The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1886-04-03

"'oiiSui ~ -ppSSlple, ECO Altuulldte MIN,
and to make him feel lata she despised
him for his conduct. 5shg was so car
ried away by his unchatitable impulse
that sieYneyer rested a,lS Stil she had de-.
yised a means Of tstfectlS ber,purpose.
aIhe-idea with which hsE mdignatien in,
spired her. was so BoN and startling
that 1t almost took hex breath away.
By degrees, however, u esDecalme COM
,pletely reconSiled to. thsa. - y ySsme, which
she finally resolved to p,f into execution,
The initial step was sssQplicity ITSELF
for 1t consisted of nothiilS S5Sssnore than an
urgent note to Jack Be- requesting
him to call uponher iha Eaiatelyss q
Jack came, of course With his heart
in his mouth, SCARCELY SsSing to anti
clpate the good fortune (which awaited
him. But he was 5oyesSlhelmed by the
joyous surprise with WIAth he learned
the conditions impose&by Miss Van
stone. She stipulated 5Tor private
wedding to take place within taay.,.--l' ta'c !
days-ramely, on the Sowfng Mon
day. So" ~ st @'&s. =.
Miss Vanstone gave a. very plausible
reason for this unorthods arrangement,
saying that after what Fad passed she
thought the best way 81 silencing the
gossip would be to get 'Eaarried without
more ado. Jack was ardly surprised
that Miss Vanstone sNould prefer to
avoid the awkwardness }of q re-engage-
ment, and for the rest he was not in
cllned to be hypercritichl. The weak
minded old-uncle, it IS true raised fee
BILE objections, which were easily over
come, but there was practically no one
to be consulted on either side. The
consequence was that, d special license
having been obtained, Jack and Ethel
were quietly married without fuss or
ceremony, while their friends were still
talking of the rupture Of their engage
ment ~
When they were on the point Of
starting off for the honeymoon Jack
noticed that his wife handed the butler
an envelope, and gave him some direc-
tions concerning it in an undertone.
The envelope contained q glazed card
with the names Of "Mr. and Mrs. John
Benson" inscribed thereon, and when
Lord barley called the same afternoon,
asking for Miss Vanstone, this enigma
tical missive was to 1Ne placed in his
hands. .- ~1I Z, r.s;. =. ~. t g.
Mrs. .Jacss Benz :ws Ss.1sa2 ~ f1e given
a good deal to be present in order to see
howLord barley wore the shock. This
was her scheme Of revenge, and she did
not doubt that it would prove effectual.
TO learn that she had, after all, mar
ried the rival he had endeavored to sup
plant, could not fail to be most CALLING
to his Lordship's self esteem, not to
mention his own blighted hopes. 1t
must be confessed that moro humilia-
ting way Of refusing an offer Of mar
riage could hardly have been conceived.
Jack knew nothing of all this, his
wife being content to chuckle over her
triumph in secret. Beyond making him
promise to keep secret their projected
marriage, she'had given no clew to her
real motives, and finding that he had no
suspicion that Lord barley had proposed
to her, she generously forebore to en-
tighten him. Having achieved her OBJ
ject, Mrs. Jack Benson did not suffer
her mind to dwell with bitterness upon
Lord Darley's behavior, and under the
soothing influence Of the honeymoon
her resentment began to eyaporate. This
magnanimity was chiefly owing to her
husbands sturdy championship Of his
friend, for Jack scoffed at the idea Of
Lord barley having deliberately sought
to inJure him, and declared him to be
one Of the best fellows that ever
breathed. Mrs. Jack listened in silence
to these eulogiums, knowing that his
lordship had meanly sought to take adj
vantage Of his own wrong.
On the day Of their return to Lon.
don, Jack received permission to stroll
down to the club for HI hour or two,
and when he came back his wife could
not restrain hersolf from asking If he
had met Lord barley. ..
"Ohl yes. met Darley,n answered
Jack, with rather a queer smile. So
. "Was he---did he seem at all de.
pressedP You know he used to be al
most as fond Of me as you WERE" ad
ded his wife ingenuously. r.
Tile was just the same as ever. AS
for being depressed--well, you see, he
won lot ofmoney. overyour marriage"
said Jack. q = :
"Whatl" exclaimed, his. wife, open
ing her eyes to the widest extent.
tile IS aqueer fellow, barley is. It
appears that, when he heard our EN-
gagement was broken Off, he took odds
all over tho place that it would come
right. They say he won e5. .000,'' said
Jack, laughing little awkwardly. p,
"Whatl oh, Jacl1l He is o heartless,
wicked, bad mani" cried Mrs. Jack,
with sudden energy. edo you know
that, after you and I had quarreled, he
actually wanted me to marry himpn
''The deuce he didl Then was that
why you agreed to marry me Of q sud
don?" cried Jack, with a start. ~.
Yes, But.-but, Of course, I always
loved you, Jack. You mustn't think
/ only married you out Of api1ue, ~ said