Windham County reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1901-1906, 1903-06-05
THE wINDnAM COUNTY REFoRA1ER FRIDAY, 5, 1908.

your arrest. / know only too well
should not have gone without seeing
you out Of this, but you had enjoined
silence upon me, and-and ! trusted to
the promises Of another"
II thought as much. You are In nc
way to blame, my friend. All I ask Is
that you never mention the subject
again."
"My friendw All, the words were
dear to me as words Of love from a
sweetheart's lips!
I hardly recognized him, he was 80
frightfully covered with filth and dirt
and creeping things. His hair and
beard were unkempt and matted. and
his eyes and cheeks were lusterless ant
sunken; but will describe him no fur
ther. Suffering had well nigh done its
work, and nothing but the hardiho0d
gathered In his years Of camp life and
war could have saved him from DEATH
bathed and reclothed him as well as
could at Newgate and then took him
home to Greenwich in 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
disc" he said as he lay upon the mat
tress. 1t was pitiful sight, and
could hardly refrain from tears.
will ask you to go back with me for
q moment.
During the week between Brandon's
Interview with Mary in the anteroon
Of the kings bedchamber and the trag
edy at Billingsgate he and / had man.
conversations about the extraordinary
situation in which he found himself.
At one time, remember, he said
II was safe enough before that after
noon. believe l could have gon,
away and forgotten her eventually
but our mutual avowal seems to hav,
dazed me. and paralyzed every powel
for effort. l sometimes feel helpless
and, although have succeeded II
keeping away from her since then,
often find myself wavering in my de
termination to leave England. Tha
was what l feared If / allowed tn,
matter to go to the point of being SURE
Of her love. l only wanted it before
and very easily made myself believe #
now that know she loves me 1t Is like
holding my breath to live without her
/ feel every instant that l can hold Il
no longer. l know only too well that
II 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 vi
apart" Then musingly and half in
terrogat lively: "She certainly does love
me. She could not have treated me az
she did unless her love was so strong
that she could not resist it."
LET no doubt of that trouble you"
"A woman like Mary can. \
not treat two men as she treated you /
Many a woman may love or think she I
loves many times. but there is only one
man who receives the full measure OF
her best. Other women again have moth
ing to give but their best and wher
they have once given that they have
given all. Unless | have known her
In vain. Mary, with all her faults, is
such a woman. Again, | say. let nc
doubt of that trouble you"
Brandon answered with a sad little
ut is really not SO much the doubt as
the certainty of it that, troubles me-"
Then, starting to his feet, IF thought
she had lied to me, If l thought she
could wantonly lead me on to suffer
80 for her. / would kill her. SO help me
Cod"
"Do not think that. Whatever her
'aults-and she has enough-there is
10 man on earth for her but you. Her
owe has come to her through strug
lie against it because it was her mas
er. That is the strongest and best, In
act the only love. worth all the self
made passions in the world"
Eyes, | believe it. know she has
aults; even my Partially cannot blind
ne to them, but she is as pure and
haste as child and as gentle, strong
md true as-as-a woman. | can put
l uO StIOHStI. SIZE thcsS. bCl AC- ]
eeming virtues, along with her beau.
y, from her plebeian grandmother,
elizabeth Woodville who with them
ron a royal husband and elevated her
elf to the throne beside the chivalrous
edward. This sweet plebeian heritage
ubbles up in the heart of Mary and
Till not down, but neutra Lies the roy
! poison in her veins and makes god
ess of her" Then with sigh: But
her faults were a thousand times as
lany. and il each fault were thou
and times as great, her beauty would
tone for all. Such beauty as hers can
ford to have faults. Look at Helen
nd Cleopatra and Agnes Sorel. Did
heir faults make them less attractive? ,
eauty covereth more sins than char
y and maketh more grief than pesti- -.
.nce."
CHAPTER XI. ,
LOUIS XII. A sUIToB. |
n Is soon as I could leave Bran |
al don I had intended to go I
SSS6 down to Windsor and give 4
J vent to my indignation to- {
ard the girls. but the more l thought t
bout it the sllrer | felt there had 4