The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1896-08-09

[ 70. on dI6 a ledTIleSS, QeSpOllC nCll0A
said Elaine. beside herself with rage.
'It must have been A kindred reSem-
blance that made me fancy you, re.
piled with cruelty did not know
posse sSed.
II wish that | had died before 1 met
your she exclaimed, looking at me with
her pretty young face absolutely trans
figured with passion
mo doubt death would have been pref
cradle" / returned but involuntarily I
put my hand to my mouth, for could
feel my lips turning white.
Elaine flung herself upon the lounge
weeping bitterly.
1t was horrible to see her in such a
state, and yet, all that she said was true.
/ 1t was my jealousy-whether unreasoning
or not-that was the cause of our quar-
rel
Stephen was twenty years older than
| Elaine; ne was, in fact, her guardian, as
well as her cousin 1t was Stephen VINO
/ had been consulted when had propose9
/ for Elaine, and it was Stephen who hac
] been instructed by her mother TO MAKE
/ the necessary arrangements in regard tc
/ the disposition of Elaine'S fortune prey
| viouS to our marriage.
! 1t was no doubt this proprietary inter%
est that Stephen felt for Elaine that ir-
! ritated me. / wished to do everything
for her. but 1t was not IN my power te
| give her the Injuries he could SO easily
| beStow. Then l had an idea, Wnether
| true or not, that Stephen regarded me
/ as a fortune hunter, and resented an
L
ing openly declared, could not refute-
! We had quarreled before about stephen.
| and of course we would quarrel again.
AS long as the conditions remained as
! they were it was inevitable that we
| would quarrel.
'.Despot'' was the word Elaine always
j hurled at me when We had words ABOUT
/ Stephen. There are some words par
| ticularly dislike having applied 70 me.
"despot' is one of these words; 'hend
1 do not mind at all, but "despot Is
! maddening.
With affecfed unconcern 7 took up a
book that was lying near; II was a cook
book, quite new. One page was brown
with the stains of coffee, an eloquent and
enduring sign of the struggle Elaine and
had had one morning connecting the
matutinal beverage, when our cook had
failed to make her appearance
''In order to make good conee, L READ,
J ''the greatest care must be exercised. In
! order to make good coffee, the greatest
care must be exercised. In order TO
read this over dozen times at least
before it conveyed the slightest meaning
Elaine would rather be dead than liv-
ing with me! My Cod Was l so detes-
All. those sobs!
Nothing is more frightful than to hear
a woman one loves weeping bitterly and
to be unable to console her.
Yes. 1 was brutal and cruel, and all the
rest of It; still resented the anger had
| caused; 1 resented her tears.
And it was just four months ago!-We
were married on the 18th of the month,
today was the 18th. The church, the
I flowers, the deep tones OF the organ, our
| young companions standing about us, the
l immense company assembled, the thrilling
! sonorous voice OF the white robed priest:
''Wilt thor have this woman to be thy
/ welded Wife|
These sacred sounds and emotions rush.
ed in q fantastic whirl through my mind
as sat pretending TO read the cook book
I saw Elaine as she looked then, verined
| likeness of a dream, the consummauon OF
I all imagined idealitieS,-and noW!-Four
months ago. It was four thousand years!
Good Godl how frightfully fast we live
| in times of great emOtioni The dream
was changed indeed. The localities gone;
| life was henceforth a wreck
] I did not think of how | was affecting
| Elaine, 1 was too much absorbed in the
/ feeling of how she was affecting me- The
| hideOus fact, that she who represented
the constant, the faithful. the adorlng
part of humanity had changed dominated
( my mind to the exclusion of everything
/ else The horror of horrors had come.
Elaine had ceased to love me-
And through all of this, those terrible
4 She wished that she had died before she
met me. Already she was tired of my af-
| lection, Yes: there were a hundred
things to prove it, She liked to walk and
/ talk with others, she was fond of enter
tainments and society. AS for me, L
cared for no one but her. could not
/ tolerate society, and as a rule 1 hated
people. Yes; it was all over, and stephen.
At this moment the gong rang loud and
imperatively. and a few moments later 1
heard the servant coming up the stairs.
Glad of any pretext to leave the room l
FASTENED to the door, and closing il be-
hind me. met the man who handed me
/ two telegraph messages. L tore open the
covers and read: Mother is very III;
bring Elaine" The second dispatch an
nounced the death of my wife's mother.
! / crushed the papers into my pocket and
returned to Elaine. The terrible fact OF
death, and its shocking suddenness over
whelmed me. 1 experienced a violent re-
vulsion of feeling. 1 was ashamed of NY
foolish and ungovernable rage. If l had
been insane, / was sane enough now. And
Elaine poor child; how she loved her
mother. Yes; 1 admit with shame that I
had been jealous of this affection.
Elaine, 1 said, sitting down by the
couch and taking her hand, forgive me
! for making you SO angry. I see that I
was very Unreasonable. dare say it is
natural for you to be fond of Stephen
/ felt my face stiffening and my voice
growing formal as | said this. 50 I aban-
don9d Stephen. After ALL l went on,
we are foolish to make ourselves so
wretched. God knows trouble comes fast
! enough
Her hand lay cold and unresponsive in
mine, and she drew herself slightly away
from me. The movement was almost
imperceptible, but it struck me like a
| blow. And vet I knew she would act
! things to be violently abused one mo-
ment, and accept the kiss of reconcilia-
ton Immediately afterwards The horri-
BILE part of quarreltng is the agony one
is forced to undergo in the effort for pro-
pitiation.
1 put my arm around her and held her
with gentle force as | kissed her flaming
face and smoothed her disordered hair.
Forgive me, dearest, if you can, for
give me. Yes it was all my fault"
She looked at me in sheer amazement
Our quarrels did not usually end like this.
They were long periods of protracted
agony while we tried to make each other
as miserable as possible.
GIVE me your handkerchief" I said.
taking the tear-soaked bit of cambria
from her, with which she was torturing
her beautiful eyes, and substituting a
fresh handkerchief from my pocket.
Don't cry about it any more L urged
entreatingly. Il shall never forgive my
self for being so unhind.''
What is the NATTER" she asked with
anxiety, as she caught sight of my face,
and she become conscious Of the unusual
( generosity of my behavior. What is the
NATTER Who rang the bell? Is any one
i'll? Oh, is it nnother?''
at was a dispatch from Tom" I said,
trying to conceal the changes IN my face,
and NOT to show how deeply moved !
was. your mother
"Give me the telegram" she said, look
ing at me with grief-stricken, fmplorinS
eyes.
I drew the papers from my pocket. The
one with the big blot on the cover was
tine first dispatch sent to break the
ing silence, but in my haste and agita-
ton 1 had changed the dispatches, and
without any warning at all she read the
terrible message: Mother is dead. Bring