Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1886-01-22

d
to his feet, and looked at me like one aston
GU herr, Lorainet'' he cried
Eyes, l did not get SO far as = Orient"
SGrart moved toward the door. Excuse
me- ahe said; 81 shall be back In moment
This is my sister" 3 The lady bowed, and
s 0aYou p are soo iate e Grant said, some
what coldly.a u"You cannot prevent the
meeting; it has taken piace9 siazi9s
'.'Poor girlp' be said. Then turning to
his sister, speaking in French. "You had
better go and find Viola 10 ss5 Stte'stS
She rose, and left the room. Grant and
W. aiSni Il said, do calmly .na You have
seen heran wa o. SfsW cNSA -,
4 S.s'Yes, in spite of your subterfuge's
81 acted but for, the best " It was only
this morning knew they were coming.
Some absurd report Of my recent illness
had reached my sistersy Not having heard
from me for weeks and weeks she came to
learn the TRUTH =. 80, r, xs4 n, l5fF
sdt'Carne from wherel'' - 49,
ss.From Nantes. ,1She1 IS the superior Of
sisterhoodi there She is my halt sister,
Her mother was French woman
81 l"But Viola? Why is Viola with herf'
Iii .'She has been in her charge ever since
she left you. 1t was tony sister 1 took
herr +. ...f, la ~ 4s5fs4fsa
A thought crossed me. Surely said,
"Viola, married woman, can bind herself
by no vows: She is not one OF the sister,
hoodg' ...s.,., sf+ff7es
'The sister hood is a purely charitable
one Persons can leave it at discretion.
Viola has been my sisters guest, thatis all.
Grant l. said Il am now under the
: same roof as my wife. She shall not leave
T<stil / know everything. From her lips
It u ~ meaning of her conduct
| Il will learn 1nma~ssan offasse5
Go AID send her to iHe lA the room, and
He said nothing. he lafttnl26e,
| in few minutes returned. leading my
7 Shesank iwieafilyiupon a chair, with her I'm
| gers nerycusly, moving one against the
| other, 1 had now, time, to notice what
changes the two years had made in her.
I Beautiful as she still was, it was not the
girlish beautyiwfdch had won my heart; it
was the sad, sweet beauty of 9 goung wo-
man who has suffered Youth was still
I there, but the gayety and exuberance OF
youth we're missing 1tViola's cheek was
paler, than of .old;, her figure looked slighter;
altogether she was more ethereal-more
fragile looking. For while she kept her
| eyes away from me; then fnding did not
speak, she looked at me. Her eyes were
full of tears. s. se
ia ''Eustace tells me you want to speak to
me-" she said ,fWi1 you not spare me,
| Julians I am very unhappy" Ii se9a
Unhappy Spare you! How have you
spared me2 Think what my life has been
from the day oul left me-=think Of it, and
| pity mep t7s.--vs Ar: ~ ~
She pressed her hands to her brows, and
| / heard her sobbing I could not bear to
witness her grief lkneeled ather side.
Viola" whispered, tell me all Let
| me know what black cloud lies between us.
| Tell me why you left meg'
Il cannotl ] cannotr' she walled.
Heedless Of Grant. who was still with US,
| 7 besought her, implored her to enlighten
me, or at least to- say that she loved me
|. still; that, now we have met, we should
part no more. In vain! Again and again
her lips formed the sad yet firm refusal At
last she said: "Ask me NO more, Julian; it
is for your sake that I am SILENT
For my sakel Grants parrot cry! rose
| in bitter anger and turned to Grant.
s'Ten her." said-"tell this woman, who
bears my name. and who is still my wife,
that nothing can make life more terrible to
me- than this conceaiment Tell her in
what frame of mind l met you. Bid her
speak. You have power over her. She
will listen to you, if not to me-"
"Viola," said Grant, in strangely
solemn voice, 'he is right; we are wrong.
| He must know the truth"
She raised her white face. Never
never!" she moanel. se.s
1T must be-" continued Grant ..He is
man; and If there is burden to be borne
he has right to bear it. He must know
alln
She stretched out her arms imploringly.
''Eustace," she gasped, 'think of the
horror! Let him hate me, curse me, go
away and forget mer' r --sss
''He must be told" said Grant, firmly.
She pressed her hands to her eyes. and
was silent for some minutes. steeled my
heart, and neither spoke nor moved
although saw the tears trickling through
her closed fingers. e' g
Presently she spoke: ''Not until have
gone, Eustace; not until the ship has sailed"
SAILED! What ship!' exclaimed. turn
ing to Grant ''~
viola sails for America next week. Some
friends of her mothers live in New York;
she goes to them"
walked across to Viola ''Why do you
go~ l asked, fercely. She seemed to trem-
BILE at tbs change in my voice. l repeated
the question.
clam too near-too near to England
she said, in low, painei voice.
"Too near to me, you mean?'
Eyes! There must be thousands of miles
between u.s."
lstamped in my rage. I was tried past
endurance. Her one thought, her only
wish, seemed to be that of avoiding me.
"Gor' cried, ''and may never gaze
again on your false, fair face! Go! and carry
with you the memory of the life you have
ruined, the hopes You have blighted, the
love you have thrown away! Cor
Ill I..A IL
mirror over the fireplace I saw Viola rise,
pale and tottering. saw Grant place his
arm round her and support her.
Il cannot bear it," heard her say. 6"
can bear all for his sake, except his re-
proachss. Eustace, when am gone let
him know all. Not until am gone. Julian,
farewellg'
TUNED at the last words. Viola was
passing through the doorway. ! sprang
forward, but Grant checked nus. The tears
were rolling down his cheeks
NO." he said 'sLeave her. No good
can be done. You will kill her if you see
her again. Julian, leave, the house for an
hour; they will be gone by then. Trust me
-beiieve me, it is better 500.
But am to be told every thincp
YES, wh~n shs has left En- ,and.n~-~
emo. nowl Tell me now!S Whatever it
may be that divides us, 1 can sweep it a way.
can hinder her from going / can hold
her to my heart and keep her. Speak, II
you are sworn to keep her secret awhile.
for my sake, for her sake, break that VOW,
and let me know every thing this momentr'
He laid his hand on my shoulder. "Ju-
liam, my poor fellow" be said in voica full
Of feeling, ''if you have any hope, abandon
it. No love, no power on earth can bring
Viola back to ou!"
His words seemed to turn my heart into
lead. said no more, but, obeying his
request, left the house. But waited at the
roadside for the carriage to pass; would
catch one more glimpse of Viola before she
left me, as Grant predicted, forever.
At last the carriage passed ma. Viola
saw me; our eyes met Her look was one
of hopeless yearning misery. She made
faint movement as if about to stretch out
her arms, then in moment passed from
INV And fhic rUoc <,,,,.