Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1891-06-04

child. How can I answer you"' The nun
was perpleXed.
True / will tell you. Sister Paul. ! am
five and twenty Years old. | am grown
woman and this Is no mere girl : love story.
Seven Years agO-l was only eighteen then
i was with my father, as ] have been
ever since. My mother had not been dead
long then-perhapS that is the reason why
] seemed to be everything to my father.
But they had not been happy together. ana
] had loved her best. We were travelling
no matter where-rnd then | net the man
have loved. He was not of our country
that Is. of my fathers. He was of the
same people rs my mother Well
loved him. How dearly YOU must guess
and try 10 understand. l could not
tell YOU that No one could. Il began
@tIdualiy. for he was often with us in those
days. My father liked him for his wit, his
learning, though lie WAS young, for his
strength ano manlinesS. for a hundred
reasons which We're nothing 10 me. |
would have loved him had he been Il cripple,
poor, ignorant. despised. instead of being
what lie waS-.the grandest. noblest man
God ever made For | did not love him for
his face. nor for his courtly ways, nor for
sulc;l gifts rs other men might have, but for
himself and for his heart-de You under
stand -
For his goodness" said Sister Paul,
uodding in approval u understand"
No Beatrice answered. half impa-
ticntly. Not for his goodness, either.
Many men are good. and 50 was he-he
must have been. of course. He loved me,
too And one day we were alone IN the
broad spring sun, upon terrace. There
were lemon trees there-I can see the
place Then we told each other that we
loved-but neither of US could find the
WordS-they must be somewhere, those
strong. beautiful words that could tell how
we loved. We told each other
Without your fathers CONSENT" asked
the nun, almost severely. Beatrice's eyes
flashed
is woman's heart dog that must fol-
low at heel" she asked. fiercely. We
loved. That was enough. My father had
the power, but not the heart TO come be-
tween us. We told linn then. for we We're
not towards. We told him boldly it must
be He was Il thoughtful man, who spoke
little He said that we must part ii once,
before we loved each other better-and that
we should soon forget. We looked at each
other, the MAJ | loved and l. We knew that
we should lore better Yet, parted or to-
gether. though we could not tell how that
could be. But we knew also that such love
as there was between US was enough. My
father gave no reasons but / knew that
h. hated the name of my mothers nation.
OF course we met again. l remember that
] could cry i'll those days. My father mad
not learned to part us then. Perhaps he
was not quite sure himself. at all events the
parting did not come so soon. We told MIN
that we would wait. forever if ii must be.
He may have been touched, though little
touched him at best. Then, one day sud
denly and without warning, he took me
away TO another city And what of him"
/ asked. He told me that there
was an evil fever in the city and
that had seized him-the man ! loved. He
is free TO follow us if he pleaSeS,' said my
father. But he never came. Then followed
a journey, and another, and another, until
knew that my father was travelling TO avoid
him When ] saw that, grew silent and
never spoke his name again. Farther and
farther longer and longer. 10 the end of the
earth. We saw many people, many asked
for my hand. Sometimes l heard of him,
from men who had seen him lately. 1
waited patiently for I knew that he was on
our track and sometimes l felt that he was
near;
Beatrice paused.
1T is strange story; said Sister Paul
who had already heard tale of love.
The strange thing IS this Beatrice an
swered. That woman-what is her name?
UnOrna2 She loves hin, and she knows
where he is.
..Cnorna?" repeated the nun in bewilder-
ment
YES. She met me after Compline to-
night. | could not but speak 10 her and
then was deceived. | cannot tell whether
she knew what l am 10 him, but she
deceived NE utterly. She told ME strange
story OF her own life. l was lonely. In
all these years have never spoken of what
has filled me- | cannot tell how il was. |
began to speak and then l forgot she was
there, and told all.
She made you tell her by her secret
arts" said Sister Paul in a low voice.
'.No-I was lonely and l believed that
she was good. and l felt that l must speak.
Them cannot think how l could have
been so mad-but I thought we should
never meet again, and I showed her
likeness of him. She turned on me.
shall never forget her face. l heard her
sasthat she knew him and loved him, too.
When | awoke was lying on the altar.
That is all l know
Her evil arts, her evil arts repeated
the nun, shaking her head. ''Come, my