The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1890-12-21
4 ROMANCE OF TWO BROTHERS.
BY EDGAR FAWCETT.
lcoprrlght lspo By Eagar Faweett.l

PRAYER. There were moments when her
strained mind came near breaking its
bonds of sanity and reellng into that
sort of Medea-Iike bloodshed which now
and then bespatters the columns of our
newspapers Her sufferings increased as
those four little childish ears grew fnaturer
and more receptive Maynard would be
sure to try and impregnate the hearts of
either son with his devilish theories.
There began 10 glimmer hope concerning
Sylvan, however. The lad showed signs of
having inherited his mothers religious
temperament. Georgina felt that the de-
votions which she imposed upon him were
far from unwelcome. Gerald. on the other
hand, would often yawn and pout with an
irreverence that seemed full OF dark fore
bodings to the vigilant maternal eye.
Meanwhile Maynard, who had been
blameworthy for not having told his sweet
heart that he was quite without all conven-
tionai creed until the law had made them
one, now acquitted himself amiably and
gently in the extreme. Perhaps the bitter
est thing that he said to his wife for long
period after their marriage was the follow
ing chain OF sentences, delivered more IN
depression than reproach:
well, Georgina, | suppose there's no
use my asking you TO sponge on the slate
and begin all over again. You probably
think some things are there which no
sponge can wipe out. And upon my word,
with you. Only, they're not all marks of
my making, heaven knows.
''Heayen!' she repeated. What
strange word from your lips, Eg6ertl Do
you believe in oneY"
who is so deYout,n he answered, mot
sometimes TO Ind such faith very hard? ~
"0h, ! won't listen 10 abominable
thoughts like thosel" cried Georgina.
hurrying toward the door. She paused be-
fore quitting the room and hurled forth
angrily AT her husband: AS ii any bet
ter proof of Heavens goodness were
wanted, Egber; Maynard, than that you're
permitted to stand there and insult Ii
without being struck dead.
What conceivable satisfaction would
there BE FOR it in striking me dead, began
Maynard. eff. as you state" But she
had aed from his profane presence and so
he left the sentence diminished.
he did not usually wound her like this;
he indeed sedulously avoided doing so.
She was always ready with some attack,
peevish or irate. One summer day, few
months later, some compulsory visit of
courtesy took them past the immense pill
Jared pile of Marylebone church. Gushing
in rich umbrage from behind their solemn
brick walls, rose the maple trees. plenteous
and vocal: through the iron bars of old
gateways the passer could glimpse occa-
sional gardens radiant with geTanium
and rose. Bathed in the moist, silvery air
Of an English June, over this entire quar-
ter brooded . witchery not woven by
beauty alone. You felt that behind those
dingy walls 4 prodigious amount of life
must have lived, perhaps some of IL poetic
or dramatic-and that the murmurS of the
big boughs overhanging those secluded
doorways might mean some sort of airy
saga concerning il. The dusky and stately
church with all the huge eolumnar sohri-
ETY. of lis architecture, and with the beg
CARS and other loungers along its steps,
gave to the suns bright search many
steel gray or smoky tint which gloomier
weather would have left hid.
Maynard, though OF late his days had
become more than ever dedicated to sci
ence, loved the pictorial element in things
with hearty fondness. How gloriously
sunshine and good weather improve this
town Of oursi he said to his wife as they
strolled onward. 81 don't believe there is
a more fascinating part of London than
just this strip OF road; and, as for the eff
feet OF that sedate old church Wonder. il is
simply enchanting in the absence of cloud,
fog or rain"
Georgina gave a panied start. What"
she gueried, with grim irony. 'You ad-
mire church under any circumstances,
Eghert! I'm greatly astoniShed 10 hear
You say the least good word for one"
Maynard sighed in wearied way, and
touched her arm ii transient remon-
STRANGE.
''Georgina," he appealed, "will you a.
ways keep harping on our different views?
Lots of husbands live happily with their
wives though as opposite from one an
other IN creed as pole from pole"
Greed ," she returned, with sQllen
hardness. II did not know that you had
any creed whatevern'
He laughed propitiatingly. "WelI, I
haven { in YOUR sense. But, come now,
you've the best of one; you've got the
children 10 bring up in your own faith,
let You do il. | don't try 10 make the
little chaps agnostics That's 2 conces-
sion surely. Why, look at our neighbors,
the Mosqueras. He's Spanish Catholic;
she's an English EpiScopalian. Yet he
forces her 20 bring up their two girls and
three boys with tremendous respect for
mass, confession, and all the Roman ca
mons. Am | not right?"
''oh, quite right
And are they not 4 couple who get on
eha-ningly together? You must grant
that they do"
4 grant IT," acceded Georgina, though
tartly, and with the tips Of her lips. But
You forget one point: Lydia Mosquera
married her husband, Englishwoman and
Church -of-England woman though she
was, with full understanding Of his true
tenets. Senor Mosquera never deceived
her before marriage.
Georgina pronounced those last two
words with 2 most telling emphasis
Maynard dropped his head little. and
they walked along IN silence for several
seconds, till st last he said, softly and
almost desparlngly, while the sweet
breeze rustled the naples and those mon
stroUS argosleS of white cloud which
Turner and Constable painted in such per-
fiction rolled overhead through the lucid
azure:
4 understand you. You mean never TO
forgive"
These words were at onee 4 challenge
and 4 resignation. From that day May
naTd finally understood the lnaexihle
posture OF his wife. de attempted no
further expostglation. He devoted him.
60 S9-