Year: 1879

noon, he was the lover Of another girl.
,, And could not have believed or dream
I'd that the fortune would have made
any difference with Paul, or the grand
fathers wish, or heavens thunder bolts
even, before saw it myself. / saw It
myself.


saw him go and turn the music as
she played upon the harp, and bend
over II with the color on his cheek, and
an angry fire in his eye when the eye
fell askance on me. saw him lift her
from her saddle at her gate, just down
the street; and 60 in with her, and
stay till, an hour afterward, groom
came and led the horse off. saw him
lettering with her at the lane, but they
did not know l saw them, and heard
his miserable old grandfather come
|hobbling up our steps, rubbing his
hands, and talking to my father Of
Paul's lucky hit. And so knew that
he had forsaken meme, the child that
had worshipped him from the:cradle.
And meant to die as soon as ! could
but in the meantime, if it killed me
itself to hide it, they should never
know / cared. Yet | was not angry; in
some way, some strange way, it was
Paul who was angry, who would not
speak to me, would not glance at me,
would not come near me, said sharp
and bitter, almost insolent things in
my presence, and seeming to try to
hurt me all he could.


It was not, in his manner, as if he
had found some one still dearer to him
than l, but as if he hated me, thought,
for just existing now. All, well, it
broke my heart And as l gathered
those roses that morning remembered
that we had been going to make grand
mammals pot-pourri together. But l
gathered them with my back turned to
that garden across that high box hedge,
and the dew on those roses was salt.
John, the old house-servant Che has
been gone this many year, came lug
ging out of the big Chelsea jar-the
same jar, Rosamond. 1t has never had
a nick. wonder If you can say as
much for it after half a century John
left it, with the spice boxes and dish
Of salt, on the marble step, to be handy
for me, and began to shred the roses
into it. And as | scattered the velvet
petals, it swept over me in surge that
just so the days Of my life had gone,
and | too was withered flower; and
as knelt before the jar, all at once my
arms fell across it, and my head fell be-
tween them, and was crying such a
storm of sobs that l wonder no one
heard me. But some one did hear.
Directly shadow fell between me and
the sunshine, and voice made my
heart stand still, and my sobs cease.


What does it mean ?" cried Paul,
| demand to know. l will have no
more of this. What are you unhappy
about Because you abused me, because
you have outraged all my feelings, be-
cause you hav. refused to answer my
letter.


Whst-what letter ?" stammered,
throwing back my head, with the tears
streaming over my face.


"What letter he cried. Are you
playing with me still Have you re-
c.ived no letter from me no letter
that l gave John Do you pretend to
say


81 pretend to say nothing | re-
turned, in storm and fury of irrepres-
sible tears, springing to my feet, and
starting to run away and hide my face
out of sight, and pray that every fresh
flood of tears might drown out my very
being pretend to say nothing but
that you have broken my heart"


"But he he'd caught me, and he held


me by the arm, and got my hands and


kept them, and would DO. let me hide
my face.


"I have broken your heart 2" he
said, in such grave and tender voice.


l have not broken your spirit. Tell
me why you spurned my letter.


"I--l never had your letter. | sob
bed.


"'Never had letter telling you
telling you all you know without it,,
but assuring you that grandfather or
no grandfather, only you should be my
wife, and if not you, then no one !? 1t
is mislaid then; and we have had all
this misery for nothing--we who wor-
ship each other' And-and-well,
never mind about the rest. There was
nobody to see us two young creatures
standing in the garden as the first
young lovers did. don't know that
we should have cared if there had been.
And all in breath, as if the earth had
rolled round under new heaven. the
sur seemed to be shining as it never
shone before, the birds to be singing,
flowers were full of life and fragrance,
thesworld was the most beautiful place.
We were on our knees shredding roses
together over the old pot.pourri jar,
and the garden ringing with our laugh
ter. And every once in while Paul
was lifting my chin with his finger to
make me look him in the face
with my eyes that all at once dared not,
and saying my mouth was the sW eetest
rose of them allah, yes, you did,
Paul, and then he was plunging his
hand into the jar to stir the petals.
And suddenly his fingers were touch
ing something like no heap Of rose
leaves, and he was bringing up a pa
per, a letter--that very letter which
he had given John just as the old fel-
low was coming in from emptying the
jar of last years. leaves and spices; and
he had dropped it there, and forgotten
it. John is SO torgetful-I mean, of
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