St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1886-07-17

ld11tu Ill rove, III no better or worse
fashion than common, and his passion
had ripened and sobered into a most
tender friendship and most profound
respect. He saw genius in Mrs. Ire
garthen' work upon the stage, sorrow
uncomplainingly endured and unde-
served in her daily life; and to his
mind, after many years of intimacy
her soul was an entire and perfect
chrysolite. He loved her still, as a
poet and a gentleman can love Il
woman who is out of the reach Of de-
sire, and the phrase the hapless Phil
had used went through him like knife
Mrs. Tregarthen was true to her in
stincts, and was persuaded that here.
as always, the guilt was hers. She had
entrapped the young man into this ter
rible position.
Forgive me- she said. brokenly.
Il wanted to hear of him. have not
heard of him for so long,
Forgive me-, said the poet, almost
in the same breath with her. Il would
have died rather than expose YOU to
this indignity, and yet / did it
Phil stood silent, but his face and at
titude were enough for retractation
and apology. He had to believe in
Arthur in spite of everything, his
savior and benefactor and friend, but
he believed none the less in Miss
Churchill's goodness. The unknown
Mrs. Tregarthen might have been
guilty of anything in the world, but
this unhappy lady was maligned. The
mere fact that thousands of men have
been just SO certain as himself, and
have proved themselves mistaken, was,
OF course, nothing to him. The other
fact, that he was right, made his in
fatuation none the wiser. But now and
then, even in this poor world, the soul
has happy hopes that arc justified, and
beliefs in goodness which are not thrown
away
Dear friend" said the actress,
speaking through her tears, ':let me tell
you the whole truth. was to blame
[ have known it, bitterly, always. But
| have never deserved to be thought
worthless woman" Both hearers
would have gone to the stake in sup
port of that .postulate without Sec
ond's hesitation. ''When my father
died Lima and | were left in poverty,
and I came to London as a governess.
There were private thcatricals at the
house where [ was engaged, and was
asked to play in them. l was praised
so highly that 1 thought l mis- ht sue
coed upon the real stage, and that
would have enabled me to do so much
for Lima. We had looked at the Era
to see where to hire our dresses for the
private theatricals, and saw advertise
ments there for actors and actresses. [
looked again and answered one or two
of them, and at last got an engage
ment."
She went on with her story, telling it
plainly and without ornament, and
growingmore and more self-possesseda as
she told it. She told of her first encount-
er with Lorrimer, her professional en-
gagement with him, and her receipt of
the letter from Messrs. Lane & Carter,
which informed her of the disposition
of her uncle's property.
Il had been known all this time as
Miss Churchill" she said then, 'but
when / returned to Gorbay I took back
my own name, and tried to forget the
stage altogether. 1t was at this time'
and here again she began to falter-
"that met Mr. Tregarthen; but it was
not until we were engaged that found
what an antipathy he had to the stage
He thought that no good woman could
be an actress without losing refinement
and purity of mind. / was frightened
l was afraid of losing his affection. I
hid the truth. from him, but it was dis
covered by accident after our marriage.
Some one who had known me on the
stage spoke to me on the Island-he
was one of picnic party, or he came
with the psychologists, and he insisted
that l was Miss Churchill. tried to
dismiss him, but he was impertinent
and would not GO. [ told him at last
that l had been Miss Churchill, but
that wished to meet no one who had
known me by that name. My husband
overheard me. / knew that he would
never forgive my deceit, and [ left the
Island and came to London. He never
forgave me-he never tried to find
me-"
Then she broke down altogether, and
Tor while cried unrestrainedly.
1t was hard measure for the poet.
To have been popinjay and jack
anape once upon time is common to
the experience of many honest men,
out it does not often carry with it so
severe a punishment as was dealt out
10 Ronald Marsh. Here he had been
nagnanimously plying this lady's sor-
rows for a dozen years, and now it
turned out that he was the cause of |
hem.
.'Mrs. Tregarthen, he said, trying
% face the truth. and to take all the
punishment he deserved. II was that |
impertinent. If could have
guessed what my insolence would cost