The Morris County chronicle. [volume] (Morristown, N.J.) 1877-1915, 1904-11-01

might haze been attained. had she held
out her hand to grasp it-in that hour
! Daphne Chester found strength, was
\ able to stand between the man she
loved and her own weakness. And the
consciousness OF duty brayely held to
has upheld her even while her pillow
L has been nightly wet with tears. while
her eyes have lost their lnstre, her
cheeks their bloom.
| Under the first great trouble Of her
! youth, Barry Chesters desertion. she
succumbed without an effort; crushed
| by the deadening sense of her insig-
Enifcance, the feeling that she was as
little able to act part in her own des-
tiny as could the cog in a wheel dis
arrange the machinery in which it is
placed. Love, the great educator. has
lifted her to a higher plane of expert
ence. She has learned how loss, viewed
otherwise than as the mere blind oper-
alton Of law, may, aided BY natures
slow healing, turn into spiritual gain
for the loser. And yet
| Yet in this moment-oh. contradictory
woman's heart!-in this moment. when
| the abstract has become concrete.
when she may see embodied the net re-
| suit Of her virtue, of her abnegation,
Daphne shrinks with agony from be-
| holding it!
| They might have waited. SO she tells
| herself, as with fast-beating heart,
with ice-cold, ciainmy hands. she
| watches them approach, gay, careless,
as though their own selfish happiness
| comprised the universe. They might
have waited year, six months. They
need not have shown her their new life
In its very spring. Nay, il they were
bent in coming hither. seyerne, at
least, might fifty wear graver coun-
tenancel Whatever his light-hearted-
ness as bridegroom, there must be
some painful recollections, surely, con-
nected with Fief-de-la-Reine some
slight regret, which, though he felt il
not. he might have the common deli
cacy to dissembIe!
The two elder Misses Vansittart. as il
chances, are abroad, in the ~barouche, =
kpaying their half-yearly round Of calls
Ton Island notabiIities. Aunt Hosie,
las we have seen, is at her outdoor
work. So Daphne must drink her cup
lof bitterness, must pass through the
bad quarter Of an hour that lies be-
fore her. unsupported.
To her relief, the bride, after some
futile attempts at French talk with
/ Margot, makes her entry into the par.
lor alone. Seyerne's courage. it may be
supposed. has failed, or his conscience
pricked him at the last moment.
.sYou never thought to see us here
again so soonv' cries Clementina, adj
vancing with an outstretched hand
with far more cordiality Of manner
| than she ever displayed in former days
toward Daphne Chester. THE fact is
spent such happy, happy hours al
Fief-de-la- Refine in the summer could
fnot resist the temptation of paying
| you.a flying visit on our way to Paris. :
| Daphne responds to the brides hand
shake with as much warmth as she
can command. Her power Of speech
seems frozen. What form Of greeting
| shall she choose, what meaningless
commonplace utter, remembering
freshly as she does that those happy
happy days were spent by Miss Hard
castle in society not Of Sir John Sew
ern. but OF Cousin Felix.
Il ought to have written you line
I know, but our whole journey was. al
the last, planned so hastily. TO begir
at the beginning" Clementina seats
Herself by the open window, precisely
| in such a light that her artistic travel
| ing costume fthe latest bridal fashion
Of course was not Elsie to make ths
dressesg her smiling, cheerful face
come into cruelest juxtaposition with
Daphne's everyday country gown, will
Daphne's altered complexion and thir
cheeks. ITO begin the romantic story
at the beginning, have been married
a very long time, Mrs. Chester. Oul
wedding day was August the 18TH
We've had never heard The
| news
| Fain would Daphne call the bride By
her own name. but cannot. Her lips
as vet, refuse to pronounce that unfa
miliar Lady Severney
| To be continued.