News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1888-01-26

and to ask your pafaon 1or having de-
ceived you.
s.The deception has not affected us
, much" said my mother. "Your sister
would have been quite as welcome here
under her true name. How did such a
t plan enter your head, Winifred2 What
, suggested it to you 2"
TT was only on our way through Lon
don that [ thought of it, said Freda.
''Mabel and [ went into jays to buy
{ hats, and while We were choosing them,
[ saw q little WILLOWS bonnet on the ia
/ Bile, and / tried it on. 1t suited me ex-
actly, and Mabel said: What pity you
! are not widow, Freda! you look so nice
, in weeds, and if you were, we should
both be far more independent than we
can be as young ladies. The idea of pre-
tending to be a-fsidow came into my
mind then, and thought it would be
fessoa fun MaGel 1 3il-2lot- Iiii1a !. but
made her consoas We bought a widows
cap and bonncty we. were already in
mourning for grandfather, and { deter
mined to call myself Morton. It really
is my name-Winifred Morton Heath.
We talked so much to each other about
Mr. Morton that we came half to believe
in him, and to be rather fond of him.
cult it would be to keep up the pretense,
or how many lies we should have to tell.
I was many time longing to tell you the
truth, but [ was afraid"
81 am sorry you did not, my dear"
said my mother gravely. "However;
that cannot be helped now. Did YOU
expect your brother?"
''No, not at all. His coming was quite
| To IL
the drawing room, and found me in
widows cap''-she laughed somewhat
Historically.
"You must have been startled, Mr.
Heath?"
II was startled at first" he said, ''and
when I learned the truth / was shocked.
[ did not think either of my sisters
would have been capable of such syste-
matte deceit. [ was determined that
at least would not be q party to it.
This visit is also to say good d-bye, Mrs.
Leslie he added. ''NIy sisters accom-
pany me to London this evening. They
will scarcely find Longmede pleasant
residence, once the truth is known. I
am remaining in England for year,
and for that time, at least, they are
better with me. / cannot understand
why" he added, ''you were so ready to
assume that / was-the late Mr.. Nor
ton." with an expression that made him
for the moment like Freda.
owe saw your photograph h,' I said,
hesitatingly.
"Did she show me as Morton2" he
asked.
"Mabel did"
81 beg your pardon" said Mabers
grave voice. .'You assumed that the
portrait was that of Freda's husband,
and did not contradict you. You were
SO much struck by the photograph, I
remember, and rather scandalized at
Freda's having survived her loss"
It was now my tura to looked con-
fused under the amused scrutiny of Mr..
Heath's brown eyes.
The Heath's soon after went away,
leaving Hilda and ME much saddened,
both bT their departure and the man
her of it,
Poor Edmund, I said, "what
must write and teIl'him the truth. Per-
haps he has not yet finally arranged to
sail in the Venetia."
'My DEAR" said my mother very ener-
get;cally, 81 would rather a thousand
times that he smiled in the Venetia than
that lie married that deceitful girl. Her
conduct shows q want of honor and
principle such as [ should be sorry to
see in Edmunds wife. -
Nevertheless; 1 thought it due to Ed
mund to let him know the state of af-
fairs. The only notice taken of the
communication was a postscript in the
next letter to my mother: ''Ten Rose [
received hers of the 22d"
We had heard nothing Of the Heaths
after they left Longmede. In the sur
prise and confusion of our parting we
had forgotten to ask them to keep us in
formed of their movements, while they
probably felt chary of writing under the
circumstances.
At the end of o ysar Edmund came
home; looking older and browner, his
quiet, reserved manner suiting him bet
ter now than it did in his boyish days.
He had bought a practice III little town
on the south coast and intended settling
there. The first time he and [ were
alone he asked if | knew anything of
the Heaths. | was somewhat ashamed
to confess that did not.
You and Hilda imagined yourselves
attached to those girls, | believe,
$50 we were, but mother was SO much |
annoyed ut the deceit"
"a mere bit of childish masquerading
undertaken without considering the con-
sequences. do not know how you call |
it by such hard name as deceit"
II have often felt sorry since that we
did not ask their address. Do you think |
you could find it out, Edmund"
81 have found it out. met Australian
friends of Heath'5 on board ship, who |
gave it to me.
"Have you seen Sthem?''
"Not yet. L came first to my mother"
"Give me the address and [ will write !
to Freda."
Gas you did without news of them for
SO long, you can exist without it little
longer. You shall have the address
soon"
Edmund went away in day or two
on business, and about O week later
there came Il letter announcing his en-
gagement to Miss Heath. Poor mother
was in great troubleRt the news, and we
had considerable trouble in persuading
her to look upon the former escapade as
mere childishness, and not as sign of
innate depravity.
A little before the wedding, I went to
stay with the Heaths at Kensington.
Freda was looking pale and thin, but
very happy.
"'Rosie, she said, as soon as she had
got me into a corner by ourselves, 'I
have been punished for my deceit all
through the past year..
"Punishedl"
81 have been so unhappy. I thought
he was as dis9usted with me as the rest
of you, and that | should never see him
again.
"Then you loved him all the time ?"
eyes. [ used to think I should never
care for any one as much as [ did for
Richard, and now Mabel is going with
Richard and I am staying behind.
"My mother did not go to Edmunds
wedding; but she was very kind and
to Freda when the Young
people came to stay at Longmcde. She
confidel to me, however, that she could
never look at her daughter n-law with
out remembering the widows cap in
which she had first seen her"
''lt seems to me an omen," she said.
That was many years ago, however,
and no shadow of the widows cap has
fallen on Freda's golden head. The
gold is still Undimmed, | believe, but
this | only know from hearsay, not hav-
ing seen my sister-in-law since the day
on which I, Rose Heath, sailed from
Southampton with Mabel and her
brother - Cttssel's Ndgazine