Hot Springs weekly star. (Hot Springs, S.D.) 1892-1917, 1894-04-13
At WAR WITH HERSELF.
The Story Of a Womanrs Atonemeut.
. BY Charlotte N. Braems.
CHAPTER

oy Cnafl0tte NJ. Braeme.
! CHATTER - Continued
AS she stood there, Lady Fanshswe
drew aside the velvet hangings, and
Lady Charnleigh, are you here.
alone?" she said. Mics Dacre has been
looking for you. You must be very
tired"
"Iwonder what she will say, thought
Leonie. when 1 tell her all:: Will She
like tho govcrncss as we'll as she liked
the Countess, or will she be the first to
say that Il never had any style and was
quite unfit for my station.:' suppose
the world is all false alike"
II have known anything 20 off
go successfully a. this ball has done,
Lady Charnicigh. You have gained
golden opinions. my dear child. 1 am
@s:clined to think that fortune was not
sS:ind when she chose you for a lady Of
G5le and wealth."
You think | mako a better Countess
than l did & ~governess?" said Leonie.
"Ycs. L will say more-there is no
one living who would grace your posi-
hipn CT fill it as YEA do"
t"Thank you. aur.tic; now goodnight,
oArathcr. good-morning. Hank! Tho
bitds are singing and the sun will Don
shame thes lights. Au revoir, auntie
pleasant drcams.."
Loonie swept up the grand staircase.
her velvet train falling in graceful
folds. her fair head Greet and stately,
a smile on her lips, her whole energy
bent on n obicct-not to give way.
Florettc wa: waiting for her.
How long a | sontrol MYSELF"
thought Leonie. II feel burning tears
close to my eyes. and ] must let them
heart, and l must be alNne that l may
weep it away"
F.orette proceeded to remove the
costly diadcm the necklace of diamonds,
the ornaments, the rich trailing velvet
robes, and Leonie stood quite still. She
felt that if she either stirred OR spoke
the torrent OF grief must have it's own
way.
shall I lock those diamonds up now,
my LADY," asked F~lorette.
L.eonie looked at them-a few hours
moro and they would no longer be hers.
She would feast her eyes on them while
she could.
leave them until the morning. she
you can go now. Goodnight"
\ 406V GAAo = 0AOAO" ~ lOUk pCIlVs
up sorrow could have its way. She
locked the door. and, as the wild tor
rent of sobs rose to her lips, she flung
herself on the ground, not caring
whether she ever rose again or not.
So lately queen OF one of the most
brilliant fetes ever imagined, now she
lay alone, battling as best she could
with her sorrow and her despair. Deep,
bitter sobs shook the prostrate fgure;
1t was too hard," she said to herself.
She had been SO ~unutterab,y happy;
and now it was all over. She could
never enjoy n moment Of life again.
She wept until her tears was ex-
;hausted, and then something like the
gloom and %sullenness of despair came
over her. The morning sun was shin
ing and the birds singing their matin
hymns, for the 1i.st time o loathing for
sunshine and beauty came over her
she would fain have turned her face to
the wall and 1ied.
A sensation OF deadly faintness came
over her; when she remembered that
che had not tasted food since dinner
No me on the previous day. She went to
thele window and opened it, thinking tho
: sAssh air might. revive her. Dear
,HAaven, how beautiful it was! The sky
was one mass of pale pearl tints
streaked with gold, the morning air
was full of sweet and rare perfume, the
|dew was SPARKLING like diamonds on
the grass, the flowers were all at their
~fairest, the lilies opened their cool,
. white cups. the roses sent forth a cloud
though there q no sorrow in the
world. How fair and tranquil 1t was,
the tall trees stirred SO gently by the
sweet Western wind, and the green
'boughs rustling with q noise like faint
music!
$50 faint, so still, so full of beauty.
Her hot, tired eyes wandered ove the
flowers and trees. 1t was indeed an
earthly paradise-could she leave 1t?
No, q thousand times no!
The cool morning air refreshed her;
1t seemed to drive away the fever that
burned on her face and in her heart.
All this fair prospect, these gardens,
these grounds, the rich woodlands, the
fertile meadows, the park, had all been
hers yesterday. Could she lose them
\now?: A thousand times no!
l Temptation comes to us at different
times; 1t assails a man when through
the open door of a brilliantly lighted
room, he hears the click of the billiard
balls-he forgets his invalid wife at
home, and yields to it. It assails us in
those moments when we are weakest.
1t came toLconie Rayner that fair June
morning while the dew lay on the
grass, and the birds sang in the trees
"a swift, sudden, terrible temptation
that made her tremble with its force,
that flushed her face, and caused her
to raise her eyes to the fair morning
heavens.
"No, not that. Let me lose all-let
me debut keep my honor and my
truth unsullied-oh, great Heaven!"
A terrible temptation it was-on
that left her p%owerless. She trampled
Z upon it as she would have done upon
some noisome reptile springing at her