair
To say that / was intensely interested
does not exaggerate what l felt toward
TINS woman, whose presence was even so
soon IN some way very sweet to me. l
Wlsned 70 draw nearer 10 her, to touch
her hand, which lay, white and ringless,
on ner lap. 1t was indeScribably pleasant
to meet the direct, clear glance of her eyes.
lnOugnt II was like glimpse of a pure
and noble soul, of one which had escaped
the sOlhng from the life commonly lived
by even good women.
1t is easy to forgive that which gives
one pleasure" l replied.
she looked at me with gratifed look
upon her face.
DO YOU really mean that it is a plea
sure to you to meet me?" she asked
quickly.
Indeed l do responded earnestly.
She sighed as she answered:
Il am glad to hear that. Nv habits Of
late years have been such that | have
made no friends. l don't think cared to
do so.'
She turned and looked at me now with
so searching a glance that my ewes almost
fell beneath it. She leaned forward as she
did so, her slender figure outlined against
the dark velvet of her chair. She went on,
after an instant, almost as if talking to
herself, although her ewes were still on
me. more carelessly now.
Il have watched you ever since | came
and have felt more and more as if l could
trust you-as il, perhaps, you could help
me. No one will help me. Everybody
fails me. They all tell me Immediately
that they Will do anything l wish, but
they never do. They lie! Shall you lie to
me?"
She reached forward and put her hand
upon my lap. l knew directly that people
had done by her as they do in dealing with
the insane; they had acquiesced imme-
diately in whatever she proposed, but that
had been the last; actions had never fol-
lowed words.
hesitated. | could not help it. for I
knew not what impossible thing she was
going TO ask. Her face, so eager and
earnest, clOuded a little.
My dear Miss Pace, | said hastily. ~
can surely promise that l viii not lie to
you. II cannot do what you ask, | will
tell you that l cannot. Believe that it
will make me glad to help you.''
She had fallen back in her char and.
with her hands clasped before her, was
gazing at me. My heart beat heavily. /
had not been so moved for years. it oc-
CURED to me that my plan to keep out Of
the way OF ali emotion was being infringed
upon. " as l going to suffer? The chances
IN this world, when emotion comes upon
one, are heavily IN favor Of that emotion
producing pain rather than happiness.
l had no faith whatever that / could
help her, and the belief made me very
uncomfortable.
''Aly father, who never tells a falsehOod
to others, habitually does so to me-tome.
his daughter. Does he not, then. any
longer respect me" Her voice vfbrated
with Indignation. "He tells me that he
will look for Eyerard, but he never does
it; know that he has never done it,"
She paused suddenly and, making an
effort to control herself, went on with
comparative calmness:
But you do not know that Everard
Adams is the man whom l am to marry.
He was reported killed at the battle of
Antietam. But that was a mistake. There
is some mystery about it. His body was
never found. That my father acknOwl-
edges, but
She paused, and then with the emphasis
OF deep anxiety she said:
SIS it possible he may say that also
without meaning it! 1t is dreadful not to
have people speak the truth to you. 1t is
like fighting against intangible but hOrri-
bic enemies
"Will you promise to take my word?''
asked quickly. ''Will you believe me i'm
plicitly ?"
1t appeared to me to be a great cruelty
to try to deceive such a woman as this. /
felt that l could not forgive myself if l
ever did so.
She leaned still farther forward toward
me, her bright and eager eyes fixed upon
me with that look which seemed both com
handing and pleading. Had I had it in
my heart to deceive her / think L could
not have borne that glance.
Ii dn ill., q lDu- bIEdlL sue SalU SlOWlN-
"1es, l must trust you. 1t was because
you seemed TO have a face to be believed
in that l sent Salome for you. VIII you
help me!' the question asked feyerishly.
If help for you is in my power" l re-
turned again; and / added: First of all
let me take measures to find out whether
your friend Eyerard Adams name was
really among the list of killed. If, to my
own satisfaction l find that it was, shall
tell you So"
Irose as 1 spoke. Short as the inter-
view had been, it had SO affected me that
l wished to be alone that | might recover
my customary calmness. So powerful
was the personality of this woman that
my heart ached as for a sorrow OF my own.
Had she passed all these years like this /?
That question repeated itself until l could
not put it from me.
FASTENED back to my own room. After
a half hour OF solitude l had apparently
resumed my equanimity. l had decided
as to what L should do. Possibly YOU will
regard me as very eccentric, but / deter
mined to be guided in great degree by Miss
Pace herself. Was it possible that that
heart Of love had IN some mysterious way
reached truth which could not be found
by process Of reasoning?
l sought my hostess; I did not then tell
her that / had just visited Miss Pace. In
the course Of our conversation | asked if
Everard Adams name was among the
killed-had his body been found?
No. He was among the missing. 1t
was found that his colored servant had
had DO authority for absolutely reporting
him dead. But as nothing had ever been
heard of him, it was believed without
doubt that he was dead.
a Massachusetts paper was shown me,
in which was brief article concerning
Adams, speaking Of him as killed, al
though his body had not been found,
praising his bravery and his patriotism.
and limiting at what must be the grief Of
that Virginia girl who had been his be-
trothed. On the morning Of the next day
/ was shown again into Miss PAGES room.
She came quickly to meet me, her whole
attitude that of expectation restrained
forcibly to calmness.
| confess that the paragraph in the Bos-
ton paper had chilled my unreasonable
thOughts-and what save death did all
these years of silence between then and
now meang Certainly EYerard Adams
was dead or assuredly he would have
given some sign to this woman who loved
him so.
"Ahn she breathed softly. ''You, too,
are without hope"
She came to my side. The perfume Of
roses was about rs both. and the fragrance
was to my mind a kind of mOckery.
did not dare show the tenderness Of
feeling she reused in me. As / looked at
her l said that death only should keep a
man from a woman like this. If Eyerard