The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1888-10-31

roy and John Vernon sat long in conver-
sation that evening.
Neither convinced the other.
The incipient friendship which had be-
gun to grow up between them had been
disturbed and diminished by the precipi-
fancy of the one and the opposition of the
other. Vernon considered himself dealt
with in bad faith and Guilderoy grew i'm
patient at the discomfort with which his
proposals were received.
"Does he think it would be a happier
fate to have all her youth pass away in
this little combe by the sea, with no
companions but the gulls and the rabbits ?"
he thought, with not unnatural sense
that the immense gifts brought in his own
hands were too little appreciated, whilst
yet he respected all the more a man who
accounted material and social advantages
as OF so little avail.
1t was in vain that he offered the most
princely presents TO her, and promised to
render her, so far as fortune went, wholly
independent of himself.
John Vernon heard all this with little
patience.
Il do not doubt your generosity or your
justice" he said more than once. II
have told you before, am convinced that
you are not man to injure or TO defraud
a woman. But against what | fear you
can give no possible guarantees. You
wish for Gladys at this moment as you
have wished for hundred women before
her and will wish for a hundred women
after her. You will tell me that you feel
different to her to what you have done TO
others, and no doubt you believe it; but
you are mistaken. You feel precisely the
apI nanripa will n
your other caprices have done"
''Will you not allow me even to know
my own emotions?" said Guilderoy with
anger. "And will YOU tell me what
greater proof any man can give OF the
honesty of his emotions than 10 desire to
make anyone his wife whom he lOves?"
THAT Is quite true" replied her father,
"and do not question your present SIM
cerity-I cannot do so in the face OF the
evidences YOU are willing to give of it.
But do not think that your emotions are
of the kind you fancy them, and | am
wholly certain that my poor child will not
have the knowledge, the character, or the
education in her which could alone enable
a woman to keep her hold on the affections
OF such a man as you. Remember what
the Master OF Love said -
Ut Lewis, absumtis paulatim. viribus, ignis
Ipse latet, summO candet in igne cinis;
Sed tamen eXtinctaS, admOtO sulphure, tammas
Invent, ct lumen, quod fuit ante, redit.
Nv child will not know how to throw
the sulphur over the fading flames, and
and your fire will die out on her al
tar"
"I am tired of the sirens who throw the
sulphur" replied Guilderov. 'Et puer
ct nudus est amor L want the innocence
of supreme youth and the divine nudity
of soul which has nothing to conceal.
Give them to me and l will respect
them"
John Vernon sighed impatiently and
abandoned the argument.
He did not doubt the entire good faith
of his companion, but he was none the
less certain of the truth of his own pre-
dictions. Guilderoy wished for these
things as a child wishes for playthings, but
they would have no more power to secure
his constancy than the toy to charm the
child for ever. But with love, as with
anger, he knew that it was q waste of
breath to argue.
GuilderOy read the last letter of Beatrice
Soria many times when he sat in the soil
tude of the library on the evening of that
day. 1t did not touch his heart; it dis
turbed his temper. 1t made him feel
blamable and selfish, but it did not make
MIN teeI regret1ul or repentanC. lie lald the
paper down before him under the light,
and then looked up from it to the window
far Oh, where Gladys had sat a week or
two before and he had held the great
missal upon her knee.
The embrasure of the window was
shrouded in the dark velvet curtains
which the servants head drawn at night
fall. but he seemed to her tall, slender,
STOPPING form seated there. her golden
haired head, her face with its first sudden
blush. He was not in love with her; no,
it did not seem to him that even vet his
new feeling merited that name, but be
was haunted bv the thought of her, dis
tressed by the desire of her. She was un-
like anything of her sex that he had ever
known, and she seemed already part of
Ladysrood like its marble figures of Flor
ence and its old sweet roses of France.
He hesitated no more, but drew pen and
paper to him and began TO answer the let
ter which lay under his hand. 1t was not
an easy task. To say to woman who
loves him that he not only loves her no
longer, but has transferred his allegiance
elsewhere, is painful TO any man who has
a conscience and memory.
He had those vague sentiments OF in
clination to the refreshment of repose, of
pure affections, and of family ties which