Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1895-10-02

/ lu0u lO4 ohOphSAt
"Ah, well, you must know him BET
ter
And the opportunity was not lon
in coming. 1t seemed as if fate wer
on the side of his lordship. Where
ever the Merediths went they were
sure to meet him-and he let it b
seen clearly enough that it was fol
Jasmyn's sake he had come.
One night they were sitting out
dance which she had promised him.
he had persuaded her to go into the
conservatory instead of dancing ant
she sat on low seat, over which some
strange foreign plant leaned. An
odor that seemed like incense burned
on the shrine of some old time got
half intoxicated her. And there ant
then Lord Gainsdorf told his love
story. She had charmed him from
the first, he said, and now he loved
her. Would she -. At that very
instant it seemed to her MS if she
heard voice from far, oh, so fai
away-a voice that said: "Wait!'
And just then, before she had spoken
at all, her partner for the next dance
appeared, and Lord Glinsford said,
with that cool self possession that be-
longed to his age and rank, 81 shall
see you tomorrow.
That night sleep did not come to
Jasmyn. She lay with wide open
eyes, vaguely wondering. What
should she say to Lord Gainsford?
Gould she love him-and why not?
Would she be happy as his wife:
How much there would be to make
her SO.
Then suddenly it seemed to her as
if the room opened its windows, to the
stars and the definite night, and she
looked far, far off, as perhaps We all
shall look when death has taken us by
the hand and led us far away from
what we call life. She knew that her
vision had gone beyond the sea, anc
that it was room in New York, ir
which she saw q young man writing.
He had just turned page. She did
not know how his letter began, but
she read these words:
81 am twenty-four now, and you
are twenty-one. You can no longer
call me boy. I was admitted to the
bar year ago. I have succeed ed SC
we'll that in October I shall make my
first important plea. Remember that
YOU promised to hear it. I will cross
the sea and bring you back in time.
I shall be with you almost as soon
as this letter. ehave obeyed you
hitherto in keeping silence. 1 write
now because I wish you to know be-
fore we meet that I am unchanged. "
And when she had read thus far u
seemed to her that suddenly the win
dows that had opened to the vastness
of the night were closed and she was
alone.
What did it all mean? She was not
asleep. 1t was no dream. Plainly as
if she had held the sheet in her OWL
hands she had read those written
words. Plainly as if he had been in
the room with her she had seen Robert
Marsh.
Yes, she would wait. She would
decided nothing until she knew. She
turned on her side and drew long,
calm breath, and then sleep, the DELHI
quent, kissed her parted lips and led
her at last into dreamland.
The next day Lord Gainsford
pleaded his own cause, but he pleaded
in vain.
eff you will wait two weeks" JAS
myn said, "I will answer you then.
If say anything to-day it must be
NO. I do not feel that I understand
myself. Will you give me time, or
shall it end here?"
OF course he gave her time. he
turned to Mrs. Meredith. Mrs. Mer-
edith was his senior by three years,
therefore she was safe as well rs a
sympathetic confdante.
The two weeks were not over, in
fact, only nine days had passed, when
letter came to Jasmyn in hand she
used to know. She opened it. She
read the first page, and then she
turned the leaf, and there she saw the
very sentence she had read when the
windows of her chamber opened into
the infinite night.
And that same day Robert Marsh
followed his letter. Then Jasmyn
Meredith knew for the first time her
own hearts secret. The love that
was strong enough to conquer tine
and space and speak to her across the
estranging sea was the love of her own
life, as we'll as of her lovers.
The next day she told her mother
that she had made up her mind.
Naturally, Mrs. Meredith did not like
it, but she was helpless. John Mer'
edith had left his fortune to be equal.