The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1897-03-23

'On, care say, ne returned, Win
uneasy defiance And what did they
| find TO say about me? Scandal OF
sorts. no doubt
She turned TO him desperately.
Il ought not to have listened, /
know that, but 1 heard the words by
accident, and then-and then ] could
not move. 1 seemed to turn to stone.
can never forget the things they said
and the woman was worse than the
man.
You bet." Dick said cynically He
did not look at her. but at the shining
tips of his irreproachable patent leather
shoes. You may as we'll tell me the
whole story and have done with it, he
went on, Il hate hearing things piece
meal"
She put her hand on the back of a
chair as if to steady herself, and stood
there looking at hinn-her face white
and set, her eyes glowing with an I'M
wonted fire.
.They talked" she said. ''of you and
your life; of your love for gambling,
and racing, and every form of dissipa-
ton, and-and of other things that
can't be mentioned between you and
me. Was it's it all true?"
He laughed again.
I'm not a saint he said, 81 never
professed that. Did you expect me to
| be one?"
She looked him straight in the face.
NO" she answered quietly. Il didn't
expect you to be a saint-but 1 believed
you to be man of honor
He was not quite hardened, and her
words cut like a knife. He WINGED.
Go on" he muttered, between his
teeth.
She flushed suddenly scarlet, then
grew white as death.
Il don't know how to go on" she
said, land yet 1 must After that they
began to talk of me-of you and me
and they said-they said" She broke
off with gesture that was all-elo-
quent.
Go on" he said again.
She raised her eyes slowly to his.
They said" she went on desperately.
that you do not love me. that you
never loved me, and that you only
asked me to marry you because you
had run through all your money, and
! because-because- the shame of it.
because my money would enable you
to keep on with the old life and the old
associations They said you had not
given them up and did not intend to
give them up, even after our marriage.
Is that true?"
He shrugged his shoulders
Yes" he answered recklessly; its
true enough"
She looked at him for moment in
silence, then turned away.
Il loved you she said. I trusted
you"
Dick groaned in spirit. The situation
was the most embarrassing and I'M
pleasant one in which he had ever
found himself.
He had behaved like a blackguard-
the fact could not be CLOSED over-to q
good and true woman, and she had
found him out. 1t was not the first time
that he had behaved like a blackguard
to a woman, nor the first time that he
had been found out, but then those
other women were not like Maisle.
AS he stood there, staring at the
floor in sullen silence and feeling like a
prisoner at the bar, he thought Of all
that this meant to hinl-and IL meant
lust everything. He had lost his last
chance. Nothing lay before him but
ruin and misery and degradation. 1t
was all over now He had played a
desperate game, and his luck had failed
him at the critical moment. There was
no more to be said or done. Hence
forth his world would know him not:
AS he realized this with intense bit
terness of spirit, he suddenly realized
something else, too-Somethlng that
filled him with surprise so everw helm
ing, so bewildering, so appalling, that
it drowned for the time being all other
feelings. It was Maisie that he re-
GREETED most of all-Maisiel The won-
an to whom he had sold himself in or
der that he might retain certain things,
had, by some strangely ironlcal freak
of fate, became far dearer to him than
the things for whose sake ne had been
more than willing to sell himself. And
he had not known it until thai mo-
ment.
It has been said that we never ap-
preciate a thing at it's true value until
we have lost it, and Dick bowed to the
truth of the old saving.
Now that Maisie was lost TO him
forever, he realized all that she had
been to hin-realized that he was hon
estly and genuinely in love for the first
time in his life. and with a woman
who was the exact opposite of all the
women he had ever admired before
And this new strange love had grown
I'D in his heart so quietly and gradu-
ally that he had not expected its ex-
istence till the present crisis had
caused if to leap into sudden passion
ate being.
Truly we are but puppets in the
hands ot DESTINY.
Il loved you" Maisie said again, her
soft voice strained and broken, her
soft eyes dim with bitter tears, and 1
thought thought you had loved me"
For minutes that seemed hours to
both of them, Dick stood still, staring
at the floor. with his hands thrust deep
in his pockets. Then he raised his eyes
slowly 20 her face. and made a step
forward.
I'm not going to ask you to forgive
me-" he said, that would be a waste
of time Mine was the sin. and mine
must be the punishment. After tonight
you'll never see me again, but l should
like to tell you the truth before l go.
I began by telling you lies, but you're
not the sort of woman a man goes on
telling lies to. Listen. It's true that
I've always been a bad lot and that 1 I.
always meant to go on being a bad
lot It's true, too, that l didn't care
for you when l proposed to you, and
that / only asked you to marry me so
that / might have the means of going
on as I had begun. So much for the
rast-now for the present" He paused
for moment, then went on in a lower
tone: THE present is that 1 love you,
but God knows how it has come about,
for 1 give you my word of honor
never knew it till this moment 1t
seems a queer thing that man should
love a woman without knowing it, but
the world is full of queer things. Yes.
/ love you. You are more to me now
than all the things that l used to think
made life worth living. I hate the old
life and I hate the old associations. |
The mere thought of them sickens me.
1 have been blind. but l am blind no
longer. NV eyes are opened
He paused again and sighed hope |
lessly.
She looked at him.
You love me-" she said in a breath |