The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1889-01-02

she had run along by that sweetbrier
hedge in the sunshine, no taller than itself,
/ happy, careless, fair-haired child, fresh
as rose washed in shower" And she
/ was here-a great lady an unhappy wO-
man; jealous and almost deserted wife
I He had foreseen it all himself, but his
I past prescience of it made its sorrow none
I the lighter.
Gladys sighed wearily.
! Like all persons OF poetic and ardent
mind her ideals in youth had been high
/ and romantic; the man who had knelt at
I her feet in the library of Ladysrood with
the Hore on her knee and the sunlight
! through the painted panes falling on his
handsome head, had seemed to her lover,
knight, and hero all In one. And what
bad she found him? Only master, neg
ligent yet exacting; indifferent yet arbi-
trary; restless, hard to please, and quite
impossible to content; who took his in
finite social and personal charms else
where; who spent his time and his pas
sions with others, and who considered
that he had fulfilled all the obligations of
his position to her when he had given her
his houses to direct and his family jewels
to wear.
''Yes, my dear" John Vernon said in
own silence; ''you make the common mis-
take of all women. You think that the
gilt Of yourself gives you claim to the.
mans eternal affections. 1t does not. 1t
cannot. l know this seems harsh to you,
and cruel. But il is the law of sex. Here.
and there are mes d elite, who suffice
wholly and solely, physically and mem
tally, to each other; but they have not
met early in life, and they have not mar
ried each other. Where marrige is hos
tile 10 love, is that it substitutes material
gifts OF worldly goods. worldly advan-
tages, worldly positions, gifts OF houses
and money and land, for the sweet, spon-
taneOus gifts OF the passions and the atfec-
tions. In savage races the man can treat
his wife how he will, because ne has given
so many ponies or cattle, or buffalo skins
for her In civilized life he feels, in the
same way, that he has paid Tor her in ma
terial matters, and so is absolved from
other and more spiritual payment. There
Is something to be said for the mans
views, only where is the woman who will
ever perceive or admit it -
But all this he could not say 10 her.
IF you have living children you Will be
happier" ne said aloud. as the only sug-
gested consolation of what he could think.
Her face flushed, and she rose and
pulled the shoots of the sweetbrier i'm
petuouslv off their stalks.
Il shall never have children" she said
in a low and sullen voice. do you sup
pose that l would live with him-without
his love-only because he wishes for legit-
innate offspring? Cannot YOU under
stand? I have made him know that ever
since-ever since-I first felt that he did
not care for me"
And he accepts the position p
when I tell you that he does not
care ~
The color burned in her cheeks; a dark
cloud OF anger hung over the fairness OF
her face.
"One sees 1t in the world, know, she
continued; "wor-en who 90 on bearing
children year after year to men whom
they know care nothing for them, but they
must be without spirit or senses, or dig
nitv OF delicacy; they must be the wretch
ed beasts of burden that your Griseldis
was" .-----------------l
Her father looked at her with infinite
pain.
1T is worse than 1 thought" he said
briefly. Il do not know how far he may
be 70 blanche has never opened his
heart TO me, and L cannot judge I
do not think that Won cherish the spirit
whic h can bring happiness either to you
or him And [ do not think that YOU
have any right TO refuse that natural bur
den of maternity, which, however little
you knew of life then, YOU still knew
would be your portion il You married
him"
The moment that he has ceased tolOve
me, he has set me free from all such obli-
cations, she said passionately. My lit
tie children lie in their graves. When I
shall lie with them he can have others by
some other woman, who will be moro
grateful for his gifts and his position than
l am.
''You pain me, Gladys" said Vernon,
with a sigh
II cannot help it, she replied, selfish
with that concentration OF self which the
sufferings OF the heart and passions always
entail.
''When ] am with you" she said With
the tears rising to her eyes, 81 am in much
what I used to be. ! feel your influence.
! believe as you believe in the power of
seli-sacrifice and patience. But leave ali
the good you do me within this little gate.
| cannot carry it out into the world. There
/ am only foolish, jealous, embittered,
made cold or made wicked, one hour this,
one hour that. In the world ! see that
d.
Why should l not find it if l can? One of
your classic writer's says somewhere that a
woman has always one power OF ven
geance. Sometimes | feel that | will try
and reach his pride with that, since l can
touch in no better way his heart"
Vernon was silent for some moments;
he understood all the conflicting impulses
at war within her, and ne was at once too
merciful and too wise to meet them with
the empty conventional arguments Of
what is called in the world morality He
believed, like Aubrey, that it is only by
the affections that women can or should
be ever led.
"Other women have done that" he said,
at last. and have repented it all their lives
long.
Graviora quedam sunt remedia periculis.'
We cannot wound what we love without
wounding ourselves more profoundly still;
and to dishOnor ourselves because we feel
ourselves humiliated seems to me the act
of Madness; it would be as wise 10 cut our
thrOats because the cold makes our hands
ache on a winters day. By what you tell
me, you have set free your husband by
your own choice; you cannot complain if
he construes his liberty with mans lib
eral and loose reading of the word. You
have been too quick TO consider Yourself
neglected, and too quick to repudiate your
rkf