Devils Lake inter-ocean. (Devils Lake, Ramsey Co., Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1905, 1889-02-16

mad sonaethIne to do With i1. I MINK II was
my 2l0.000, tor once I had a whole 10000
Of my own Ny poor mother left it me,
and It was. tied up 90 that my father could
not touch IT. Well, Of course, when l mar.
rted my husband would not have any settle
msnts, and % be took It, every farthing.n
"And what did he do with itf'
"Spent It upon rome other woman In Lon.
don-most Of 1t. Hound him out; be gave
her Thousands Of pouudaat once"
well, ! should not have thought that Of
him" said be, with a laugh.
She paused q moment and covered her facs
with her hand, and then wsnt on: III you
oaly knew. Edward; II you had the taintest
Idea what my life was till q year and q half
ego. WHEN I first saw you, you would pity mo
and undssstand why I am bad, and passion
ate, and Jealous, and everything that ! ought
not to bA lnsvsr had any happiness az q
girl; how could | In such a home as oursi
And then almost before 1 was a woman ]
was handed over to that man. Oh, how I
hated him, and what lenduredI"
"Yes, It can't have been very pleasant"
"Pleasant-but there, We have done with
each other now-we don't even speak much
except In public; that's my price for holding
my tongue about the lady in London and
one or " other little things-so what is the
use Of talking Of 1T It was q horrible
nightmare, but It has gone. Aud then, y she
went on. fixing her beautiful eyes upon his
face, ''then l saw you, Edward, and for the
first time In my life learned what love was,
and ] think that no woman ever loved like
that beforei Other women have had rome
thing to carr for In their lives; l never had
anything til! l saw you. It may be wicked.
but It's trua."
He turned slightly away aud said nothing.
"And yet, dear" she went on, In q low
votce, ~ think II has been one Of the hardest
things Of a!l-my. love for sou. For. Ed.
ward" aud she rose aud took his hanL and
looked into bis face with her soft eyes full Of
tears, II should have liked to be q blessing to
sou aud not q curse, a~nd-end-a cause Of
sln. Oh. c .ward, | should have made sou
such q good wife. no man could have had q
better. and ! would have helped you. too. for
! am not such a fool a. l seem. and now |
saall do nOt!lin. but bring trouble upon sou:
know | shall. And it was ,ly fault, too
at Ieast. most Of it. Dout ever think that l
deceive myself, for | don't; | led sou Oh, l
know | did, | meunt to-therol Think inc as
shameless Us you llke. / meant to from, the
1rst. Aud no good can come of it, | klow
that. although | would not ave it undone.
No good cpn ever come Of what Is wrong. l
may lie very wicked, but I know that'-and
she began to cry outright.
This was too much for Edward Cossey,
who, as any man must, had been much
touched by this unexpected outburst. "Look
here, Belle" no blurted out on the impulse Of
the moment, II am sick and tired'of all this
sort Of thing. For more than u year my life
has been nothing but a living lie, and | can't
stand 1t. and that's a fact. l tell you what
it is: | think We had better just take the
train to Paris and go of at once, or else give
it all up. 1t is impossible to go on living in
this atmosphere OF continual %falsehood."
She stopped crying. do you really care
for me enough for that, EdwardP' she said.
"Yes, yes" he said, somewhat impatiently;
you can see do or l should not make the
offer. Say the word and III do it,"
She thought for q moment, and then looked
up again. mo" she said, 'no, Edward"
"WhyT' he asked. "Are you afraidg"
"Afraidr she answered, with a gesture Of
contempt, ''what have | to be afraid Oft Do
you suppose that such q woman as l am has
any care for consequencest We have got
beyond that-that il for ourselves. But we
can still feel q little for others. 1t would
ruin you to do such a thing. socially and in
every other way. You know that you have
often said that your father would cut you out
Of his will il you compromised yourself and
him like that"
"Oh, yes, he would do that. am suro Of
it. He would never forgive tho scandal; no
has a hatred Of that sort Of thing. But !
could get a TOW thousands ready money, and
wo could change names and 20 or to
some colony OF somothiug."
ut is very good Of you to say co." she
said, humbly. II don't deserve 1t, aud I will
not take advantage Of sou. You win be
sorry that you made tho offer by tomorrow.
Alb. yes, l know it Is only because L cried.
No. we must 60 on as we arc until the end
comes, and then you can discard me; for all
the blame will follow mo, and | shall deserve
it. too. for I am older than you. you know,
and a woman; and my husband will make
some money out Of you. and then It will all
30 forgotten, and l shall have had my day
and 60 my own way to oblivion. like thou.
sands Of other unfortunate women before me.
and 1t will be ell tho am a hundred yeara
hence, don't you sect But. Edward, remember
ons thing. Don't play mo any tricks, for l
am not Of the eort to bear it. Have patience
and wait for the end. for these things cannot
las: very long, and ! shall never be a burden
on you. Don't desert me or make me Jealous,
ton ! cannot bear it. ! cannot. indeed, and