Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1903-04-16

took the most loyal and earnest inter
est in her recovery. With heart and
mind strenuously devoted to restoring
her to the health and happiness she
had, through no fault of her own, sc
completely missed, be easily gained
such an influence over the sensitive
woman, that one look into his honest
and kindly eyes as he entered the
room on his morning visit would re
store the confidence and hope in he1
which a sleepIess night had broken
| Thus. in little more than a fortnight
he had not indeed completely neutral
ised the harm her husbands treat
ment had done her, but put her on the
high road to perfect recovery, both OF
body and mind He had even succeed
/ ed in lessening her fear of her hus
band, and in replacing it, in some
measure, by pity. This was the less
difficult, as the usual relations Of hus,
band and wife had never existed be
tween them. To establish those re-
Iations was the final aim Of Armath-
waite's endeavOur. He knew that
there was no chance of permanent
happiness, scarcely even of peace. be
tween Ned Crosmont and Alma until
the former was released from the i'll
fatuat:On in which an unprincipled
woman held him bound, and his eyes
opened to the womanIy charms of
the wife he had so long neglected and
ill-used. AS for the apparent incom-
patibility Of the two natures, that
difficulty appears in fifty marriages
out of every hundred, and though it
might prove an obstacle to ideal
felicity, it need not prevent reason
able domestic peace. SO Armath-
waite argued with himself, sparing no
pains to bring about the difficult con-
summation.
When, therefore, on the morning
after his visit to Crosmont, Frank
ArmthWaite failed to make his usual
call Alma, at first greatly disturbed
by this breach Of custom, and thrown
into a state Of nervous excitement in
which clear thought was impossible,
decided, as soon as she grew calmer,
alton Of the circumstance. He would
not be at home until the afternoon,
she knew; for he was going to lunch
at The CTagS. ATmathWaite encOurag-
ed her to make up her mind decidedly
in little matters, and Lhen unsw cary
ingly to carry out her purpose how
ever insignificant So, kept repeating
to herself phrases ATmathWaite had
used, injunctiOns he had given her, as
a child repeats to itself at play scraps
of hymns, mixed up with any incon-
gruous words which have caught it's
fancy.
Don't be melancholy: there is an
other person in the house who has
much more reason to be depressed
than you" she quoted to herself. And
then: ',There's a tuft of snoWdrops
growing a little way from the road
just before you come to the Falls, Mrs.
CrOsmOnt."
SO she Whiled away the time, ex-
cited, unhappy, unable to rest, certain
only of one thing-that it was by her
had stayed away Oh, she would beg
Ned to let him come back, if only for
day or two, until she felt stronger,
calmer, more like the old self that she
seemed already to espy again ftfully
as if in dreams-the light-hearted girl
who had been touched by Ned Cros-
mont's show of passionate affection,
and had never guessed what a mock
cry his professions Of love would
prove to be. DR.. ArmathWaite, whose
judgment she accepted as final, said
she must not condemn Ned too harsh
ly; that MS roughness, his rudeness,
his neglect were more the result of re-
morse than of hardness Of heart; that
she herself must work to subdue her
fear Of him. When four o'clock came
therefore, and she crept along the hall
and knocked timidly at the study
door. she tried to conquer herself, to
be brave and calm, to subdue the eX-
element which made her CULVER from
head to foot at the sound of her hus-
bands rough voice as he said: Come
in"
She turned the handle with diff
Guilty; her fingers were clammy, and
for a moment strength and resolution
seemed alike to fail her. When she
entered and stood before her husband
she was quite white, and so cold that
she shivered even in the warm, close
atmosphere of the little room. The
afternoon sunlight came IN upon her
through the small window, which
looked to the west: it made her gold
brown hair glisten, and threw her pale
face into strong relief above the dark
dress she wore. Ned Crosmont, who
was sitting in a plain ofice-chair be
fore the fire, with his legs stretched
out and crossed in front of him, and
his head bent on his chest, started UP
with a muttered oath on seeing her
and looked at least as much afraid OF
her as she did of him. The poor
creature had come, if she could only
have known it, at the worst possible
moment. Ned had just returned from
/ The Crags, more intoxicated than ever
by Lady Kildonan's brilliant beauty
and daring witchery, pledged more
over to fulfil a promise wrung from
him in the face of some struggles with
conscience and with fear.
What do you want?" he asked, il
a thick, hoarse voice, holding the bacl
of the chair he had just occupied, anC
turning away towards the window, 81
that she could see nothing OF his face
81 an not disturbing VOL am