The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1893-08-29

lonely without FredS coMPanlonSuti',
and felt Indignant, too, that he could
willingly forgo the pleasures OF home
to crafty his mercenary desires. lhe
aseless round Of receptions, enter
ta1nments and fashionable calls b came
g .ormeat, from which I wou.d gladly
have rid myself if I had ouly known
how to do so. On, il only netting
would happen 80 break this t'resome
monotony! And by and by something
did happen.
A year before | first met Fred, l was
the afianced OF Arthur Spencer,
brilliant young law student. The en-
gagement was brief We quarrelled
and rarted, and when wes married, l
had scarcely thought of Arthur Tor
months. Just at this evil hour, Wneu
/ was weary of everything about me,
and longing for something new under
the sun, my old lover came to the city,
AMI We met. The first time saw hlm
he attended reception to which L hat
gone alone, because Fred ha excused
himself at the last hour. l went home
fully intending to tell my husband OF
nv meeting with Arthur, but he was
still absent, and l was indignant.
"Verv we'll" said 7 to myself, 'If he
will not let me see HIM except IN the
Dr. ssnce of servants, l shall Keep
nv bits of gossip until they are too
stale to talk about. 1t is str nSe tIat
business should keep him out 50 late.
There must be some other attractlon."
l met Arthur Spencer often after
that, and iu time I began t. seek
his society (aud I felt sure
le sought mine}, by going where
I knew l should met bun. l did not
stop to analyze all this. I did not
think or care why it was that life htd
new zest for me, or WIZ 1t WAS that
l now looked forward 70 RECEPTION
with pleasure. when I mad so lately
considered everything of the kind as
necessary evil. | only knew that l
enjoyed this mans society. [ was
proud when ne came to my side III
preference to others, and disappointed
when failed to see him. Ii l had
known then, as he told me afterward,
that I had never been for gotten, |
should have been more careful. II L
had known that since our parting he
had so dallied with sin that he had no
scruples of conscience, l would have
Stunned him from the first. But my
worldly knowledge was not sufficient
to enable ma to read the motives OF
one more skilled in the arts and wlles
OF deception, and [ walked bllndly on
in paths that cunning hands had made
so pleasant, I knew not they led to de-
struction.
One evening when Arthur's de7o-
ton to me ned attracted the attention
of the whole company, had left the
room to don my wraps anu fonni him
waiting in the hall to speak to me. As
We stood there laughing and chatting
over some trivial affair, the drawing.
room door was aiar, and my attention
was attracted by the remark, 81
wonder that Mrs. Warren can seem so
happy, when her husband is going to
ruin"
"What does she care" was the sreer-
ing reply, "Ghen she can have SO
handsome a cavalier as Spencer?'
I heard no more. The words | was
about to speak froze on my lips, and
my heart stood still with namelrss
fear "Ob, leave me! leave mel" 1
cried. "and let me 60 home"
"-Iy poor girl" he replied, "when
you know as much Of the world as |
do, You will care less for its opinions. "
went home anu passed weary,
restless night. What had I done?
What was doing that should receive
this unmerciful criticism? Was it true
that Fred was 'tgo;ng to ruin?" If SO,
why had not seen it, until the know;-
edge must by forced upon me in this
cruel way? I felt that [ was literally
ing mad, and when the morning cane
and received a message from Arthar
asking that he might see me onte more,
I welcomed him in the hope of receiv-
ing some comforting explanation. But
in this I was disappointed. he told
me N sorrowful sympathy, as l
thought, that my husband was spend
ing his evenings in gambling dens,
and places of worse repute, while my
little fortune was fast dwindling away.
And then, in bis artful manner be told
me how he longed to help NE, and
begged me to trust him IS my best
friend.
BE went away only to come again
and again. Sometimes l longed to go
to Fred. confess my 1mprudence and
ask an explanation of his conduct.
But I hesit,ted and wavered, despair.
ing because in my thou3 3h1lessness I
had alre dy become the o',jsct of
scorn, and too weak to break the
charm of this Willy serpent in human
form. And so it went on, until at last
Arthur entreated me to go away With
him somewhere, anywhere, if only Te
might always be together.
You who have never been tempted
and tried, shrink with disd4iu from
faithless woman, and do not ask your
pity for an not worthy of it. There
was time when I, too, had supreme
contempt for such weakness; but we
never know our strength until it has
been tested.
If Fred is false to me, reasoned,
Why should l be true to him? At last
after I had worked myself into fever
of excitement, l went to my husband
and told him what L had heard and de-
manded him to tell me If it were false
OF true. He grew white to the lips but
he answered quietly, 1T is true, IN
pa t."
With the mecciless words, "That is
sufficient, I want no explanation"
T tnrned away. Burning with
indignation, and bliud to every
thing else save the one all alb
sorbing thought that had been cruel
.ly wronged, I went to my room and
refused aimjttanee to every cne.
Once, thrice, there was q 'timid knock
at the door, and L knew who was wait
ing thout, but 1 would not relent.
That e7en!ng unler cover Of darkn ess