The circle banner. [volume] (Circle, Mont.) 1914-1939, 1915-07-16

and draw back from them. They con
Wet you, James"
Now can see why you have takel
up this fight against me. You-yo,
know she was innocent" he said in /;
low, unsteady voice.
And why l have hated you, ale
But what you do not understand II
how / could have brought myself t.
the point of loving you."
Loving me! Good heaven, woman
what do you"
Loving you in spite o! myself" she
cried, beating upon the table with hel
hands. Il 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 fol
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 l bore
for you. l believe as firmly as / be
lieve that / am alive that she has been
near me ali the time, battling against
my insane desire for vengeance. You
have only to recall to yourself the mo.
ments when you were so wildly re-
minded of Matilde Va1eska. 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-
was in me. YOU"
81 have thought of her-always Of
her-when you were in my arms"
II know how well you loved her"
she declared slowly. 81 know that you
went to her tomb long after her death
was revealed to you. 1 know that years
ago you made an effort TO ind Fever
ELI. 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
rifced as"
I-I-good God, am / 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. / have her dying
word for it. She declared It in the
presence of her God. Wait! Where
are you going?"
Il 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 l shall restore him
to health, never fear. If he were to
die, should curse myself to the end
of time, for / and / alone would have
been the cause. Here are her letters |
and the one Feyerelli wrote to her. !
This is her deathbed letter to you And |
his is a letter to her son and yours!
You may some day read it to him. And |
1ere-this is document requiring me |
o share my fortune with her son. 1t |
S a pledge that took before my ia
her died few years ago. If the boy
aver appeared, he was to have his
share of the estate-and it is
lot an inconsiderable amount, James.
lie is independent of YOU. He need
SIX nothing of you. was taking him
tome to his own
She shrank slightly as he stood over
ef. There was more OF wonder and
,ity in his face than condemnation.
he looked for the anger she had ex-
'ected to arouse in him, and was
to see that it was not re-
called in his steady, appraising eyes,,
"Your plan deserved better fate
han this Therese. 1t was prodigious!
Il can almost pity, you"
"Have-have you no pain-no regret
mo grief?" she cried weakly.
EYES," he said, controlling himself
18th difficulty. 'Yes. know all these
nd more" He picked up the pack
ge of letters and glanced at the sub
,ription on the outer envelope Sud-
emily he raised them to his lips and,
18th his eyes closed, kissed the words &
lat were written there. Her head /
rooped, and a sob came into her
Iroat. She did not look up until he t
sgan speaking to her again; quietly,
zen patiently. But why should you, d
zen in your longing for revenge-why
lould you have planned to humiliate b
i'd degrade him even more than i p
uld have done? Was it just to your o
ster's son that you should blight his 0
e, that you should turn him into . h
ulking, sneAking betrayer? What Il
3uld you have gained in the end? His d
athing, his scorn-my God, Therese, d
! you not think OF all this?" b
II have told you that thought of
erything. l was mistaken. did not h
ID to think that would be taking
n away from happiness in the shape al
love that he might bear for someone
e. did not know that there was . b.
dia Desmond. When came to know, al
, heart softened and my purpose lost tn
at of its force. He would have been hs
e with me-. but would he have been to
ppy? could not give him the kind Sc
love that Lydia promised. l could ut
y be his mothers sister to him. ). He ID
8 not in lore with me. He has al Ok
VS. loved Lydia. l fascinated him to