Waterbury evening Democrat. [volume] (Waterbury, Conn.) 1887-1895, 1892-03-15

lnd1merence, 70 heap cOnslderatiOn upon
him. To borrow the forceful vernacular
OF the street, there twas something
In him." There was no possibility Of
viewing either him or his actions with
lnd1terence, Of merging him in and
numbering him with the crowd.
There are men whose lives are intag-
los, cut by the chisel of destiny deep
into the sard of their generations; every
line and curve and faintest tracing preg-
nant with interest, suggestion and emo
ton. Men who are loved and hated,
feared, adored and loathed with an in
tensity that their commonplace fellows
are incapable Of evoking. They are load
stones which attract events, whirlpools
which draw to themselves excitement,
emotion and vast store Of sympathy.
Some years previous to the opening
OF this story, Nesbit Thorne, then bril-
liant recent graduate Of Harvard, a lead
er in society and a man of whom great
things were predicted, whose name was
in many mouths as that Of man likely
to achieve distinction in any path of life
he should select, made hasty, i'll ad-
vlsed marriage with Miss Ethel Ross,
New York belle of surprising beauty
and acumen. A woman whose sole
thought was pleasure, whose highest
conception of the good of life was a con-
stantly varied menu Of social excite
ment, and whose noblest reading of the
word duty was compassed in having a
well ordered house, sumptuous enter
tainments and irreproachable toilets. A
wife to satisfy any man who was IN
emotional, unexacting and prepared to
give way to her in all things.
Nesbit Thorne, unfortunately, was
none of these things, and 80 his married
life had come to grief. The first few
months were smoothed and gilded by
his passionate enjoyment of her mere
physical perfection, his pleasure in the
admiration she excited, and in the envy
of other men. Life's river glided smooth
ly, gayly in the sunshine; then ugly
snags began to appear, and reefs, fret
ting the surface of the water and hint
ing of sterner difficulties below; then a
long stretch Of tossing, troubled water,
growing more and more turbulent as it
proceeded, boiling and bubbling into
angry whirlpools and sullen eddies. The
boat of married happiness was hard
among the breakers, tossed from side to
side, the sport of every wind of passion;
contesting hands were on the tiller
ropes. The craft waved and jerked in
its course, spectacle for men to weep
over and devils to rejoice in; ran aground
on Quicksands, tore and tangled its cord
age, rent the planking, and at the end
of cruise of as many months as it
should have lasted years, it lay a hope
less wreck on the grim bar of separation
The affair was managed gracefully
and with due Difference to the amenities
There was gossip, of course-there al
ways is gossip-and public opinion was
many sided. Rumors circled around
which played the whole gamut from in
fidelity to bankruptcy; these lived their
brief span and then gave place to other
rumors equally unfounded and therefore
equally enjoyable. The only fact au-,
thenticated was the fact Of separation,
and the most lasting conclusion arrived
at in regard to the matter was that it
had been managed very gracefully.
The divorce which seemed the natural
outcome of this state Of affairs, and to
which every one looked as a matter of
course, was delayed in this instance.
People wondered a little, and then re-
man Catholic family, and concluded
that the young man had religious scru-
pies. With Mrs. Thorne the matter was
plain enough; she had no reason as yet
sufficiently strong to make her desire
absolute release, and far greater COM
mand over Thorne's income by retaining
her position as his wife.
When his domestic affairs had reached
crisis Thorne had quietly disappeared
for a year, during which time people
only knew that he was enjoying his re-
covered freedom in distant and little fire.
quented places. There were rumors CT
him in TartaIy, on the Niger, in Siberia.
At the expiration Of the year he returned
to New York and resumed his old place
in society as though nothing untoward
had occurred. He lived at his club, and
no man or woman ever saw him set foot
within the precincts of his own house.
Occasionally he was seen to stop the
nurse in the park and caress and speak
to his little son. His life was that of a
single man. In the society they both
frequented he often encountered his wife
and always behaved to her with scrupu-
lous politeness, even with marked cour-
tesy. If he ever missed his home or ex-
perienced regret for his matrimonial
failure, he kept the feeling hidden and
presented to the world an unmoved
front.
In default Of nearer ties he made him
self at home in his aunt's house, fire.
quenting it as Familiarity as he had done
in the days before his marriage. In his
strong, almost passionate nature, there
was one great weakness: the love and
admiration Of women was a necessity to
him. He could no more help trying to
make women love him than the king
fisher can help thrusting down his beak
when the bright speckled sides Of his
prey flash through the water. It was
from neither cruelty nor vanity, for
Thorne had less OF both traits than usu-
ally falls to the lot of men; 1t was rather
from the restlessness, the yearning of a
strong nature for that which it needed,