The Van Buren press., 1896-04-04

MAY" he said in his kind. gentle
way, what are you thinking Off"
"Ot the beauty Of the night. Latino.
IdeaI"
ssIt IL, indeed-an IDEAL night tor
aFor a woman to be with the man an.
lowest
And for the man 70 be with the girl
he adores.'
But how seldom that arranges itself
In this world
sYes. indeed
They both sighed. There was n
silence only broken by the spIashingof
a small fish and then Frank spoke.
May" he said, when did you first
come to love me 81
when did I first come to love you.
Frank" May repeated, slowly. to gain
time in which to think OF an answer.
NV hen-when.-welI, after heard you
were in love with me-
She felt II was not a very satisfactory
answer, ard 50 she hurriedly went on:
you know the song says: I love be-
cause my love loves me-
And from whom" said Frank, rather
surprised, did you hear loved youq-
From nay aunt"
81 wonder who told herr he said,
refectfvely.
''I know. It was your uncle"
Indeed" cried Frank
Yes! But tell ne when did you
come TO really love me well enough to
ask me to be your wtfe?'
when heard you were really in love
with me-"
And who told you that?''
MY unele."
your uncleI 10 you mean Martin
Kirwin7'
= do"
Did you ever hear how he found
out?"
sOf course, your aunt. Mrs. Cross
lands, told it to him as a fact"
NY auntl This sounds like a terrible
conspiracy" cried May, sitting bold up
right,
1T does"
Frank, you don't love me, and yoe
have been fooled into marrying me-"
what nonsense, my dear May, you
are talking"
But Franks voice was evasive, though
his words were kind.
81 am not talking nonsense, Frank
I see It all. You married me because
VOC we're told I loved you" exclaimed
May, rather Historically.
That is why you married me- wa.
her bridegroom's answer.
Frank, you and have been great
| chums for years, more like mere friends
than anything else, and pals don't tel
lies to one another VIII you give ma
d plain answer to a simple question:
"I have never told you lie yet"
Did you ever love any other won.
amp
Il did"
"Ahl Did she refuse your
'sNo. I never gave her the chance
said the young man, bitterly.
evil you tell me her nameT' muir.
INJURED May.
my dear May, men, even men who
have pals, and gentlemen, do not men
]
firtations. | might as well ask you il
you ever loved any other man, and ex'
pect you TO tell Inc his name"
~ will be quite honest with you,
Frank. l did love another man, and
think you should know his name, under
the circumstances-bnt that is, provid-
ed you tell me the name of the girl
with whom you were in love-"
Frank hesitated an instant. He was
a little slow in gasping the situation,
but he was curious, and he thought il
he refused it would impress his wife
with the truth Of the fact that he still
loved another woman. He hit upon a
wise compromise, however, and said:
MY dear May, think it win be wiser,
easier for US both if no names are men
toned on either side"
May assented, but her sensibilities
were touched, and she sobbed a little
as she cried; MY poor boy, we have
both been fooled, but what is to be
done? What is to be done? ?"
MAY, this is very bad business, but
what is done cannot be undone," said
Frank, with martial seriousness. "AlJ
the law of England could not free US
now without terrible scandal. which
would not only make us more miser'
able than we are, but would ruin the
lives of two people whom we love, alas!
better than each other. | do not in
tend to make BLACKBOARD of myself,
and do not intend that you shall bring
disgrace upon yourself"
Can nothing be done?"
Yes. We have always been very
good pals. We are both in an awful
mess. We must face il together. We
must go back now-and in the future
we must be, like pals, friendly one with
another"
The month of honeymoon was draw
ing to an end. May and Frank had
led, as far as the world knew, the life
OF ideal lovers. They had spent their
time in playing lawn tennis or in boat
ing on the river while the fine weather
lasted. 1t was only when they had
been confined to the house for some
days that time began to fall heavily on
their hands, and they longed for the
society of anybody else in the world but
one another. 1t thus came about that
one day when sitting in the morning
room Frank said:
L think May, you might write and
ask Jack McGregor to come down and