Wichita eagle., 1888-06-20

4 N - z
Ter attitude toward him, and friendship
sprang ND between them which on his side
deepened into Iowa OF her feelings he could
guess little She was invariably sweet and
frank; but the fear of losing her friendship
by attempting to gain her love for some time
prevented him from putting his fate into her
banda On the last day Of her visit the long
ing of his heart overcame this fear, and he
poured out all bis soul to hec, not noticing
that her face was hardening at his words
'Teu me, Bsttyl Give me one word Of
hopel Have any chanceP be pleaded
She turned toward him then, her face
white and stern, her mouth wearing faint
bitter smile
"How well you do it, she said tn harsh
| voice.
"Do IT. What do you meanr he asked,
his voice changing too Don't you under
standI love you, Bestyr
"Hushm she interrupted harshly. "That
is quite enough. No. can give you no hope;
| you have no chanoa Never speak to me Of
| this againP-and, rising from her garden
chair she went into the house and up to her
own room.
| This was what it all meant thenl How
blind she had beenl She was the 'sweet
| girl" whom Miss Campion thought asuitable
wife for Colin She had been invited here
| In order that Colin might see if she would
"do' How grateful she ought to feell
| She went down stairs presently. feeling
! glad that this was her last day at Forde- She
/ found Miss Campion sitting alone in the
drawing room. looking little dispieased
81 am 80 cross, my dear" said the old lady,
drawing Betty to seat by her side. Colin
! has ridden over to the Ladbrokes for dinner
| 1t was very thoughtiess Of him not to renem-
Der that this was your last evening"
at does not matter. godmother," said
! Betty, with gentle coldnesA Il would rather
{ spend it alone with you
Would you. dear1 l thought you and
| Colin had got on more comfortably lately"
1T was only surface agreement" an
ewered Betty rather proudly I'VE are too
entirely opposed in character to be really
| friends"
"You viii hardly believe it, Betty, but l
had planned match between you two. l
thought you were so well suited to each
other and it would have been so nice for me
to think of your living here together after
my death"
"And You spoke to him about it'll" ques-
} y
Yes. on the evening you came, told him
what wished But was to meet the fate
OF all match makers, you see," she added,
| signing. Colin said he would never marry
unless be was in love-that he must reserve
himself the right of choosing his wife. And,
as you say dear, you and be were very far
/ from falling in love"
did he say thatr asked Betty eagerly
] nIrl1 r,tf hn 70 hot -h.lI
Then have wronged him terribly, he is ever
SO much nicer than thought"
"You thought questioned Miss Campion
slowly -'Ah. l remember now | told you
that | was going to speak to him, and you be
loved that he would marry any one | sug
gested How foolish and wrong have been!
/ You might have liked him if you had not
been SO prejudiced beforehand, and every
thing might have been different"
''Do not grieve, godmother." said Betty
/ gently If we have not been friends, it is
quite my own fault | had no right to judge
him before knew him"
! But in spite of her brave words, her heart
sank strangely She knew that she would
/ have accepted Collins love had she understood
what he was offering her-for her belief in
/ his unworthlness though it had DESTROYED
her trust in him, had not been strong enough
to Kill her love. And now her life would be
one long sorrow for that mistake ColiD
would never speak to her of his love again.
had she not peremptorily forbidden him9 Es
had gone away now to avoid her, and after
/ to morrow she would never see him again
/ But at any rate she would see him once more
/ and then-Oh, surely he would see that she
! was sorry for having misJudged him
| But Colin remained at the Ladbrokes' for
the night, and bad not returned to Forde
when she left it the next morning for home.
Betty had been right when she assumed
afternoon to avoid her Her harsh rejection
Of his proposal had reused his anger, and he
felt too hurt to bid her good-by But on his
return to London his anger grew less as
time passed on, though his love for Betty
did not diminish AS mis- thoughts dwelt on
her so constantly, be began to seek for some
/ reason for her unkindness, and the more be
considered the matter the more inexplicable
Gid her conduct appear. Her harshness and
anger the day that he proposed to her were so
at variance with her character that he at last
concluded that some misunderstanding must
exist in her mind which he ought to explain
away.
Devonshire few days later, though his hopes
Of winning Betty's love were small
He walked over to the rectory on the
morning after bis arrival, and was shown
Into the empty drawing room by neat maid
servant, who told him that Betty would be
there In few minutes, as she said she could
be easily sent for to the church, whittier she
had gone to practice Colin, however, do
cided to go himself, and had no difficulty in
finding The sacred edifce, which was close
at hand
Colin sat down near the door and waited
patiently till Betty should come. He heard
her dismiss the little boy with kind word of
thanks for bis services, saw her shut and
lock the organ. and then he waited IN almost
trembling expectancy while shs came slowly
down the center aisle
Betty" he said, softly. rising as he spoke
CDR. CampionT
"You are surprised to see me here" he said,
gently, walking out by her sida
The sun shone down hotly on her as she
leaned against the stone work of the door
way, revealing to Colin how pale and thin
she had become and how sad were her eyes
and lips
You have been nlr' be said, looking down
at her annously.
''Oh, no; am perfectly weIl-unusually
well indeed, she answered hastily. nsryously
lingering the flowers in her belt
"You are surprised to see me here. seeing
how we parted, he said. cycling her intently.
1--WE did not even say good-by.@
Have you come to wish me good-by, nowT
she asked, trying to smile
mo; have come to ask you why you were
30 angry that afternoon You treated my
proposal as il I had intended 1t as an Insult
you spoke to me as il were acting parti
don't think quite deserved it, Bexy-from
you"
ut vas mistake" she faltared 81
thought you were acting; did not believe In
your love. II am very sorry"
Betty be said, taking her hands gently
h his, III you had believed in my love,
would your answer have been diferentF
81 think it might have been"
"Dear, do you believe in it nowi Can you
vru1 tr31af ma pnUT