Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1901-06-16


I144nS. f10om mx 36A
tSnh nm ~ sali.ffJnd<e I. fp33a@ bsS{ ~
the hpa3Els from which sIeA M Pdwe11
FIT ah teddy 10 pity her;S t0ossaf 3od cal
tell me that your engagement Is Al q
end"
THAT l cannot say" he answered. mo
not even to purchase your good will. WI
are bound together. Maria. more strongl,
than before. and I would hot have q
otherwise"
s'Oh.' she exclaimed. drawing . deer
| breath. Madame Katiskoff ID thinking o.
a divorce? You do your female relatives
the honor Of proposing to set = divorce ur
as mistress Of your house"
] ~ do myself tho honor" he corrected
her. of aspiring to- the hand Of q good
and beautiful woman: but should this re-
port prove true tand mark you. Maria. II
may be not only false. but quite un-
fonnded) Madame Katiskoff viii not sue
for freedom In the courts
fer. with a sudden change OF front. 81
had no idea She was 50 particular" &
"She has her reasons" Osborne an
severed. s.and i am satisfied with them"
And YOU q that your engagement is
not broken offN
at Is not. lam engaged to marry her
at the time originally arranged, %supposing
We, cad set all doubts at rest at once. II
not. we shall marry. should we, both out
i've her husband. though his demise be
{ Postponed for years. Tnas ms II simple
statement ,of the position, Maria Does
it satisfy you? 1t ought to, as you have
conscientious scrlples against the re-mar-
riage of divorced persons"
mo, ii does not she retorted. "Wha
are her reasons? That Is the main aues-
ton. My scruples are nothing to her.
No doubt she knows. though Continental
divorces are often granted when both
parties have offended against the moral
code that you would not care to cs-
pouse a woman who had got her freedom
in the courts. and left her honor and good
name behind her there"
Osborne started as though he had been
shot. The reason Helga had given him
overnight, In the glow of the soft lights,
with her passionate, tear-stained face
close to his own, had seemed reasonable
enough, but here was another hard, OBJ
vious, terrible: the cruel force Of which
lay in the fact that it found some echo In
the .recesses of his own heart stirred by
the visit of the man with whom he had
left her. !.
For PHYS sake. don't try me too far,
Maria" he cried, wildly.
II don't want to be hard, I'm sure
she responded, but in the interest of the
family, someone must show a little COM
mon sense. Whatever you may urge to
the contrary, it is my intention to judge
her past by her present conduct. / dare
say you were both upset last night. but
it is clearly her duty to dismiss you alto
gether for a time. and l hope you will be
able to tell me that that is her intention
before many hours are over"
Maria" he said, try to understand il
you possibly can, that 1 don't want OF
value my freedom; that all my hopes are
conferred in her, and that I will not accept
a dismissal"
rs she willing to offer you one, Frank
That is the great thingS' -
Again poor Osborne started painfully
for the first time it struck him forcibly
that all Helga's energies had been used IL
the other direction. He could not tell Ma,
ria, he could not even persuade himseli
that it was he, and not she, who had pro.
posed that romantic compact which oun
them to each other for ever.
Maria" he urged, she sadly needs {
friend. 1 am not going to give her up
In fact, I was going to beg you to helr
me TO take her away ~
Stop" cried his sister. eff you dom
know, she at least ought to. that I viii
have nothing to do with her till she car
prove that she was innocent of the crime
Of contemplating a double marriage. Wha
proof have y~ou-what proof, / say-that
she really did not know of her husband
existence?"
doggedly.
Your faith in hertz laughed Maria
What a poor fool you must appear &c
certain people, Frank, if she has beer
(as it is quite possible TO conceive tina
she may lave BEEN in collision with hel
husband all the while, keeping him quiet
by the prospect of the rich picking to bt
made out of the infatuated Englishman.'
That will do" Numbered Osborne. u
will not hear another word,''- and, TORI
with a wild fury of impotent resentment
harassed by a thousand falling doubts, hi
burst from the room.
Then the champion of virtue folded hel
inc before her.. smiled complacently
and remarked:
He may go off with the creature. Of
c~ourse-that is only to be expected; but
there will never be a foreign mistress al
the Hail."
(To be Continued)