The Cairo bulletin., 1909-07-27
A Wedding That
) Could Never Be
By Helen Anterior


calls and afternoon parties. And SO
the little paragraph had escaped her
notice. Now, as she came down into
the drawing room TO await her moth
er preparatory to starting for ball,
she idly took up the paper.
II stared her in the face. She read
II and smiled to herself; 1t seemed
something that she had often read be-
fore and then she reread ii
f. and knew it was impossible
and knew that 1t was true.
A marriage had been arranged !,
She had often seen 1t in her
dreams, the wellknown name. the
| regiment, the son of but the
girls name, that had never appeared
in the dream fancies no one
she had ever heard OF before. :.
Was she still living. or had she
gone out of the world, this very
strange world, altogether? Could peo
pie and things be turning in the same
brilliant social Kaleidoscope when this
the unexpected-had happened?
Could such things be-?
And then the girl smiled at herself
again, smiled as her mother came
into the room, pleasant, dignitied, be-
jeweled, looking with complacent
eyes at the daughter who had never
failed to do her credit The bells of
the waiting electric brougham sound.
ed below, and the girl still smiled
smiled all that evening as she danced
to the echo OF five words beating
time in her heart and brain, while
she listened to the comments on the
engagement, and met with splendid
composure the inquistive eyes that
asked questions and received no an
swer from a braVely smiling young
face that told them nothing. Yes, the
world was still going on merrily i
even though marriage had
been arranged.
And now she must write TO him. II |
was four months since she had sent |
him timid little note at Christmas, a |
letter which, to the eyes that could |
read IT, contained another letter writ |
ten between the conventional lines 1t |
they had not met since-and now |
was writing to congratulate him.
Dear this isn't true. They |
may say so, that you are going to |
marry some one else, a girl called |
Daisy, whom | have never heard of, |
but until you tell me SO yourself, | |
won't believe It. Oh, | know it's IN |
the papers. but they don't count do |
they2 You and know.
you haven't quite forgotten last |
July? / don't think you have. any |
more than | have myself. up In Scot !
land that day in the glen, you and |. |
We had always been such |
friends coming down over the |
stepping stones-how wet and slippery |
they were!-I knew you for some
thing more. Oh, didn't you guess? / |
felt, yes, / felt that you cared, and |
you never said a word Ia IL my
money, my hateful money, that stands
between us? Surely God never meant
a girl to have the millions that shall
have land you know IT. all her own!
Was that the barrier? 1t can't be
that you didn't-don't-- shall
never believe that until you tell me
so yourself not through the
papers.
DO those three weeks all count for
nothing? Three weeks nearly year
ago. Months In which I have lived,
and suffered. and waited-for this
Months out of my life which | give to
you. Jack and then you hurl
this at me. Wouldn't it have been
kinder not to let me think |
expect that 1t was my fault Well, |
can only wish you luck, quite the bot
of luck, even with some one else.
Good'by, Jack, write and tell me If
you can that 1t isn't true.
"MAJORIE"
But this was the letter she sent:
Dear Capt. Atherton I am writing
to wish you all good luck Don't both
er to answer this, as | am sure you
are bored to death with congratula-
lions. Yours sincerely.
"MAJoRIE MANNERING."
Little girl. little princess, what are
you thinking of me, I wonder, II you
are thinking at all? You have seen
the announcement in the papers, and
your gray eyes will stare at 1t. and
you will smile. that brave little smile
of yours | know so well, and probably
go on and dance at somebody's ball
and forget all about 1t. Not
tonight think, Marjorie, will you
forget
And all the time you are asking
what does II all mean?
| ask myself that question.
too did you care, or was
mistaken? You did not let me gee.
thought so. but IL had been sure
Well. God knows how hard it is for a
man without penny to speak to the
laughter of a multi-millionaire. All.
those three weeks that eve
ming In the Glen and those
vet stepping stones wonder II you ,
or do women for.
get? | care for Daisy, yes, honestly
ARE, but deep down In my heart is
buried my love for you / dare not
hink how easy IL would be to resur