Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1896-03-19

I one WdS II6iuDlIuS all over, DGC re-
piled with less hesitation tdan he ex-
/ pected. Il will do anything you like,
! but will it not be very dangerous?"
There may be a little danger Of
discovery, but very slight You would
risk little danger for me, would you
not?'
"Of course I would, but why a
church," said Constance, with some
reluctance in her tone. why not an
office like the one in London?"
+ Because, dear, in an office at Brat
ton you would likely be recognized by
! the clerks or some one who knew your
name. 1t would be much more dan
gerous, I think, than in an obscure
little church like the one 1 mean
And I would get a special license, so
that we would not need to put up
banns. You see l have been studying
the matter for your dear sake
And is there no difficulty about get
1 ting the license?"
None whatever" He knew well
enough that he could not get it without
perjuring himself, because Constance
was under age, but he did not think
/ it well to say so to her. 'You may
safely leave all those arrangements to
me. Do you consent, my sweet and
beautiful one?"
Yes, if-but | really don't see how
it is possible, Rene. How can l get
over to Bratton?"
Easily, I think. What time do
you breakfast"
| About g."
"Punctually?'
Yes, as a rule, but Aunt Selma al
ways allows me a little grace if she
thinks I have a headache. Several
times, lately, have been quarter of
an hour late and she said nothing at
ALL"
would she send up to your room
if you were later than that?"
''Probably, but I could get my maid,
Martin, to say that l was nearly ready
and would be down directly. What
is it you mean, Rene? What are you
planning?"
ct is very easy" said De Marsac,
with decision. To-day week, my queen,
you will rise early and at o'clock you
will steal out of the house and make
your way to the high road, where at
the cross roads I will be waiting with
a vehicle and the fastest horse [ can
find.
Then l will drive you 20 Bratton,
where the curate shall be waiting for
us at the church. At o'clock he will
make you my wife and I will drive you
home again in time for breakfast.
Prosaic contamination, so English, so
divinely commonplace. But that
quarter of an hour in Bratton will
have joined us together for all time"
How clever you are, Rene said
the girl in low voice. Then after d
moments pause: 4 will do it. I will
meet you at o'clock
You brave girl. Dear, heroic,
! lovely, everything that is beautiful"
cried the enraptured lover, kissing her
hands first and then her lips. you
will make me the happiest of men"
They exchanged a few words re-
specting their arrangements and then
Constance very sorrowfully murmured
chat she must go. She ran back to the
house and lay down in her dressing
room only just in time to escape dis
covery, for Lady Esler, feeling a little
uncomfortable respecting her niece's
indisposition, hurried over her calls
and returned home a full half-hour be-
fore Constance expected her.
i hot nr. hn { IA
conjunction for the deceit that she
was about TO practice, some remQrse
for the ingratitude with which she was
repaying Lady Esler's unvarying kind
ness to her since childhood. If these
feelings existed in Constance's mind at
all it was in a very rudimentary de-
gree. And for this perhaps Lady Els
Ter was most to blame. She was a
hard, unloving, worldly woman, es-
sentially selfish and extremely unsym
pathetic; and it had followed as a mat
ter of course that she neither tried nor
cared to win her nlece's love. Con-
stance had grown up with low stand
ards and confused ideas of right and
wrong. 1t seemed to her quite the
/
outwit the authorities, that she should
cheat and deceive her aunt and her
schoolmistress and her friends, if their
commands or wishes clashed with her
own desires. She had practically no
conscience. no code of honor at all.
And therefore her chief feeling
was one of triumph that she should
successfully carry out her plan of &C
tion even at the expense of all that
was honorable and womanly and true.
The day on which the expedition to
Bratton was to be made dawned
brightly and at o'clock Constance
found herself Fastening toward the
point of the road at which Rene had
told her he would wait.
AS she expected, she found him
there, with high dog-cart and she
was soon speeding along the level road
to Bratton. She was hardly nervous;
there was a glow of citation on her
cheek and she laughed and talked so
gayly and was so delighted to find that
De Marsac was a first-rate whip that
he looked at her from time to time
with real admiration and had once no
need to stimulate the warmth with
which his batteries were breathed into
her ears.
A moldy little church in the poorest
part Of the town, sleepy clergyman