The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1906-02-28
Continued.
CHAPTER XVII.

CHAPTER XVII. ~
Continued.
And on that day Matty Ferguson
cried till she was simply sick and faint;
and for days, and for weeks afterward
the girl wandered about hollow-eyed
and, white, along every alice and hill
side where she had once walked with
Alexis; and when she began to lose her
freckles and wear long dresses, and;
in time, to go to balls and to be adj
mired, she still chung to her first, and,
as far as she was concerned, most pure
romance of her life, and held all men
UNNECESSARILY inferior to that OF that
black-haired. taper-ingered. efeminate-
faced little Russian of her Baden days.
And for him she had shed tears, and
of his white face and tapen-fingers, as
compared with those of Mr.. Mohun of
Yatton, she had been thinking when
Jane Grand came il, just now upon her
dreams. And looking in James agi-
tated face the thought did cross her,
and with something of pity, that Ia
vieille file had loved Clifford and might
feel toward her a. she, Matty, used to
feel toward the grandly-dressed ladies
who smiled upon Alexis in the Baden
gardens.
what a fool he is to marry me in
. stead of her." thought Miss Ferguson.
"She is of his age, and Of his ways,
and I-well, I am ,Matty Ferguson,
and Mr.. Mohun must learn to like
Matty Ferguson when he is married to
herr' Then aloud, and, for her, not un-
gently, miss Grand, you were very
kind to ask me here. Thank you Tor
your good wishes and"-and positively
Matty Ferguson was at a loss-"l
hope you won't think I have been
ungrateful for your kindness"
"How ungrateful, child?
miss Grand, I I'M going to marry
MI. MOhun."
Jane had known that very we'll all
the afternoon; yet when the news
came-put into words and spoken by
her successors palpable voice, not by
her own fears-the blow was hard!
She walked without a word to the fire
and stood opposite it for some seconds;
then she turned around abruptly.
"You love Clifford :Mohun"
II have accepted him. Oh, Miss
Grand, of course I love him."
The girls eyes faltered down under
the falsehood.
BE a good wife to him, Matty. He
needs good companionship, and-I do
hope, yes, and I do ask God to bless
you, and to make you happy"
And she stepped across and positively
kissed Matty's cheek-immensely to
that young woman's surprise-and
neither shed a tear, nor showed any
more signs Of agitation than by her
white and trembling lips, during the re-
mainder of that evening that they
spent in each others company.
When night came, and she was alone,
Jane took her wedding-ring from her
neck, and then, with a Geary sense
Of newness, and of something clean
gone out from her life, she held it be-
tween her hands and fell to wondering
whether she would aver wear it on her
breast again or not?
The ring had so become part of her
life and of herself that it seemed to her
as though no Matty FERGUSON, Clifford
Mohun even, had a right to part her
from it now. It was a memorial Of her
own youth and Of her own darkened
hopes. of her own pure and faithful
love far more that it was q memorial
of the man who had promised to take
Matty Ferguson for his wife; and,
after much Of the fine casuistry which
on every occasion so perpleXed poor
James moral sense, and not q few
tears, she decided at last that she might
keep it and occasionally look at it,
quite guiltlessly. till she died.
"And wear it till their. wedding day.,
was her last thought, as she laid it in
its usual resting place beside the little
Bible on her dressing table. Wear it
till their wedding day, then lay it aside
with all other things belonging to my
youth, and only look at it at times.
when life is very hard to bear. and it
will do me good to bring back the years
when I. too. had love and hope. and
something in life worth living for, like
other women.
And yet. when Jane Grand's hot eyes
Mt length found sleepthat night. neither
Matty Ferguson nor Clifford Mohun.
nor any other remembrance of her jeal-
ousy or of her new loss. Swallowed her
dreams.
She slept with a child's worn-out
sleep till morning and then. when the
distant bells Of the Chesterford church
aroused her she knew that she had
been walking in the fields as she had
used to walk when she was 4 little
child with Mr.. Follett. also that in her
sleep she had seen again the study
window of the little vicarage shining
bright and peaceful in the red March
sunset.
CHAPTER XVIII.
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