Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1899-11-09
Story Of the Wedding Ring.
By BERTHA M. CLAY.
i,IE

Of her life depended entirely on hei
love and that, before he had read her
letter, she would be Thornton Came
ron's wife
Tie read the words with a frown, and
took an oath never while he lived tc
look upon her face again-an oath
which he kept unbroken.
He might have taken a dozen differ
ent methods Of Furnishing the man who
had robbed him of his daughter he
adopted none of them. He contented
himself with casting her off forever
She was no longer Carlswood; his
love for her had changed into bitter
est hate. She had broken the long
spell-he could never say again that
no Carlswood had ever contracted a
low marriage; he could never boast
that the name was unsullied. She
had stained It by running away with
a low-born stranger; nothing could
restore its lustre, nothing could give
back it's lost glory. His anger was
something terrible-terrible in its
depth, its silence, its intensity. To
]
at his feet dying of hunger he would
not give her bread
He made no loud complaints; he
never mentioned her name. II any
one attempted to condole with him, he
held up his hand with a stately gest
ure that enforced silence. His scorn,
| his anger. his terrible Indignation,
! lay too deep for words He went at
once to Bralyn, where all the house
hold were prepared to defend them
selves but he did not condescend to
ask any questions. His game keep
ers wished to tell him of rambles in
the woods, of stolen meetings in the
grounds. the naughty nobleman re-
fused to hear syllable. He dis
missed the governess with a sardonic
compliment, he gave orders that
everything which had ever belonged to
the unfortunate Katrine should be re-
moved from the house; he refused to
say where they were to be taken or
anything about them, and they were
ultimately deposited in the gate keep
! cr's lodge
| Despite his pride, his sternness, his
terrible contempt and scorn. there was
something pitiful in the proud mans
1 silent, solitary despair He took down
/ the record Of his children's births; he
read over the names OF his boys; and
! then a great mist of tears seemed TO
| hide the word "Katrine" from him
burning tears, all the more painful
! because since his wife's death he had
shed none. He sat alone in his
| library, and before him rose like so
many ghosts all the hopes he had
centred in that beautiful daughter;
\ he remembered her as a lovely child
/ as lovely highspirted girl, He
/ thought of the dead mother who had
/ loved her so dearly and a deep bitter
sigh came from the depths of his over
charged heart His daughter his
daughter,
] Never more was he to hear the gay
/ young yoice-never more to watch the
! beautiful face; she was worse, ten
/ thousand times worse, than dead
| bead he could have loved her still,
/ he could have visited her grave, he
could have spoken of her; but she was
iishonored and disgraced she was I'M
worthy of regret she who had
brought the first stain upon the name
of CarlswOod-- she who had stopped to
deceive him
Slowly he opened the silver ink
stand and drew his pen through the
name
"Katrine Ismay Carswood."
One by one the letters disappeared
beneath his heavy stroke and when
they had all disappeared it seemed to
him that his daughter lay dead In
silence more bitter than the silence OF
death he laid his face down on the
obitcrated words
Presently he arose and closed the
record, drawing his stately figure to It's
full height
II have mourued my dead. he said
to himself now it remains for me to
/ forget
And forget to all outward appear
auce. he did. He called the butler
/ who from having been SO long with
/ him was raised to the dignity of a con-
I Udeutial friend
/ You know Mrs Cameron's hand
Nr.Uog" DEE said. Re good enough
Cor the future 90 look over all letters
before ! see them and, II there are
ANY from her, destroy them"
/ \nd after that time Lord Carlswood
. lived MS though he had no daughter
. Only the utcr knew how many
. heart-hroken letters came TO Bralyu,
aow many pathetic appeals how many
r,cs for help Even 10 Lord Carls-
.N.u5 bad known. &c would have made
Bob difference De would rather have
.Hai rather than have yielded.
SD ume p3ssel on and the name Of
lthe Young girl who had been the pride
,nL his race was never even heard; all
( traces Of her had disappeared and
.Hr servants had ceased. even tn
Z Nh.sryrs as refer 10 her