The Southern herald., 1897-07-09
HEhEN'S TWO LOVERS.
BY ANNA SHIELDS



glad and triumphant, or bitterly that
he was sorry and ashamed The plain
fact stared him ever in the face, that
Helen Raymond did not love him, and
that Mrs. Raymond had urged his suit
and eXerted her maternal influence and
elOquence until Helen had consented tc
be his wife, telling him very frankly
that her heart was in the grave of hel
lover George Vanhorn, who had been
killed in a railway collision nearly one
year before.
Mother was never willing l should
marry George" Helen said, sadly, "be-
cause he was poor, and we have suffered
all that poverty can inflict. He was on
his way to Colorado, where his brother
has been successful, when he was
killed"
Win 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 a man and
wife, after they are bound together for
life, but the risk is great, and Will
Spencer knew 1t.
Yet he cherished the delusion that
love in the end would win return,
and he knew his own love to be strong
and enduring. He had stepped back
when George Nanhorn was met with
such smile, for he could never win,
had kept from pressing his suit when
the name of Helen's lover appeared on
the list of the killed in the account Of
the railway collision, but after the lapse
of several months he had won Mrs.
Ray mond to his side, and so, by proxy,
wooed Helen and won-what? a 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 cheeks burn
with loves bushes, 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 q bright, beautiful girl, with large,
expressive brown eyes, voice of
music, the step of fairy, singing as
Il bird sings, from sheer joyousness of
heart, bringing jest 10 all the house
hold worries, laughing merrily over her
own blundcrs in the culinary depart
ment, turning old dresses, renovating
old bonnets without a complaint, living
on love and hope.
After that day she moved about slow
ly, 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
viii in his preparations for a speedy
wedding. 1t was Mrs. Raymond who
went with him to open the house that
he had 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-
partment, 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
for a trousseau and a suitable dress for
the brides mother.
She was woman of rare tact. Hav-
ing won Helen's consent to be Win
Spencer's wife, she never bothered her
by complaints about her listless indif-
ference to her lover or her future pros.
poets. She simply made all the ar
raDgements for her, without once adj
mitting possibility of change. The
betrothal was spoken of on all occa-
sions, the preparation of the house, the
selection of the trousseau referred TO, in
matter-of-fact words that made Helen
feel, as it was intended she should that
she had walked into a net from which
there was no escape.
And viii Spencer knew it all, and
writhed under the knowledge, being
frank, loyal man, whose impulses were
generous and honorable, and who loved
Helen with all the strength of his heart.
Often he asked himself how he could en-
dure life, if he found his wife faithful
slave, instead of the happy companion
he hoped to make her.
'If she never loves mel" he thought,
bitterly. "If all my love fails to win
hers, what will my life be?"
He did her justice. He knew that if
his love failed to win her heart, his gold
was powerless to make her happy. He
knew that if her mother died or could
not be benefited by her marriage, she
would rather beg her bread herself
than be his wife.
While matters stood in this unsat-
isfactory state, Mrs. Raymond made a
81 want you to go away
for month";" she said to him, "and let
Helen miss the constant devotion that
she has had ever since your betrothal.
Let her feel that a void has come into
her life, and how dull and chcerless it
would be if she lost you. The wedding
day is set for June 10, and this is April.
Stay away until the 5th or 6th of June"
II seemed to him good advice, and he
had business in the west that wonld fill
his time proftably. 1t gave him the
first really happy moment of his en-
gagement, when Helen said gently, yet
with a shudder:
81 cannot bear to think Of you on rail
way trains, win. Write often, that
may know you are eafe."
Her lips met his in tender pressure
such as a loving sister might bestow'
but with far more affection than she
had ever before given him. Wes he
- H.