Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1900-04-05
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Continued.

solely of revenge.
With the stars shining down upon
her, and the night wind whispering
around her, she gave herself up to this
dream of revenge. Suppose that she
yielded to Laurie; that on Thursday
she met and married him; that they af-
erWard went home and together sought
Helen Digby's presence, what a tri-
umph it would be! She pictured 10
herself the scene; how she would take
Laurie's hand in her own, and say:
Miss Digby, this is the gentleman
you warned me against; he is my hus-
band now. l married him this morning,
and we are going to join my father in
Austria He will know how to appre-
late your watchful care
She smiled as she pictured the dis
may on Helen Digby's face; the tri-
umph would be complete and sweet;
abe could ask no greater 1t was char
acteristic of her that she gave no
thought to the future. This marriage,
II she agreed to it. would restore her
10 her fathers love, her lost position
She never once remembered that if
she became Laurie Nugent's wife she
must go away and live with him She
never once thought of the future,
whether he would go to Fountayne or
London; she only remembered that she
could take no greater vengeance on
Helen Digby than by proving to Sir
,-d
his estimate of her.
That the vengeance might recoil on
her own head did not occur to her
She never thought of the consequences
OF her marriage; she thought that
Laurie Nugent loved her very dearly,
and that all his happiness depended up
on her If she could make him happy,
regain her lost position, keep her
fathers love, and take revenge on Miss
Digby all at one stroke, how thankful
she ought to be. Then she reused her
self to hear what he was saying
Il have my faults, Ethel, but my
love for you is greater than l can tell;
it fills my whole heart, and leaves room
for nothing more. If you refuse me,
Ethel, and have to leave you, shall
become a desperate man; shall care
for nothing; | shall go to ruin as fast
as / can; life will have no interest, no
charm for me. If you will trust me,
will grant my prayer and be my wife,
] will make you the happiest woman
in all the wide world"
He stopped suddenly, and by the
light of the stars he saw her beautiful
face raised to his.
Us it right, Laurie? VIII people
blame me afterward, and say | have
done an unwomanly action?"
There was something like remorse in
his heart when he answered, with all
appearance Of frankness:
No"
No one would ever blame yer; people
did things of that kind every day. If
there was any wrong, any harm in it,
he would not ask her to do it.
NO" she said, with the simple faith
of a child; q am quite sure you would
not"
him any questions about his position,
his ability to keep a wife, his income.
his source of revenue; she had never
thought of it. She thought of two
things only-her desire to prevent her
Rather's marriage, and her desire to
make Laurie Nugent happy
Neither Of these two motives would
have been strong enough to influence
her separately; the two combined con-
quered her
In after-years she wondered at her
own reckless want of thought, her care
Iessness, her utter disregard of all con-
sequences.
Il must have been blind" she said
when I consented; nay, 7 must have
been mad"
The time never came when she Ton-
fessed that love Of Laurie Nugent had
influenced her; of all the motives stir
ring in her heart and helping her on
TO ruin, that was the feebest She be-
Neved that she loved him; yet after
ward, when real love came to her-the
that for Laurie Nugent she had felt
nothing but a kindly, pleasant, almost
Indifferent affection. and that he had
won by her dint Of f1attering homage
and devotion which few women could
nave resisted.
She wondered, too, in the long, sad
after-years, how she could have so far
forgotten her own ideas of right and
wrong how she could have taken pleas
IRE in revenge so unworthy of a Cor
don; how could she have been so deaf
to all the appeals of her better self. her
nobler nature; how she could have
rushed so blindly, so madly on to her
fate If she had had the excuse of pas
sionate love, it would have been better
for her-it would have lessened her fol-
~, it would have been some excuse for
her rashness; but she was not in
fluenced by love.
Ethel" said Laurie, you are so
silent that I begin to fear. Can you
fancy how drowning man would pray
If, in the midst of a fierce, raging sea,
he saw a spar to which he could cling?
Yet no such man could plead for life as
| plead for the one word Yes Oh,
Ethel love you so dearly! Could you
live for thousand years, you would
never know such love again. My
darling, will you CONSENT"
Still she hesitated but she was
young, and the passion of his words
was beginning to influence her. Her