Custer chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, Black Hills, D.T. [S.D.]) 1880-1890, 1889-06-08
CHAPTER X.

dr0n sat in the beautiful flower garden,
"a prey TO most anxious thoughts. The sun
was setting, the birds were singing in the
green depths Of the shady trees. He had
returned home early that evening, and
had found his wife, with q sad, pale face,
standing listlessly at the cottage window.
No tea was prepared for him, and the smile
that usually greeted him was absent from
her beautiful lips. He loved her too dearly
TO offer any remonstrance-he went up to
her and kissed her.
"You are not looking well to-day. Is
may he said, gently.
He was almost startled when she flung
her arms round his neck with a low pas
~sionate cry, and hid her face on his breast.
You are not well. lsmay," he repeated.
Never mind tea for me. Come out, and
viii try to cheer you. The room is warm;
come into the fresh air, and-oh, my dar-
ling, give me one bright look, or all the
world will be dark to me-"
AS they walked along he said to her:
81 cannot understand you, Ismay. You
are SO changed, you are so variable, my
darling, SO unlike your sweet, bright self.
One moment you are here, with your arms
clasped round my neck-loying, tender,
all hat my heart desires; the next you are
COO! and naughty, as though you were a
princess, and | your slave. At times you
seem to love me, aud then again you seem
TO hate me. one day | think you are per-
fectly happy-you smile and sing, and
your face is more beautiful than ever in
its sweet content; the next you are silent,
sad, %engrossed with melancholy thoughts.
cannot understand you. Are you with
holding any secret from me, IsmayT'
She clasped her arms round his neck,
and drew his face down to hers. She said
that he was the trnest, the dearest, the
best of husbands, aud that she loved him,
and ended with passionate tears.
He sighed deeply as he soothed her.
What had come To this lovely young wife
of his? He little dreamed Of the terrible
struggle going on in the heart he belle we'd
10 be all his own.
1t seemed to her that her very soul was
rent in twain; she longed with an intensity
OF longing for the wealth, the rank, the
position, the grandeur that had been de
scribed to her. She was not surprised at
what she had heard; there had always
been in her mind Il kind of intuitive
knowledge that her mother was n lady,
and that She herself was not In her right
place. II seemed so cruel that she should
be deprived of all the glorious advantages
she had l0nged for, because she loved her
husband and would not leave him.
now happy she would have been, In
stalled at Bralyn, mistress of that grand
mansionl How the great people of the
great world would have admired herl
What jewels, what dresses she would have
hadl No wonder that when she thought
ot 5li she had lost she grew sad, silent and
unhappy; the little cottage became un-
bearable then, the needful little econo.
mics most hateful, the husband for whom
she had sacrificed so much "a source Of
aversion.
Then a Sudden fit of remorse would
seize her; she would prove her love for
him by the most loving words, the most
tender caresses; she would laugh and sing,
all TO show him that she was happy; she
would utter a thousand e-xtravagances
about their little home and her affection
for it. And then would follow the reac-
ton, and she would be intensely wretched
again. And SO matters went on for three
long weeks, until her health began TO fail.
A noble woman, having once made the
sacrifice. would have abided by IL. She
wavered even while she believed herself to
be most firm. She looked i'll, her face was
always either flushed or white, her hands
trembled; she was nervous, hysterical, un-
like herself. In vain her husband tried
everything to please her; he was, If posi-
bic, more unhappy than herself.
it had been such a glimpse of Paradise
To her; now the gates were shut, and she
was debarred from entering. She had not
said one word to Paul; he was still in ut
ter ignorance. So the fourth week dawned
and she knew that before it had ended she
must be either rich without her husband
or poor with him.
In the meantime Mr.. Ford had told the
old lord all; he had painted the girls
beauty in vivid colors; he had described
her anger, her ~indignation; her resolve
never to leave her husband, never to break
his heart; he had delivered the message
word for word. Lord Carlswood smiled
grimly.
II like that he said: "it is the true
Carlswood spirit. But she will give in.
She seemed to waver at the last, you say,
She will give in. / have thought of a
plan, " he added, "You shall wait a month,
so as to give her time to think over all she
has lost, and then you shall go again, and
this time you shall invite her to Bralyn,
N0N SS~Oa' - hNiO, Lou Sudll DTluH IUe
boy too for a months visit-not the hus-
band, mind He cannot refuse my grand
child permission to visit nue.; and if She
comes | will undertake to say that she
will never go back. Let her once taste
such a life as she will lead here, and she
is mine"
Sorely against his will Mr.. Ford con-
sented. He went once more TO Ashburn-
ham, and found his way To the pretty cot
tage in the wood. lsmay's face flushed
deepest crimson when she saw him. She
held out her hands with a gesture almost
sublime in its despair.
You must not come to tempt me againr,
she cried. II an not strong. Pray leave
me"
Il am here only to invite you and yonr
son TO Bralyn,' he returned. Lord Carls-
wood will let the question Of adoption rest
for a time, but he wants to see YOU and
your little Lionel"
Not my husband?" she asked. with
whitening lips.
mo, he will not receive Mr.. Waldron.
1ou can please yourself, of course, as TO
accepting the invitation or not"
Il should like to 60" she said, eagerly.
II have longed to see a little Of the beauti-
full, great world. must go, and take my
boy with me. Tell me-tell me all about
Bralyn."
Ia aAyppfhal NIA 49, -