Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1901-05-30

own wishes. I should like you foT
my daughter-in-law, she would say;
and have every reason to hope that
| my wish be gratifed. My son is not
| of age yet; but when he is he will say
in words what he now things Miss
Beaton, what should you have drawn
from such words?"
"a certain conclusion that Lady
RIVERS wished you to marry her son,
answered Violet, "but not that the son
himself had the same thought
You are quite right; it was my own
love that misled me. If the same
thing had been said to me of any one
else l should have been most. indig-
nant-indeed l would not have listen
ed to it. 1t was but secondhand WOO
ing at the best. Lady RIVERS was SC
clever, SO skillful, that, without
clothing the idea in words, she gave
me to understand that her son loved
me, but that he did not think it pru-
dent to say anything Of love or mar
riage until he was Of age. l was
blind. l gave myself up to FOOLS
paradise, | ought to have known that
love and prudence are as far apart as
the poles. l have paid the penalty of
my blindness with the happiness Of
my whole life.
What the heart wishes it soon be-
ieves. Deceived by Lady RIVERS,
really believed that Lord RIVERS
cared for me, and that when We were
both older he would ask me to be his
wife. True, there was nothing lover
like in his manner. He talked to me
about pictures because l loved them;
and, when I found that painting was
the one thing for which he cared
most, l studied it. Not that I tried to
paint; but I read the lives Of great
artists, [ read what clever men wrote
Of them, SO that when he spoke of
anything l could understand his
references. He was delighted. He
has sisters; but they either did not
care for such subjects or it had been
an express wish of Lady RIVERS that
they should not encourage him in the
matter of art. The only time she
seemed to tolerate painting was when
Lord RIVERS discussed it with me-"
Again a pain that was b-th keen
and bitter went through Violet's
heart How much better this woman
had loved him than she herself had
done! The rich heiress had studied
t"e things he loved, while she had
never dre AIMED of so doing; she had
even II tines fe.t impatient with his
devotion IL d t. Tie contrast struck
her most forciDly.
81 know, continued Miss Mari,
that that was the tie between us.
am sure now that nothing else was in
his mind. He would ask me to join
him in his rambles through the
woods; but it was never to make
love to me; only to talk Of the color
ing of the leaves and the springing
grasses. We spent hours by the
beautiful reach of the river, by the
we'll in the grounds; and, when we re-
turned, Lady RIVERS met us always
with the same smile. But l knew he
had never made love to me; we had
talked of various things, but never Of
love.
ct was during those hours that I
found out that Lord RIVERS was one
Of the most romantic Of men, that he
had the soul of a poet with the genius
of an artist. I loved him more and
more. With every sun that rose and
set, my love grew deeper, stronger,
frmer, and my heart so one with his
that | can never take it from him.
eff he had been vain, as many
young men at that age are, he must
have read my secret. 1 was often
ashamed Of the love-light in my eyes,
of the glow on my face-often most
terribly ashamed; but he was serene
ly unconscious of it all. If he spoke,
and the sudden sound of his voice
sent all the tell-tale blood to my face,
he would tell me that had the rich
coloring of VelasQuez; if emotion
drove the color from my face, he
would say that I had changed into
Greuze; but he neither knew nor
dreamed that the change of color was
for him.
eve were together for seven weeks
not long, you will think, to influence
a life; it has colored all mine. They
were almost the only happy weeks Of
my life; l have known little happiness
since. Then my visit ended. We
met again at Christmas, at Holt
Castle-Lady RIVERS, with her son
and her daughter Marguerite, was
there-and there my hopes were con-
firmed. Not by him, though; he was
always the same-kind, gentle, and
chivalrous in his manner, interested
in our conversations, but never
breathing the word love
To be Continued.
A STORY OF SUCCESS.