Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1897-05-29
CHAPTER yIIy-

thing happened;i stranger appeared on
the path which wound through the garden.
She was alone with him. The Influences of
the still and fragrant summer evening were
influences which breathed OF love.
"HaNe you thought OF me since yesterday
he asked, gently.
She owned that she had thought of him.
us there no hope that your heart will ever
incline toward me%'
Il daren't consult my heart. III I had only
to consider my wv feelings" She stop
ped.
What else have you TO conslderg'
my past life-how i have suffered, and
what ! have TO repent Of"
HAS your married life not been a happy
one?' he asked.
Not a happy one-!n the end" she an
swered.
Through 40 fault Of yours, 1 am sureP'
Through no fault Of mine, certainly"
And yet you said just now that you had
something TO repent oi?'
II was not thinking OF my husband. Capt.
B~ennydeck, when | said that. II / have in
jured any person, the person s myself"
She was thinking of that fatal concession
to the advice OF her mother and to the inter
ests Of her child which placed her in a false
position toward the honest man who loved
her and trusted her. II he had been less in
nocent In the ways OF the world, aud not 50
deV0tedly fond OF her, he might, little by lit
tie, have persuaded Catherine to run the risk
OF shocking him by a confession of the truth.
As il was, his confidence in l. = raised him
high above the reach Of suspicious which
might have occurred TO other men. He saw
I.r ,,,.y, .alA. H. -,.. ls.t-.,. l., -. y..~
which he Interpreted as a silent reproach to
him for the questions that he had asked, Il
hope YOU will forgive me" he said, simply.
She was astonished. What have | to for
giyey'
MY want of deiicacy."
"0h, Capt. B~ennydeck, you speak of one
Of your great merits as il it was a fault.
Over and over again | have noticed your deli
cacy, and admired IT,"
He was too deeply in earnest TO abandon
his doubts of himself.
Il have ignorantly led you to think of your
Sorrows" he said; sorrows that | cannot
console. ! don't deserve to be forgiven.
May | make the one excuse In my power?
May | speak OF myselfY'
She told him by a gesture that he had made
a needless request.
THE life 1 have led" he resumed, ''ac-
counts, perhaps, in Some degree. for what is
deficient In ne. At school | was not a pop
ular boy; l only made one friend, and he
has long since been numbered with the dead.
Or my life at college, and afterward In Lon
don. | dare not speak 10 you; | look back at
Ii with horror. My school friend decided my
choice of a profession; he went into the
navy. After awhile, not Knowing what else
to do, | followed his example. | liked the
life-fmay say the sea saved mt. For years
l was never on shore for more than a few
weeks al q time. / saw nothing OF society;
/ was hardly ever In the company of ladies.
The next change ia ms life associated me
with an arctic expedition. God forbid 1
should tell you of what men 90 through who
are lost in the regions OF eternal ice! Let
me only say | was preseryed-miracuiousIy
preseryed-to profit By that dreadful expert
ence. 1t made a new man OF me; it altered
me Il hope for the better into what | am
now. Oh, 1 feel that | ought TO have kept
my secret yesterday-l mean my daring to
love you. ] should have waited till you knew
more of me: till my conduct pleased you,
nerhaps, and spoke for me. You wont
laugh. | am sure, if I confess (at my sgel
LllNl u all Alt NDtl lCliNtd. @NNNtt Nil u HlNt
YOU have | known what true love is-and
this is at 40 years old. How some people
would laugh! And yet 1t seems melancholy
TO me
mo: not melancholy"
Her voice trembled. Agitation, which il
was not q pain bat q luxury to feel, was
gently taking possession of her. Where nm.
other man might have seen that her tender.
ness was getting the better of her discretion,
aud might have presumed on the discovery,
this man, innocentIy blind to his own inter-
ests, never even attempted to take advantage
OF her. No more certain way could have
been devised by the most artful lover of
touching the heart OF a generous woman and
making II his own. The influence exerted
over Catherine by the virtues of B~ennydeck's
character-his unaffected kindness. his man
ly sympathy, his religious convictions so
deeply felt, so modestly restrained from
claiming notice-had been steadily increas-
ing in the intimacy of daily intercourse.
Catherine had never felt his ascendancy over
her as strongly as she felt it now. BY fine
degrees the warning membranes which
had hitherto made her hesitate lost their hold
on her memory. Hardly conscious herself
Of what she was doing, she began to search
his feelings in his own presence. Such love
as his had been unknown in her experience;
the luxury of looking into it and sounding it
to its inmost depths was more iiian tue W.
mans nature could resist.
III think you hardly do yourself justice"
she said. Surely you don't regret having
felt for me so truly when l told you yester-
day that my old friend had deserted me?'
"No, indeedr'
do you. like to remember that you show
ed no jealous curiosity to know who my
friend wasp
Il should have been ashamed of myself il
l had asked the question:
And did you believe that l had a good
motive-a motive which you might yourself
name OF that frlendy'
rs he some one whom l know
Ought you to ask me that after what l
have just saidy'
Pray forgive me! 1 spoke without think
ing"
II can hardly believe It when I remember
how you spoke TO me yesterday. i could
never have supposed, before we became ac-
q~uainted with each other, that 1t was In the
nature Of q man To understand me so per
fectly, to be so gentle and so c0nsiderate In
feeling for my distress. You confused me a
little, I must own. by what YOU said after
ward. But l am not sure that l ought to be
severe In blaming you. Sympathy mean
such sympathy as yours-sometimes says
more than discretion can always approve.
Have you not found 1t SO yourselfy'
II have found II so witt YOU"
And perhaps / have shown a little too
plainly how dependent l anu on you-how
dreadful II would be to me II l lost you, too,
as q friends'
She blushed as she said 1t. When the
words had escaped her, she felt that they
might bear another meaning than the simple
meaning which she had attached to them.
He took her hand; his doubts OF himself, his
needless fear OF offending her, restrained him
no longer.
You can never lose me-" he said. III You
will only let me be the nearest friend that q
woman can have. Bear with me, dearest! l
ask for SO much; I have SD little to offer in
return; / dream of q life with you which Is
perhaps too perfectly happy ~ be enjoyed
on earth. And yet, l cannot resign my de-
luslon. Must my poor heart always long Tor
happiness which Ii beyond my reach? II an
QyerrplinA Providence guides our course