St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1897-07-10
HELEN'S TWO LOVERS.
BY ANNA SHIELDS

n1ASheg glad? Was he sorry? Di,
Wv he feel triumphant? Did he fee
bitterly ashamed? - !.
Will Spencer asked himself thes,
questions over and over, wcarying o
the repetition, and vet never able t.
end it by saying heartily that he wa
glad and triumphant. or bitterly tha
he was sorry and ashamed. The plair
fact stared him ever in the face, tha
Helen Raymond did not love him, ant
that Mrs. Raymond had urged his suit
and exerted her maternal influence ant
cloque4ce until Helen had consented te
be he Eife, telling him very frankly
that her heart was in the grave of he,
lover. George Vanhorn, who had been
killed in a railway collision nearly one
year before.
''Mother was never willing should
marry George, Helen said, sadly. ''be.
cause he was poor, and we have suffered
all that poverty can inflict. He.wfs on
his way to Colorado, where his brother
has been successful, when he was
killed."
!. Will Spencer WINGED, for he was rich
very rich, but then he put to the wound
that soothing salve, 81 will win her love
when she is my wife," that has wrecked
so many lives: 1t may come, this love
that will not be hidden, to man and
wife, after they are bound together for
life, but the risk is great, and Will
Spencer knew it.
. Yet he cherished the delusion that
love in the end would win a return,
md he knew his own love to be strong
ard enduring. He had stepped back
when George Vanhorn was met with
such a smile, for he could never win,
had kept from pressing his suit when
the name of Hclen's lover appeared on
the list of the killed in the account of
the railway collision, bat after the lapse
of several months he had won Mrs.
Raymond to his side, and so, by proxy,
w0ocd Helen and won-what? q cold,
reluctant consent to be his wife.
Yet she was not, cold, this girl of 20,
whose heart had been crushed ever
since the day when George Vanhorn's
name was recorded as dead. He could
have told how her eyes could soften
with loves tenderness, her checks burn
with loves blushes, her low, sweet,
voice tremble with loves whispered
words. He had won what all the Spen-
Ger gold, the riches of long generations,
could not buy.
Before that fatal railway collision she
was a bright, beautiful girl, with large,
brown eyes, a voice of
music, the step of a fairy, singing as
a bird sings, from sheer jovousness Of
heart, bringing jest to all the house
hold worries, laughing merrily over her
own ;blunders in the culinary depart
ment, turning old dresses, renovating
old bcnnets without a complaint, living
on love and hope.
After that day she moved about slow
", her eyes were dull and weary, her
duties met with a rigid mechanical pre-
cision, her lips compressed. her cheeks
pale, shadow of her joyous self.
Mrs. Raymond was often afraid that
she would yet miss the golden prize she
had partly won, and heartily seconded
Will in his preparations for a speedy
wedding. 1t was Mrs. Raymond who
went with him to open the house that
he bad bought to adorn for his bride,
who aided him in the selection of car
pets. curtains. furniture, and gave him
Instructions regarding the kitchen de-
of whose needs he was as ig-
norant as most young bachelors. 1t
was Mrs. Raymond who received an
anonymous letter containing a liberal
sum, which she quietly appropriated
Tor trOusseau and suitable dress for
the brides mother.
She was woman of rare tact. Hav-
ng won. Helen's consent to be will
spencer's wife. she never bothered her
~ complaints about her iistless indif-
ference to her lover or her future pros.
'ects. She simply made all the ar
Fangements for her, without once ad-
hitting possibility Of change. The
,etrothal was spoken of on all ccca-
Mons. the preparation of the house, the
election of the trousseau referred 10. in
words that made Helen
eel, as it was intended she should. that
he had walked into q net from which
here was NO escape.
And Win Spencer knew it all. and
sFlthed under the knowledge, being a
rank, loyal man, whose impulses were
'enerous and honorable, and who loved
ielen with all the strength of his heart.
)ften he asked himself how he could en-
lure life. if he found his wife faithful
lave, instead of the happy companion
lc hoped to make her.
II she never loves mel" he thought,
Utterly: IF all my love fails to win
ers. what will my life be?''
He did her justice. He knew that il
is love failed to win her heart, his gold
Vas powerless to make her happy. He
new that if her mother died or could
ot be benefited by her marriage, she
'ould rather beg her bread herself
han be his wife. = st-f.
While matters stood in this unsat-
factory state, Mrs. Raymond made
aggestion: Il want you to 20 away
Dr snsmonth," she said to him, ''and let
[eieii miss the constant devotion that
he has had ever since your betrothal.
ct her feel that q void has come into
er life, and how dull and checrless it
tpuld be if she lost you. The wedding
ay is set for June 10, and this is April.
tnydway until the 5th or 9Th Of June"
It seemed TO him good advice, aud he
ad business in the west that would fill
b time proftably. 1t gave him the
rst really happy moment of his en-
lgement, when Helen said gently, yet
'iih shudder:
~ cannot bar IA think Of You on rail.