Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1886-12-10
CHAPTER vi.
A CHEW.

OF t.f lei durin, the 1"N two v iar'.
hate tie memory Of everything connscJsl
with that tina l wi h it could b. b.Cttei
out from nv mind. Two wear, which hold
no ac:i N, no tn VI hit Of my own to wnich
lean look back with an. pea urs lIlust
write of that VT Itch Il tim, bu- will In ,;s
IFS record as short rs possible
,verthe!esS, will b, candid. an show
myself in as la light "a truth comp,la
lido not seek to excu mysslf by satIny
that many another i'll my place would have
acted US l ac:ei l hope there arc few in
the world who have passed. through such
grief and sham. as mins.
At first without for a moment losinq
sight OF the vengeance which ] meant to
take on the traitor. Eustace Grant, s,t
myself the task OF forgettin. the faI o
woman who hal fel from nv sid..
vowel would destroy the love bore her,
and learn to look upon her with scorn AMI
contempt, as tho basest Of her sex. If the
thought Of suing for O divorce entered nv
head banished 1t at once. l cared not to
resum, my freedom. So long es ] wa,
bound t. one woman there was no chanc, Of
my being cajoied and deceived by an thar,
If ever could b, fool enough to love and
trust another woman as / had loved and
trusted Viola.
DcSlucS, SuIduh lIOiu tt0 i
shrank from the thought Of being mado a
public laughing stock, as man whose wife
left him n fortnight after her marriage
No; would teach myself to scorn, loathe,
fnrrat her-that was all
But bow to forgeti If cursed her by day
dreamed Of her by night. Then she came
to me. sweet and pure as l thought her on
tho day when l made her my wife Isaw
her soft eyes, h,r graceful form; heard her
fresh young loving voice, and in my dreams
was happy, for l could never dream evil of
her. But again and again, when awoke.
and remembered what she now was, ] sobb i
as few strong men permit themselves TO
sob, and then only in the dead of night.
when none can Lear or see them
would forgeti Iswore would forge!
&c. in search of forgstfulnes, plunged
into q whirl OF fierce dissipation. became
to all appearance the most reckless of n
reckless set. / gambled for large sums. l
lost or won thous ands at a sitting; yet only
proved to myself that l was as indifferent
to money as l was to everything else save
the loss Of Viola. Curiously enough, dill
not ruin myself at the gaming tabl, On
the whole, l won largely, and TO CONSTANT
that my luck became byword. My luc>.
! smiled bitterly as men spoke OF m, as
"lucky Lorraine"
tried in every way TO force the memory
Of Viola from my mind. For a while
blush to say SOL drank to excess; perhap;
hoped to kill myself IN these AMI o De'
unworthy ways passe1 half the year
Then came the reaction-the loalhia- OF
self-ths disgust Of the life l was lcaIiu,
Isickened at the sight OF my boon com
panions Every thing wis weariress; noth-
ing brought the flush of excitement 10 my
check or carried m, for n moment away
from my grief. Suddenly ! turned my
back upon all my pursuits. | went down
to Herstal Abbey, which was now at my
disposal, and, with as supreme a contempt
for mankind as ever my predec ssor felt,
buried myself even as he Ind DONE
and people around snid tina ecc.n-
tricity ran in families, and that young
Mr.. Lorraine was following in his fathers
steps.
But why during those months had no.
sought tie excitement OF revenging myself
upon the man who hal wron led me? Why
had not kept my VOW Of killing him WHEN
his dream OF joy was at its height Simply
because knew no. whsro to look for him.
lie and bis no less guilty companion had
left no trace behind them-no clew that
might lie followed until it brought ME fac,
to facs with them. l hal made inquiries.
and inquiries were still being made on my
tehalf; but a. YET l had not discovered
Grants hiding place He sesmei to be a
man with, so far a, l could ascertain. no
friends or connections. Mis-, Rossiter, with
whom it is possible he or Viola might have
correspondent, died two days after the elop,-
ment. Her brother found, but he could
give mo no intelligence. Mr.. Monk, the So
! ttcifOr no
fused to give mo any. So could do moth
ing but grind my teeth and long for the
hour when my path might once more cross
Eustace Grants / was fatalist enough to
believe that sooner or later, this must lnp-
pen.
lived on in the dreary solitude of Her
stall Abbey. Each day found me more
cynical and misantbropical: but each day
renewed my vow Of vengeance. Its &C
complishment was the only thing in life to
which could look forward. When Grant
lay dead at my feet life for me would be at
an end. So the months passed. II the orig
inal Julian Lorraine could have seen me n,
sat hour after hour brooding in his chair,
he would lave thought the son Of bis adop-
ton well worthy OF his choice
So the long months passed Spring, sum-
mer, autumn, winter came and went, MAX
AieIAo ulASTeuC1 10 ino. OOce OF tNlc9
forced myself to quit my seclusion and pay
a visit to Lonion or Paris in the hop, OF
finding distraction AMI forgetfulness. My
efforts availei nothing. and | returne to
my home mora moody and miserable than
when l left it.
l had. for tn, sake Of occupation. per-
formei a task until now postponed
went thrcu l my reput,d fathers letters
and private rGpar'. / found nothing that
In any way bore upon myself, except a
written account Of the shipwreck and my
birth on the barren rock 1t was signei by
the narrator. Although this existenc, Of
this paper made no difference to me- Il put
1t away under lock and key. Yet. for all