Kingsbury County independent. (DeSmet, Kingsbury County, S.D.) 1894-1929, 1910-12-02

with mel / warm rarn' yo5 il is Is danger.
ous!" n I gTipped my arms behind
me to keep them from about her.
she noticed the movement and re-
treated a step.
Monsieur she said. Il win tell you
the story. IL you will promise to re-
main where you are until ! have An
ished."
And after you have finished?"
oh. then. you may do as you
I promised" I cried. the blood
bounding ma5ly through my veins.
IL seems that your betr9thsd Is q
winul and headstrong creature" she
pegan, and when the time came 70
prepare to marry you, she rebelled.
she had been permitted, 1t appears. TO
FORM ideas OF her own. She refused
10 give herself to a man h had never
seen, or whom she remembered only
as a thin and unattractive boy. So the
DAY before you were to arrive. having
failed to exact from her father thu
be left to her
Yes. he told me-" I interrupted.
fiedT"
"Fledl" I repeated. Then tina,
IS tho reason Skc e rot he=e!"
i am sure she would never have
done It" my companion continued;
irregular her training
wsSl9 never perhaps bays thoVgnt q 9
sIsp 50 desperate, but Tor . book she
happened to find n day in her fathers
library. She was attracted first by the
Illustrations. which were by Gravslot
and very beautiful; then she became
absorbed In the story, q translation
from h English. which related the ad-
ventures OF a young lady named Sophie
western who ran away from her FAITH
er to avoid a marriage into which he
would have forced her. The result ct
1t she won the man she really loved
that Mdlle. dc Benseval resolved to
emulate 1t. So she mounted her horse
IN morning and instead Of taking her
usual ride dismissed her groom and
spurred away to the house of a friend
who she knew would ~sympathize with
her n perhaps intercede with her
father"
"oh, 4 was With him she was in
love!" ! murmured."
Not In the least, monsieur; she was
In love with no one, and this friend
was a woman. But that very
%evenin, strangely enought, she met
someone whom Tx fancied she
might love; n in the days that fol-
$500 "AASAh NiAS WOLO AAluCl tOHtLIlGJ,
she was drawn very near to him; for
she saw that he loved her ~passionately,
~devoutedly. And at last, In a moment
OF trial, when he held her in his arma,
she confessed that she loved him In re-
turn"
We'll" I saie with a sigh Of relief,
TT appears to me that I need think no
more Of Mdlle, de BensevaI. Let us
dismiss her-there Is another topic"
Wait" she said: II fear you win
find yourself thinking a great deal
about her, before long. For after that
one moment Of utter Joy, she drew away
from her lover. held him at a distance,
was unkind to him. although all the
while she was longing to throw herself
upon his bosom and draw his arms
close about her!"
What" I said incredulously. "She
did that7 Was she mad then r.
INC, she was a woman and she played
with him because that Is a woman's
nature
Yet she knew he loved her!"
glowing aeS, m sne ans answered mns her eyes
he loved her deeply and purely, as
she could never hoped to be loved
again; but she resolved to put him
to one supreme test. If he stood the
test, she would adore him, worship
him. she would be his body and soul.
through all eternity. II he ala not
stand it-well, she would still love
him."
And did ne stand it7; / asked,
moved more and more by this story,
TO which, at first. 1 had listened
but lndifferently.
LET me finish and you will see.
She returned to her home, she opened
her heart to her father, who is really
the kindest and noblest of men, and
he agreed to assist her In the test.
So ~today-this evening"
She faltered, stopped and looked
at me, smiling TREMENDOUSLY, her
cheeks suddenly flooded with color.
Yes" / cried. this evening"
"Oh, II is more difficult than l had
thought! How shall I go on? Three
months ago, monsieur. there was a
death in our family"
"Yes?" I asked, failing to see what
this had to do with the story.
1T vas that OF my fathers eldest
brother" she continued, unsteadily
without looking at NE. 80 that my
father, who up to that time. had
been M. de Benseval, succeeded to the
title n became-became-"
M. de Chambray!" I shouted. See
ing 1t all as In a lightning fash, and
I sprang toward her, blind with sud
den Joy.
GNA ch AAlbN"llL III kIitu U nOIQ me
OF; but my arms were about her.
straining her to me. Then suddenly
she yielded, and nestled to me, close.
close against my heart.
"Oh, my love, my love. my love-"
she cried, and raised her lips to mine
did you a NJ. de Tavernay?'
asked a voice, and / raised my head
to see my fathers friend standing
upo the threshold, looking at us
with smiling face.
Yes, monsieur" I answered az
i~ntelligently as I could, "I desire 10
announce to you that your daughter
has decided to marry me-"
"In faith" he said. q humorous
light in his eye, II somehow suspected
II the moment ] opened the door"
With which remark he closed II
again and left us alone together.
THE END.