The sun., 1893-03-16

she left the boarding house she should
feel she had lost dear friend
The daylight faded, the glow of the
fire alone Lit up the room. 1t was very
quiet very romantic, that still Sunday
afternoon In the cosy drawing room,
and somehow or other, / yielded to
the influence of the scene, and laid
my hand and heart at the feet of that
pretty and prosecuted young lady, the
prospective possessor of 100000
She said it was very sudden-she
hadn't thought of it in that light
would give her the night to think over
the position.
OF course / could only consent.
But the next day she came to me
and put the affair on quite business
footing.
"Yes-if would help her to get her
$4,000, she would be my wife"
OF course, replied that I would
sacrifice my whole life to advance her
welfare and her happiness.
She didn't want me to sacrifice any
thing-she only wanted me, and oh,
she put it so innocently and so prettily
she only wanted me to- sign her dead
relatives name to that unfortunate let
ter ....
1 did it.
| was a fool-a madman--a rascal,
but l did 1t. / did it that night up in
my own room with copy of the old
gentleman's signature in front of me.
l did it skillfully and cleverly, and I
showed it to her with a certain amount
of pride.
She said it was wonderful. had
mixed my ink splendidly, and had
made the signature look as old as the
body Of the letter
She took it from me, and all that
night ! never close d my eyes The
moment / was quiet and by myself I
saw the folly, the wickedness, the
criminality of my act.
In the morning l managed to get q
few words with her alone. begged
her to give me the letter back.
She laughed at me-not mockingly-
but in nice, innocent, girlish way
How silly l was She didn't intend to
use the letter. She wouldn't think of
such thing. Only had told her how
clever l was at initiating handwriting,
and she thought she would try me-
l accepted the explanation, but
should have been a great deal happier
If she had given me the letter back.
Still 1 comforted myself with this
thought. II the trial did not come on
would tell her that if she attempted
to put the letter in evidence would
go to the other side, declare that 1 had
done it as an experiment, and clear
myself of any completely in a criminal
ofense
That idea eased my mind, and I let
matters go on, and we continued our
courtship.
About fortnight afterwards Miss
Ellis appeared at dinner quite radiant.
She informed the company that her
case was settled without coming into
court. She was to take 100000, and
the other relatives were to take $780,
600. She had been magnanimous.
Everybody congratulated her, and I
was one of the first.
That evening we had a little whis-
pered conversation, and Miss Ellis
Marion I called her now-led ME to
understand that as her case was set
tied she wanted to leave London, and
so we might as well be married.
The proposition for hasty marriage
coming from Marion rather startled
me. She had not up to the present
betrayed any romantic symptoms, and,
after all, our courtship had not been
long one.
I had a vague idea that 1t would
be better for us to know little more
of each other before we took this is
revocable step, but Marion had an
answer for every argument put for
ward
She answered me that though she
had borne up through the long worry
and anxiety, now that the matter was
settled she was beginning to feel the
reaction, and it was absolutely neces-
sary for her to have q change. She
told me that she didn't care to go
away and leave me at the boarding
house, and che confessed that she was
anxious not to lose my society.
The man who can resist a womans
| arguments is not an every day man,
and !, alas, was only very common
place specimen Of male humanity. So
/ consented, and it wfs arranged that
l should take the necessary preliminary
steps.
/ went to the registrars Office armed
with the information Marion was good
enough to give me with regard to her
self, and gave the usual notices and
! filed up the usual papers.
didn't like the look Of that registry
office at all. 1t was dreadfully cold
and cheerless and prosaic, and there
wasn't an atom of romance about the
deputy registrar.
The registrars clerk was good
enough to inquire if I should bring
my own witnesses, and when I said
didn't think so, he explained that
the article was always kept on the
premises.
thanked him and asked him to ar
| range with the witnesses retained on
| the establishment to be present, and
then returned and informed Marion
| that all was IN order, and that at the
| expiration of the time required by the
law all we had to do was to attend al
the office and get the business through
Three weeks afterwards, we left
the boarding house one after the other,
left first, and waited at the corner
| of the street till Marion joined 1ue.
No one had the faintest susrjeion
| that two of the boarders had just gone
| out to get married.
The registry Office was some Lite
| distance, and as we walked along ouI
conversation was anything but roman
tic.
Do what I would couldn't help feel
| ing that 1 was taking false step, and
| yet had not the courage to .etreat.
When we came to the door OF the
office, / felt inclined to take to my
heels and run away; but mastering
this feeling of cowardice, followed
the lady in.
Marion was remarkably cool and col
lected for young and blushing bride
| She answered the few questions put to
her in firm voice, and when the cere-
mony- process would be better word
| was over we both signed our names
| and the witnesses-one was the clerk
and the other was the charwoman, who
| swept up the registrars office signed
| theirs, and we were man and wife.
I gave the witnesses five shillings
each, and offering Marion my arm, led
| her out into the street again.
1t had begun to rain, and so opened
my umbrella, but the rain increased tc
such an extent that we had to stand
up In doorway and wait till the show
/ er had passed.
Standing in that doorway, with the
wind beating in our faces, / felt n lit
tie quaking at the heart 1t seemed
bad beginning. 1t wasn't the sort
/ of xvnddino Morning that Ind uic+11 tnd