Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1902-10-30

would hardly have owned to herself,
but was none the less apparent, that
now, for the first time, Robert was
hers alone, no longer was there right
or claim beside.
And yet, impalpable as the thinnest
breath of vapor, not to be grasped
or defined, but none the less present
and felt, was the shadowy something
that seemed to have come between
her and Robert in the hour when she
could claim him as hers, and hers
only. At first she recognized this
with an incredulous petulance that in
turn gave place to a vague alarm. Not
that he was less tenderly kind or
attentive-the more so if anything;
but he went her way as if no longer
touched by her moods; frequently
he said he had writing to do, and
shut himself in the little room that
had been Nellie's play-room, now
made into a "den," it almost seemed;
but then it could not be that he was
living a life of his own apart from
her.
At last evening petu1ance and
alarm famed into speech, and as he
was leaving the room on the plea
of writing a little WHILE" she threw
herself before him. Robert" she
cried, holding him fast, what is it?
What has come between us SO? What
are you doing?"
81 am writing on the book you
have often heard me speak Of" an
swering the last of her questions.
"But l don't want you to write
that book; 1 hate it," the tears begin
ming to gather. "You are so changed
to me, and now for that to come in.
You have never been the same since
Nellie died; l always knew you loved
her the best; l wish l could have
died instead of her. You never loved
me, or you would not make me so
miserable"
Lillian" and there was a note in
his voice she had never heard before,
l iiui ISu you oCSduSC l. loNCu you,
l have always loved you; l love you
now. You are sweet and true at
heart. The trouble has been that
you wanted and exacted of me what
l did not ask of you, what no one
has a right to demand of another,
my whole and only love. Love is like
a fountain, the more freely and in
larger measure it flows, the purer
and fuller it is; choke it up, and
it either diminishes or becomes I'M
healthy. This, your selfish jealousy
forgive me if L speak plainly-has
done for both of us. Because of it
you hardened your heart to Helen,
who would gladly have loved you, and
loving whom would have made your
w life the richer, and led me to
weakly fail in the gratitude and de-
votion | owed to her; because of it
you were an untender mother to Mel
lie; you neither gave her YOUR own
love nor allowed me to show her
mine, for the lack of which her
whole young life was clouded.
"Do not think that | blame you
alone for this; I blame myself even
more, that seeing it I weakly yielded,
that | was not strong enough, clear
sighted enough, to have crushed it
for you as you would have not for
yourself; but as it is, it has spoiled
my home and marred my happiness,
and filed my heart with remorseful
memories.
you say that I have changed to
you since Nellie died. 1t is because
l have thought of these things since
then as | never did before, and have
come to some conclusions that it
were well for both of us had | done
long ago. In the future / shall give
to you, as I have always had it in
my heart to do, the best of my love
and confidence and care; but at the
same time [ shall remember that I
have my wi life to live, and give to
it's duties and claims what | feel
they deserve. You ask me, Lillian,
what has come between us? 1t is the
only thing that ever could have
come-yourself."
She had loosed her hold on him
and dropped into a chair; he bent
and gently kissed her and left the
room.
For once Lillian's usual flow of
words failed her. If there had been
a trace of passion in his tone-but
there was none-it was the pitiless
calmness of his words that had chilled
her heart as with an icy touch. Heavy
draperies at the windows shut out
the wintry storm outside; in the
CRATE the fire glowed red; warmth
and light were all about her, but
she shivered in their midst. And this
was her Robert, who had used his
words with, it seemed to her, a
little of ruth as an executioner his
sword. Listening, she followed his
steps as they passed up the stairs;
then the door of his study closed,
and its sharp click to her echoed
what has come between us? 1t is
yourself. = Ladies' World, New
York.
Had a Good Time.