Iowa state bystander. [volume] (Des Moines, Iowa) 1894-1916, 1900-11-02
CHAPTER VII.

Seerned glad to see her, that his heart
Mad not leapt out to her, as hers did
kto him, that his eyes did not rest for
fcne moment upon the boy. was bad
Enough; but that there should be an,
,ether woman In her place!S Oh, that
|gwas anguish intolerable! At last she
Espoke. You love her. Alan?" she
6asked. @ A WI { 81.
Better than my life!' he answered
"Oh!" She gave a little shudder.
$s.Then will 60 and leave you to your
Happiness, she said quietly. Its. the
Bsonly waythe only way ] will take 1e
sour boy and go!
But you cannot go!"' he groaned.
ssI made you my wife, Veronica, and
|sas long as you live YOU will be my
Sswife. although my heart and hers may
sbreak. "S5 s1.
VI Il break your neart?" cried Yer.
sonica. Why, would give my life
for you. I would not have. you un-5
1 happy for q moment IL could help it.
u love you as much as IN the old
days, Alan, before the shipwreck. Oh,
why: was I saved 2"
He looked at her, and poor Veron-
#ica's heart failed her. There was no
I love in that look. All the love OF
eAlan:s heart was given /. to Joyce.
There was pity and despair, but no
love. When a woman loves a man
sssshe can soon see the difference. He
Gould not say that he praised God that
she was saved, and he did not. Tell
sSne about it, he said mechanically.
Saf she talked he would be able to
think what 1t would be best to do for
her, But as for him, the despair OF
his heart almost chpked him when he.
thought that in about half an hour
ne must pull down that beautiful fab
sric of their lives, must ruin Joyce for
ever! He could scarcely think of YER.
Sonica in his d Overwhelming agony:
hut she spoke, glad to see his inter-
est.
s5ss5:."'I was washed in shore, into a
sandy bay, Alan. had gone through
] the anguish Of dying; but when the,
people found me they brought me to-,
!. but the. shock had been too much for
Nysa; I could not remember anything.
4 then in about five months baby
s saS / born, and then It all came to mo
III i fly was i'll and weak and could
losss nothing; I could scarcely think.
- \ at last when 4 wrote the letters
ere ser Ahack to me, and ! heard q
1umot : had had gtae back to Eng Eng
Land. was penniless. did not
pow il you wanted our marriage &C
Dwledged, SO | did not write to Mr..
lDenapster; but as my strength re-
Y turned my courage did also. I began
! giving singing and guitar lessons.
4 People were good to me. / worked
4 hard, and at last scraped together
/ enough money to take me IN a sailing
boat to England. I hate the sea. !
4 was afraid Of it; but you We're there,
and / came. But 1T was a year before
/ could find anything OF you. and !
kshould not have found you at al but
Hutchinson told me he had seen you
and had spoken to YOU" .lets
when did he tell you that?"
Two days ago. But he told mo
/ that he had seen you two months ago,
and you had spoken Of me. You had
4 told him we were married. Alan,
which he had not known. He tracked
me home from music shop, where
they get me music lessons; but cam
not tell Why he delayed"
But Alan could. Hutchinson, iR his
cruelty. knew that it would be the
I ruin Of Joyce's life as we'll as his own
II this marriage with her could be
.consummated first. He knew Hutch-
inson hated him, SO this was his re-
Venge! s s i.
d He tried to think OF Veronica, but
it was Of no, use, Joyce's image came
before him whenever he tried to think
OF the poor, girl who was his wife.
The little boy, also, was looking at
4 him with his, Alan's, own blue eyes,
which were so great q contrast to his
I. curly dark hair. That these poor
d creatures, dependent upon him for
love which he could not give, troubled
him. ,s.
s.Ver0hica," he said at length. will
you go back to where you live and l
win write 70 you when have seen
1 her Z" .s.s .sss .i.4s sj: NJ t1,,3
"The wife you Lover" asked poor
Veronica.
yes" said Alan. "wrl you do
that? You know that you can trust
me- n. s3.;*
'.Of course = said Veronica, simply.
II will do what you say always. It
is misery to me to think that ! have
made you 60 unhappy, when I thought
only to make you happy. ]" s5 NJ
Ny poor girl, he said. deeply
touched BY the contrition IN her tone
and by her sadness, you would have
done very wrong II you had not
come =
She gave him her address and left
him. When she had gone 2 little way