People's voice. [volume] (Wellington, Sumner County, Kansas) 1890-1917, 1892-12-02

ho'S SiO"A ~ AhC gOu UCltCE d.
have come to be better acquainted with
you.
Now ! want you TO remain with me
and tighten my sorrow by your pres
ence. am a gloomy, sad. disap-
pointed woman, but my heart is not en-
tirely dried up. You can bring back to
it some of its youthful feeling and win
from it great deal of the love and
light that have so long been shut up
within. You can make me much hap
pier than I've been for years, and
want you to stay. 1t is for my sake /
ask it, and not for yours, for / believe
all the happiness and benefit will be
mine"
stayed. realized that, however
Mrs. LawtOn might be disposed to view
the matter, | was giving but poor re-
turn for the blessings she bestowed on
me, and exerted myself in every pos
sible way to enhance her pleasure.
talked with her. read to her, and per-
formed thousand little services that !
thought would tend to bring her taste
of enjoyment. | flattered myself with
the belief that my efforts to augment
her pleasure were not vain. | was
certain that she grew lighter of heart,
and that day by day she gained a new
relish for life. Her face lost much
of its rigidity, and the cold look melted
out of her eyes. Sometimes she chatted
quite gayly, and now andthen a soft
smile played over her features.
noted all these signs of increasing
happiness with the greatest pleasure,
for ! loved my benefactress with my
whole heart and it made me happy to
see her happy. Every light or shadow
that played over her face had its effect
on my heart, for my sympathies were
so woven into her life that l enjoyed or
suffered what she did.
Two years lived with Mrs. Lawton
They were years full of quiet peace and
contentment, although they failed to
bring me that perfect happiness should
have known but for my disappointed
love. | still remembered VIII Hanley
and grieved that he did not love me.
During all that two years l heard
nothing of any of those had known
previously. At first l apprehcnded
some trouble from Mr.. Bernard, for !
feared he would seek me out, but in
time became quite easy on that point
when weeks ran into months and
heard nothing of him. BY Mrs. Law
tons advice wrote one letter to Mrs.
Cornell, telling her l had left Mr.. Ber-
| nard's service, and the town, and that !
was comfortably situated in distant
place, but could not, for good reasons,
give my address. So | had no news of
the Cornells, though often called them
to mind and longed to write to them.
am free to confess, reader, that
often felt that ! was not giving the
Cornells the proper treatment, by hid
ing away from them after their con-
duct to me. thought their generosity
and uniform kindness demanded my
perfect confidence, and it seemed to me
was doing them a great injustice by
withholding it. But Mrs. Lawton per-
suaded me to act as did, urging that
my safety demanded strict silence on
my part, and l was willing to be gov.
erned by her. | sometimes wished to
hear from Charles Cornell, and fire.
quently wondered what he was think
ing of me, and whether or not he had
married. Of course his action in this
last respect could be of no interest TO
me, since did not love him and had re-
jected his suit, yet for some cause took
an interest in it, and hoped with all my
heart that he had not married.
had made few acquaintance in my
new home. and no particular friends,
aside from Mrs. Lawton. We seldom
had visitors-never, in fact, save an oc-
casional call from some village matron,
who came chiefly out of curiosity to see
the inside of the great mansion, or in
the hope of discovering food for gossip.
lived on literature, making friends OF
the characters in story books, and was
satisfied.
But at the end Of my second year in
the house it was announced that we
were to have a visitor. Mrs. Lawton's
nephew was coming to see her, so she
told me, and we made preparations to
receive him. She told me nothing about
her nephew, not even his name, but
simply announced that on a certain day
he was coming. l asked no questions.
feeling little concern in the matter, and
little dreaming of the great surprise
there was in store for me.
TO BE CONTINUED.