Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1892-05-05

,.se. then he closed it noiselessly ana
nroceeded up stairs to inform MS mis-
tress.
Thorne glanced around the room curl
ously; it was two years since ne had seen
II On the marble hearth burned bright
wood fire. and the dancing flames re-
Elected themselves in the Durnlsheu
brasses. The tiles around the. fireplace
were souvenirs of his wedding, hand
painted by bevy of bridesmaids to
please fancy of Ethels. Normas was
in the center-the place of honor. 1t was
a strange thing that Norma had selected
TO paint; heavy sprays of mingled night
shade and monkshood on ground the
color of fading leaf; but, strange as 1t
was, it was the most beautiful OF them
all. There were flowers in the room, and
the perfume of heliotrope and roses fllled
the air. The piano was open and on IT
one of the popular songs Of the day; a
loud. garish thing Ethel liked what she
called bright music;" on the keys lay
a tulnbled lace handkerchief, and on the
floor close to the pedal of the instrument
was a mans driving glove.
Over the piano hung the portrait OF a
lady with soft, gray hair, and the ex-
preston of purity and love which me
diiaval painters gave TO their saints. 1t
was picture of Thorne's mother and it
hurt him to- see it there. He determined
to have it removed us soon as possible.
The door opened and Mrs. Thorne en-
tered. feeling herself terribly i'll used and
prosecuted, in that her husband had
elected to come to her in person, instead
of availing himself of the simpler and
more agreeable mode of communication
through their lawyers. 1t was quite
possible that he would make himself
disagreeable. Mrs. Thorne shrank from
anything disagreeable, and had no toler-
ance for sarcasms addressed to herself
She would have refused the interview
had she dared, but in her heart she was
dimly afraid of her husband.
Thorne bowed coldly. and then placed
a chair for her on the hearth rug. 'Sit
down. he said, If want to talk 10 you,
and then he seated himself opposite her.
For awhile he did not speak, some
how the words he had come to say stuck
in his throat; it was so cold blooded for
them, husband aud wife, to sit there be-
side their own hearth and discuss their
final separation. A log, which had
burned in half, fell and rolled forward
on the marble hearth, sending little puffs
of gray smoke into the room. He reached
past her for the tongs and laid the log
back in its place, and the little action
seemed to seal his lips more closely. The
tiny clock on the carved oak mantle
chimed the hour in soft. low tones; he
counted the strokes as they fell, one,
two, and SO on mp 10 twelve. The win
ter sunshine streamed in between the
parting of the curtains and made a glory
of his wife's golden hair.
Ethel was the first to speak. You
got my letter. she questioned, keeping
her eyes fixed on the fire.
'Yes; that is the reason I'm here.
The broken log was blazing again quite
mer1ily, the two ends far apart.
"Why not have written instead of
coming!n she demanded, as one who pro-
tested against some gr1evous injury; sit
would have been far pleasanter for both.
There's no sense in our harassing our
selves with personal interviews"
Il preferred a personal interview"
Ethel hpsed into silence; the man was
a hopeless brute, and it was useless 10
expect courtesy from him. She tapped
her foot against the fender, and look of
obstinacy and temper dishgured the soft
outlines Of her face. The silence might
remain unbroken until the crack of doom
for any further effort she would make.
Thorne broke it himself. He was de-
termmed to carry his point and in or
der to do SO strove to establish ascend
ancy over his wife from the start.
Whats the meaning of this new
move, Ethel" he demanded authorita-
lively. II want to understand the mat
ter thoroughly. Why do you want
divorceg
Mrs. Thorne turned her face toward
him defantly.
Because TIN tired of my present life,
aud want to change it, I'm sick of be-
ing pointed at, and whispered about as
deserted wife--a woman whose hus-
band never comes near her"
Whose fault is that" he retorted
sharply. "This separation is none of my
doing. and you know it. Bad as things
had become. l was willing 70 worry along
for the sake of respecnbility and the
child, but you wouldn't have it SO. You
insisted on my leaving you-said the
very sight Of me made your chains more
intolerable. Had | been viper You
could scarcely have signified your desire
for my absence in more unmeasured
terms"
Il know | desired the separation.
Mrs. Thorne replied calmly. Il desire
it still. Mylife with You was miserable.
and my wish 70 live apart has only in
creased in intensity. You never under
stood me.
Thorne might have retorted that the
misunderstanding had been mutual, and
also that all the wretchedness had not