Waterbury evening Democrat., 1903-03-25

"Ah, CdsEode7a, is thut Uou9"
 his eyes and cheeks were lusterless and sunken; but will describe him no fur ther. Suffering had we'll nigh done its work, and nothing but the hardihood gathered in his years of camp life and war could have saved him from death. I bathed and reclothed him as well as I could at Newgate and then took him home to Greenwich in a horse litter, where my man and thoroughly wash ed, dressed and sheared the poor fel- low and put him to bed.
 "Ah, this bed is foretaste of para dise!" he said as he lay upon the mat tress. It was a pitiful sight, and I could hardly refrain from tears.
 will ask you to go back with me for a moment.
 During the week between Brandon's interview With Mary in the anteroom of the kings bedcharnber and the trag- edy at Billingsgate he and I had many conversations about the eytraordinary situation in which he found himself.
 At one time, remember, he said: 'I was safe enough before that after noon. believe could have gone away and forgotten her eventually, but our mutual avowal seems to have dazed me and paralyzed every power for effort. I sometimes feel helpless, and, although | have succeeded in keeping away from her since then, I often find myself wavering in my de- termination to leave England. That was what I feared if I allowed the matter to go to the point of being sure of her love. I only wanted 1t before, and very easily made myself believe it was impossible, and not for me. But now that know she loves inc it is like holding my breath to live without her. feel every instant that can hold it no longer. I know only too we'll that if but see her face once more shall breathe. She is the very breath of life for me. She is mine by the gift of God. Curses upon those who keep us apart" Then musingly and half in- terrogatively: "She certainly does love me. She could not have treated me as she did unless her love was so strong that she could not resist it."
 let no doubt of that trouble yous' answered. "A woman. like Mary can- not treat two men as she treated you. Many woman may love or think she loves many times, but there is only one man who receives the full measure of her best. Other women again have noth- ing to give but their best, and when they have once given that they have given all. Unless I have known her in vain, Mary, with all her faults, is such a woman. Again, I say, let no doubt of that trouble you."
 Brandon answered with a sad little smile from the midst of his reverfe, Tt is really not so much the doubt as Then, starting to his feet, If thought she had lied to me, if thought she could wantonly lead me on to suffer so for her, would kill her, so help me God.''
 Do not think that. Whatever her faults--and she has enough-there is no man on earth for her but you. Her love has come to her through strug- gle against 1t because it was her mas ter. That Is the strongest and best, in fact the only love, worth all the self made passions in the world"
 "Yes, believe it. know she has faults; even my partiality cannot blind me to them, but sheais as pure and chaste as child and as gentle, strong and true as-as--a woman. I can put it no stronger. She has these, her re- deeming virtues, along with her beau ty, from her plebeian grandmother, Elizabeth Woodville, who with them won a royal husband and elevated her self to the throne beside the chivalrous Edward. This sweet plebeian heritage bubbles up in the heart of Mary and will not down, but neutralizes the roy al poison in her veins and makes a god dess of her." Then with a sigh: But if her faults were a thousand times as many, and if each fault were thou sand times as great, her beauty would atone for all. Such beauty as hers can afford to have faults. Look at Helen and Cleopatra and Agnes Sorel. Did their faults make them less attractive? Beauty covereth more sins than char ity and maketh more grief than pesti- lence."
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