Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1891-07-10

look upon her face and T boat 'aa i,s,t 10
retfeat' indignant that once aooin in ~
the right. t'''a''eo against
Outside two or three matters com.
olned to detain me, and I was still
Standing in the passage when LADY
aener1ey came by-alone. She stonned
AZ the sight of me. thought afterward
sne mad remembered me "a connecto5
with the trial, but for the moment for.
gotten the adverse part had taken
ohe looked dazed and HELPLESS. even
pathetically SO, considering her mao
nlflcent physique.
what does it mean? Is the case alb.
solutely decided? Is there no appeal ?n
sue asked me In an agitated whisper.
and' while mindful of the fact that I
was not the person she should have con-
suited on the matter, felt constrained
20 say. with formal courtesy, that moth
ing interfering, the decree nisi would
De pronounced in six months time.
And my husband will be free to
marry another woman % hoarsely.
bowed assent. Words seemed so
brutal, and, after all, what need was
there OF words? She could not we'll
De unaware of the conditions of divorce.
IL was only their application to herself
That had bewildered and nearly mad
dened her. Her face was drawn in
agony, and presently from her lips there
burst tortured CRY.
And L? What shall [ be then ?"
"1ou-you can take any name you
choose, awkwardly.
And have the right to none? O nv
God! to think that it should be so!
That could stand up in court, before
all those people, to declare the truth,
and not be credited! What o terrible
use have made OF my life if now, at
middle age, not one man or woman
no one-who has known me will come
forward to say. I will not believe this
woman guilty of such heinous sin!"
The hoarseness had worn off with
speech. Her voice rang out like o
challange, which, lost to all sense of
precedent or rule, Immediately took
up.
do not think that, Lady Atherley,
l beg. There must be very many who
believe iii you, since even I, stranger,
whose business it was to prove your
husbands case, never thought you
guilty."
Yet you spoke against me-"
Il was engaged to do So"
She looked at me. surprise struggling
with contempt in her eloquent, dark
eyes.
Il am very sorry for you," she said
presently in altered tones, that at once
threws new and not very pleasant light
upon my conduct; and then, drawing
her long cloak around her with little
shiver she passed on.
l don't know that actually regretted
the ill-advised candor into which sym
pathy had forced me. If any cold COM
fort could be derived from the fact that
hard-headed old lawyer had for once
forgotten legal prudence in his anger at
a gross injustice, did not grudge it
her; and forgave her that involuntary,
expressive glance, though it was long
before the bitterness OF it passed from
my recollection. My own feelings
would have prompted me to decline
further responsibility in the case only
that hoped to be Of use to Lady Ath-
erley by outwardly maintaining smooth
relations with her husbands hope
that was, however, doomed to disap-
pointment. When a passionate appeal
for the possession Of her child came
into my hands few days later,
solicited personal interview with the
Earl to urge her claims, but saw at
once that nothing would alter his de-
cision. It was like beating ones brains
against rock. His features remained
impassive during all my representa-
tons, until, in desperation, placed his
wife's letter before him. Then they
darkened wrathfully. ....
"She is all the world to me. I will
not live without her" wrote the frenzied
woman. Lord Atherley has no atfec-
ton for her. She cannot inherit any
of the property, nor will she need any
of his money if she comes to me. My
own fortune is sufficient for us both.
Lord Atherley must have read at least
this much of the letter before he re-
folded it with deliberate care and re-
turned it to me.
"We will not discuss the matter
further" he remarked coldly: "The
law does not consider it desirable that a
child-especially female child-should
be exposed to the danger of contamina-
ton by guilty mother, and see no
reason why I should be more lenient
than the law"
Those words. on which he had laid a
sneering emphasis, conveyed to me the
impression that Lady Atherley's I'M
pardonable ofense was that she had
not borne him an heir to his great
estates. The knowledge that he had
irretrievably ruined her life only added
bitterness to his rapcor; it would never
soften his heart toward her. She was
| nothing to him now but an uncomtorta-
Bile recollection, and so to be thrust
aside--if possible outlived.
For the time the matter dropped, and
I only heard at intervals of Lady Ather-
lev. A friend who knew her we'll, and
saw that 1 was interested i'll her, wrote
me long account of how. when she
went down to their country home to
collect few things that were indis-
putably her own, there was popular
demonstration, and the tenants OF her
| -. A..o1 at IN 1o hor honor The