Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??, 1909-01-08
CHAPTER XIV.

The thought OF all she had SUFFERED
and OF the sufferings she had inflicted OF
the man she loved, almost maddened her
There was no delaying now at Nh
| Hook. She hastily placed the letter in al
envelope, wrote q passionate note to Mis-!
Fausset, telling her she knew all, and ther
set out for Enderby. Her husband was
sitting by the fire in the library, and die
not know she had come till he ound hel
kneeling at his feet.
mildred, what does this mean?'
at means. dear, that it was all a mis-
take, and that I am here to stay with you
forever"
Then she told him of her discovery OF
the letters, but she did not tell him whose
child Vivien was.
He was content to nave her with him
breast, the peace of Heaven fell upon the
reunited couple.
Mildred took the earliest opportunity
to visit Miss Fausset, and then she learn
ed the whole miserable story.
Listen to me patiently, Mildred" she
began, land do not judge me too harshly.
How shall 1 speak of the man who de-
stroyed my life? l loved him, Mildred
loved him with a foolish, inexperienced
girls romantic love. l asked no ques-
lions. I believed all he told me. I
flung myself, blindfolded, into the net.
1t was his genius l worshiped. He was
at the height of his success. The Milan
ese raved about him as a rival to Doni-
zetti his operas were the rage. Car you
wonder that l.. u girl pa~ssionately fond
of music, was carried away by the e1-
element which was in the very air l
breathed? l went to the opera night after
night. l heard hat fascinating music till
it's melodies seemed interviewer with my
being. l suppose | was weak enough to
let the composer see how much I admired
him. He had quarreled with his wife,
and the quarrel-caused by his own mis-
conduct-had resulted in a divorce. There
may have been people in Milan who knew
he was a married man, but my chap
eron did not, and he was careful to sup
press the fact from the beginning of our
acquaintance. ,
HE used to join me at the Cathedral
at vespers. I knew it was for, my sake
he went there. Our hands used to meet
and clasp each other, almost unconscious
", when the music moved us as it went
up to the gorgeous roof, in the
dim light Of the hanging lamps before the
altar. 1t never entered into my mind to
doubt Paolo Castellani when he told me
that, although we could not, as Papist
and Protestant, be married in any church
in Milan, we could be united by a civil
before a Milanese authority, and
that such a marriage would be binding
all the world over. I crept out of the
house one morning after my music lesson,
found my lover waiting for me with a
close by, went with him to a
dingy Office in a dingy street, but which
had a sufficiently official air to satisfy my
ignorance, and went through a certain
hearing something read over by
elderly man of grave appearance, and
my name to a document after
Paolo had signed his.
'4That is nearly the end of my story,
Mildred. We went from Milan to Como,
and after a few days at Bellagio crossed
the st. Gothard. and sauntered from one
lovely scene to another till we stopped at
Vevay. For just six weeks I lived in a
paradise. Then Paolo deserted me.
that time my brother had traced us
to Vevay-having learned all that could
be learned about Castellani at Milan be-
he started in pursuit of us. 1 never
saw my husband again. You know all,
Mildred, now"
TT would have been better to lave
cared for your own flesh and blood" Mil
dred said. 81 loved Fay, Remember, aunt.
she might lave been. / can not forget
%lo% ,,,ornoJ 49,, ro&,,o },
you are very hard, Mildred-hard to
a woman whose days are numbered"
'Are not my days numbered, aunt?'
cried Mildred, with a sudden burst of
passion. WAS not my heart broken when
l left this house last year to so into lone
illness and exile, abandoning a husband 1
That parting was my death
blow. In all the long, dreary days that
have gone by since then my hold upon
life has been loosening. You might have
sent me back to my home rejoicing-and
you would not. Yen cared more for your
own pride than for my happiness. You
have made your daughters life hap
you would not. You cared more
for the worlds esteem than for her vel
fare. AS you sacrificed ktr. your daugh-
ter. you lave sacrificed me, your niece. l
know that / am doomed. Just when
heaven has given me back the love that
makes life precious, / feel the hand OF
death upon me, and know that the hour of
is near"
Il have been a sinner, Mildred. but l
have SUFFERED have suffered. You
ought not to judge me. You have never
known shame"
That last appeal sofftened Miidreds
heart. She went over to her aunt's
chair and leaned over her and kissed her.
'Iet the past be forgotten she said
.'and let us part in love-
And SO, a quarter of an hour later. they
parted, never to meet again on earth.
Miss Fausset died in the early Winter,
cut off by the first frost, like q delicate
flower. She had made no change in the
disposal of her property, and her death
made Mildred Greswold a very rich wo-
mar.
MY aunt loved the poor said Mildred,
when she and her husband spoke OF this
increase of wealth. I'VE are both SO
much richsr than our needs. George. We