Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1899-07-04

Reserved, yes, ana often very sad,
| replied his friend, but never morose.
| Many times [ longed to ask for your
confidence, but there was something that
| told me it was too deep a sorrow you
were hiding for any intrusion"
Il could not talk of it in those days.
When my father died and 1 planned to
return to my own home [ renewed my
self-eXacted vows to devote my life to
May, but-do not despse me, Roy-it
was with an added misery and pain. Re
member, | had not once seen her since
the day when / carried her home after
my hand had ruined her young life, but
| knew that she was deformed. l was
young man, IN the full Vlgor, or health,
and, while my conscience told me very
plainly that | owed my life to May Tai
bot, my heart shrank from the only way
in which | could offer it. Common sense
spoke very plainly. Only as my wife
could | give May the tender care, the
love that might throw some gladness INTO
her life. And [, like coward, thought
| of the long misery of my own life tied
| to q deformed woman that | did not love-
| SO | came home, 4 slave III my own idea
| Of duty. and resolved to wear my chains
bravely. 1t was summer weather when
| went to Owls Nest, ana, TO my sur
prise, the house was full of guests, most
| of them young people. l think that May
must have gathered something Of my in
| tentiOn from my letters, for she was no
| longer a child, and suffering had made
| her womanly even beyond her years.
only guessed this from her manner. L
| had expected to meet q frank, cOuslnly
welcome, for our correspondence had
been like that of an affectlonate brother
| and sister, but May was dlgnlhed and
| even chilling in her greeting. 1t was
| soon evident to m that she was trying
| to thrust other ladies VINO were her
guests upon my care and to avoid me as
| far as possible
But was she repulsive, Bob!'
| "Repulsive! She was far from that,
my poor darling. Feeling her deformlty,
| as such sensitive natures do feel any per
sonal defect, she had morbid idea that
| she was hideOus and yet craving to be
| loved if she could not be admired. Gov
| erned by this wish she had cultivated 4
| naturally fine intellect by constant study,
| porting over books when other girls OF her
| age would have been seeking pleasure IN
| dirtationS or amusement. With SWEEP,
| pleasant voice and good ear for music.
she had cultivated a musical taste TILL
she was wonderfully proficient, and her
singing was pure delight to her friends.
But for me she never sang, she never
PLAYED. never chatted as she did with her
other friends and avoided me so persist
emily that at last horrible fear took pos
session of me. In spite of her natural
sweetness of disposition, her affectionate
letters, l feared she had never really for
gwen me, DuC was 100 generous W Itl Hlc
know the truth
HIN! Not an unnatural fear. But,
! my dear fellow. when you found your
| self so persistently snubbed why did you
not leave her? You had done all your
| conscience required
But not all my heart desired. One
! day, when she was more gracious than
! usual, [ made her a downright offer OF
| marriage. She was furious. She said L
insulted her. Nothing could convince her
| that | was not trying to make amends
| for the past at the price of my own hap
| piness. From hot indignation she be-
| came pathetic, asking me how L could so
| wound her, finally leaving me in tears.
| To say that l felt like q brute gives but
| a faint idea of my sensations. L left
| Owls Nest the same day, trying to COM
| fort myself by my own virtuOus lnten-
| tions. But, Roy, [ love her! l love her
| with all the strength of my heart. Her
| deformity to me is but touching remin-
| iscence of the tenderness l owe her and
| which | long unutterably to pour out
upon her. To me she is the one woman
| in the world, and | cannot imagine a
deeper, purer happiness than mine would
be could | call her my wife. How to
| convince her of this, how to overcome her
morbid horror that am unwillingly de-
| voting my self to her service, | do not
yet know. But [ am resolved to try.
| Surely such deep, sincere love as mine
must at last win its way and force her to
| believe in its truth
You have my best wishes. Come,
| shall we ride!'
SO they strolled away to order their
horses and May Talbot threw off the
afghan to stand before her mirror and
once more compare her little, crooked
figure with the thought of other wOmen's
| symmetry.
But into the blue eyes had come q radi-
ance that made the whole face joyous.
/ q Il
smile born of love and such happiness
as her life had never known before. For
she loved her knight WELL this fair maid
en- who had not accepted his pity. To
have been his wife, doubling his motive
in seeking her, to have thought every
tender word a duty wrung from his re-
morse, would have been torture. TO be
his wife because he loved her and had
won her love was such happiness that she
sank into a deep armchair sobbing for
pure joy.
My DEAR" said a matronly lady pres
| emily entering the room, who do you
think is here? Robert Blake! 1 met
him as we drove up to the porch steps.
Tell me, darling, will it be painful for
you to see him? We can go away if it
is"
mo, mamma. want to see him."
But she made no explanation. She
met him in the evening promenade, when,
| leduluS upon uef SlepldIHer arm, she
| slowly walked on the beach. Her smile,
her soft words of welcome, invited him
to remain beside her, and soon he was
alone with her, the older gentleman
pleading fatigue.
They were alone, though hundreds
passed and repassed in the public prom
enade. Her voice was low, yet he heard
it above the roar of the breakers when
she said:
Robert. I am afraid 1 was very I'M
kind to you last month"
Very unkind, my darling"' he said,
all his love in his eyes as he looked into
| he: face.
Twill you forgive me?''
ION one condition only: that you are
kind now and will promise to be my
wife,
Il WILL she said gently; your true,
loving wife, Robert, for [ love you with
all my heart
AS love you," he answered
But he never knew that she had heard
that hours chat in which he laid his
heart bare for his friend, little guessing
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