Fleming_A_Mad_Marriage.txt topic ['13', '324', '378', '393']
he had lain for fully five min
utes, his head resting a dull weight in s arms.
sharp terror seized her she looked helplessly around.
" he asleep ? " she piteously asked.
came forward and bent over him.
laid his hand on his heart for a moment, and listened for his
breathing. he stood up.
" as eep," he said, very gently; "dead."
.
" ., ."
of next day there ap
peared this paragraph :
" . morning, at seven
o clock, a meeting took place in the de
logne between a certain princely personage, well known in
the political world, and an lieutenant of dra
goon guards. excellency the prince was attended by
cr , of the th , and the other
combatant by the . . ville, attache of the
. usual there was a lady in the case.
duel was fought with pistols, at fourteen paces. first
fire proved fatal the being shot through the
heart. police are on the track of the noble fugitive,
but up to the present without success."
the same column another paragraph appeared which
created a far wider and deeper sensation.
" . is with deepest
regret we announce to our readers the awfully sudden and
most mysterious death of the charming actress whose beauty
and versatility have crowded the for the past four
months . night she gave one of the
delightful receptions for which she has ever been justly
famed, and appeared in her usual excellent health and spirits.
retired about midnight, still seemingly perfectly well.
the morning her maid found her dead in her bed.
of foul play is at work, and a post-mortem will probably dis
cover the cause of this death, which all theatre-going
ians will deeply regret.
*******
is the close of an exquisite day. old, long.
" &, ." 455
deserted gardens of glow in the warm rose light.
one of the paths an elderly lady, with snow-white hair,
is being wheeled in an invalid chair by a dark damsel, with
black sombre eyes and a look of prophetic melancholy on
her face. elderly lady glances over her shoulder with
tender, kindly eyes.
" you not tired, ?" she asks, gently. "
must be. have been wheeling me for fully an hour.
call , my child."
black, melancholy eyes light.
"! no, grandmamma never grow tired when with
you."
" dear, how mournful you look, though. we not
make you happy, little one ? grandmamma what it is."
" ! " she clasps her hands almost with passion.
" , so happy ! so happy that grow afraid. is like
to be with you, and papa, and mamma .
one was ever good to me before since died except
that night him"
" !" . sighs; "he was good to all
things. so it is excess of happiness that makes you
sad ? paradox, surely, but am glad it is no worse."
takes her in her arms and kisses her fondly.
" want you to be happy, my child want to make you
happy, to atone in some way for all the unhappiness have
given your father. him, , for his past life oh,
my own dear has been dreary and loveless enough."
" do love him," the girl answers, her great eyes shining.
" could help it? noble, so handsome, so good he
is. he is happy now who would not be happy with
? to think that to-morro\v is their wed
ding day, and that am to be one of the bride-maids !
strange it seems."
" is a happiness he has waited for long poor ,"
his mother answers.
" have been thinking, too, grandmamma, of of
her" she drops her voice, and the great eyes dilate ; "it was
all so sudden, and so dreadful. ! wonder what it was !
what made her die like that ? they ever find out ? "
456 " , ."
" for certain, , dear. ! don t let us talk
about it to-night on this happy bridal eve. soul ! it
was a terrible fate." shudders as she says it. will
not tell the daughter she was poisoned. whether
by herself, maid, or whom, has never been discovered.
are those who have strong suspicions of the truth, but
in , reigns in the halls of his
forefathers, and in this world at least justice does not seem
likely to reach him.
the terrace above, walks, by
his side, and both pace to and fro in the roselight of the
summer sunset, with hearts too full of bliss for many words.
looks down at the pair below, the pink flush of the
sky kindling into brightness s dusk face.
" will be very handsome," says ; " and
very like her mother."
face clouds for a second.
" child ! yes. us trust the likeness will end
there. fond my mother seems of her. are never
happy apart. !" he looks at her suddenly, and a
smile that is more radiant than the sunset lights his grave
face, " this time to-morrow you will be suffering agonies of
sea-sickness crossing the channel. always are sea-sick,
you know."
", know." smiles back for a moment, then
grows grave. " t let us visit , , never
want to see more. can never no, never suffer
again in this life as have suffered there."
" will go wherever you please, my own ."
is silence again. rose light is fading from the
sky its last rays fall on one of the many painted windows of
the old manor, the motto of the house, cut in the panes, shines
out:
" tenebra, lux" she reads. " , ! the past
has been very dark for you if my love can lighten the
future there will never be another dark hour."
* * *******
her dower house , the elder, dwells alone.
" &, " 457
has never quite recovered from the shock of that death
bed in she never will.
" first to last my own selfish love for my son spoiled
his life," she ever says ; " he did not know what selfishness
meant. and mine blighted his existence brought him to
his death. forgave me may never will for
give myself."
she lives on, quietly doing good to all. one can
accuse her of selfishness now. son is a better son than
he ever was before, but she knows that he, who died that
rainy morning, loved and honored her, as
no human being ever did before, ever will again.
brought him home, and the great vault of the was
opened, and he was laid to sleep with them. won
dered at it a good deal but then had always
been a little eccentric since her husband s death.
wonder still more as they read the inscription above him.
is a slab of plain gray granite, with gold lettering, and it
says this :
,
,
2QTH, 1 8 .
^ETAT 25 .
** lave than this no man hath : he lay d<nvn his life for his
friend"
****** * * *
this same rosy sunset, , , sits
alone, fair and sweet, and youthful, as this time last year
when she walked about the lanes and waited
for to come and ask her to be his wife.
is alone, dressed for dinner in the crisp white muslin
and blue ribbons that become her childish fairness best,
and which her husband best likes to see her wear.
if that husband fancied hodden-gray or sackcloth and ashes,
be very sure this exceptional wife would never have donned
other array. is waiting for him now to come to dinner,
listening with love s impatience for the first sound of the foot-
20
458 " &, ."
step, the first note of the gay whistle she knows so well.
she is happy once more, poor , and is all her
own again.
knows the whole story. after, when strength
had come back to the weak frame, and light to the dim blue
eyes, sitting side by side, his arm around her, had told
all all. had been hidden, and she learned at last
how noble was the heart she had refused, the heart stilled
forever. blue eyes dilated, the lips parted and quivered,
the tender face grew very pale, and she flung her arms about
her husband wildly, and strained him to her.
" , i " she cried out ; " to think it might have been
you ! "
, selfish human heart ! the depths of her soul she
wondered at the brave generosity of him who was gone ; to
her inmost heart she bowed down in reverence. wept
for his loss, real and passionate tears dear, brave, noble
! her playmate and friend, but her first thought was
for her own idol, her first impulse one of unutterable glad
ness that it had not been he. caught her breath, with
the horror of it, and while her tears fell for , she held
the man for whom had died, close to her impassioned
little heart, and cried, again and again :
" , my darling ! my darling ! to think it might have
been you ! "
never had, never would, she knew had loved
her. was grateful to him ; she strewed his coffin with
flowers ; she wept her pretty eyes red, again and again,
over his grave ; but she loved , and she never thought
of that dreadful morning under the dripping trees of the
de without a prayer of trembling thankfulness
that it was he who was taken, and not her beloved.
is very good to her, very gentle and tender with
her, very affectionate, after the manner of men and husbands.
she does not ask much ; she gives so greatly that a small
return suffices. small return, me say, the
gives willingly and from
his heart ; and is happy and the curtain falls to
universal felicity ? , as the leopard cannot change his
" &, ." 459
spotr, nor the his skin, so men of s
stamj) do not change their nature. he will be to her
always s dead face would rise from the
-jrave to haunt him if he were not affectionate, too, after
his lii^ht, for in a sultan-like, off-hand way, lordly is fond
of his little wife ; faithful, also, with a fidelity that will include
more or less admiration and attention for every pretty woman
he meets ; but for , or , or one of us all, to
be perfectly happy, is not given to any one born of woman.
, knows that all the happiness that is hers, all
that ever will be hers, has come to her across
son s grave.