The Opelousas courier., 1900-06-02

expressed approval of a soft gray
silk she possessed, she often wore it.
The motive in all this was gratitude
and unconscious love. She would
have cut off her right hand if it would
have given Mr.. Granger any pleasure.
His gloom was the sorrow of her life.
When she won him from it for an
r hour she was happy.
So two years had passed, and no
8 daughter in the home of a father was
r happier than was this orphan girl.
Then q certain guest came often to
, the house. He was o DR.. Harrington,
, one of the ablest practitioners of the
city-a man of talent who was rapidly
| amassing a fortune. He had seen
Theodore first at the bedside of little
t Lora, when the child had an attack
of sickness. He became interested
. in her-paid court to her-fnally
offered her his heart and hand. Then
it was that Mr.. Granger had said:
"It is an offer, Miss Nelson, which
you would do well to give some
thought to-"
How gravely and coolly he had said
it-and what a shock to her there was
in his quiet words. Theodore
started from her stupor and cast her.
self down upon a longe.
It was the crisis of her life. Alone
in her chamber she commenced the
struggle which should decide her des-
tiny.
She faced the bare, painful fact that
she loved Mr.. Granger. She loved
him as the source of all her life hap
piness. Aud his words had shown
her the gulf between them. However
kindly his g~entleness met hers, they
were socially at a distance. She never
thought of such things, but she knew
that Mr. Granger did, that he valued
his patrieian blood-patrician in the
highest sense OF the word; it was blood
kept pure from q faint of vice through
o dozen generations. A hot flush came
to Theodora's cheeks as she thought
of her father. No, her ancestors
were not her benefactors, and Mr.. |
Granger would not marry his COVER
ness, even If he loved her.
The fine, grave, dark face came up
before her. She dropped her fase
upon her arm murmuring:
81 would die for him!-ah, I would
die for him!''
Fer happiness was all past. The
late event had broken apart the invis-
IDLE ribbons which bound her to her
love. It would never be the same
again. She could not stay there.
Where could she go?
For the first time the thought came:
Why not marry DR.. Lamington?"
The pretty chamber was still but
for the ticking of the little watch
which had been her Christmas gift.
The red freight played upon the
white ceiling, the picture frames gilt
tered upon the wall, a tiny marble
Xantho glimmered in a corner. Theo-
dora lay still and thought.
Night came and placed a heavy
blackness against the windows; the
fire died down.
A certain lightness was upon her,
though she had decided to go out into
the world, homeless, upon the next
day.
She went downstairs and softly
opened the library door. Mr.. Granger
looked up from his book.
"Well, Miss Nelson:"
ST have decided. Mr.. Granger"
about Harrington? Well, how, /
may I ask?" !,
"I shall not marry him."
Mr.. Granger sat quietly looking at .
5he anthracite in the CRATE.
"Are you sur you comprehend the /,
of his offer?'r he said OF /.
asst. ,
II am sure that I dognot love him. :
{ do not need to know any more"
There was a silence.
"Mr. Granger" j
"Well?n !
II find it desirable to change nv G
position. Ny quarter is finished to- I
morrow, and ] shall be obliged to s
cave you Them /
He bowed; she spoke in q tone 4
Ehich required no more. Then she S
urned to the door. She had opened t
! when she heard her name pronounced
8 she had never heard it pronounced Y
Iefore. n
Theodore" Il
She looked back. o
will you come here?" Mr.. Granger "
aid, putting out his hand. fl
Unc0nsciously she went TO him. "
To- ASpok her hands and drew her @
ownS&to q little footsbool at his side.
tsTIeodora, he said softly, twill O
on noAstay here as my wife?" O
do y9u love me?" simply. tn
ssSo.hesp me. God, as I never loved G
eforsan my life" T
Thg blessed words! She chung to II
i'm with q little cry. W
do you know how happy I am" g
Q said. do You know what You g
ave done for me? I will not talk OF a
le past, Theodora-it is not q pleas
lg subject, but for SO long I have al
seded an assurrancel My sweet OF
hid, how many times i have wished ef
lat you loved me; my life has been 70
bitter and SO barren. I had dreams ID
,metimes, but ! would not yield TO az
lem. Why should You love me, a 81
oomy, middIed-aged man. Yet you
ere such q comfort! Then this Of re
: Of Lamington's came. T made the Of
session that If you did not love him. N
i'd withstood the advantage OF his 81
fer, that I should know your heart tn
be o true than any heart / ever g
,fore found in my life. Then I y