Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1894-10-25

was evidently disinclined TO admit Sir
| CyIran into Ivy Cottage, as the house
with tho green shutters was called
Have you friends here? Do you
come often?" asked Mrs. Walsingham,
carelessly.
81 take my morning ride here occa-
sionally, and the ether day, while rest
| ing my horse, made the acquaintance
of your German nurse and her charge,
Baby is mo fascinating little thing,
and take the warmest interest in
her"
What pity my small niece IS not
old enough to appreciate the honor"
sneered Mrs, Walsingham,
Sir Cyprian ignored the sheer
MY interest in that sweet little
thing has given rise tJa strange idea
a wild one, you will say erhaps- when
have explained myself ! told you
that ! was coming to make an appeal
to your heart. come here to ask you
to lend your aid in ,aving the life and
reason Of one whom you may have
deemed in some wise your rival, Mrs,
Sinclair is dying"
Mrs Wasingham was silent
"Ycu have heard as much from some
one else, perhaps"
II head that she was seriously i'll. "
and mentally alllicted?"
Eyes. You do not expect me 70 be
greatly shocked or grieved, hope. |
never saw the lady, except in her box
at the opera"
And, being stranger, you cannot
pity her. That is not following the
example of the good Samaritan
"If | found her on the roadside
should try to succor her, | dare say, !"
answered Mrs, Walsingham; "but as
her distresses do not come in my path
way, and as | have plenty of nearer de-
mands upon my pity [ can hardly be
expected to make myself miserable on
Mrs Sinclair's account. No doubt she
has plenty of sympathy-a husband
who adores her-and the chivalrous
devotion Of cid admirers like yourself"
Spare her your sneers, Mrs. Wal
singham. At no moment OF her mar
ried life has she been woman to be
envied. In Ter present condition to
refuse her pity would be less than
human Constance Sine air is dying
of broken heart.
Every sad, sighed Mrs. Walsing-
ham.
THAT is what you would say if one OF
your friends related the untimely
death of favorite lap-dog. Have you
ever thought what that phrase means,
Mrs, Walsingham? People use it
lightly enough. A broken heart, the
slow agony of grief that kills a
broken heart, not broken by some sud-
den blow, that skaters joy and life to-
gether-happy those whom sorrow
Stays with such merciful violence but
the slow wearing away, the dull, hope
less days, the sIeepless nights the
despair that eats into the soul, yet IS
slow to kill-these are the 'agonies
which we sum up lightly, in our con-
yentional phraseology, when we talk
about broken hearts"
rs it the loss of her baby which Mrs.
Sinclair feels so deeply" asked Mrs.
Walsingham, who had listened thought
fully to Sir Cyprians appeal, She no
longer affected callous Indifference
to her rivals grief.
YES That is the grief that is kill
ing her She has never been really
happy with her husband, though she
had been u good and d Itiful wife. The
child bro ght her happiness, She
gave it all her love. She may have
erred perhaps in concentrating her
affection upon this blby, but the baby
represented her world of love. When
that was taken from her suddenly
without u moments warning, she gave
herself up to despair. have talked to
faithful servant who was with her
at that bitter time, who knew her
measureless love for the child. have
seen her in her grief, seen her the
wreck Of the joyous girl knew three
years ago.
Mrs Walsingham was moved. No
sOftening tear yelled the hard bright
ness of her dark eyes, but her lower
! lip worked nervOusly, and her iucrea,-
ing pallor told of a mind deeply
Dubbed.
"lf her husband had by any act of
his brought her to this condition, |
should call him something worse than
murderer" said Sir Cyprian; but
badly as | think of Gilbert sinclair.
| can not blame him here. 1t is des-
tiny that has been crUel-an insc ut.
able Providence which has chosen tt
intlict this hopeless misery on the gen,
tlest and most innocent of victims. 1t
is very hard to understand why this
should be-"
Mrs Sinclair is not the first, said
Mrs Wasingham, struggling against
some strong fee ing. "Other womer
have lost children they loved-only
children-the idols OF their hearts. u,
Other women have had kinder hus
bands, perhaps, to sympathi2e with
and comfort them. Other women have
had sources Of Consolat on which Mrs,
Sinclair had not.
She has her pietJ, her church, her
prayo. book, | should have thought
so pure and perfect a woman would fine
cons olation from those. | do not pro.
fess to be religious, or to have treas
ures laid up in heaven, and the loss o
what | love most on earth might bring
M to madness. But Mrs. Sinclair
placid perfection should be above sucl
human passions.
She is human enough and veal
enough to break her heart for the loss
of her child" answered Sir Cyrian
g owing angry. "But you seem to be
incapable of pity and | fear | have
been mistaken in appealing to you
Yet | thought that your love for tina
child yonder might inspire some feel
ing OF sympathy with an afflicted
mother"
My affection for my poor little or
phan cousin-a waif thrown on m,