Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1915-02-17


had before me the anticipation OF en-
joying a fortune. Nevertheless my
life was dull They were old persons
and had oufiived most Of thei- init
mate friends. They were certainly not
esmpanionatie for me.
As to enjoying the society OF per
sons Of my own age. had very little
opportunity to do so. Ny aunt soon
after / went to live with her became
an Invalid and required my constant
attention Besides. my aunt had not
for many years had anything TO do
with social affairs, and was not
thrown into the swim had step
ped into what from q distance l had
considered an enviable position. but
was not satisfied l had become a
nurse. my pay 10 consist Of Irving
and fortune after my patients death.
or. rather. after the death Of two per-
sons, either one or both Of whom might
outlive me.
And now that / had experience In
this condition which had led me to re-
gret my marriage turned longingly to
what would have been, my lot II my
husband bad lived pictured q little
house that would have made cozy
and an interest In husband and chill
dren-An interest which Is paramount
to al other interests- do not except
those cases where the husband and
wife quarrel or separate The interest
b there. but II has become, 20 TO speak,
diseased l had all the comforts wealth
could bring. but there was NO soul IN
them. lived IN a splendid house, but
there was no home In 1t for me.
did not meet my husbands sister.
who Inherited what little property he
Aft She wrote ms offering, fnasmuch
~ It was mine By right, to give 1t up
b me, but declined to accept It She
was very sympathetic, and somehow
through her letters conceived decid-
ed liking for her. / would have liked
to see her, bat she lived at distance.
and neither could well 60 TO the other.
She and / became reguiar correspond
ents, and confded In her my dissatis-
faction at the life led snd my regrets
that / could not have had home Of
my own, BE II ever SO humble"
To this she replied that the day
would come when would be wealthy,
and / would then be satisfied that fate
had kept me from marriage without
adequate income and had given instead
the power and comfort that money
brings But to this replied that, hav
Ing become familiar with wealth, It
did not seem 30 much Of blessing as
those who saw 1t from a distance sup
posed
had lived with my aunt three years
when she died Then my troubles be-
gan In earnest Tor had the whole ne
sponsibility Of bolstering up my uncle
In bis old age A woman left desolate
can accommodate herself to the new
situation better than man. Ny uncle
could not accommodate himself to get
on without his life partner. I endured
his misery with him for the greater
part of a year, when l saw evidence
that he was intending 10 marry again.
A woman about half his age had set
her cap for him and was not long in
securing him
Ny standing In dead mems, shoes
had been a failure. knew well
enough that this new wife would se-
riously object even to sharing her hus-
bands inheritance with me, and did
not believe that. under the circum-
stances, we two women could get on
together under the same roof. This
turned out az expected The lady
soon made 1t plain to me that was
not desirable and set my uncle against
me. What should do? had no place
to 60, and the means at my command
were limited Ny uncle was soon got
under the thumb Of bis wife, and she
would not even permit him to give me
an allowance. l knew nothing about
his destroying the VIII made In my IA
vor, but II his wife permitted 1t to re-
main she was not the woman sup
posed she was.
In my distress wrote to my sister
in-law, pouring my troubles out to her.
She wrote me sympathetic letter, re-
minding me that ] was still young-I
was twenty-four-and would likely
marry. She suggested no plan for me,
but said she would write again soon.
Later ! received another letter from
her inviting me to make her a visit
We could then talk over what It was
best for me to do and would doubtless
hit upon some plan for my comfort
determined to accept the invitation.
found Miss Sayles living in modest
comfort and took her into my heart on
sight as had through her letters. She
made me feel at home from the mo-
ment l entered the house. She was
Older than my husband had been and
seemed to have looked upon him more
Is son than q brother.
Il have surprise for you" she said.
''of such importance that fear to give
It to you without preparing you for 1t.
You remember that you wrote Win
thrOD while coming froyr England ~