Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1904-04-04
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let all the world belieYe her deaus Je
give up her place that it might be bet
ter filled. TO give up her own identity
that her husband might be free, al
this seemed 10 her the very sublimity
Iof selfsacrifce.
OF the moral wrong she never
thought, of the possible complications
I that might arise she lost sight. The
only thing before her was one huge
sacrifice. and that she longed to make
complete.
/ So, while she sat in her sunlit gar
den amid the beauty of blossom and
flower of tree and vine, Lady Violante
Selwyn TO all intents and purposes
died. With weeping eyes, kneeline
there. her head buried in her hands
with bitter tears she babe farewell to
the husband she had loved so truly
and so well, 20 thee hid she had wor'
SHIPPED with a mothers purest and
most tender love. She babe farewell
10 the father who had cherished her as
his greatest treasure for so many
years. She bade farewell to herself
as she had been-a child, a girl, a
wife. a mother; and she rose from
her knees the most desolate creature
under the smiling sky.
There should be no turn lg back,
she vowed to herself, no weak after
repining. no changing. no abandon
ment of the greatest sacrifice woman
had ever made. She was dead. The
pale-faced broken-hearted woman who
lived still, no more resembled Vic
lante Selwyn than a faded leaf re-
sembled a blooming flower.
God is more merciful than men. She
was mistaken; she was wrong. She
was giving up that which was not hers
TO give; but her mistake was at least
a generous one. She intended no one
to suffer except herself. Her sacrifice,
although she ought never TO have made
il, was made for the happiness and
welfare Of others, not for her own.
Thenceforward her life was TO be one
long pain. and she knew it. The
smiles and caresses CT her child were
% be hers no longer Never again
should her hand rest upon his curly
head. or her lips upon his fair brow.
Never again would the comfort and
solace of a husbands love be hers, or
the shelter of a husbands home. Alone
and desolate, friendless and helpless,
nameless and despairing was she who
lad once been a beloved and worship
ed wife. mistress of Selwyn Castle, and
OF wealth unbounded,
She wasted no time in vain or weak
regrets. She wept no more. for tears
seemed TO have left her. The sacri-
fee was made now, the deed was done.
Once or twice there came TO her a
dull. panied wonder as to whether
Vivian had felt very much grieved-
whether he had forgiven her faults
now that he believed her dead
whether the cloud, the GOODNESS. the
distance that had arisen between them
had vanished in death. And then. when
she found herself so wondering, she
would do her best to throw the thought
from her: she would still the moan that
rose to her lips-the tortured, wall
ing cry-and pray Heaven, from the
very depths of her noble and mistaken
heart. to make her forget.
She remained in the quiet. secluded
lodgings some time longer. AT first
she had been unable to decide upon
her plans for the future; the wrench
had been too sudden, every nerve
seemed torn and bleeding. Now her
thoughts grew clearer; there was life
before her. and she must spend it as
best she could.
The first fear that dawned upon her
was that of recognition. True. no
strangers came to the little village.
neither artists nor tourists ever
sought the quiet. uninteresting spot
visitors were unknown in this obscure
place. where there was nothing to at
tract them.
So the morning came. when Lady
Violante rose and steadfastly regarded
her own face in the small mirror.
Pale and sad. with deep lines of sor-
row round the quivering lips, with a
deep shadow round the violet eyes,
with all the brilliancy Of youth and
happiness of love and hope faded
from it-she was so changed that she
hardly knew herself Was il possible
those white, quivering lips had ever
been beautiful in d:mpies and smiles
Quite Involuntary the memory came
to her Of the image she had seen in
the glass on her wedding morning
the fair. radiant girl whose golden
head was crowned with flowers.
That long, bright. golden hair. with
its graceful waves, must come Of
there could be no concealment for her
while that remained. Without a
sigh for her lost beauty she took mp
the scissors with which she had been
pruning the flowers. and deliberately
cut It all of quite close to her head.
IL fell round her in a shining. SHIN
mering golden mass. IL was pit.ful
10 see such glorious beauty so com
v~hnva the head