Year: 1872

she sat at the paIiUI WtuuuH, ICStltSNtJ y
looking out into the street. A hand
some women, bold in look, and of
self>poise which expressed itselfin her
bearing. she received her lover as u
sovereign would his vassal


He stopped and kissed her. She
accepted the kiss with stole indiffer>
enco-so much so, indeed, that it
might almost have seemed that Gilbert
was mistaken in supposing that she
loved him


"WcllY" she said, firmly, when he
had seated himself by her side


Il have seen Mary, and told her
ALL" he replied i" Il was cruel; but
| had ceased to love her feel now,
more strongly than ever, how much |
love you, Helen


/" am glad it is over What did
she say p


81 left her in tears She declares
that she never will forget me"


" Pshaw !" exclaimed Helen. WAS
she weak enough to cry before you !!
| should like to see the man for whose
love | would shed single tear -
Gilbert felt a chill as Helen spoke
these words with contumelious lip j;
but her nature had SO conquered his
that he did no: dare to protest.


" Now that this last obstacle Is
removed, IIelen," he said /" when
| shall we be married?


& As soon as you like, Gilbert


Before he rose to leave the day of
their marriage was named and when,
in due course of time, that day came
round, they were married. with hun
dred interested witnesses looking on.
/ Some shrewd observers, indeed, were
careful to note that the most uninter-
ested pei sou present seemed to be Mrs.
| Gilbert Graves, late Miss Varney.


As the months passed on, and as
Gilbert Graves began to understand
IIelen's true nature, he reverted to his
last conversation with Mary, and he
often dwelt with bitterness upon the
thought that he had rejected her
devotion to ally himself to woman
whose actions convinced him that she
did not love HIM How noble. by
contrast, did the character of Mary
then appear


Whatever might have been Helen's
| failures In the domestic circle, In socIe~
ty she was quite acceptable. The
charm which she denied at home was
lavishly bestowed when abroad There
her handsome face was lighted up
with a bewitchlng smile, her laugh
was The most attractive, and her
manners the most winning. Indeed
it seemed a purpose with her TO fasci
nate ali with whom she should come in
contact and So reckless after awhile
did she become in this pursuit, that
even her dear friends in society began
to question her motives. The muir
murs thus raised by the world did not.
! however, reach the ears of her bus
| band He had not then learned to
doubt her sense of proprlcy, although
/ he had long ago become assured OF her
indifference but that which, in pity,
was kept concealed from him he was
! destined 10 knoY from herself


One day--it was The first anniyersa-
ry of Their marragc--he went home
| from the haunts whereto his daily
duties called him. Probably never,
as on this day, since the time when his
! love for Helen was strongest, had he
50 loved her, so cherished her image, so
/ yearned to be near ner aud to feel,
if only for little while, that spark
of her old interest in him remained.
lie had planned for her surprise. lie
had carefully selected for her number
of gifts, not of any great value, but
which he thought would please her,
and would, perhaps, revive some happy
recolections in her mind.


This day too, he had set apart as day
sacred in the history Of their lives
on which to speak to her more serious
Iy than he bad ever spoken before
Some lingering remnant OF the feelings
which, in his belief; had once actuated
her toward him, would induce her to
listen to him quietly, he thought. And
from the conversation which he had
proposed to himself, he hoped that his
wayward wife would rise with a better
understanding of her duty to herself
and to him


The dusk was falling when he finally
reached bis home So intent was he
with his thoughts of Helen, that he had
almost expected to see her waiting for
him at the door. Trivial as it seemed the
fact that she was not there obtruded
itself, even at the threshold, like an
obstacle to his happy train of thought.
But it was only when he had entered
the house that. for the first time since
that morning, he began to experience
something OF the old pain which attached
60 his married life.


! About the house was silence which
he had never noticed before. Connect