Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1886-07-15
CHATTER XLN.


thing happened; no stranger appeared on
the path which wound through the garden.
She was alone with him. The influences OF
the still and fragrant summer evening were
influences which breathed of love.
lave you thought of me since yesterday"
he asked, gently.
She owned that she had thought of him.
rs there no hope that your heart will ever
incline toward me?'
Il daren't consult my heart If had only
to consider my own feelings" She stop
ped.
What else have you to consider??''
My past life-how | have suffered, and
what | have to repent Of"
Has your married life not been happy
one?' he asked
Not happy one-in the end" she an
swered.
Through no fault of yours, l an sure?'
Through no fault of mine, certainly"
And yet you said just now that you had
something to repent oi?'
L was not thinking OF my husband, Capt.
Bennydeck, when [ said that. If l have in
jured any person. the person is myself"
She was thinking of that fatal concession
to the advice Of her mother and to the inter
estS Of her child which placed her in Il false
position toward the honest man who loved
her and trusted her. If he had been less in
nocent in the ways of the world, and not so
devOtedly fond of her, he might, little by lit
tie, have persuaded Catherine to run the risk
Of shocking him by confession of the truth.
AS it was, his confidence in her raised him
high above the reach Of suspicious which
might have occurred to other men. He saw
her turn pale; he saw distress in her face
which he interpreted as a silent reproach to
him for the questions that he had asked Il
hope you will forgive me-" he said, simply.
She was astonished. "What have to for
give?"
My want of delicacy."
'Oh, Capt. Bennydeck, you speak of one
Of your great merits as if it was fault!
Over and over again have noticed your deli
cacy, and admired it,
He was too deeply in earnest to abandon
his doubts Of himself
L have ignorantly led you to think of your
sorrows" he said; sorrows that l cannot
console. l don't deserve to be forgiven.
May l make the one excuse in my power?
May [ speak of myself?''
She told him by q gesture that he had made
a needless request.
''The life have led" he resumed, sac
counts, perhaps, in some degree, for what is
deficient in me. AT school [ was not pop
ular boy; [ only made one friend, and he
has long since been numbered with the dead.
OF my life at college, and afterward in Lon
don, | dare not speak to you; ! look back at
it with horror. My school friend decided my
choice of a profession; he went into the
navy. After awhile, not knowing what else
to do, followed his example. | liked the
life-l may say the sea saved me. For years
l was never on shore for more than few
weeks at a time. | saw nothing OF society;
[ was hardly ever in the company of ladies.
The next change in my life associated me
with al arctic expedition. God forbid L
should tell you Of what men go through who
are lost i'll the regions Of eternal ice! Let
me only Say l was Observation-Disclosures
preSeryed-tO profit by that dreadful expert
9nce. 1t made Il new man of me; it altered
me q hope for the better into what am
now. Oh, feel that l ought to have kept
my secret yeSterday-I mean my daring to
love you. should have waited till you knew
more OF me; till my conduct pleased you,
perhaps, and spoke for me. You won't
laugh, l am sure if I confess Cat my age)
that I aH inexperienced. Never till I met
YOU have | known what true love is-and
this is at 40 years old. How some people
would laugh! And yet it seems melancholy
10 me-"
No; not melancholy"
Her voice trembled. Agitation, which il
was not a pain but Il luxury to feel, was
gently taking possession of her. Where an
other man might have seen that her tender
ness was getting the better of her discretion,
and might have presumed on the discovery.
this man, innOcently blind to his own inter
ests, never even attempted to take advantage
of her. No more certain way could have
been devised by the most artful lover of
touching the heart of generous woman and
making it his own. The influence exertud
over Catherine by the virtues of Bennydeck's
character-his unaffected kindness, his man
ly sympathy, his religious convictions SO
deeply felt, SO mOdestly restrained from
claiming notice-had been steadily increas-
ing in the intimacy OF daily intercourse.
Catherine had never felt his aScendancy over
her as strongly as she felt it now. BY fine
degrees the warning remcmbrances which
had hitherto made her hesitate lost their hold
on her memory. Hardly conscious herself
OF what she was doing, she began to search
his feelings in his own presence. Such love
as his had been unknown in her experience;
the luxury of looking into it and sounding it
to its Utmost depths was more than the wo-
mans nature could resist.
II think you hardly do yourself justice"
she said. Surely you don't regret having
felt for me so truly when told you yester-
day that my old friend had deserted me?'
mo, indeedr'
DO you like to remember that You show
ed no jealous curiosity to know who my
friend wasp
Il should have been ashamed of myself if
had asked the question"
And did you believe that | had a good
motive-a motive which you might yours t
have approximations not telling you &
name of that friend?'
rs he some one whom | knoW?"
Ought you to ask me that after what
have just said?'
Pray forgive me! L spoke without think
ing"
Il can hardly believe it when remem ':er
how you spoke to me yesterday. l could
never have supposed, before we became &C.
quainted with each other, that it was in the
nature of q man to understand me so DpT-