Waterbury evening Democrat., 1890-02-08

| IuctanI TO accept the smallest service Of
common courtesy at my hands. was
hurt as well as puzzled by this; and,
fbeing too young and timid to make
any further advances, the distance be-
tween me and the silent sad lady grew
! greater than ever.
| An attempt that Mr.. Rayner made a
few days after the above scene to draw
us together only sent us further apart.
tie came into the school-room lust as
Haldee and l were finishing the DAVIS
lessons, and dismissed her into the gar
den.
| The child is vsy like her mother
IN the face; don't you think sop'' said
he. But l am afraid she will never
have her mothers strength of intellect.
MY wife does not give herself the airs
OF clever woman. But you would
not have doubted it if you had known
her five years ago"
He was i'll one of those moods of
| alSaost embarrassing frankness, during
which the only thing possible was to sit
ana listen quietly, with such sparing
comment as would content him.
~ dare say" he continued, sit will
seem almost incredible to YOU, but she
| was one of the most brilliant takers /
| have ever met, and four years ago she
| wrote a book which took London by
| storm. Ii l were to tell you the asona
de pttnae under which She wrote.
you would be afraid of her, for it be-
came at once sort of proverb for dar-
ing OF thought and expression. We
had a little boy then''-his voice
seemed to tremble little-:.two years
older than Haidee. The two children
had been left in the country-in the
best OF care, mind-while my wife and
spent the season in town; it was a
duty she owed to society then as
one OF its brightest ornaments.
We heard that the boy was
not well; but we had no idea
that his lime was serious. Well
can scarcely speak of it even
now-the chilli died, after only two
days illness, away from US. 1t was on
her return from a ball that nv wife
heard of it. She sunk down into a
chair, dumb and shivering, without a
word or a tear When at last we sue
ceeded in rousing her from this state.
she took Off her beautiful iewels-you
have heard she was an heiress-and
flung them from her with shudder of
disgust. She has never looked at them
since.
He paused for few minutes, and I
sat waiting for him to continue, too
much interested to say much.
81 hoped that the depression into
which she sunk would wear off; but,
instead, it only grew deeper. After her
boy death, my wife would never even
visit town again. When Mona was
born, l hoped she would reawaken to
interest in life. Instead of that, her
apathy dcepened, until now, she raises
barrier between herself and the life
4fOnnI w IN, cf,
insurmountable. + have been looking
tor an opportunity to tell you this, Miss
Christie, as l was afraid you were
offended by her strange manner the
other day when you were reading to
her. When L came in, | thought YOU
looked rather frightened, and / sup
posed that something you had read had
recalled her grief, and perhaps led to
one of those outbreaks which some
times cause me the gravcst anxiety"
L understood what he meant; but
would not allow myself to appear
alarmed by the suggestion. Mr.. Rayner
went on:
II fancied I caught sight of wild
look In her eyes, which is sometimes /
called up in them by reference to the
past, or even by q sudden Yiytl flash of /
memory. AT such times only [. with |
the power of my long-tried affection.
can calm her instantly. Do not i'm
agine that she would ever be violent, |
but she might be incoherent enough to |
trighten you. Tell me, had she said !
anything that day before l came in !
which alarmed or puzzled your
mo, Mr.. Rayner; she scarcely spoke |
while read to her.
''Was there anything in what YOU
were reading likely to call up mem
ories OF the dreadful time to which l
have alluded?"
81 think not. No-none,'
81 need not warn you, Miss Christie,
to avoid all reference to that subject in
talking to her. still hope she may
recover her former health and spirits. |
and consent to move away from this
place Tor little change. 1 have often
begged her to do so. but so far without
success, can not bear to be harsh
with her, and there is an iron strength of
resistance in that woman of strong IN
tellect, but weak frame, which | can
not overcome. But believe me that
underneath all she has warm heart
still. And am sure you will spare a
little sympathy for me, condemned to
see the wife l adore living a shut-up
life, as it were, seeming to ignore the
undying affection of which she must
still be conscious"
There was something so vim. NC in
his voice and manner as he said these
last words that felt for the moment
even more sorry For him than for her,
and took the hand he held out as he
rose to g<, and looked up with all the
frank sympathy L felt. He seemed
touched bA it, for, as if by sudden i'm
pulse, he stopped and let his lips lightly
touch my hand; then, pressing it once
more in his, with look OF almost
grateful kindness, he left the room.
was little surprised by this demon
stration. which l thought rather out of
place to dependent. But he was an
impulsive man, the very opposite in all
things to his cold, statuesque wife, and
the union between them seemed some
times like bond between the dead and
the living,
When | thOuo ht over all that ha bod