St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1886-12-26
a HEART OF ICE.

very fascinating at times, though tne HioSI
/ heartless, wicked flirt l ever met. Mark
me! L do not say flirt in the light, trifling
sense that the word is used in fashionable
society, but in its full, ugly meaning. With
the most faultless face and figure, the most
! brilliant talents. wealth and position,
! Geraldine Churchill wins heart to crush it
( with the most cutting sarcasm and coolest
cruelty. She pretends to look upon all
wOoers as mercenary seekers after the
/ heiress, and this is her excuse for a course
of systematic. heartleSs cOquetry."
/ "You are harsh. Lizzie" said Lewis
| Rogan, smiling at the little sister who was
! lying in his arms
/ 10, / am only true. You have never
seen her, and you have been away SO long.
/ have seen her so cruel and cold that
! wanted to warn you. You may smile and
shake your head. but wait until you meet
/ her. She is a Venus with heart of ice~
! "And we meet her to-nightw
Eyes. She is some relation to Mrs. Lee,
believe. and always at her parties. Now,
/ tell me all about your journey"
! Geraldine Churchill was standing under
/ the blaze of large chandelier when Lewis
! Rogan and his sister entered Mrs. Lees
I crowded parlors. She could dare this light,
and she knew it. Her dark. clear complex
ion was tinged with the flush of proud
beauty. and her regal figure was carried
with queenIy grace. On the bands of jetty
hair that swept in broad braids low on her
neck sparkled diamond stars, and the folds
of black velvet fell round the full figure in
rich masses. In spite of the warning
Lewis could not represS start of adnira-
/ ton.
His hostess noticed it and smiled.
Geraldine was one Of her ''cardS."
Shall introduce you?" she asked fol-
lowing his eye after they had chatted for
/ some moments.
| There was of course but one answer, and
threading the crowded rooms, he stood face
to face with the belle of the evening. With
a smile of winning courtesy she acknowl-
edged his bow and answered his greeting.
Dancing drew off the people that were
grouped around them. and they stood alone
still in the moving mass. One subject gave
place to another, and Lewis found himself
drawn into descriptions of travel and easy
conversation by that manner that had the
highest charm, that of putting strangers
perfectly at ease. Gracefully, and with a
Womanly manner, she was unmasking
before his own powers of conversation a
masculine intellect and education. He left
her at last, daZZed and amazed, yet owning
! somewhat the truth Of LiZZie's assertions.
There had been flashes of wit that cut
deep and keen into friends fOibles. pungent
sarcaSmS and sharp. Satirlcal phrases, that
told too clearly of an indifference for
wounded feeling. Many times in the COM
| ing season they met, and Lewis threw eau
ton and prudence to the winds 10 bow
before this brilliant. fascinating woman.
who held her sway over hearts spite of the
tyranny of her rule. Yet he kept his love
hidden. for he was sensitive and proud and
would not risk the taunts and sarcasm he
knew would meet any betrayal of 1t.
Silently and proudly he bore the pressure of
the heart of ice.
Like some brilliant meteor, Geraldine
Churchill had flashed upon the world of
fashion for one winter, and then, as sud-
denly. she vanished. There was no clue
left by which to trace her. Mrs. Lee said
she had gone into the country to reside. but
gave no further information; and Lewis
Rogan, with many Others. shut up his long
ing, and turned brave face to the world.
He was no puny, whining lover, this brave
hero or mine. / can see him now before
me as l saw him one sunny day not many
years since, his tall figure so well knit and
! strong, his handsome face full of frank
manlinesS and his waving brown hair tossed
/ back from his high, white forehead.
He was physician from love of his pro-
fession and fellow men. Rich enough to
have lived luxuriously in idleness, he
worked among the poor and needy with an
energy and industry that might shame
many rising doctor. And this brave. true
heart had layished its wealth of love upon
a finished, heartless coquette.
Far away from the city, where she had
! queened it SO successfully for one short
winter, Geraldine Churchill lived in small
cottage home in a little village. With the
crimson gone from her cheek. the light
! from her eye. in plain. dark dress, the
/ late belle moved among the poorest Of her
neighbors, bearing no trace of the naughty
| belle save in her winning smile and gentle
tones. In the cottage. where the sick,
moaning sufferer craved womans care, her
hand was ever ready to minister. her voice
! to soothe. In the quiet seclusion she sought
peace and rest, and in this sheltered nook
: of the world there sounded trump Of dread
| to rouse all her dormant energies.
AT first, whispered, then in the loud cry
of terror rose the sound of despair. an in
| fectuous fever, of the most trying descrip-
ton, was raging in the little village. Seek
ing it up and down, in the lowest cottage.
or the respectable farmhouse, Geraldine
! Churchill nursed, comforted and tended the
sufferers. Volunteer doctors had come
from cities within reach of the cry of woe;
and they turned to her for every statement,
premonitory symptom, resting on her clear
! judgment and experience for hope in many
cases.
BY one bedside where the pale face of
death had followed the fever flush, Lewis
Rogan again met Geraldine Churchill. She
had been watching many weary nights, and
as she raised her head from bending over
the corpse of her patient, her eyes met
Lewis Rogan's bent in admiring tenderness
upon her, She was tired, weak and i'll and
with cry upon her lip. she stretched out
her arms and fell faintng at his feet. 1t
was the beginning of the fever fastening
upon frame exhausted by long nursing.
Lying helples and unconscious for many
| days, there were not wanting nurses for
the noble woman who suffered for them.
| Not we'll hand in the village but was
stretched forth for her; not an eye but shed
| tears for her danger. Foremost of all stood
Lewis Rogan. Willing nurses aided him,
and his devotion was unwearied. Sick.
feeble and depended, she was thousand
fold more dear to him than when she
swayed all hearts i'll her regal beauty. He
won her from deaths grasp, prayerfuIly
and skillfully, and meekly she owned she
owed the boon of her life to his care.
1t was when the winter frosts had swept
away the fever that he told her his love and
patience.
You love me- she said tenderly.
listen while 1 tell you my story. Five
years ago. here in this little village. |
listened to such tale. from lips that had
long before charmed my heart away. was
rich and courted then: but one month later
nv father died and I was left moor and