The Greenville journal. [volume] (Greenville, Ohio) 1850-1918, 1915-06-24

/ and draw back from them. They con.
vict you, James"
Now l can see why you have taken
up this fight against me. You-you
know she was innocent" he said in
low, unsteady voice.
And why have hated you, ai-e7
But what you do not understand is
how ! could have brought myself to
the point of loving you"
Loving me! Good heaven, woman,
what do you"
Loving you in spite of myself" she
cried, beating upon the table with her
hands. 81 have tried to convince my
self that it was not but the spirit Of
Matilde that had come to lodge in my
treacherous body. l hated you for
myself and l loved you for Matilde.
She loved you to the end. She never
hated you. That was it. The pure,
deathless love of Matilde was constant
ly fighting against the hatred ! bore
for you. / believe as firmly as / be-
lieve that l am alive that she has been
near me all the time, battling against
my insane desire for vengeance. You
have only to recall to yourself the mo.
ments when you were so vividly re-
minded of Matilde Valeska. At those
times / am sure that something of Ma
tide was In me. was not myself. You
have looked into my eyes a thousand
times with a question in your own.
Your soul was striving to reach the
soul of Matilde. All, all these months
have known that you loved Matilde-
not me. You loved the Matilde that
was in me. You"
81 have thought of her-always of
her-when you were in my arms"
Il know how well you loved her,"
she declared slowly. II know that you
went to her tomb long after her death
was revealed to you. know that years
ago you made an effort to find Fever
elli. You found his grave, too, and you
could not ask him, man to man, if you
had wronged her. But in spite of all
that you brought up her boy to be sac
rificed as"
"I-I-good God, am l to believe
you? If he should be my son!" he
cried, starting up, cold with dread
He is your son. He could be no
other mans son. l have her dying
word for it. She declared it in the
presence of her God. Wait! Where
are you going?"
81 am going down to him!"
Not yet, James. l have still more
to say to you-more to confess. Here!
Take this package of letters. Read
them as you sit beside his bed-not
his deathbed, for ! shall restore him
to health, never fear. If he were to
die, l should curse myself to the end
of time, for l and l alone would have
been the cause Here are her letters
and the one Feverelli wrote to her.
This is her deathbed letter to you. And
this is letter to her son and yours!
You may some day read it to him. And
here-this is a document requiring me
to share my fortune with her son. 1t
is a pledge that l took before my fa-
ther died a few years ago. If the boy
ever appeared, he was to have his
mothers share of the estate-and it is
not an inconsiderable amount, James.
He is independent of you. He need
ask nothing of you. l was taking him
home to his own"
She shrank slightly as he stood over
her There was more of wonder and
pity in his face than condemnation
She looked for the anger she had eX-
pected to arouse in him, and was
dumfounded to see that it was not re-
vealed in his steady, appraising eyes.
Your plan deserved a better fate
than this Therese. 1t was prodigious I!
II can almost pity you"
"Have-have you no pain-no regret
no grief?" she cried weakly.
EYES," he said, controlling himself
with difficulty. eyes, know all these
and more" He picked up the pack.
age of letters and glanced at the sub.
scription on the outer envelope. Sud
denly he raised them to his lips and
with his eyes closed, kissed the words
that were written there. Her head
dropped, and a sob came into her
throat. She did not look up until he
began speaking to her again, quietly
even patiently. But why should you
even in your longing for revenge-why
should you have planned to humiliate
and degrade him even more than
could have done? Was it just to your
sisters son that you should blight his
life, that you should turn him into q
skulking, sneaking betrayer? What
would you have gained in the end? His
loathing, his scorn-my God, Therese
did you not think of all this?"
II have told you that l thought al
everything was mistaken. did not
stop to think that l would be taking
him away from happiness in the shape
of love that he might bear for someone
else. | did not know that there was a
Lydia Desmond. When / came to know
my heart softened and my purpose lost
most of it's force. He would have been
safe with me, but would he have been
happy? l could not give him the kind
of love that Lydia promised. could
only be his mothers sister to him. He
was not in love with me. He has al
ways loved Lydia. fascinated him
} just as fascinated you. He would moi
have gone away with me, even after
} you had told him that he was not your
son. He would not do that to you
James, in spite of the blow you struck