The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1906-07-21
Margery's
Little Romance.

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Miss Marsery stood on the veranda
in the shadow Of the luXuriant elena
It's vines, and watched the man and
woman in the garden among the
roses, with a sorrowful little shadow
on her face 1t was a sweet, pleasant
face. despite the shadow On it, and
the few silver threads that fve-and-
thirty years had LETT among the brown
srcSSes en- her forehead; a grave, kind
face, with. a soul looking cut OF the
brown eyes, AMI making you feel at
once that Margary Marsh Was VIC
man to be trusted, and one VINO was
able to stand alone With her pure,
wpmanly dignity. But it is sad
thing to see any woman or man for
that understanding alone in the
world. God never meant it to be so.
The man she saw helping Ellie Oar
ryl to tie up ner rose bushes was John
Cramer. She had known him years
ago, when they were children. in fact,
and she had never forgotten MIN,
though years Of separation had come
and gone, and both of them were
growing old She mad loved him
then, and her heart was not one Of
those which changes easily and for
gets the absent face She had thought
that he loved her. Indeed she
was sure that he had, for with
joan Cramer, softly whispered words
meant something.
He was not the man to use words
lightly But an uncle of his in Eng
land had died suddenly. and he was
sent for to take charge of his affairs,
and the years had come and gone,
fifteen of them, she told herself, as
she thought it all over, and the man
she ilad loved was lost to her.
Well, it were better to have sad
yet sweet little memory of pleasant
vanished days than life full OF dis
cord and regret for hasty action.
Now she was sure that he had ceased
to care for her in the old way, and
If he had cared for her as she wanted
the man she married to care for her,
he could not have forgotten SO easily.
He never could nave forgotten. And
since he could forget, it were better
that everything between them had /
ended as it did.
But her woman's heart would feel
its loneliness sometimes in spite of
her, and yearn for something to lean
on, and some one heart dearer and
nearer than any other heart could be,
to confide in And this morning, as
she saw the man she had loved walk
ing and talking with Ellie Daryl, her
heart cried out longingly for that
which seemed beyond its reach.
1t is a bitter, tantalizing thing to
see the happiness we covet most COM
ing unashed to brighten lives that
have no need of it seemingly-lives
SO full of completeness before that |
they cannot properly appreciate the |
greatest of all booms, love-while we |
wait outside the charmed land, and |
stretch eager hands, imploring en- |
trance where that must be which we |
have looked and longed for, but have |
not found 1t must be somewhere for
all of us. If we could only find it.
When John Cramer came back from
Europe thrill OF the old love woke
in Margery's heart, like an echo Of
music that has almost died away in
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thing suddenly sets ringing again. The
man whom she had loved so long ago,
the man whom she had thought her
lover once, was near ner. The thought
was sweet, and at the same time bit
ter. Her lsver once, but her lover no
longer. She had thought, in a vague,
dreamy way, when she heard that he
was coming back, unmarried, that
possibly, after these years of absence,
his heart yearned for the woman he
aad left behind him. But when he
came, and the first quiet greeting was
over. she was quite sure that he had
long ago ceased to love her, and she
had kept herself in shy secIusion. He
came often. but she fancied that it
was Ellie Darryl's pretty face which
attracted him: and thinking this, with
! nameless pain at her heart, she
ried to avoid him, and forget her
oolish dream OF wat might not be.
He looked UP, as they stood among
he roses. and SAW Margery standing