Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1894-03-29
CHAPTER xxx.

NAA4hA AAAAh ehfNaNs
any DEAREST LEoNIE, the note
began-"I will not tease you with
long letter, did not intend TO trouble
YOU at all this evening, but that can
no longer conceal the deep, true, ardent
love for you that fills my whole heart,
/ have seen you this evening so lovely,
so radiant, so gracious, that it seems
to mo the whole world must be longing
to take my prize away. Leonie, am
not poet--l cannot WOO you in musical
song. am a soldier, loyal and true,
and gifted with no great eloquence. |
could not tell you how love you'll
have no words at my command that
can describe my love-but kneel at
your feet, and pray you to be my wife.
Be my wife, sweetest? / shall have
earth's fairest price then. would
rather call you my wife, and know that
| had won your love, than | would be
crowned king; and, if you will trust
yourself to me, ! will make you happy.
With my sword | will win q name even
grander than that Of C9arnleigh. | will
give my whole life to you You will
not keep me waiting for an answer,
sweet could not bear long suspense.
| shall come to hear my fate tomorrow.
Yours, in life and death, PAUL"
Swift, sudden, and terrible came the
temptation, and it mastered her.
Marry Paul and you will do him no
wrong; marry him, and moneys and
lands will all be his own then; the will
of the late Earl will be carried out, and
yet you will be Lady Charnleigh. " So
spoke the subtle, tempting voice
There is no need to mention the will,
no need to lose all that you value SO
highly, no need to say one word of hay
ing found it. Marry Paul Flemyng,
and then you will endow him with all
your worldly goods. 1t cannot matter
how he becomes possessor OF the es-
tates, If he does possess them. 1t can
not matter whether they are yours,
and you give them to him, or whether
they are his and he gives them to you.
Do not mention the will-you are doing
no wrong. Paul will be master of
Crown Leighton, as the late Earl in
tended him to be, and you will retain
your independence"
A terrible temptation. She fought
against it for q few minutes; from her
lips came the murmur OF prayer;
Keep me in all honor, oh Heaven.
Keep me in all truth" Then the sub
tie words rang in her ears once more;
Marry Paul Flemyng, and all will
be completely his-as completely as if
you showed him the will, and left your
self at his mercy. Why go through
all the pain, why expose yourself to all
the comments, the gossip, and the
sneers? He says he would rather
marry you than be a king; 50 that, in
reality, you are doing him kindness,
and no wrong"
Her head dropped among the leaves
and passion-Aowers that climbed round
the window. She buried her face in
her hands.
al must marry him" she cried,
passionatelY. 81 cannot give up all
this that my soul loves best. l cannot
lose wealth, position, and grandeur, all
at one blow. Icannot be slave where
| have reigned queen.
Then there came to her better
thoughts.
Il do not love him, and l do love Ber-
tram with all my heart. l had better
tell the truth and leave all to him.
Bertram would marry me if we're
beggar."
But Bertram had told her he was not
rich.
IF I did marry him." she said, I'VE
should be poor. If it is, as he says, o
struggle for him now, what would it be
were his wife,"
The grandeur, magnifcence and lux
ury that she had always loved seemed
to her now dearer than ever. If she
might have kept her wealth, how it
would have delighted her to lavish it
on Sir Bertram!
I'VE might have been rich and happy
together; as it is we must part. must
marry Paul Flemyng, and restore to
him what is his.
So right and wrong battled in her
soul = honor fighting dishonor-the
better, higher and nobler nature
struggling against the lower one.
Sometimes right swayed her, and she
resolved, come what might, she would
be true to herself; she would give Paul
Flemyng the will; she would give up
at once the grand inheritance of Crown
Leighton; she would marry Sir Ber-
tram if he still urged her to do so; she
would say good-by to the glorious life
she had been leading lately; she would
keep her conscience free and unsullied
before Heaven. Then came regret
full vision of all she would lose, of the
diamonds worth kings ransom, of
this beautiful Crown Leighton, of the
fetes and balls, of the homage and
adulation that followed her. And
wrong swayed her. She would not
mention the will, she would carefully
keep all knowledge Of it from Paul
Flemyng, but she would marry him, so
that ample justice might be rendered
to him after all.
And with this resolve Leonie drew q
deep breath of relief. There would be
no need to give up all, no need to pro-
claim herself beggar and no countess,
no need to leave this fairyland; she
could keep all and yet not do wrong
at least not much-for she could not
! dupe herself so far as to consider that
she was acting rightly.
So on that fair June morning, while
the sun shOne and the birds sang, she
! deliberately and willfully sold the
peace of her soul, the tranquility of
her conscience, her honor and loyalty;
she willfully bartered them for wealth
and title.