Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1888-11-15
New Series, Vol. %, No. 46.

The earl would never consent to theil
marriage; on the contrary he would
probably cast his daughter off forever
And this was exactly what he did. Fol
Lady Blanche and her lover, believing
in ''lll for love and the world well lost,
decided that love in cottage was better
than separation and life of luxury. One
day they went quietly off and were mar
ried, and, leaving letter for the earl
went off TO London to await his answer
1t was not long in coming and was brief
and to the point. From that day forth
the earl looked upon his daughter as
dead. But little Lady Blanche possessed
brave spirit and she and her husband
set sail for America on the next steam
er.
They landed in New York and lived
for several years in comparative ease
and happiness. Murphy gave music
lessons and they both sang in a large
up town church.
Then, their circumstances being re-
duced, they drifted further east, and
just seven years after her unfortunate
marriage Lady Blanche, with but very
small sum of money in her purse and a
husband who was worse than useless, ar
rived in Blank and took up her resi-
dence in little cottage in the outskirts
of the village. There they lived for sew
eral years, Lady Blanche supporting
herself by needle work and music les
sons, and Murphy alternately playing
the organ in the village church and 60
ing off to neighboring towns on pro-
longed sprees.
For his marriage had not done what
it should for him, and even the influ-
ence of his beautiful, gentle wife failed
to save him. In less than three years
after his marriage he had taken to drink
ing and idleness. His was the tempera-
ment so often sound in musical genius
es, and his power of fascination was
equaled only by his general weakness of
character.
L suppose his wife loved him through
it all certainly she was never heard to
offer a complaint. With such a nature
as hers, to love once was to love forever,
and when she gave her heart to Henry
Murphy it was freely and with no con-
ditions. Since they had left New York
he had been almost no support to her,
and she worked hard to supply their
daily needs.
The day after they had been living in
Blank about two years, Murphy diSap
peared and was not seen again for many
a long day. The villagers were very kind
to Lady Blanche in her sorrow, for Sor-
row she did from shame, loneliness and
rejected love. She had all the work she
could do and prOspered daily after her
husbands disappearance. Finally she
bought the old white house pointed out
to us by the driver, and there she lived
until her death, noble, patient woman,
fulfilling with a gentle grace all her
homely tasks and filling her life and the
life of her neighbors with 'thoSe little,
unremembered acts of kind
ness and of love.
She was fairly adored by the villagers,
the children, to whom she was
fairy god-mother, and guide, philosopher
and friend in turn. To this day they
speak of her with loving reference and
tell their own children of the good old
days when Lady Blanche lived among
them and did ''what she could" to make.
their lives happier and better.
But her story is not yet ended. One
bitter Sunday in December, six years
after her husband had left her, Lady
Blanche failed to take her usual place in |
the village choir. This was very unus-
ual, and when afternoon service had !
come and gone and she had not yet put |
in an appearance, two of her neighbors |
went in search of her. She had been |
suffering from asevere cold and it was
thought she might be worse. But no,
Lady Blanche was not worse, she was |
well, for there, lying in her little white |
bed, with everything arranged neatly
around her, lay Lady Blanche, looking |
almost as young and as fair as on her
bridal morning There was bunch of
fall roses in a glass by her bedside table,
md beside them lay letter addressed /
20 her husband, showing that her last
thoughts had been of him. The letter
was forwarded to him, (nO one but had
Known where he was) with notice of
he day of the funeral.
On the following Tuesday, bright,
beautiful day, Lady Blanche was laid
lway in the village graveyard. She was
to her grave by her husband as
;hief mourner, and a long line of vii
ayers, every one of whom had turned
,ut to do her honor. The children were
and they spent all their
lard earned pennies for flowers to throw
n her grave.
And so the quiet little town knew her
10 more-the gentle Lady Blanche, with
Ter gracious courtesy and har high bred
Ways that were lesson to all who knew
Ter.
But though she is dead she and her
rood deeds live still as beautiful men,
,ry. And of her sins, if she had any,
t must be true that they were "forgiv-
g. Oh lNraA rN11ah ~ L. ~ 1