The Daily times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1886-1889, 1888-08-19
CHAPTER XXX


After all the tr,se religion IF Fate has
b'c1 preached 10y George Eliot when sho
says that our lives are tine outcome of our
actions Every action. eool o. bad. which
wo do has its cpgre'Nndng reward, and
Lark rret'lby found il so, for the sins of his
youth wore now heinz punished IA his old
az 10 doubt a. had snnei gayly enough
in that far OFF tirr when lfo's cup was still
trimming with wine, and no asp hid among
the roses. hut Ncmrsi, had been an unseen
spectator ol an his thoughtle,S actions, and
now came t. demand her Just dues He felt
eJ.A V.at a., i.us. mu,t have felt when
Mcphi,t)phnle, suggested a visit 10 hades, in
repayment for those years OF magic youth
and magic power 80 long ago it seemed
since ne had married Rosannl Moore, that
he almost persuaded himself That il had boon
onl} a dream pleasant dream with "a dis
agreeable awakening When she had left
him he had tried % forget her, recognizing
how unworthy she was of = good mans love.
He heard that she had died in a London hos
pital, and with passionate sigh for a per
ishcl love had dismissed her from his
thoughts forever III, second marriage had
turned ont happy one, and he regretted the
death of his wfc deeply Afterwards, all
his love Centorcf in ms daughter, and he
thought he woud be able 10 spend his decln-
ins years in pc1ce This however, was not
10 Dee and be- was thuudcrstruck when Whyte
arrived lrou England with tho Information
i..ac h.a ii.,,J wife still liveI that the d1u.h-
ter OF Marx Frcttlby was iliryitEaatc
Sooner than this, Frcttlby agreed t. any
thing; bu. Whyta's demands became too cy-
orbitant, ard ho refused 10 comply with
them. On WHITES death no again brcathed
freely, when suddenly second po,sessor OF
his fatal secret started up in the person OF
Roe liorellud
the day after no had seen Moreland, and
knew that his secret was no longer safe, since
it was in the power of o man who might re-
veal 1t ut any moment IN drunken tit or
out % sheer righteousness. no sat at BIS desk
writing.
There seemed to be only one way open 10
him By which he coul1 escape tho relentless
fato which logged his steps. Re would write
a confession Of everything from the time be
had first met Roslnna, and then-death. He 1
would cut tho Gor,iian knot OF all his Diff !
culties, and then his secret would be safe
safe; no, it could not be while Moroland /
lived. When Inc was dead Moreland would /
SEQ Madge and emb.tter her life with tho .
story Of her fathers sins, yes he must live .
% protect her, and drag his weary chain Of .
bitter rememJcarces through iiio. Arrays +
with that terri DO sword Of Damoclcs hang
ing over him Bat still he would write oug
bis confession. an! after his death, Whenever .
IL may Lannon. 10 might help 81 ul. alto
gcthcr cxcui11te a. leas. % secure some pirv
for o man w-o bad ben hardly dealt with
by fate HIS resolution taken b. put 10 into
forcaat ono, and sa5ali day at hisd'ss filling
PAGE after page with tho history II his PAST
lie, which was so bitter to him. 10 star,odat .
first langu.diy, as in the performance Of aH
unpleasant but necessary duty Soon. how
ever, he became interested in it. and TOOK %
peculiar pleasure in putting down every
minute circumstance which made the case
stronger AGAINST himself He dealt with il,
not as a criminal, but AZ prosecutor and
painted bis conduct IS much blacker than it
really had been. Towards the end Of the
day, however, after reading over the carly
sheets, he experienced a reyulsion Of feeling,
seeing how severe lie bad been on himself 50
he wrote q defense upon his conduct, show.
Ing that fate had been too strong for him. Il
was weak argument to bring forward, but
still no felt it was the only one he could
make 1t was quite dark when BE- had finished,
and while sitting in the twilight, looking
= ....a'n1ly at the sheets scattered al oyer nis