The Maryville times. (Maryville, Tenn.) 1884-1944, 1893-10-11


''MIss OWENS, IS 1T PossIBLE?"
passed. she is in the house. will re-
turn with you and introduce you to
Mrs. Lawton."
"Were you going somewhere?" he
asked.
Eyes, sir; to the village, but my
errand can wait"
IF you have no objection I will &C.
company you to the village. My bust
ness can wait, tool'
had no objection to offer, SO he set
his valise over the fence and went with
me. He was in good spirits and talked
lightly and cheerfully, and before we
reached the village my embarrassment
had so far subsidized that | conversed
quite freely, too. We talked Of many
things going aud coming, chiefly OF o
transient nature, but when we were
nearing home again he suddenly said:
Miss Owens, | fear you suffered a
great deal from Demands prosecutions.
| went there after you left, at my
mothers request, to see If could learn
anything relative to your whereabouts,
and | learned something of the way hr
had treated ypu; and though, of course.
do not know all, | know enough to
stamp Bernard as blacl,-hearted vii
lain"
He had heard the slanderous tales
against my character, and l wondered
If he believed them. ! hardly dared
hope that he did not, because others
did, and he had rs good reusons as they.
l did not remain in doubt long, how
ever, for directly he went on, saying:
Bernard is vile wretch, unworthy
the name of man, Miss Owens, or he
never would have condescended SO low
as to attempt to rob helpless woman
OF her name and character. He is little
better than o brute who will malicious
ly Islander q lady, and especially lady
who Is unprotected"
Hooked up to him. radiant light on
my features and my heart throbbing
with gladness.
"Ah, Mr.. Cornell" cried, trembling
ly, you did not believe those reports
then?"
Believe them?" he repeated, in some
surprise. "Why, certainly not. never
entertained such an idea for an instant.
! knew they were false from the first.
Did you think so i'll of me as to suppose
would SO wrong you?" MI
No." answered, ashamed in the
face of his generosity that l had ever
entertained doubt of him. ~ did not
think you would wrong me in thought,
even; but if you had lost confidence in
me I could not blame you. You had so
little cause to believe in my honesty,
while those who had good cause doubted
me-"
81 had no cause to doubt you, Miss
Owens-not the least In the world.
knew you and knew Bernard. knew
you to be inca pablo of wrong and de-
ceit and knew him to be an unprinci-
pied libcrtine. knew every word he
uttered was false and compelled him
W dChuoWleUSe IL
We had reached the house now and
our conversation ceased. introduced
Mr.. Cornell to Mrs. Lawton, then re-
paired to my own room. 1t was great
relief to me to know that Charles Cor
nell had perfect faith In me, and sitting
alone with my thoughts, | felt almost
happy. | attached a curious impor-
tance to his opinion-an Importance
could not account for on the grounds of
friendship, and to know that he had q
good opinion of me afforded me great
relief. 1t was as If dark cloud had
suddenly rolled away, letting the sun
light fall on the earth.
For an hour l remained in my room
trying to analyze my heart and under
stand it's sentiments, which seemed curl
ously complex. l said to myself that
I loved VIII Hanley, and did not love
Charles Cornell, yet for some reason I
cared more for the latter's good opinion,
and was more interested in what he
thought and said, ten times over, than
in the former.
! The fact is, was experiencing a
change of heart. was putting off the
old love and taking on the new; or
rather, was awakening to knowl-
edge of the real state of my feelings.
was coming to an understanding with
myself and l began to comprehend that
the feeling had for Hanley was not
true love, but a mad passion, kept alive
I by the glamour Of romance engendered
by long absence; while that which
/ felt for Cornell was a love that had
grown up out Of knowledge Of his
goodness and worthiness-a love
prompted and nourished by reason
rather than infatuation. was passing
out of the first love, which is dream
of dazzling splendor and short lived,
into the second love, which is solid
substance, burning with steady, even
glow and living forever.
After an hour of serious thought and
determination left my room believ'
ing that loved Charles Cornell. Twas
not positive of the fact yet, but knew
the symptoms Of my heart pointed tina,
way, and then when / contrasted Ham
ley and him freely admitted that be
possessed all the advantages and char
acteristics of pure, high and noble
manhood. Twas cognizant of the truth
that he was far the most worthy of a
true woman's love, and giving him that
idea was not far from giving him my
heart.
passed few words with Mr.. Cornell
that day, as he and Hanley devoted
several hours to the discussion of then
business affairs, leaving him little time