The Florence daily tribune., 1899-02-17
HER CONSCIENCE.


disidial and only one In each generation
was possessed of the Dillingham; con
science In her case however. II might be
more correct TO say that the Dillingham;
conscience possessed her.
Her mother was disappointed and dis
tres-ed when she saw the first Indications
that the family conscience was developing
in her eldest daughter She did her best
10 ward of the calamity, but to no pur-
poe.
III only IL had been Almira instead Of
COrnelin. | wouldn't care So much she
complained, but to think that the h-'st
looking one Of them all should be the one
to have it-on, dear.
And now Cornelia will be prevented
by the conscience and Almira by her lain
ness from making good matches don't
believe either of them viii marry nt all.
though there is a possibility that Aimirs
may. Cornelia won't, ! know -
There had been two young men who
wanted to marry Cornelia. Her mother
would have preferred Robert Weston for a
son -in-iaw, but rs she could not be suited
in everything she was only too glad to SEE
her daughter married to Willard Carter
l She did not know, and neither did Cor
nclia nor any Of her friends, that Carter
was by far the better man Of the two
l For nearly a year CorDella and Willard
seemed very happy together; then there
I began to he some vague, indefinable trpu-
Z bic. Willard would come home unexpect
/ edly to find Cornelia in tears, and she
! would make no explanation to him.
I This made him very unhappy. and hs
/ her spells Of depression became more and
more frequent he began 10 have u care
worn and harass.,d look Finally one even
| ing he told her that she must tell him
what was the trouble.
! "But cant, she protested tcarfully.
! why notg' he demanded. Don't you
know what it is YOURSELF"
! Yes "
"Thcn for heavens sake tell me II you
don't want me to go insane" /"
/ He thought that she was about to yield
/ when there came ring at the door. With
an impatient exclamation Willard an.
\ swered the call and Cornelin heard him
! greeting some one.
why, Weston, old fellow, have you got
homer Come in"
The two men had been friends in the
old days. They shook hands cordially,
and Willard led the way into the room
where Cornelin sat This was the first
/ time she had seen her former admirer since
her marriage, and she looked from him to
]
preston in her eyes.
When their caller had departed and VII
lard came back from seeing him to the
door, he found Cornelia crying with her
face buried In sofa cushion. He cast n
| despairing glance Mt her and went and
stood beside her After a few minutes she
said in aquict voice:
Willard, 1t makes me look like a fright
TO cry, so II you will turn down the lights
! | will tell you everything
When they were In semidarkness, she
asked him to come and sit beside her.
About year ago you married little
| fool, - she began, and tonight for the
first time she has had glimmer of sense.
1t will take her long while even now to
get rid of all her foollshness. but l begin
10 have hopes OF her.
"You have heard Of the Dillingham;
conscience, of course, but 1 never have
told you how ii worked In my case. All
my life have liked To do things because |
| didn't like to- do them That was my
chief happiness. But as | grew older II
got harder and harder, for kept getting
\ to like to do the things | did not like To
do, and So, of course. wouldn' t like to do
them any longer. DO you understand
II think SO. said Willard quite
gravcly
well, 1t finally occurred to me that II
l married man did not like l would
have something to do all my life that !
would not like to do in being nice to him. -
She paused, and In the dusk put out her
hand to meet his, When she found IL, she
held it tight
when you came along, Willard, |
thought you We're that man, but made u
] big mistake. For time, even after we
We're married, | thought you Were that
man, and was AZ good to you as i could
be, and was very happy.
." But 1t wasn't long before l began to
find out my mistake You were so kind
and nice in every way that IL began to
fall in love with you. And my nbomina,
BILE conscience made me miserable In con
sequence, for, you see, / was good TO you
then because liked to be l tried hard
to see your faults, and some of your little
ways which thought disliked gave me
great comfort then. But 1t was no use.
l began to like them, too, pretty soon.
But even then there was one thing
which kept me up, and that is what hate
to tell you worst of all " She paused,
then went ON slowly, II must tell you,
though, and you mustn't mind it, for you
/ know | was little fool " She paused
again and seemed TO find 1t very hard to
say.
''Well,' she went on desperately, Il
thought all along that liked MIR Weston
better than you, and this made me feel
happier a part of the time and wretched
the rest
But it grew worse and worse, because l
didn't think of him so much. Tonight,
when he came, l was frightened at first
don't forget for a moment that / was a
little fool-my horrid conscience said that
If really did like him best would be all
right again, but don't want to like him.
When saw him and heard him talk,
| wondered how ever could have cared
for him. Then looked at you and won
dcred still more l know he is your friend,
but hopo you will excuse my saying that
he is odious, and I can't bear the sight of
4 him.
Willard had been very quiet during the
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