Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1899-12-21

through which he had passed, she
knew nothing.
Paul, Paul, Why should she be
| haunted now? she asked herself, i'm
patiently. Surely in ten years she
| had time to forget; surely there could
be nothing so absurd as that she
| should wish for him-long to see him
! now.
| Yet by day and by night there was
| the lingering pain, the longing de-
sire. At times when she woke her pill
t low was wet with tears; there were
| times when she found herself moaning,
| Paul, Paul" almost unconsciously
/ to herself. And this was the vain,
| faithless woman who had left her hus-
| band because she valued luxury more
! than love.
1 She began to long to see him.
| Once she had compared him with the
polished gentleman she had met at
/ Bralyn. and the comparison, in some
respects, had always been to his ad-
vantage; they were so refined; she
was so lonely. But now, as her
eyes wandered YEARLY over the
great crowd she looked in vain for
a face like his.
So slowly, but surely, repentance
began it's work She had been so
eager for riches, so eager to show her
great beauty, SO eager for admiration
she had lOnged with such an inten-
sity of longing for the pleasures of
life, for it's brilliant gaities-she hau
been eager as a child; and now all
that she had longed for had been hers.
For ten long years she had been en-
crossed heart and soul, in the worlds
delights. She had been like man in
tOXicated with wine. Now the intox-
icatiOn was subsiding-her sober
senses were beginning to return; ana
with them came a yearning, longing
desire for her husband-for the love
and kindness Of other days She had
been like one in a delirium-now the
delirium was wearing off, and the re-
atty frightened her She had been SC
dazed, so bewildered with the prospect
held out to her that she had never
luOuSut VI Tie WRONG.
Perhaps years had steadied her, had
given to her better sense, clearer
judgment, better thoughts, nobler
ideas. One thing was quite certain
all that she had overlooked when she
made her fatal choice came clearly be-
fore her now-the wrong she haG
done to her husband, the enormity of
the sin she had committed.
I was so sOrely tempted" she cried
to herself-"I forgot all the wrong"
She tried hard to drown all these
thoughts. She went out more than
eVer-tried to forget, to drown her sor-
row in gaities. 1t was not possible.
By night and by day memory was here
to torture her.
She grew thin and pale People re-
marked to each other and to Lord
CarlsWood how changed she was, and
he grew anxious about her
eve will leave London earlier thai
usual this year." he said "You must
go to the seaside, Ismay You are not
looking so well, my dear child What
ails your"
She could have told him that it was
an awakened conscience, a troubled
heart, an uneasy mind, longing de-
sire to see her husband again, a long
ing wish if possible to undo her sin.
Was it SIM The question came
suddenly to her MIND one day, and
startled her terribly. A sin? She had
always been frightened at SHIT was
not pleasant word. Was this a sin
to have left the husband to whom
she had plighted her troth, for no bet
ter reason than the desire of being
rich?
Not all the sea-breezes that ever
swept the waves could bring health to
the unhappy wife who had been so
frail, so weak of purpose, so easily
tempted. No medicine, no tonic yet
discovered, had power to quiet the pain
Of her awakened conscience.