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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Brussels Post, 1887-8-12, Page 7raasutAM AUGUST 12, 1887, THE BRUSSELS POST algagEleg=d0IMINAVAIMIKOMNISMCCGDZSENLOMMOZAIKEI fulness of herself, were all so many 1 U 1 N u I p u t { sword's in the heart of Isabel I•lee°. Yet she gave no sign. The least ire. on, patience, irritation, or weariness would Lady Castlemaine's Divorce 1 have boon fatal ; the least sten pique, jealousy, o envy would ]lavree beau By BERTHA M. CLAY) AT/WWII oi' "A flaunted Lire," "The Rnrra Atone, fount," "A Struggle for a Irene,t, etc., etc., 1110. else in the world but Gertrude, It was Gertrude, Gertrudo, Gertrude, from morning to dewy eve; he thought of nothing else; be was ber ebadow. He wont to every place where it was likely be should find her. lee made No many examen for calling on Lady Craven that that accomplished matron laughed in amused wonder. Still Isabel Hyde hoped on ; she would not yield, she would not give way.; she hoped against hope. I am as beautiful as she lo," she wbisperod to herself, "and I will not own myself conquered yet," CHAPTER VII, THE "WAI2 Of TRS ROSES" CONTINUED. The world soon began to understand the situation and to enjoy it. There were hundreds of pretty girls in Lon- don, just as there were hundreds of beautiful women; yet no other two" seemed to be singled out and pitted against each other as wore Isabel Hyde and Gertrude Craven. It was the old story of Rebecca andllowena over again. If both had been fair, or both had been dark, then one must have yielded the palm to the other ; as matters were the balance was equal. Gertrude was the queen of blondes, Isabel the queen of brunettes, and in time people began to call them the rival roses. Gertrude wore white roses, and Isabel red. It was then that the rivalry between them became known by the name of the "war oe the roses." It was graceful rivalry too. Gertrude did not quite realize that it extended to love ; she knew that socially they were rivals; they had the same admirers, it was always n struggle which should be the best dressed and leave the best partners. She enjoyed it as Isabel would have done, had not her love and She happiness of hor whole life been at stake. The struggle was a severe one, but Isabel's tact and patience, courage and hope, bad never failed. They were worthy of a better cause, and she ought to have succeeded; no one who saw her talking brightly to her rival, and gayly to .Lord Castlemaine could ever have guessed of the tempest of passion, of peen and of love, that raged in her heart. The strangest thing was that Isabel made herself so charming, Gertrude soon grew fond of her, which was the very thing Miss Hyde had hoped for. Then she said to herself: "When he seeks Gertrude he willfind me," and the measure was a very With one. Many a tete e.-tetefor which the lovers longed, was in that way prevented ; when Lord Castle. maine went in search of Gertrude he was almost sure to find Isabel Hyde by her side. "I never can find you alone for one moment, Gertrude," the impatient young lever would cry: "You mast have entered into an alliance with Miss Hyde." "I like her 'very much," said lilies Craven; "she amuses me." "She does not amuse me when T find her here at your side, and I have not a chance of saying one word to you," cried Lord Castlemaine. Gertrude Craven bad made a pact of friendship with her beautiful rival. Isabel went to her laughingly one day and said "Do you know the pretty name they have for us in society ?" "No," replied Miss Craven, "I did not even know they had given us any name." Yea ; they call us the rival roses." "Why rival roses ?" asked Miss Cra- ven; "we are not rivals." A strange expression came over the beautiful face of Isabel Hyde. "Ne," she replied. "If they would call us the roses—yon the white and me the red—that would be sensible. Why should we be rivals 2" "We are not," cried Gertrude. "I should think our lot in life and our place in society about equal." "With one exception." answered Isabel Hyde; "you have a fortune and I have none." "That cannot matter with your beautiful face," cried generous Ger- trude; and when she was .dancing with Lord Castlemaine that night the repeat- ed that conversation to him. "We are not rivals," she said, un- eouseiqus of the weaving of the web ; "hove could we be'?" Ile had no suspicion either of the wehving of the web ; but he answered, quickly : "You could not have any rival' in any- thing, because you are peerless. You ate on it throne; othersreach only the stens;thele could be no rival for .you." The little scenes that .took plate would at times have been pitiful had any one known their real meaning, but none did. The Rival Roses would be standing in a bail -room side .by side, discussing the light current topics of the day, and Lord Castlemabee would approach them—hie eyes for Gertrude, his earls for Gertrude, his whole heart and goal eager for Gertrude with hard- ly e ard-ly,e thought for the girl ,by her side. Then would follow .an eager .invitation to.,daetce or to promenade hnytthing to secure hoe to himself. 1tia.eagerness, his desire to take Gertrudemff,.bie utter absorption in her, ,his .complete iorget- destregtign, She would listen patieut- lj' for a few minutes to his conversa- tion with Gertrude then, by some witty remark of her own; she would ling place in it. She bore without wincing all the bitter pain, the heart -burning, the jealousy ; no One know her secret save her aunt and herself. She had preserved it Bo wo11 that no one ovor guessed it, Lord Castlemaine tbougbt it fit to proclaim his allegiance to his lady -love by wearing white rosebuds. Most pop mil o he plc smiled who they saw them. Isabel's heart aebed—it grew hard, cold, and defiant when hor eyes fell on them. She would rather have seen the drawn sword of a foe than those deli- cate white bads. Ono morning Lord Castlemaine called on Lady Cresson; ; he had ' y p , a tickets for n fete which she partecularly desired to attend, He was prevented from goingby a previous engagomeut. Needless to mention that Gertrude was not expected there, or he would have found some pertext for breaking his en- gagement. Isabel Hyde was alone in the draw- ing -room when ho was announced. She might to have been successful, the was so wise, so patient, so cheerful. chill of death seemed to be creeping ly ovor her. "You are tired, Miss Hyde," he said, gently, "or not well." She made go azlswer for a minute; she could not recover hor voice, "Oh, surely, surely, he might have greened " roped ber heart, while hor lip smiled, and sho said : "Aunt Eleanor was eking yesterday bow elle missed', those pleasant little visits of yours." "How kind of her. I always enjoya conversation with Lady Crosson, She ,; will enjoy the fete, I think." a "Shall you be there 2" she asked. And he answered with candid in. difference : "Nee, "And the White Rose; she asked, with a smile, that had in it no bearti. nese, "will she be there 2" eI think not," he answered briefly. ""Good•by," she said to him with a smiling face. But when he bad left hor the smiles died away, and the roses in the pretty basket might have told a tale if they could have done so. In her place many girls would have met him with reproaches, with unwise taunts, because he visited her so eel. don; not so Isabel; whatever she felt she gave no outward sign. She welcom- ed him with the sweetest of smiles, the brightest of words; she amused and half charmed him, as she had always done. Lady Crosson, too, made many wise On the table near which she was resolves. When sho heard that the ere sitting stood a beautiful basket of roses, gagement was announced, that all was that had been sent as an offering to settled, and Lord Castlemaine wan press. Lady Cresson. From them Isabel Hyde took one superb crimson rose, half bud, half, flower. She caressed it with her white fingers, and then she Isabel looked up at hire, and the pathos oilier dark, beautiful eyes struok elm. Ile bad never near tears in her ape before. What Was it they told ?— what was it they said to hila, and he could not understand ? She wondered if ho would linger by her side and talk to her. But, no 1 As the sunflower turns to the sun, he had turned his face toward Gertrude, for. getting all else, as though a magnet drew him, He went to ber, walking slowly, as though he would have lingered with Isabel but for Gertrude's irresistible attractions. Isabel rose from the piano. She CHAPTER VIII, walked to the pretty nook where the tall palm trees stood. She took up au THE VICTORIOUS WHITS RM. engraving that lay upon the table. It When the announcement of the en- was merely that she might have a pre- gagement between the Earl of Castle- text for hiding her face, maine and Miss Craven took place, "He could not stop with me," she Isabel Hyde did not quite renounce all said, "noteven for ave minutes; he must hope. No one knew her pain, no one go back to her becao a she looked at him. And I love as no woman ever loved a man before. Why should she win himhe I could I w n ou not it be- cause her eyes are blue and her hair gold? Mino are dark, but I am as beau. tiful. lie might have loved me." A few minutes afterward she was the centre of a laughing group, and she looked like one who had not a care in the world. One day when Gertrude Craven was talking to her lover, she said: "I shall not be able to keep up all the friendships I have fdrmed in London, but there are some that I should like always to retain. I am really attached to Isabel Hyde, and you like her, do you not?" ing for an surly marriage, the sent for I They lookedat each other. In after her niece to her room. years the memory of that conversation "A failure, Isabel," she said, slowly, I returned to them and stung them. "and 1 am sorry for it. It was the best "Yes," replied Lord Castlemaine, "I have a great admiration and a most sincere liking for Miss Hyde.". "I am glad to hear it," said Gertrude, cordially. There was no jealousy in her thoughts or words. "I am glad,'I she repeated, "for that is one of the frieud- shipe I should like to retain. In those happy days to come—days you like to speak of,Rudolph—we will ask her to visit us, "Yes, that will be very pleasant," he replied, absently. Lover•like, he was thinking far more of the happy days than he was of Isabel Hyde. knew her passionate despair. No one knew that she, smiling and bright as she seemed, had a bitterness greater than death in her heart. She tried in a for- lorn fashion to console herself by a string of proverbs. d the li "was hes favori "T ere is many a slip 'twist the cup an p, te. Many engagements were announced that never name to anything; this might be one of them. I will never dive up hope," she said to herself, "until I see them married. Even then I will live to part them." looked at bin. He was gazing intently "hanao, but it is useless wasting more on her, thinking bow exact she re• time upon it.. We must be wise, and sembled the flower on which she was i - beat a masterly retreat we must burn tent. our boats and leave no' trace behind us. "My emblem," she said, with a smile No one must suspect out hopes, or oar at him. '"It was very kind of society to disappointment ; I should like yon to be give me such a pretty name as the Red just the same as ever with Lord Castle - Rose." maine, and more friendly than ober "Yea deserve it," he said, but his with Miss Craven, if you can manage it heart wasfull of tender thoughts of the without breaking down." White Recess he spoke. g "I can do it," answered Isabel, un - She went a step nearer to him. flinchingly. "I will do more than "The flower you have there is fading," that—" she said ; "let me take it away and put weddingiia will to coniianued Lad until town the this in its place." y Had he been loss in love with Ger- son, "and then we will dieonsa our trade Craven, he must have felt great future plana. I can trust you not to let delight in Isabel's beauty and bright- any signs of diaappoitment appear." nese, he must have been pleased to have You may trust me implicit./, aunt," that glorious face so near his, the white said Isabel ; but her aunt had no idea hands touching the flower that he wore. what this would cost her. But he had not heart for any one save I have ono .great hope, continued Gertrude. Gertrude had given him the Lady Crosson, and it is that if this Sower, therefore it was precious and marriage takes place you will be invited sacred in his es. to act as bridesmaid." He drew back almost unconsciously, "Yes," replied Isabel, "that would be quite unaware the pain his involuntary the best thing for me, and I should en. action gave her. joy it," she added, with an expression "No," he cried, "you moat not tench of face that, if Lady Cresson had been that." a wiser woman, would have warned her, "Must not touch it l" she repeated. She clung to hope, while any hope 'Why p„ was possible. There might be a gear. eel; the marriage might be postpone He laughed, and the proudpostponed;mass of that laugh struck her like a the beautiful white rose might even sharp blow. , wither and die; a thousand unforeseen 2 cannot lose it," he said. "I would things might happen. In the mean time the three met eon - not change it for one made of diamonds• tinually—always once a day, at times I would not give one leaf of it even for oftener than that. To all outward sp- a golden rose," he added. pearauces there was the greatest pos. What makes• it so precious 2" she Bible friendship between the two beau. asked. tifuI rivals. They visited each other, She knew by instinct, and she listen- and Gertrude talked openly of the com- ed .with a smile, although every word in wedding. out her heart like a knife. ""Yesterday," he replied, "it was held Perhaps the hardest part of Isabel's lot was being compelled by the sweetest white hand in the compelled to listen to these confidences; but when Gertrude world. Today it lies here on my heart." offered them she had not the faintest "Whose was the hand that held. it 2" idea that Isabel cared for Lord Castle - she asked, and he never so faintly maine. dreamed of tho anguish that underlaid There were times when she suffered the words. horribly. One eveuing, when, by Lady '"Thera Cresson's invitation, Lady Craven, her "Can you not guess 2" he said. is but one to whom my words could daughter, and Lord Castlemaine were apply—one White Rose, and one White allhere, Isabel was pressed to sing. Queen, your sister Rose." I have not heard you sing for some She tried to look indifferent—she time, Miss Hyde," said Lord Castle- tried to hide . the fact that her face maine. grew pale, and her eyes lost their light. You shall hear me now," she said. "You mean Gertrude Craven," she Years afterward she remembered this geld, boldly. scene. Miss Craven was seated away from the piano,quite at the other side And his face brightened with alover's of the rom, loing most lovely in a Azide as he answered : h "Yee, I mean Gertrude Craven; each leaf of this fading rose is dearer to me than all other flowers that bloom." "Because she has touched it 2" said Isabel. "Yes; I am like the poet who wrote, 'Drink to me only with thine eyes.' I wonder when she has breathed upon a rose that it can ever die." Isabel Hyde laughed, but there was neither music nor merriment in her laughter. "Miss Craven would be flattered if she heard you. My emblem is rejected, then 2" "Nay, that is a cold, hard way of putting it. I must be true to my colors; you would not respect me if I Were not." She laid the flower dowe again in the pretty basket with its awed companions, "We shall be so happy," she centime ed, "that we shall be able to give awe a great deal of happiness to others; and we will begin with beautiful Isabel Hyde." He whispered to her how noble and unselfish she was. She laughed. ',Never mind myperfeotions just now, Rudolph," she said, laughingly. "I want to talk about Isabel Hyde. I am so glad you like her. She will be my friend after we—after we are married. She will visit us." "You forget," he said, "that she will probably marry herself." And they both looked across the room at the beautiful dark face which hid so much. "Yes, I had forgotten that," she an- ewored, slowly. I cannot tell why, but I bave au idea that she will not marry." "My wonder is that she has not mar- ried before this," said Lord Castlemaine, "she is very beautiful, very graceful and accomplished." Gertrude looked up at him with a bright smile. "How is it," she asked, "that with all these charms you have not fallen in love with yourself." "My darling," cried the young lover, rapturously, "I shall love you until I die. It seems to me I hardly know any other face than yours. It semis to me also that when my eyes first fell on you, I thought that you were the one woman I could love, singled out from all the world." "Were you never in the least degree in love with anyone else," she asked. "Never, my darling; if I had not met you, the chances are that I should have gone unmarried to my grave. I cannot even imagine myself cariug for anyone else." "It seems strange," shosaid, musingly. '"i do not think so; it would have been dress of white silk, trimmed wit lace stranger had I done anything else ex. and pretty clusters of pink hawthorne sept throw my fortune, my love, and my Lord Castlemaine had left ber side for life at your feet. But you have never a few minutes, and no 008 else had cared for any one else, have you Ger- taken his place. It was something new trade 2" for him to leave Gertrude for Label, and The" swept laugh` that answered biro her hopes rose at once. Her dark eyes was like music in his ears. brightened, and her face grow fairer with hope. Ire steed by her side while the sang. She had hardly time to think whas oho should sing. Almost involun- tarily, her fingers strayed into a sweet and plaintive melody—a pretty, pathetic little ballad, called: "I," she cried. "You forgot that I have not had time to care for any one but you. This is my first gears= ; you say that you fell in love with me the first time that yon saw me, and you have monopolized all my time since then. No, indeed, Rudolph, I have "ponOET ani NOT." never oared for any one but you." Bananas you found a fresher heart, she said, suddenly : To give it all that oaoo was mine ; I say farewell, and part, "Rudolph, T shall ask Miss Hyde to f be my chief bridesmaid." "Forgot ma nob though I repine She was silent for a few minutes, then A A n nooblbleer nna ame, lovelier lot, ound a fairer taco, "Who will have eyes for the brides. a . but when he bad gone alis drew it ant I'll meekly bow and yiold my piton; But, oh, forgot me not." maids when you are the bride 2" he Me again, she tore it leaf from leaf, and as tliShe had be un the songshun t claimed. "Ask whom you will, I shall 1 the sweet red'petals fell elle trampled inkingiyg be Content." s un- ; but as Oho proceeded the /sabre Hyde was (sired, and the vow them under her feet. words went home to her very heart, her Was there a with in her mind that it she took at that wedding she kept, and had been the face of her rival, ayoe duped with tears, her voice faltered. this story tells how she carried it out. Yet the had pride and spirit enough to e�Y,aaua this i�if Oen ,ebai q e trmei°. laugh and talk gooey to him while be re- d flowed from hes lips �ut .. her Wes reamed, y p , y CHAPTER IC. "Yep moat b8 enjoying the season," met bitr a, and he Bmomentaer the tehe weears in them. ' 115 110ta'MOotf la vete=S. the seid. "You seem to 1i0 enjoying it but t one thought of himself b t' moon wag, neverd soL bright at bonen •---you baso many engagements." head t g a moon as cure," said Lbrd Castlemaine "I think," he said, half shyly, "they „ „ to his beautiful young wife. aro all merged into ono." Surely he will understvad now, sho They were in Venice; watching the She would not understand him, the thHebo htt b s habit some head ve y kind• sun set over the glai"ing gee, luxuriously seated in a gondola, listening to the music that seemed to come from all 1 sides, the splashing of the ears in the water, the gondolier's song, the distant touch of .a lute, the faint chiming of the church bolls, the musical ripple of the water as it wasbed the base of the grand pillars, Venice, • elle beautiful, the fair, the city of towers, of music and dowers, the home of poetry en'dromence, the city of which tree poets love to sing. `These newly wedded lovers had enjoyed it to their heart's content. The sunlight and the moonlight, the glamour of the stare, the sweet, solemn bush of the water, the brilliant hues of the sky and the foliage, had all been so many pictures to them. Lord Castle. maine had traveled; Gertrude had never quitted q rte Z;ngfish shores ; every- thing very thing was new and beautiful to her ; she was full of enthusiasm and delight, and her husband was delighted with her happiness. "If I never had any more happiness in my life," she said to him on this moonlight evening, "I should still have had more than falls to the lot of most women. I wonder, Rudolph–. –" She stopped suddenly, and he saw f that her eyes were filed on the moonlit sky. "You wonder what, Gertrude 2" "I am almost afraid to say," she re- plied. "I was wondering if, after all, heaven can be much happier than earth." Earth as we find it," he replied, thoughtfully. "Yon meet remember that very few are happy as we are." "That is because we married for love," she said, gayly. "Yes, and also because the love lives on, never to die." "I oannotima ins "' said g Lady Castle- maine, "how love ever dies. The world is so fair that its beauty alone, I should think, would keep love alive in every heart, I love yon the better for the beautiful moonlight, and the silent water, and the golden stars. How does love die, Rudolph ?" "In a hundred different ways," be answered. "Not one of which we shall ever know," she said, brightly, "No, I am sure not, Gertrude," he re- plied. "Tell me how it dies—in what man. nor, in what fashion. I do not mean lover's love, but the lova that lives be- tween man and wife, such as you and I." "The difficulty would be rather to tell you how it lives than how it dies, SO many things conspire to kill it. I must frankly admit that in most oases the husband is to blame; he grows tired of his wife; his own fervid love changes to indifference ; she resents it; quarrels. dislike, and hatred follow." "That is a cruel death for love to die," she said, with a faint, sweet sigh. "Cruel, but very common," he replied, ""There's another common reason foz the death of love—in jealousy," he con. tinned. "Perhaps the husband is older than the wife, and she loses all the gayeties and pleasures of which he is tired. Jealousy is almost sure to step in there, and again love dies." "Ours will never die ir, that fashion," she said, raising her beautiful fade to his and kissing his lips ; "never, will it. Rudolph 2" "No, my darling," he said; bet to her eager ears his answer seemed long in coming, and cold when it came. "You could never be jealous of me," she said, hastily; "because you know that every beat of my heart is yours— every thought is yours. I live in a would of shadows, and the only real thing in it is yourself. Could any man ever be jealous of a woman who loved him so well 2" I should say not," replied Lord Castlemaine. "Then our love can never die in that fashion," she said, decidedly. "And yon know, Rudolph, that I can never be jealous of you. How could I, when you love me above all other women, and alone out of all women ? I could not be jealous of you. In none of these fashions, therefore, could our love die. Tell me some other cause." "Love often dies," he said, "because husband and wife resemble each other so entirely that they grow tired to death of each other, and find nothing but monotony and weariness." "That will most certainly never be our ease," she said, brightly. "In many things, I am glad to say, we entirely differ, Rudolph. Give me another ex- ample." "I have heard of oases," he continued, "whore love has died because husband and wife have been of so entirely dif- ferent a type that there could be no pos- sible peace or harmony between them." "Again, that can never be our case," she said, "for fn many things we are ex- actly alike." "I am pleased to agree with you," re- plied Lord' Castlemaine. "How does love die the hardest death?" she asked again. "I should say, Gertrude, in a case like ours, where it is deep and true, where it seems to be immortal, and pre- suming on its' strength, no coo is taken to preserve it. That is, mistakes are made and misunderstandings creep in. Then, psrhape both are proud; neither will make the grab advance. Time passes on, and love dies," "That is a sad death, too," sho said ; "but, Rudolph, there again we are safe —there never could bo any misundor- standing between us. How could that be possible when we have no secrete between els, and my heart is like an open book to you:?" "There is no fear, my darling," he said, gently. Het beautiful blue eyes were fixed on the moonlit sky. "I like to think that," she said. "I like to remember that our love is eternal, ot that it will never die; that it will last 1'o pia C0NT1NCRn.141 `. tri ,LWh V Via/ `ti.J I✓ Q wCD 5 it Na CD1-4 C� P Ary/ r Y a w° CD 1-1 C"q CD ct- V CD ti CD 171 .1CD PD ti• d1, c yy • '1 ((� v� CD o • 0 CF' CDp. 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