Waterbury evening Democrat., 1903-11-12

Her luOi anu Ad0 pI0VSu HI easy con-
 quest for Mordyke, who had been ad-
 vanced for his vigilance in detecting the
 Fuller lapse But somehow she had not found her married life all she had hoped
 for. Her husband was successful in
 business and all the luxuries of life were
 hers, but she found no camaraderie with
 him and they lived their lonesome lives even as so many of us do in upper ten
 dom without sympathy, without love
 and without understanding, even if VIC
 have the finest of houses, the finest of apparel, the finest of food, the finest of
 horses and more money than we know
 how to spend.
 And so Gerald Fuller, scion of one of the noblest houses in the metropolis was discharged from prison and faded from the sight of all who had known him.
 Another brilliant reception at the Vanderhoffs-this time ten years later than the one noted at the beginning of this story-for the Vanderhoffs were family whose social supremacy was not confined to one decade, but which goes serenely on through the years and the ages. Black Fridays may come and go, other houses may rise and fall, men may go to the penitentiary and be released it all makes no difference-the house of Vanderhoff goes right on giving bril- liant receptions and the great and suc- cessful of the world blush with pleasure at their invitations.
 This particular reception was prin- cipally in honor of an engineer from the far west whose remarkable perform ances in the line of his profession had been much in the public eye for some years and who had only now solved the great problem of inter-oceanic canal, so simply and so plainly that congress had adopted his plan and authorized the construction, making the designer chief engineer with plenary powers and at fabulous salary. Of course he was a man to be taken up and courted by so- ciety and of course it fell to the lot of the vanderhoffs to introduce him. The Vanderhoffs had let no celebrity escape for half century; they saw him before the others. That was half the reason for the leadership of the Vanderhoffs. ~
 And so it happened that the lion of the season, MT. John Rutherford, was presented to Mrs. Vernon Mordyke. Why did my lady turn pale? Why did she grasp convu1sively at the portieres for support? And why did the great celebrity start, as though he had touched an electric battery? And why did his cheeks grow ashen pale beneath his black whiskers? An, my readers, the eyes of love have quality not given to other eyes. To no other person in all the great assemblage came the slightest sus- picion that John Rutherford, the great celebrity that was, was none other than Gerald Fuller, the convict that had been no, not even Vernon Mordyke, with whom the great celebrityNhad chatted for some minutes-Vernon Mordyke who had been the bosom friend of Gerald Full Ter.
 But Edith Mordyke knew him the mo- ment she set eyes on him, the moment she felt his presence, and he knew that she knew. And so it came to pass. quite naturally. as John Rutherford was de- tained in the city for some months pre- pairing to go to Central America, that the two old lovers saw each other often and that 1t was impossible not to mu- tually recognize that both knew. There were mutual explanations and confi- dences--a very bad thing for a young married woman. neglected by her hus- band to indulge in toward an old lover, and she learned of her husbands per- fidy to his friend and heard the story of the long, hard fight the old lover had made in new state in the far west to rebuild his manhood under new name.
 Finally the man admitted to himself that the old love was not dead and fierce ly proclaimed to his own bosom that he owed nothing to the traitor who had robbed him of his reputation and his bride. So eventually there was scene. The man was strong, the woman only half unwilling and they found them selves in each others arms.
 Then the old, old problem, what to do He was for flight; willing and anx- ious to give up all the advantage and reputation he had gained, to give up his great position and flee to some far coun- try and live only in her smiles. She not unwilling for herself, but hesitatiug to drag him down. At last the time came when it must be decided.
 "I cannot, Gerald" she said, pushing him away Tt is Heaven you offer, but 1 I cannot, and if did you would despise me-" !
 No, mo-" he cried, T will love you 1 always. Come, come away from all this pretense and sham. have means l enough. Let us go to Italy and live and l love forever"
 She was in his arms before she knew. What would have been the end is some thing upon which every man and woman 1 is entitled to guess. Alas for history, l however, it must remain forever silent 1 for in response to loud knock at the 1 door, she responded and received a mes>' sage that Vernon Mordyke had died of l apoplexy a few moments before.
 When John Rutherford went to Gen.