Cañon City record., 1903-12-31
When Knighthood Was In Flower

81 Sreut IL lduit as ueTs. MT, look Deau-
tiful and receive remission! Such a
woman as Mary carries her Indulgence
In her face.
now began to realize for the first
time the wondrous power of this girl.
and ceased to marvel that she had al
ways been able to turn even the king.
the most violent. stubborn man on
earth. to her own wishes. Her manner
made her words eloquent. and already.
| with true feminine tnctics. she had put
Brandon in the wrong In everything
because he was wrong In part.
Then she Lickly went over what she
had said to me. She told OF her great
| dread lest the king should learn of the
visit to Grouche's and its fatal copsa-
| quences. knowing full well 1t would
| render Henry impervious to her infiu-
ence and precipitate the French mar
riagc. She told him of how she wa :
going to the king the day after the ar
rest to ask his release. and of the meet
ing with Buckingham. and his promise.
Sill Brandon said nothing and stood
as If politely waiting for her to with
draw.
| She remained silent little time.
"hiaiht ioi ~ SpCah. "hth
partly of vexation. | think. moistened
her eyes.
Tell me at least" she said. .that
you know | speak the truth. | have nj
ways believed In you. and now ] ask
for your faith. l would not lie to you
in the faintest shading of thought
not for heaven itself-not even for your
love and forgiveness. much as they are
to me. and | want to know that you
are sure of my truthfulness. II you
doubt all else. You see | speak plainly
of what your love is to me. for al
though by remaining away you made
me fear | had been too lavish with my
favors-that is every woman's fear-I
knew in my heart you loved me; that
you could not have done and said what
you did otherwise. Now you see what
faith ! have in you. and you a man.
whom n woman's instinct prompts to
doubt. How does 1t compare with your
faith In me, Il woman. whom all the in
stincts OF manly nature should dis
pose to trust? 1t seems to be an un-
written law that man may lie to a
woman concerning the most important
thing In life to her and be proud of it.
but .ou scS eN SI INV La
in your love for me. else I surely
should not be here. You see trust even
your unspoken word, when II might,
without much blame to you. be a spo-
ken lie; yet you do not trust me. who
have no world given right to speak
falsely about such things, and when
that which l now do Is full Of shame
for me, and what have done full of
guilt. II inspired by aught but the pur
est truth from my heart of hearts.
Your words mean 30 much-so much
more. I think, than you realize-and
are SO cruel in turning to evil the high
est. purest impulse a woman en- n feel
the glowing pride In self surrender and
the sweet. delightful privilege OF giving
where she loves. How can you? How
can you:"
How eloquent she was. 1t seemed to
me this would have melted the frozen
sea. but l think Brandon felt that now
his only hope lay in the safeguard Of
his constantly upheld Indignation.
when he spoke he ignored NIL she had
said.
"Ycu did well to employ my Lord Of
buckingham. 1t will make matters
more interesting when tell you It was
he who attacked you and was caught
by the leg under his wounded horse; he
was lame. | am told. for some time aft
erward. had watched him following
you from the gate at Bridewell and at
once recognized him when his mask
fell OF during the fight by the wall.
You have done well at every step. |
see
"Oh. God: to think OF 1t! Had but
known. buckingham shall pay for this
with his head but how could l know
was bn poor. distracted girl. susn
to make some fatal error | was In
such agony your wounds-believe me.
| suffered more from them than you
could. Every pain you felt was n pang
for me-nRd then that awful MARRIAGE!
I was being sold like a wretched slave
to that old satyr. to be gloatod over
Ksd fensted upon. No man can know
the horror of that thought to n woman
to any woman. good or bad. To have
ones beauty turn to curse her aud
make her desirable only-only rs well
fed cattle are priced. No mntter how
great the manifestation OF such SO
called love. It all the more rcpels u
woman and adds TO hcr loathlng day
by day. T"en there WIS something
worse than all'-she was almost weep
ing HOWL might have been able TO
bear the thought even OF that hideous
mnrriage-others have lived through
the like-but-but after-that-thnt
day-when you-it seemed that your
touch was spark dropped Into heart
full of finder. which had been lying
there awaiting It all these years. In