The daily palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1904-1905, 1904-05-25
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1t happened q It's VS.. One day. |
when she IVES 80, tGa-c came to her /
certain stalUcrt fe...ov7 she had known |
/ from i;,ccss--cy cd tod her, what she |
| already kew, TIA. re loved her and !
| wished to marry Ee" Miss Brockton, |
| liking him exceedingly well, realizing |
| how ple2sa:. LIE might be male with |
| his Elc-c.. rs name. his Gevotion to |
| her and lis co1.panioasA.p, c-3 oec!d- |
| ing thai the ecstattc love of which |
{ poems an2 novels treated would never |
| come to her anyway. accepted him. The |
! engagement came out duly; the cups !
| and saucers came in. Margaret liked |
Jack Whittlestone great deal and |
| found the position of tiancce charm |
] ing, and all was well.
| Then the villain appeared on the
scene in the shape Of Louis Radcliffe, |
Jacks cousin. Louis was delightfully."-
| unmodcrn person who seemed to have
taken for his model some Of the early
| Victorian heroes. He was a combina
| ton of youthful romanticism, elderly
I cynicism and other interesting quail
ties. He had q superb scorn of the
| conventions, magnificent belief in
himself and a corresponding amiable
skepticism in regard to other people.
He interested" Margaret greatly, Sic
said at first. Then she ceased to say
anything about him. Jack, not being
skilled in the ways of women, did not
worry ever c.,::.er his betrothed's speech
or it's absence. He knew the new wom
an well enough not to assert his rights
and bid her have less conversation with
his cousin. even had lie wished to do
so. Liberty being the law of Marga
rets life and unsuspecting good nature
of Jacks, the situation had every
chance to complicate itself.
1t did so promptly. Margaret, who
had decided that ferv!d and ecstatic
love was not at all likely to come her
way, aTokc one fine morning to the re-
alization that the universe had in il
just one man-Jack's Impossible, pow
) erty stricken, Irresistible cousin. And
} Jacks cousin, who Lad laughed at Mar
garet's feminine cynicism and pretense
, of GOODNESS. felt that she and she alone
could be the complement to his life.
They were both unhappy enough to
give them credit for some good lnten-
tons, but in the midst of their unhap
piness they were supremacy conscious
of what tritle misery was compared
to the joy of seeing each other.
Margaret knew perfectly, in her few
sane hours, that size did not wish to
marry Louis Radcliffe. She realized
that he Vc;;.,. develop into j thorough
ly undesirable sort of husband, even
apart from his poverty.
eff Only l could set over tbs" she
tnoaned to herself, ''at forty | should
be wretched with him, at forty should
be comfortable if not nladly happy with
Jack. If only-n only l We're forty
: noww
1t was one day wien she and Louis
had sat for an hour staring ahead of
them at the sea that the climax came.
why don't you talk" demanded
Margaret, finding her heart beats op-
pre&sivc
'BeCaUSe | cannot say what l wish
, to- lie answered. Then. Of course, lie
, proceeded to say tie things which he
should not have said. and for few
minutes the sea and Sky reeIed before
= their eyes and they breathed as if in
=, trance, after which, according to
the sacrficia modern manner, they
decided to part, and the next day the
| community was startled to learn that
the erratic Mr.. Radcliffe was going to
g ! Europe.
- Then it was that Margaret showed
. how thoroughly lacking she was in
! the modern luercenary spirit she had
y | always claimed. 1t gave her mourn
full satisfaction to think that, though
y she could not marry Louisville. to tell
- the truth had not asked her to 90 SO
she need not marry Jack. SO she
broke her engagement promptly and
proceeded to indulge herself in her
G great grief She heard nothing of
n either of the cousins for a long time
l. for naturally her course of action with
i Jack had suspended communication be-
!. | tween the families
J. For three years she was secretly as
?. romantic as the most romantic school
f girl. She thought of Louis constantly
a and pleased herself by imagining that
e he, in Egypt or Algiers or wherever he
C was, must know her thoughts. She
J. was exceedingly happy with her grief
n Outwardly she seemed much the same
= but inWard!y she acknowledged the
J. sway of love and it's power.
One evening three years after Louis
Radcliffe had gone away she went tt
reception. y little, pudgy woman
10 overdresSed and overgemmcd, stood by
"a her hostess side.
q. MY cousin. Mrs. Radcliffe. Mis-:
g. BrOckton," said her hostess. And then
< with sudden remembrance: You mus
D. recall Mr.. Radcliffe. He was Jacl
" Whittlestone's cousin, you know"
"a And then as Margaret cordially in
a quired after Mr.. Radcliffe and sait
le how she we'll remembered him, sent
9. mentalism for the first time fell