The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1893-12-02
LOVED AND WAITED.

cigarette, and from the SalYer by her
side she from time to time raised a
tiny cup OF coffee to her mouth.
Tonight I shall tell him all,' she
murmured, throwing one hand beneath
her head and gazing at the wreaths
of smoke as they curled upward. ut is
scarcely fair to deceive the boy longer.
He loves me passionately, and I-well,
Martha Novar is also in love" She
knocked the ash of her cigarette into a
silver tray.
At that moment a man entered the
room. He was clothed in the uniform
of an officer in the imperial guard
and was as handsome as a. man can
well be-
"Ah, good evening" he said gayly.
You see I have not kept you waiting
tonight" He threw down his shake
on the table and drew his chair close
to the lounge.
''No, you are very goo Stanislos,'
Then, after slight pause: L have
something of great Importance to tell
you Notwithstanding that my cow
ardice has prevented me from telling
you long before this, and for which
have to suffer by marring the happi-
ness of such a time
She threw away her cigarette impet-
uously, and then continued:
1T is about Ivan Novar."
do not talk of him now. He is
dead and should be forgotten. What
reason have you for speaking of him
to me? Today you are his widow; to-
morrow you Will be the wife of Stan
islos Feovitch"
You misunderstood me- My hus-
band is dead, but L did not lose him by
death. He married me because l was
wealthy because [ had many servants
and was rich in gold, but three months
after the wedding he went away from
me to live with the woman he loved.
He never loved me, nor did I ever love
him. yet I believed did at the time. I
should have told you all before it was
too late, but even now there is time to
retract''
The young officer bent closer to her,
pressing her hand with his lips.
My poor Martial What misery you
must have suffered, what pain it must
have caused youl Still there is one
whom you can trust, and one whom
you-you love. Is that not SOP"
yes" she replied simply. Il love
you. But, releasing herself from his
grasp and standing up. my mind is
made up. You do not know the woman
am. You do not realize that ] am
disgraced forever. I cannot destroy the
happiness of your life by uniting my
self to one SO pure, so innocent of the
world. You are but a boy, 1 q. woman
of % winters. Such marriages are
never, never happy ones.''
He was looking at her in amaze
ment while she stood before him as
pale as marble, with a slight tinge of
red on either cheek.
Martha, you say you have no wish
to destroy my happiness. Why, then,
do you do so by casting this terrible
misery in my path? God knows how
much 1 love you. AS for our union be-
ing an unhappy one, it is preposter-
GUS" Then, more calmly: do not
destroy our plans for the future in this
heartless fashion, my darling. Your
disgrace 1 have no thought for. It
is in my eyes not a disgrace, but a
misfortune
Nine. Novar was unhappy now. She
felt that her duty. had been done, and
now that this passionate boys love
was not only unmoved, but actually
increased, her hearts one desire was
fulfilled.
The desertion of his wife by Ivan
Novar ten years before had formed
the topic of society scandal in Mos
CURED. But the woman had not
skunk away and hidden herself from
the eyes of the world She had fought
against all and lived it down with all
the determination of her character.
No one knew where he had gone
but she. She had never loved him
and did not mourn his loss. 1t was
the dishonor, the degradation that
would ever be attached to his, to her
name when the truth was known that
made her face so pale and wreathed
her ewes with burrows
When she met Stanislos Feovitch and
he had first declared his love for her,
she had resisted him, not unkindly,
but firmly, and had shielded her heart
against the passion which but for this
precaution would have plunged her
into disgrace as great as that which
polluted the name Of her husband.
But one day she received the news
Jof the death of Ivan Novar. With
this intelligence the barrier of reserve
which had been thrown up between
herself and her ardent lover was re-
moved, and now they were to be mar
ried
Stanislos was a comparative strang-
er to Moscow and scarcely two and
twenty, SO that the history of Nine.
Novar was unknown to him. All he
knew was that She was a widow, but
until then he had never had any idea
of the truth
The next day Nine. Novar drove to
distant part of the city Happy in
her own thoughts, her face bright and
suffused with deep color as the
biting wind touched her cheeks, she
scarcely noticed the passersby as the
sleigh slipped over the snow. When
at the corner of a street the horses
slowed down, she raised her eyes, and
they fell upon the figure of a tall.
n
clothes, torn and greasy.
Neither the persistent scowl on his
face nor the thick, matted beard
which covered his cheeks could blot
! out the air Of refinement that pervad-
ed his whole person. In the drag
ging, slouching walk there was sim
lilitude of former firmness and elias
ITCHY of step that had been shattered
| by debauchery and vice, while the
brown hands that swung carelessly by
his side had lost but little Of their del
icacy and softness.
The cry that she gave caused him to
raise mis- head and look directly at
| her He stopped and would have en-
tered the vehicle, but she hastily thrust
a card into his hands, and murnured
hurriedly:
Call on me at noon today"
| He looked her full in the face for a
| Q1OIl6Hl,' lu6H tuIIleQ Oh Ills H6el dIlu
continued his walk. He was Ivan No
var.
"You have come back, then" said
Nine. Novar, in cold, harsh voice, as
her husband entered the room.
Yes" he answered, folding his arms.
1.-THE rumor you heard of my death was
a false one, set afloat by those whom it
most benefited. I have for a long time
been trying to discover your where
| q hol1ts tc LOT Won know the tr.11tI
have come now to save you from dis
grace
you have come to save me from dis
grace" repeated Nine. Novar. dwell