Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1884-09-17


throbbed wildly with guilty rapturous
joy while he raised her white face to his
and impressed long, fervent, passionate
kisses on her unresisting lips, mulmur'
ing the while b. oxen words of love, an
| guiSh, and triumph.
For he knew i'll shat brief burning
moment that she loved him but lie also
knew too well that her noble heart could
suffer anything save dishonor and dis
loyalty; and, recognizing this, he felt
with an unspeakable despair that Doro-
thea Wynde would he henceforth as far
beyond his reach as the very stars then
| glimmering coldly above him in the
September twilight
''Unclasp your arms; let me go ~
she entreated at last Let me go
before this kills me ~ she implored,
again hiding her face against the blessed
shelter she longed to call her own for
ever. "Help me, Edmund Don't
make my duty any harder, this barren
honor more bitter To bear !" she contin-
ued, still pleaiing. II can't explain
all but you will understand. The ell
gagement was made before my mothers
death. We were both poor but Philip
he's my cousin, you know-wds will
ling to wait, to do anything, as long as
he had my promise so he went to In
dia with the hope of-of returning some
day for his promised Wife"
Her listener set his teeth hard, and
almost crushed the soft hand he held i'll
a conyulslye grasp.
81 can bear the rest-go onp' he
muttered.
Then Dorothea continued. gathering
courage for his sake rs well as for her
own while she spoke.
''IIe has worked and waited these
live weary years with this one hope ever
before him, his faith in me strong and
changeless rs the years went on"
And you-forgiYe me, Dorothea-
you did not share those hopes l''
Il looked To the end with tranquil
pleasure | fancied-cruel folly that
| cared for my cousin as much as / was
capable of caring for any man it had
been SO long a settled thing between us,
| and"
Il know, understand too WELL" he
interposed, with a groan.
'Three months back" she went on,
81 received a letter telling me that he
could return even sooner than he ex-
pected, that he had succeeded beyond
his widest hopes, and was coming TO
claim his Own-the poor prize for which
he has worked SO earnestly and waited
in such single-hearted faith"
A sudden heart-breaking sob burst
from her hearer, strong man as he was,
and her own heart answered his.
''If it kills me, III go on now and tell
you all. When that fatal letter came,
everything had striven for months to
blind myself to WAS made hideously
clear in an instant. But thought to
bear my suffering alone. Some kinds
of pain are worse to bear if others have
to share them, :" shs added.
And now to-night's chance has
made it impossible for either of us to
deceive the other or our own hearts. !"
But, Edmund''-and her voice was
sharp with exceeding pain-''what
should be worth to you? What should
be in my owr eyes, if | could betray
my cousin at the last hOur-even for
our loves sake ? 1t would he all too
dearly bought-a price, am bound to
think, neither of us would be willing to
pay"
"Heaven knows how bitterly true
your words are 7" he answered gloom
lily.
She put her hand In his, and said
81 knew did not misjudge your no.
BILE nature it makes the parting easier
and yet-more hard to bear At this
bitter last moment | can say, with no
touch Of shame, how proud | am of the
man may not love-"
He had not moved while she was
speaking, and her hand still lay in his !;
and now big silent tears from the gray
eyes he loved SO well were falling fast
on the strong shapely hand which claSped
her own.
"This is the last time We shall ever
see each other, y he said brokenly; land
this parting is like, but worse than,
death. He-the other man-will have
you for his whole life. Dear, being
merely a man and no saint can't
speak of that now..but you will spare
me these last momentS--1nly these the
rest are all his. Think of me alone
Just now-love me, live for me. one brief
minute. You have never kissed me
yet, Dorothea," he whispered, after a
moments pause.
For answer she raised her tear stained
face and looked straight into his eyes.
81 love you better than my life-bet-
ter than anything on earth-save honor;
and your own noble soul gives me
strength and courage for thus bitter
duty. This farewell is, as you have
said, the very last-for life and for
death and | have no comfort to give
other than thiS,'
lie took her silently i'll his arms for
last embrace. Their love and agony
were all too deep for words.
"Heaven help you, DorOthea-all my
life's hope ends tonight. The bestyou
can do for me is to pray that 1 may
never hear your name again.
Turning away to hide the fresh tears
that rose uEbidden, threatening to shake
her resolution, she went swiftly down
the lane, her light footballs growing
ever fainter Oh the fallen leaves as she
went onward, and was lost to him in
the gathering gloom of the dark Sep
tember evening.
Edmund Darby remained by the
stile, standing as she had left him, his
eyes still fixed on the dusky shadows in
which D0rothea had disappeared.
And thus the remorseleSs hand of
cruel Fate crushed out the brief ro-
nance of Edmund Darby's life.
Amid the tropical scenery of her new
home the queenly wife of the celebrated
Indian judge is a distinguished and
brilliant addition to the Anglo-ln
society in which she moves. But, of
all the men who admire and the women
who envy and criticize her, not one will
ever know aught of Dorothea's real
nature, or guess dimly at the desperate
conflict between ''l0ve and duty" fought
out in a far-off English lane, one desc
late September evening, when the still
air was heavy with the scent of fallen
leaves. Still less does any of them i'm
hS,, tn H..