The Roanoke daily times. (Roanoke, Va.) 1895-1897, 1895-11-30

anu Her Only SlStcr was u nun.
1t was the old, old story. Sho met q
young man. Their souls blended. At
first it was innocent friendship, then tho
storm of passion. Ono day her husband,
OH returning home, Lad found thcm to-
gcthor, thoir hands claspcdi
Oh, tho tcrriblo recollection! Tho
thought Of it made tho blood rush to hcr
heart, and sho again felt tho same shame,
tho same terror, which had wholly over
powered her before her judges revolver
and stern faco.
strange rapidity. She had fnccd her hus-
band, crying: "Morcy! Mercy! l prom
isc to never sec him againl'
Her husband had hcsitatcd II moment;
had looked ut thcm, crushing them under
tho weight of his contempt; thcn, without
lowering his revolver, had dictated these
conditions:
"Promise, OF tho gospel, on your etcr-
nal life, that you will never see this crea.
ture again; that you will obey mo In all,
and that you will accept tho punishment
which l may please to inflict."
In tho anguish of her fear and love silo
had promised, word for word, what ho had
insisted upon
On a sign of hcr husband tho young
man, Inundated and vililod, had depart
ed, and her cXpiation had begun.
Hor husband had resigned his command
In the army and had gone to live on that
slope, assuming u false name,
hiding his secret from all. Like two
stones that fall to tho bottom of the son.
thcy had disappeared from society without
leaving any trace. Twice n year She wrote
to her mother. Her husband read her
letters, would mail them himself in some
farotf place. Finally her mother had died,
and from that day no letters wcrc sent.
In that terrible isolation she had gone
through all tho stages of despair. For
several days she declined to CIT, wishing
to starvc, but hor inoxorable Judge had
said to her:
"Youa rea Christian. You have prom
iscd to obey. Therefore eat"
And sho obeyod, because ovcn in her OK
cess of despair and revolt, cvon amid
her thoughts of suicide, tho idea of failing
i'll her promise had mover crossed her
mind. That promise was, in n certain
sense, the supreme inheritance of her love,
the painful tie that bound her to tho past.
AS she had lived hope alone remained.
She hoped that her husband, after he had
noticed her sweetness, docility and pa
thence, would rclcnt, and for many years
sho had observed his pcnsivc forehead day
by day, hoping to see on it u sign of for
givcncss.
Ho never treated her rudcly; he never
allowed himself to be wanting in respect
toward her, nor to speak to her n harsh or
sharp word. Only once, having found her
sobbing in u fit of despair, he had said to
her:
MY life is no better than yours, vet I
have betrayed no one"
He had, in fact, sacrificed cverything-
his ambition, career, family, plcasurcs-to
bury himself with her in the same atone
mcnt.
Sh had hoped, but in vain. DAYS,
weeks, years, had glidcd on in an inlexiblo
monotony. Self control vanished; she be-
came tho sport of moods, according to tho
time and humor-now weary of life, now
tormcntcd by rcmorsc, now irritatcd and
full of hatred. How many IL time she had
said to herself:
"Ho is old, and lam young; he will die,
and shall be free. When shall 1 be free?"
And now he was dying. AT this thought
She felt II strange spiritliko feeling which
startled her. At last she WAS about TO bo
free, her own mistress, her actions free,
her thoughts free, free to love and to be
lovcdl
All, the joy of escaping from her prison,
of seeking other horizons, of grasping
friendly hands!
She felt Il kind of intoxication in her
brain and rose, feeling the need to walk,
to movc; stiffness was death, IL she had
enough of death, silence, coldncss, solitude.
And as tho moon, which was high above
the horizon, sent its pale rays through the
window, she went to lean against tho
mantclpiccc, seized by II kind of uneasi-
ness. She turned her face to the mirror
and stood there looking at herself.
she was still beautiful.
Then her lips parted with % smile.
Those who had known her would know
her still. But who would still remember
her? And what had become of her friends,
of her ac~quaintanccs?
And what had become Of him? At this
question she felt herself seized upon by
fear. Not that she would appear to him
less handsome or that she had been for
gotten. She feared that she might find him
unlike tho image he had left in her heart;
that she might find him changed physical
~ and morally and not recognize him;
that he would be u stranger to her.
While she heaped such thoughts sho saw
before herself in the mirror, fecbly illu-
minated by the reflection of the moon, two
dilatcd eyes gazing on her like Goals. BE
ing a%ifrighted by that gaze of tho dying
man, who seemed rs if he wanted to fol-
low her in her guilty %rcvcric, she turned
with an Irresistible motion and went to-
ward the bed, obcying in spite of herself
a kind of impcrious and magnetic call.
Then it seemed to her as if q deep and
desperate voice camo from that face which
WAS growing stonclikc:
Il have loved you 1 nave worshipcd
you all my life, and you nave betrayed me.
For years and years L have waited with o
painful desire, Il word that would put
hahn ~, tn,- 1,1nnfliy IA, ,.,,,,,l I.. -...
let mo suffer. l was innocent n shared
Your nXniniinn took ON rnn hnlf oc uonr