Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1900-08-02

features were listless no longer. that !
look Of ia;ent thoug1tsulaess had I
deepened ca them.
Ethel was thinking what was -
come next. Would he claim her, this
husband Of hers? Would he dare 70
tell the world the shameful story Of
how he h. practiced On he~ youth
how he had duped her. lured her TO her
ruin, imposed on her girlish simplicity ,
ignorance? Would he dare TO tell this
story to the world?
If he did claim her, could she be
forced to go to him? No, she thought
not. Her father would surely befriend
her, unless, knowing what she had
done, he grew angry with her, and cast
her off. She would never go to Laurie
Darlington, even if he had recourse 70
the law, and the law directed her.
She would kill herself rather t1an sub
nit
Supposing that he did not claim
her-that he only haunted her-how
was she to bear it? The terrible
reality of what she had done had never
| come home to her until now.
Since the fatal hour of her marriage
she had never seen him. and the OBJ
Iivion that seemed to have fallen over
him made her lot perhaps easier to
bear; but now that she saw him again,
! the disgrace. the humiliation, the de-
| graduation of her position flashed across
| her; at any moment this man, who was
a common forger, might claim her
publicly claim her-as his wife. II
she but knew what he intended to do,
it would be easier to bear.
While her whole soul was raked
with terrible suspense and terrible
anguish. by the torture Of shame and
the deadly fear Of exposure, she was
obliged to answer questions-tO smile
in reply to remarks made to her. She
could have cried aloud in her anguish.
She could have prayed to the blue
heavens to fall upon and hide her.
Yet she was outwardly calm, only the
quivering of the sweet lips, and the
tight clenching of the white hands, be-
trayed that she was not az calm as she
appeared.
She felt that the crisis of her life
had arrived, and she braced herself to
meet it. Gradually she Gained the
trembling nerves.
81 must bear my fate" she thought.
mo regret, no complaint will be OF
the least use to me. I have borne be-
fore and I must bear again. Endur-
ance is the great lesson of life"
She must bear it. Let life bring
what it might, it must end. She was
passive in thehands of her fate. When
she reused herself Clarice was laugh
ing at her
'You are in dreamland, Miss st. Nor
man." she said. when you feel dis
posed to return, will you answer papa S
question? He is asking if you would
like to go to the priory. The ruins are
pretty, but not large"
Ethel turned with a crimson face TO
Lord Leighton.
II should like very much" she said,
without knowing in the least what she
was saying.
! Then they all rose and went away
together. She did not turn round to
! look at her husband. She never even
: glanced that way If he intended to
speak to her. he would without doubt
find an opportunity; she would not.
Yet she would not have felt in the least
: surprised if he had claimed her pub
licly and called her wife.
She walked over the green sward
J the wild flowers clustering beneath her
! feet, the green boughs tossing and wav-
! ing above her head.
Am l dead to all pain?" she asked
: herself for the stupor Of despair that
had overwhelmed her prevented her
feeling the full smart of her sorrow.
More than once that day-that long
dreary, never-to- be-forgotten day-did
she hear the sound of his voice quite
close to her, but she never looked at
him. The sound made her faint and
ill-it made her shudder with loathing
and dread.
More than once, in passing, the folds
of her dress touched him. She did not
draw them aside with a naughty
gesture; she would not seem to avoid
him, or to seek for an opportunity of
speaking to him. She called all her
natural pride and dignity to her aid;
she bore herself with royal grace.
To be Continued.