The Charles Mix new era. (Wagner, Charles Mix County, S.D.) 1???-1911, 1908-10-23


/, lavs saaere, sinse shsr wretx.asd N-nday
aF.crreoa when | discoyerci how son
isad deceived me-you whom / so trusted.
So i,onored az the most upright among
men.
IT II n little hard saat Won should say
! deceived yoa. Mildred ! suppressed one
fact which had no bearing ngon my rcia-
ttoss with yoa."
'siou mtisi fate signed your name to a
falsslsooti III the register. ii you dies cribed
| Yourself as n bachelor"
= did not SO describe myself. I con
| fdet the fact of my FIRST marriage 10
! Your father on the eve of our wedding.
/ told him why / had been silent~-toid
Lin that my past life had been stepped in
| bitterness. lie was generous enough to
accept my confidence aad 10 ask no qHes-
tons, Nv bride was too shy aud too
agitated 10 observe wlas | wrote In the
| register, or else She might have noted the
Word 'widower' after my name
Thank God yoa did not sign your
name 10 a lie" said Mildred, with a sigh
| Of relief.
II am sorry ny wife OF fourteen years
should think me capable OF falsehood on
the document that sealed my fate witt;
| hers
"Oh, George, I know how true you are
how true and upright you have been
in every word and act of your life since
NC two have been one. 1t in not in my
nature TO misjudge you. I cannot think
you capable Of wron ,doing to any one I'M
der strongest temptation. 1 cannot be-
ieaxa that EaSa a.nsI5 "a z,nN N
for you as could entrap you into one dis
honorable act but | am tortured by the
thought of a past life OF which I know
nothing. Why did you hide your mar
rage from me when we were lovers? Why
are yon silent and secret now, when / am
your wife, the other half Of yourself,
ready to sympathize with you. to share
the burden of dark memories? Trust me,
George. Trust me, dear love. and let us
be again as we have been, united In every
thought"
You do not know what you are ask
ing me, Mildred said George Greswold,
IN his deep, grave voice. looking at her
with haggard, reproachful eyes. You
cannot measure the torture you are in
fictlng by this aimless curiosity"
You cannot measure the agony Of
doubt which ] have suffered since I knew
that you loved another woman before
you loved me-loved me 70 we'll that you
cannot bear even TO speak of that past
life which yon lived with her-regret her
so intensely that now, after fourteen years
OF welded life with me, the mere memory
of that lost love can plunge you into
gloom and despair" said Mildred passion
ately.
That smothered Are of jealousy which
had been smouldering in her breast for
weeks broke out all at once in impetuous
speech. She no longer cared what she
said. Her only thought was that the dead
love had been dearcr than the living, that
she had been cozened by a lover whose
heart had never been wholly hers.
You are very cruel, Mildred" her hus-
band answered quietly. You are prob
ing an old wound, and a deep one, to the
quick. You wrong yourself more than
you wrong me by causeless jealousy and
unworthy doubts. Yes. l did conceal the
fact OF my first u,arriage-not because /
had loved my wife too well. because I had
not loved her well enough. | was silent
about a period Of my life which was enc
OF intense misery-whieh it was my duty
10 myself to forget, il it were possible to
forget-which ii was perilous TO remem-
Der. Ny only chance of happinex-or
peace of mind-lay in oblivion of that
bitter time. 1t Was only when I loved
you that | began to believe forgetfulness
was possible. / coarted oblivion by every
means in my power. | told myself that
the man who had so suffered was 4 man
who had ceased to exist. George Ran
some was dead. George Greswold stood
on the threshold of a new life, with in
finite capacities for happiness. / told
myself that | might be a beloved and
honored husband-which | had never been
IA useful member of society-which I
had not been hitherto. Until that hour
all things had been against me. With
you for my wife oil things would be in
my favor. For thirteen happy wears this
promise of our marriage morning was
fully realized; then came our child's
death. and now comes your estranSe-
ment."
Il am not estranged, George. It 10
only my dread of the beginning of es-'
arrangement which tortures me. Since that
man spoke Of you first wife, / have
brooded pcrpetually upon that hidden
past. 1t is weak, l know. to have done
SO | ought to trust unquestioningly:
but | cannot, l cannot. | love you too
well without jealousy
We'll, let the veil be lifted then. since
1t must be so. Ask what questions you
please. aud | will answer them-as best
I can"
"lou are very good" she faltered, draw
ing a little nearer to him, leaning her
head against his shoulder as she talked
TO him. and laying her hand on his as it
lay before him on the desk. tightly clench-
ed. Tell me. dear, were you happy with
| your first wife,"
Il was not"
Not even in the ~beginningg
Hardly in the beginning. 1t was an
i'll advised union. the result of impulse"
But she loved you very dearly, per-
haps."
She loved me-dearly-after her man
ner of loving"
And you did not love herr"
1T is a cruel thing you force me to
| say. Mildred. No, / did not love her."
aIIad ynt baap p,arrfad lo,- x-h~n aha