Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1912-05-03


'if there was only corruption beneath
the sod were the shrubs the woman
had loved planted there2 Corruption
has no Appreciation"
"In you materlallsts." responded Pro
fessOr Taylor there Is vacuum
where the faculty Of sentiment should
exist. The widower did not place the
flowers there for the dead, but for the
living woman To him the thread Of
her life had never been broken. More
over, IN our natures there IL that
which we call association, and there
was to him pleasure in associating
the plants she loved with the place
where her mortal part lay.
"One evening about sunset Leroux
entered the cemetery of Pere Lachaise
to visit his wlfe's grave and see that
all was In order there. As he ap-
preached 1t he was astonished to see O
man. uncovered, bending over the
mound. apparently absorbed in grief
What could It mean7 Leroux had
never heard his wife speak of a broth
er or other male relative near and
dear to her. and he wondered who
this mourner could be. Advancing, he
addressed the stranger:
"'Pardon me. May ask why you
are thus grleving for my wifeT
1.-THE mun turned The grief his
countenance had worn was turned to
anger.
"'Your wife! Then you are the man
who robbed me Of my love
"'Your Lowell She never had but one
love. and that surely was not yours.
Who nre your
Zone who loved the woman who
lies there
"'She does not lie there, interrupted
Leroux. She is IN heaven. Had you
loved her as you say. you would not
speak OF her as lying there
81 say | loved her. reiterated the
other fercely. and she loved me. We
parted in anger
Real love Is never angry. It may
grieve for another's fault, but 1t can
not be angry
81 left her for foreign land,
America. There hive been since
then; there | prospered. returned
to do penance and claim my love. |
heard that some one had won her
hand, though | know that no one but
myself could have won her heart; that
she had died and was buried here. l
came to her grave to weep for her,
and fate has brought me the man who
believed he occupied my place
al know not what this means, Le-
roux reJoined III my wife had love
that 1t was not true love and would
pain us to speak Of 1t; therefore she
refrained
"'Who are you to assume this-yOu,
who II you received any love at all.
received a dead love
THE man. provoked by the uncom-
promising certainty Of one he consid-
cred his rivnl, was by this time beside
himself with anger.
HAD we weapons ] would soon
convince you that ! am the rightful
mate OF the woman who lies there;
gOu ult IN ihtNiiODtls ihC Ouiy
recomDense you can grant me for the
robbery you committed Is n meeting
tomorrow morning In the Bois de
BoulOgne.' he snid
"'Slnce my wife through a mistake
once may have thought enough Of you
to engage herself to you ! shall not
harm hair Of your head
1.-THE stranger felt convulsively for a
weapon he knew he did not have about
him, then. taking out n cardcase. threw
a card at Leroux's feet. saying. If
you are not coward shall hear from
you Then he STROBE ont Of the In
closure and down the avenue toward
the cemetery gate.
"rhe card bore the name OF Jules
B0mbardler LcrOux. calm as when he
entered the cemetery. attended to what
he had come 10 do. then returned TO
Paris On the way he tried 10 think
Of some mention OF love affair his
wife had passed through before meet
Ing him. but he could not. Neverthe-
less he was content TO remain In igno-
rance concerning II.
'"This is what | call true love, and |
will show you that the stranger who
manifested all the outward appearance
OF love had not experienced II. Not
six months after Professor Leroux had
met him weeping at the grave OF the
woman he believed he loved LerouX,
taking up newspaper. read a notice
Of the marriage Of Jules Bombardier,
q Franco american. who had recently
returned on visit from his adopted
country.
"LerouI lived the same life, 80 far as
women were concerned that he had
lived with his wife In other words,
after her death he continued to live
with her In the spirit"
The narrator paused for a moment
thoughtfully, then concluded:
III have not proved my case have
at least made II equally strong and far
more acceptable than your theory that
love ~ but means by which nature
produces procrcatlon."
~ admit that you have" replied
Markham. There IL barrier that
neither Of ny can pnss reason from
analogy based on cause and effect that
I see In material things about me,
while your reasoning Is based on the
same premises In n spiritual sense. We
are both confined within our narrow
sphere Nevertheless from the founda-
ton OF The world love has been recog-
nized as n divine attribute indeed, the
only divine attribute we possess In tho
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