Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1891-07-16
CHATTER XIX.
pESIrENr wo,fGs.

The events of that dreadful day fell
with crushing weight on Mrs. Warning
ham s.. ~
During the night which followed after
the scene in Singers, HaIl=shs7 had not
found moments sleep A tffonsand DIFF
ferent emotions struggled h-eaeh
other in her breast. Love, perverse
stubbornness, the blandishments=of the
senses battled against. fear, coRselence,
and Womanly virtue. But atzsns3Zthe
latter emotions remained thes.9sters,
and Lucy issued from that fierca mental
contest better woman than Sue had
ever been before fEF
Yes, she would renonnce forever that
love which she had no right to feel. She
had done wrong and was willing to sub
NIT to the penalty Wrong shezhad
done, first, when sho gave her hand=fe
the man she did BOT 1--we and let herseH
be bribed by wealth or station A life
by the side of an unloved man would
have been punishment enough for her.
But she became guilty of a wrong far
worse. What penalty copldzbe- too Sc
we're for her? -
Then she heard Of Count Hohenfeas
sad death. II putt new resolution 10
a severe test, but she cong aered.ZT That
love was dead for her before It's object
had come to so miserable en- ells II
must be dead for her. 80 she pressed
her hand against her tkr0ehiag heart
and not 4 tear was allowed TO z listen IN
her eyes. --t li-il'i 80 = Ssss~szssz-
There was ono moment, ho1Sevef.
for which she looked with fear and
dread. How should she ever appear
again before the husband she had be-
trayed? Should she throw herself at his
feet, as Magdalen did before the Lord,
and crave his forgiveness? Would he
I. =.
forever?
Then she,wss told-that her husband
had shot himself dead. The blow was
too much for her-she fell senseless on
the floor. 49,
When she regalned consciousness she
was cheered by u ray of hope. Ralph
was not dead, but he lay in a severe
fever, which might make an end of his
life from moment to moment. ---
Never had man a moro faithful. n
more devoted nurse in his sickness than
had Ralph Warringham in his fHithless
wife. Not for n moment would she
leave his bedside. and when, after nights
and days of watching, nature would de-
mand her rights, she caught a light
sleep in an armchair in the sick-room,
ready to start at the slightest motion Of
the patient
But he knew not whose hand it was
that smoothed his pillows. and admins
tered the cooling potion to his fever
| parched tongue. For more than two
weeks he did not have a moment of con-
| sciousneSs. His mind wandered in dis
| connected flights of diseased magma
ton, but it was not on her whom he had
loved so passionately that he called to
comfort him. He seemed constantly to
think of his cousin, Hattie Beekford.
At first Luey's pride -rejoieed at this,
as if she had detected traces of infideuty
in his heart also that wonld Justify hers
But presently she sternly rebuked her
self for the thought What, right had
she TO be Jealous? She would meekTy
accept the pangs she felt when Hattie's
name came over his lips as an additional
well-deserved penalty. - =.
In this state of mind she did not suf-
fer a much US she would have other
wise, when one day Hattie Beelkford
appeared in person and claimed q share
in the nursing of Ralph Warringham.
The quiet, mild, maidenly beauty Of
Hattie's pure mind soon seemed to the
poor, troubled heart of Lucy Warning
ham as that OF one who was as far SUI
perior to her as a goddess is to women of
mortal mold. In the intensity OF her
penitence she delighted in humiliating
herself, and soon learned TO worship. the
young girl with ths fervor of n deYotee
soft a nature 10 feel. the scorn which
female virtue of a harsher kind exhibits
against the fallen Of her sex Besides,
the consciousness that in another re-
speet she herself was not without guilt
So she learned to love-lil1e a sister the
woman who had once been her rival for
the love Of him she held dearest in all
the world ~.
Lucy, with the acuteness of the wom-
an, sharpened by the training and expe-
rience Of the actress, soon discovered the
unuttered secret OF Hattie.s heart ~ 8,
Then she gradually, with many fear
full mental struggles, with many hot
tears and feryent prayers, came to a
resolution that would give the crOWning
emphasis to the sincerity of her peni-
tence- ..-.... .-. ---..---
If Ralph recovered, and there was at
least a weli-grOunded confidence, would
not she be the only obstacle 10 the happy
union of him with Hattie?. That Obsta-