Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1905-09-04


or appealed to the intellectual side
Of his nature as Mrs. Granville did
and. alas, he knew now that the
feeling he had had for his wife was
but a purely physical passion born
of her beauty. She could never have
held his mind. She was too shallow.
too vain.
After that conversation with Lady
Grahame Walton's eyes were opened
to the true state of his feelings for
Mrs. Granville, but as yet he gave
her no hint. First he must tell her
his story, yet he shrank from the
idea of laying bare the shameful
past before that pure soul.
1t was a couple of evenings later.
Walton and his companion leaned
side by side over the rail and talked
in a fragmentary manner, but there
was an intonation in his voice,
tenderness in his gray eyes, that
made her heart beat and stirred her
pulses strangely. One little hand
lay near his. and suddenly his closed
on it, and he raised it to his lips and
kissed it passionately.
'NIy darling" he whispered,
''Violet, l love you viii you be my
wife? Speak to me, darling. Tell
me have not hoped in vain"
For a moment, as he put his arm
round her and drew her to him, she
yielded to his embrace; then she
hurriedly drew herself away.
"Wait until tomorrow" she muir
INJURED. Il will tell you then if
you still care to hear"
"Care to hear!" he cried passion
ately. "Child, don't you guess how
much l love you?"
But with sad little smile she fit
ted from his side and was lost in the
shadows of the deck.
Principally at o'clock the next
day Mrs. Granville appeared on deck,
looking very lovely in her white
dress, though her face was pale and
heavy shadows rested under the
gray blue eyes. Walton, to whom
her coming was as a glimpse of para
disc, hurried forward to meet her.
and he carried her deck chair to a
secluded corner, shaded from the
glare of the afternoon sun, which
was now creeping to its rest.
"Well, Violet, which is it to be?
he whispered. "You don't know
what tortures of Impotence and I'M
certainty | have suffered since las
night. Is it to be-yes?" And hi
tried to read his answer in her avert
ed eyes.
wait" she murmured family
Il have something to tell you be-
fore | give you my answer-some-
thing that you ought to know. If
after-you still care, I-will-say
yes"
'My darling" he cried, "Violet,
only say you love me little, and I
don't care for anything elsep'
eyes, II do care for you," she
whispered, more than I thought I
could care for any one I feel l can
trust you, lean on you, respect you,
and you do not know what all that
means to a woman who has suffered
as have and has had every illusion
stripped from her. Listen, and
will tell you my story. To begin
with, [ am not a widow, as you
thought, and my name is not Gren-
vile. 1t was my mothers name
and l took it when l dropped my
own, after-after | was divorced.
divorced my husband nearly two
: years ago now. We had only beer
, married short time, and l was i'll
| when ne went abroad and met there
married woman who, | suppose, at
, tracted him. But, to cut the story
short, he-he finally ran away will
s. her to Paris after her husband haC
, been ordered out to South Africa
| She was Mrs. Walton-oddly
, enough, a namesake of yours"
' Walton had turned livid. 10000
: Cod! he cried hoarsely. IN!
, wife,"
Y 'Your wifew echoed his compan
5 ion. "Then-then you''- And sh,
i sank back in her chair pale an(
0 trembling.
Yes" he answered thickly, en-,
D wife. l was the husband of tina
: wretched woman"
Q "Then it was not a coincidence
!. as l thought it was, your name be
+. ing the same? l never dreamed O
o tins, she murmured brokenly.
Q Walton rose and leaned over tn,
4 rail, turning his feverish brow t.
the desert, where a little breeze wa
r blowing from the mountains. Hi
e mind was in a whirl, only on,
t thought being uppermost.