The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1892-07-22

grief and fear.
Poor BERNARD! The end his heart
had prophesied came soon enough. In
the presence Of the dean there was
cruel formal parting; under the silent
stars, amid the thick shubbery Of the
garden, there was another parting.
Mary would have promised constan-
cy, but Bernard would not let her do it.
You shall never have TO reproach
yourself with broken promises for my
sake. daring" he sald ''What could
YOU, YOU poor timid little dove, do be
tween your father and that lordly earl?
But whatever they make You do, re-
member, Mary, shall never blame you,
and viii love you until my last con-
scious breath"
Then he kissed her pale face over
and over. tenderly, clinGingly, as we
kiss the dead. and left her. And Mary,
almost heart-brOl1cn with grief, and
faint with terror lest she should be
discovered, could only wave her hands
in mute farewell. for she knew now
that love and she must walk apart for
ever.
Bernard went TO Oxford and Mary
became Countess Grey, and went whlth-
ersOcvcr it pleased her husband 10
take her. She was naturally affection
ate, and would doubtless have become
a loving and gentle wife if she had re-
ceivcd any cucourag cment. But she
soon outlived the earl's short liking,
and then he only seemed TO find pleas
urc IN those petty cruelties which un-
loving husbands above all others under
stand.
One Of these was TO affect the most
. e T...V-
first child. TO Sneer at alIdaughters, and
to send it from its mothers breast 20
the care OF a strange nurse. Another
was to pretend she needed exercise
and change of air. and remove her
from London TO the continent before
she was able TO bear the fatigue. He
gave her no rest until she reached
Rome. and n ere she became so seriously
i'll that even her servants demonstrated
against the cruelty of moving her
further.
In Rome she remained six months.
nearly alone. The earl travelled hither
and thither as his fancy led him, max
Iur mis- wife only occasional short visits
OF = cruelty ccremonious character His
life of extravaEaut dissipation was a
shameful contrast To the loneliness and
absolute seclusion which her Italian
physician ordered, while her separa-
tiou from all who loved or cared for
her and her longing for her native land
and home told fearfully upon her fail
ing health.
But one day a far more cruel sorrow
faced her. \ letter without signature
was placed in her hands, not only accus-
ing her husband OF the most fragrant
disregard for her. but also intimating
that her physician was in the employ
Of her cncmic~- and not . safe person
to be intruStcd with her life.
She had long felt sure that she was
dying. but the dread OF dying away
from her child. her father and her home
Overcame all other fears. This terror
made her prudent. She arranged for
an immediate return home, and took
advantage of her husbands first absence
TO commence IT,
For him she left q most noble and
pathetic letter, entreatin- him not %
follow her. forgiving all his positive and
negative cruelties, and asking only 10
he permitted to die beside her father
and their child.
Her requests so completely agreed
with the earl's desires that for once he
did not thwart her; and 50. two years
after this ill-starrcd marriage. Earl
Grey's travelling carriage again broke
the silence of the peaceful cathedral
court. The deans daughter had come
back to hlm wearing something higher
than countess coronct: she had re
ceivcd the signet OF immortality. and
been anointed for heavenly corona
ton
After Mary's marriage, the dean had
gone TO see his nephew, and easily in
duced him to come back with him: so
il was Bernard that lifted Mary from
her carriage and carried her in his
strong arms to the room she never left
again; and 1t was Bernard that rode
day and night, so that he might bring a
few hours earlier the child which was
to comfort Mary's dying hours.
In order to excuse the step she had
taken, and procure her fathers promise
to keep her little daughter, she had
been compelled to divulgc all the cruel
martyrdom Of her married life. After
this revelation II was not hard to un-
dcrstand the deans wretched look, and
his passionate. pleading prayers, and
the music which was an articulate
agony. l could understand. too, now
the angry. longing look on Bernard's
face, and his miserable rcstlessness:
but neither Of the men showed. in
Mary's presence, any feeling which
could mar the peace Of her descent into
the grave.
went often TO see her the next few
months. 1t was like lying with her at
THE Gate Beautiful" OF Heaven /
used TO wonder at her lovcliness, and
rejoice in her certain hope, but | never
/ pitied her. As l said before, | kept
! that feeling for the hopeless grief of
the old man and the bitter sorrow of
/ the young one.
! just before Christmas I went over To
/ the deans. after an absence of three
/ days. Despair and remorse We're sit
/ ting in the handsome chambers, and
/ slow but certain sorrow creeping up
/ the marble stairs. The next day n mar
row coffin had separated father and
/ daughter, mother and child, husband
( and wife, lover and beloved, as effectual-
/ " and as widely as all the starry
/ spaces
! No one can step in between two low
ing hearts without guilt; anu when
4 love Is slain for gold or rank. ii has
bitter avengers--Amelia E. Barr, in y
( y. Ledger.
= Ouecn Dramatist.
! Queen Natalie. the beautiful, OF Ser
f, via, Is among the authors. She has
/ written a play entitled Mother" No
I doubt she gives utterancc in l. to her