Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1901-03-28

Continued.

You see.' said my mother
haughtiIy. how far the young mans
PRESUMPTION leads him. A young
penniless soldier, and yet he asks fol
the hand of my daughter! Thinking
of the brilliant match that Marguerite
is making causes me to feel more
lenient, or l should send the letter tC
his father, and advise him to use q
horsewhip.'
I love him, mother I said, and
shall never love any one else while
live
She laughed, Violet-such a laugh;
hear it now in my dreams.
"A schoolgirl of your age knows
nothing of love, should know nothing
of it, The word has not even decent
sound on your lips; it has not, indeed.
do not know, | cannot tell, what the
world is coming to when a child of
your age talks about love. You may
be sure of this, that, if I hear the
word again, will lock you up in your
room, and give you bread and water
for day or two to bring you to your
senses. | will ask no questions; per
haps, if | knew the whole truth
should be more distressed, more angry
than | am. / will answer this letter.
| shall tell him that he must not come
to the house again. | should not like
to resort to stronger measures, such
as forcing Mr.. Caerlyon to resign the
living which is in your brothers gift.
shall write to the young man and
tell him what | think of his imper-
thence, forbid him to return to the
house, forbid him to speak to you
again, and as soon as our visitors
leave us, we shall go to Mount Avon
80 in few minutes all the bright
ness was taken from my life. l looked
into my mothers face. There was no
BOftening, no relenting; it was SO
proud, so cold, so cruel, that my heart
sunk. Should | never see my brave
young lover again.. ! have faint
recollection of clinging to her, of
kneeling to ask her to take pity on
me, because | was SO young, and
loved him SO. I remember falling
with my face toward the ground: and
then all was blank to me, a terrible
pIebhh liz" ItC uclyo pdSScu Gail
not tell; / was never conscious of any
thing but the one horrible pain; the
one terrible blank. AS | recovered
no one ever spoke to me of my lover;
never heard his name
But | saw him, Violet, once before
! left Ryversdaie-only once. 1t does
not matter how. l have never seen
him since 7 uroc with h i'm Ill
hour. He held me in his arms, he
kissed me, and we swore to be true 70
each other until death. Violet, you
must not think | am mad; but | feel
the loving clasp OF those arms and the
warmth of those kisses now We
sWore to be true to each other, and we
shall each keep our VOW I do not
think any two in the world have ever
loved each other as we do. 1t is all
hopeless. l know that, after we
reached Mount Avon, my mother had
many letters from him know that
he wrote to me; but she returned all
his letters unopened. I write to him
whenever l have a chance of posting
the letters unknown to my mother.
You may think it wrong, Violet: | do
not. If there had been anything
against him except his want of money,
1t would have been a different thing;
but he is just, brave, and generous,
with scorn from all meanness. IF
there were one blot on his character,
one stain on his fair name, it would
seem less unjust, less cruel: but there
is nothing wrong, only that he has no
money. He is well born, wellbred, he
is a gentleman and soldier, he is
brave and noble; but he is poor
1t seems very cruel" said Violet,
to whom this lovestory was a revela-
ton. What shall you do, Monica?"
There is nothing to be done. I
shall wait for him and love him all
my life, just as he will love and wait
for me-"
And in the meantime?" said Violet
In the meantime my heart is slowly
breaking. I live my life, and try to
make the best of it. My mother made
me go to London"
You are not beautiful like Mar
guerite,' she said; but you have a
style of your own. You are brighter
and more piquant than your sister;
Just now that kind of thing is more in
vogue then mere beauty. l shall ex-
peCJ you to make better match than
Marguerite
And, Violet continued Monica,
with smile more sad than tears,
strange to say, and just because did
not want to make conQuests, | had a
crowd of suitors. How | hated them
-savagely almost! could never
find words cruel enough for them;
and they liked absolutely liked it.
They said l was original piquant,
clever. They made me the rage and
the fashion, while l hated them. Nv
mother was delighted. She said her
daughter would marry better than any
other girls. And, Violet, you cannot
imagine what kind of men fell in love
with me. 1t would seem like vain
boasting if l told you. A duke pro,
posed for me. Only imagine might
have been a duchess! Mamma al
most shook me when l refused him
great American millionaire made me
an offer, and she went nearly wild
with delight; but | tell her each time
that fresh sutton comes to me that
shall live and die true to Paul
This morning l have had a lette,
from him, and he says there is q
rumor that his regiment, the Black
Lancers, will be sent to Africa. Oh
ViQ1et how am 7 To haar