San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1890-11-07

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you may grudgingly accept some small
kindnesses: l hardly know. l only
know that you accept none from me-
This speech was made bluntly and
perhaps little roughly, and after it
there followeda dead silence, during
which, without consulting her, he
turned out of the village street into a
side road that led back, though by
circuitous way, to Mrs. Coulson's cot
tage. She followed his lead here with
out saying anything. and they walked
on side by side for forty or fifty yards
without speaking. Then at last she
broke the silence.
Il think you are not just to me-" she
said. IF my case were common one
you might fairly reproach me for trying
as / acknowledge that L do try-tO
live without making friends; but you
know very well mine is not a common
case. How can l ever be with you on
equal terms? You come to me with
your open hands and open hearts,-but
what right have to receive from you
what cannot give you back again?
You know that my reserve about my
past life is no accidental reserve; it is
no mere habit of silence that may be
broken through at any moment; you
know at any rate-whether the others
know or not-that there is something
that has happened to me that l will not
tell you. That secret of mine is Bit
ter fact-a most bitter fact to me; and
as long as it exists land it will always
exist how can you be angry with me"
land she looked round to him as she
said this with her passionate sad eyes)
IF l do not take from you what happier
women might freely allow themselves to
take?"
And then, when he did not answer
her at once
Cannot you understand that day
may possibly come when you may learn
my secret" she said, land that l owe
it both to myself and to you to act now
so that, if that day should ever come,
you shall not need to turn round and
reproach me for having led any of you
into an intimacy with me that had no
right either to ask or acceptp"
'Will you take my answer to all this
in one word?" he said gravely, after a
moments silence. II gave you the same
answer some time ago: l give it you
again now-I trust YOU"
1t was bright, crisp, frosty day. Vel
low leaves were hanging still upon the
trees, but the pools were frozen, and
Mr.. DuIstan's footsteps as they walked
rang on the hard ground. A market
cart passed them with its load of vegeta-
bles; boy came whistling along the
pathway, and stopped his whistling to
touch his cap to Mr.. Dunstan as he
went by; then both cart and boy passed
out of sight, and they had the road and
the clear sky and the wintry sunshine
to themselves again.
IF | choose to trust you, :" he went on
again (She had not replied to him: per-
haps-and possibly he knew this-she
had not been able to trust herself to re-
ply, IF choose to trust you, does not
that relieve you from all responsibility
in the matter? Do what l ask you to
do, and let your secret be what it may,
you shall be free from any blame from
me or mine. Look-I promise you that.
will repeat to no one as yet what |
am saying to you, but if time should
ever come when you shall need to de-
fend yourself from any charge of having
become more intimate with us than you
had right to be, then Twill say to who
ever may accuse you what have said
to you now, and l will take the whole
blame of the matter upon myself, so
that not a shadow of it shall rest upon
your head. Will you believe this?" he
said. I'm return for my trust in you,
will you not trust met"
What can say toyOuw she answer
ed in a voice that tried to be steady, but
that could achieve what it attempted so
little that in the effort to add something
more it fairly broke down.
Say nothing but that you will do
what / ask you"
And then, after few moments
Il will do it," she said.
Softly as she spoke, still there was
something almost of passion in the tone
of the few words. 1t was as if she had
cried suddenly to herself-'I will resist
temptation no longer l am cold, and
they offer me kindness and warmth. l
will take what they offer me, let it cost
what it may!' She hardly indeed
thought this in so many words, but as
she said that little sentence it was, in
effect, to her as if she had unlocked the
door of some self-imposed prison.
you will? That is right, then" he
merely answered heartily. And then,
not being man who in any matter of
feeling was given to use unnecessary
words, probably in the next moment he
would have changed the subject of their
talk, contented with having gained his
main point, and willing to leave all the
rest to be settled by his women; but she
was too full of what he had said, and
too deeply moved by it, to be able at
once, as he could, to turn aside and
speak of something else. She let mo-
ment or two pass, and then
Il will do it,-thOugh l am wrong to
do it," she said. II know L am wrong
and yet what else can do? When
you ask this as a proof that trust you,
you make me powerless to refuse
az am very Glad that I do - ha said -