Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1891-07-10
had realized at least the futi,ity of hi,

had realized at least the futility of hi,
perseverance.
After this for long time I heard nc
more. 1t must have been a wear that ]
received an invitation to attend the
wedding of the Earl of Atherley. and,
everything returning with vivid dis.
tlnctness to my mind, an irresistible
impulse urged me to see another act in
this drama of real life. Ihad only been
. few moments in the church before /
discerned tragic element, quite I'm.
suspected by the gay assemblage, which
rustled up the aisle and chatted through
the interval of waiting. There, in the
gallery to my lett, the center of less
distinguished crowd, sat the divorced
Lady Atherley.
Noone else was conscious finer pres.
ence. It was only by chance I recog.
nized her, for the last year had worked
cruel ravages upon her beauty. Beauty
it was still, but of type that, like
Medusa's, might turn the beholder into
stone. Her face would have been color.
less but for the BLUSH tint shadowing
her eyes and mouth, and the dark ewes
that We're strangely void of light. Her
hair was much winter now and gave
waxen hue to her complexion. She was
evidently i'll. How i'll 1 did not guess,
or, regardless of less conveniences, I
would have left my place and led her
torclbly away from too great trial OF
her strength. said no one but myself
knew that she was there; must make
one exception-the Earl of Atherley
knew. When he entered he rapidly
swept the church with glance and i
saw his face change as his guilty fears
were confirmed by the sight of her he
had injured.
She was sufficiently conspicuous OBJ
ject now, for the gallery had risen to
witness the entrance of the bride. Lady
Atherley alone was seated, her body bent
forward, and her chin resting on the
dark oak railing. 1t added to the grew
someness of her situation that only her
distraught. horror-stricken face was
seen surrounded by 80 many standing
| figures. Life, movement and human
interest existed in every person present,
while on the forehead If this woman
was withholding death.
My eyes wandered to the bride. She
was pretty in happy, mindless fashion,
and apparently we'll satisfied with the
future she had secured. She did not
| interest ME. and looked further to see
tiny train-bearer, some or years
old, flushed and smiling with an air OF
| shy Importance as she trotted past. In
an instant it flashed across my mind ;
this was the daughter of Lord Atheriey
and his divorced wife. How would the
| ,,,otl,or Inor T 1,,,e lc,ol
not raise my eyes to see. More still re-
NAMED for her to endure. The same
service which had once been read for
her would be read again. even to the
bitter mockery OF that sentence which
surely now has lost its meaning: ''Those
whom God hath joined together let no
man put asunder."
The bridal pair moved nearer to the
altar. The exhortation, II require and
charge you both, if either OF
you know any impeachment, )" was pro-
nounced without eliciting any response,
and no protest escaped the pale, sad
woman, whose position and personality
were thus publicly denied. Nothing
unusual TRANSFERRED until Lord Atherley
deliberately spoke the words, Il will;
then low, shuddering moan echoed
through the church, which must have
told to one other, as it told to me, the
truth. There was remuneration in it
remuneration of love, faith, honor-an6
OF life.
| When I looked up the white, set face
had disappeared from view, and crowd
had collected where it was before. II
was only momentary interruption tc
the marriage service. Few, if any, be-
side the Earl and myself, were certain
to what it had been due. Some one
near me whispered, "A woman tainted,
but knew better. 1t was death had
seen in her face only q minute OF so ago,
and, if any doubt were in my mind, the
continued disturbance in the left gallery
would have destroyed it. A mere faint.
ing fit would not have distracted the
attention of so many from such fash
ionable wedding.
In the body of the church all went on
as before The service ended, there
was an adjournment to the vestry, and
presently the bride and bridegroom
came out together-he, pallid and con-
science-stricken, but looking neither to
the right nor to the left; she palpably
uneasy. There was no happy confidence
in her expression; and, though she was
trembling violently. she did not cling
closer to her husband for support, and
yet did not shrink away. 1t was evil
dent she had not taken this step blind
folded, but knew all, and had weighed
all, believing the balance to be in her
own favor; therefore 1 wasted no pity
on her case.
Looking upward once again I saw
that the galleries were clearing, and
where there had been crowd We're only
empty benches and blank space. Was
the dead woman lying there alone, or
were they carrying her to physician
or to some hospital in the vain hope
that science might still save her? A
sudden horrible yet uniformed fear
caused me to escape through the vestry
and hurry to the front, arriving just in
time to see stretcher borne by two
men on the very threshold Of the door
that led up to the galleries.
"Stand backv' shouted wildly, and
there was an evident attempt to carry
out my order; but the surging crowd
behind pushed on, and after momen-