The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1891-01-04
CHAPTER XIV.

cha Is nv goods, my cnatueiS- SIG 10 my
~ bbonsebold stuff. my field, my barn,
~ horse. my OK. my ass, my anything.
Tins husband and wife found themselves
.,ona t,gether for the first time since the
..Darston at York by mutual consent.
T,r 8 few seconds there was silence be-
.rsan them. They stood like two combat
.nt. nreparing for duel in which quarter
-ror,d be neither given or taken-Sir Regi-
..n with his eyes fixed with look OF
triumph on Winifred, who appeared, in
d.o3 outwardly calm, though the quick,
t,o.tbless expansion of her delicate nostrils
,nd tba hurried swell of her bosom told OF
,bs strong self-control she was exercising to
,ostraiu the emotions excited by the pres
.Doa NJ her husband. The agitation under
vbi,1 she was laboring immeasurably
h;rbaned her beauty and aided fuel to her
bn,band's desire to recover his lost domin-
ion over her.
The condition of the atmosphere was
electrical when, at last, the silence was
broken by Winifred:
"What is the meaning of this intrusion"
,be cried, her beautiful eyes flashing with
resentment.
softly, softly, my lady!" returned Sir
Reginald. "Your dramatic poses and
abusive epithets are less to me than the idle
wind. You have used some harsh language
but there, let US say no more about that,
Iforgive you"
"You forgive me p cried Winifred, scorn-
fully. 1.-THE forgiveness, is on my side, |
think. My accusation is true. If you had
not been a common gambler and cheat-if
you had not tried to drag me into counte-
nancing your villainous practices-l would
have remained your wife, though l know
now that you have never taught my heart
to love. have called you a liar, and by
what other term can you be described when
you make compact and break it9 You
agreed that if ever we were brought face TO
face again we should meet as strangers.
You demanded that I would not interfere
with your plans, and you pledged yourself
not to interfere with mine You required
that should renounce your name, and you
swore dreadful oath to leave me unmo-
Tested. How have you kept your worda
You are false and perjured as all towards
are"
1t cost Winifred severe struggle to re-
press her outraged feelings and keep the
tones of her clear, vibrant voice to the con-
vocational level. She had q horror of a
shrewish tongue, and she felt that any ex-
hibltion OF temper would have abased her
in her own eyes. But she succeeded in
Keeping herself well in hand, and the quiet.
unfinching dignity with which she deliv-
eEed herself OF her passionate reproaches
told on her husband even more than her
words, and stung him to the quick.
Sir ginald felt that her accusations
were true, and every taunt that she had
RVeied against him was justified by his
perhdy. The spell cast over him on seeing
claude Maclean's ''Helen of Troy" ha in
amed him with mad longing to make his
own the beauty that had created so much
lever in his blood. The later discovery that
the model who had sat to the artist was his
own wife had not demped the ardor Of his
new born longing. The revelation served
only to point the way to a more rapid
schleVement of his wishes, and led him. to
congratulate himself on the good fortune
lst enabled him to di 'pense with the tedi-
Jus lormailtleS of a courtship with its I'M
certain results. The woman he coveted for
als own as his wife, over whom the Law
gave him power to fulfill his will to the ut
IFm2st. Had he not the right to command
her obedience?
Inc turthe' discovery that Winifred's
ipvsuty surpassed all that Claude's picture
lSl sought to convey acted like oil to flames
9Mpnng to the violence of MS passions
:, Mist he WINGED uader her accusations
nAe cur trembling under the lash, the ex-
quS'e chlseling of his wife's face, which
was OF the purest Greek type, and the
s.aceiul curves of he fine figure that &C
qured new and subtler charm from her
ssAueaVors to suppress the highly wrought
tteelngs under which she spoke rivetted The
!e'Iers which held him a bond.save to her
Iapreme loneliness. As she stood before
t HIn with her eyes flashing, her Hebe-llke
~o 'SiS or com alexion, and her superblv
tuOIueu form, the sense of her beauty in
SG1cated him, and the fire that ragged within
u-lu manifested itself in prolonged gaze of
pass onate intensity.
NOR was this all. Sir Reginald Denison
"as nlled with O furious jealousy of his
W %n e. he had seen her folded il the arms
Caqde Maclean, and her lips kissed by
a sin; de had heard her confess her love for
,l. 9SOnS pdluLeT, even WnllSG she de-
"a Jared that there was an insupe able Gar to
s sasIr union. Oily he feeling That he en-
S% a for his personal safety in a ply
sIai encounter with the stalwart artist,
SSuo 70 the beauty of Greek god com
oneo the frame Of Hercules, enhbled him
~ refrain from the attempt to wreck
~ jealous enmity on the head of the man
'I9 mad won hi wifs's heart.
A.. p9G ne thought that the game was in his
I'll hands, aud that if he played his cards
~ %In care nothing could prevent him rising
EoA the contest a winner. Winifred wa
I H. VIE by the law of the church and the
.as "a" OF the land. Though they had
mp3rated by mutual consent, and he had
aaue 1t condition of his assent to the ar
,.augement that his wife should abandon hi
, aalle' there had been no TO nd deed of
az aratlon drawn up between them. VIM
M M nad nothing to rely upon except his
EsuVeo word. She was within his power;
~ could claim her, aud the law would en-
, ne DIS claim. But it was not his intea-
n roL 70 take his stand upoa his legal rights,
r -ileSs all other means to induce his wife to
r rosurn to him failed. Only in the last resort
ssopld he endeavor to establish his marital
GH.s over her on the legal basis
M. aIls renectlons were rapidly made and his
tr rsAlr suddenly changed. He became less
ta-1aen and whel he spoke it was in
OIL o,.lns 4 suave apology and sorro Sful re-
~ mat did full justice to his possession of
HE he ai.stronio gifts on which he had tainted
admit everything he said. submis-