The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-06-23

silence. Then, Diek!" she said, tenta-
lively.
The sound of her voice reused him.
Up to the time she spoke Thurston had
not been conscious of her presence.
He drew back sharply as though un-
der a sting.
DON'T" he cried bitterly. Don't
touch me. IL can't bear II. All these
months have loved you and trusted
you and you let me give all to you
just as though--just as though you did
not have--that on your soul!
Veronica flushed till the blood al
most scorched her cheeks; then whit
ened again, swiftly. from throat to
temple. She turned from him with a
little half-stified sob and hid her face
in her hands. When she looked up,
lThurston had moved away, and stood
with one arm resting on the sharp
edge of the mantel shelf his head
bent. There was a look about his face
that she understood only too well, and
yet. she was-was she powerless to
dlspei It? At least she would make the
effort.
"Richard!'
He glanced up, DULY, waiting for her
TO go on.
You do not understand" she said,
speaking slowly. in a low tone.
Thurston drew his brows together
with faint show of interest. 'Tt is
for you to explain" he replied, some
what irritably.
There was a pause
\ Veronica bent toward him half an
inch. Thurston left he. breath on his
leheek--warm, jerky, tremulous.
Dear" she said, pleadingly, can
not you trust me in this?''
Does that mean" He stiffened
slightly.
That cannot explain-yes"
He looked at her uncertainty, bit
incredulously-and laughed.
Veronica stared into his eyes. while
a slow horror dawned gradually in her
own. There was no alternative and
she could not in reason blame him.
The earth seemed all at once slipping
from under her feet. How she had al
ways loved him, would always love
him. and nowi She lurched forward
suddenly. putting out both hands as
though to grapple at some support.
"Dickp' she cried in sheer despera-
ton, 'Dickr'
Thurston wheeled slowly and met
her imploring gaze with eyes that had
grown relentless, steel-colored.
For Gods sake. believe me-" she
said, brokenly, when tell you that I
/
| Thurston scoffed. IF I were the
same ignorant young fool I once was"
he sneered, but there was--Mathilde's
mother. Experience does not have to
visit a man twice to no purpose"
Veronica felt herself turn to mar
BILE. 1t was the first allusion he had
ever made to his first wife. in her
hearing. But she knew. she had always
known. just as everybody had. And
4 ~ ~ A-g ~ +
head to foot, as thousand thoughts
of the dead girl crowded to her BRAIN
When the silence had become OPP
| pressive, Thurston turned to her with
a gesture of finality. After what has
| happened" he began, speaking DELHI
erately, "it is, of course, no longer
| possible for us to live under the same
| roof" He drew a deep breath before
| proceeding. This will always be your
home. Veronica. I do not belong to
the class of men who turn women out
said, we must separate. You will fnd
everything" He had been looking
away while he spoke. As he raised his
eyes, they fell upon blank walls. We
ronica had gone.
| Two years had passed
| Veronica sat, one morning, In the
modest little work room of the modest
little cottage where she had chosen to
hide herself and work for the daily
bread she was not in the least COM
PEELED to work for. Hope of her hus-
bands relenting, had long since ceased
to form any part of her life. Still,
she oould not fix the blame on him,
and the one thought which seemed to
animate her lonely existence was that
she had kept her word inviolate
AS she sat and thought and wonder
ed If 1t would always be like this, the
postman's whistle sounded sharply.
/ She got up-as she always did--with
a sudden heart-beat-and ran to open
the door. But 1t was only one of the
long. official-Iooking envelopes that
arrived, periodically, from her law
yer; her heart sank. Not that she ex-
pected anything more: she did not.
| But all the same, a sense of disap-
pointment was always there, and she
could not crush 1t out, even though
hope was deadI
Veronica fingered the envelope idly
for several minutes. then tore IL open
absently. A folded document fell out
and something besides. 1t was a
smaller sheet of paper. and inside 1t
was another sealed envelope. She
glanced eagerly at the bold writing
across the back and the blood leaped
| d
ter from-Dick!
Veronica sat quite still. staring with
blinking, misty eyes at the address
her name. written In her husbands
hand. and at the envelope itself vague
| ly odorant of his favorite cigar Then
| she broke the seal slowly. carefully,
and smoothed out the folded sheet in
| side.
MY Dear, Dear Wife," she read:
Can you ever forgive me for the mis-
cry and sorrow have caused you?
Veronica. my little girl. why did you
do II? Why did you exile yourself
from home, take ourself out of ms
life, all for quixotic notion of honor
Did YOU suppose. for one second, that
would rather have the assurance of
my dead daughters integrity than the
knowledge of my wife's purity and
goodness. And vet. dear. you were
right perhaps. At least, my Veronica.
you were noble. which Is better. She
had made you her confidant. and you
kept her secret inviolate. even at the