"Hush!" cried Jessie, sinking back on her pillow, and clutching
frantically the hand that held hers. "You must not call any one. I want
to die! I am so tired of living. I want to tell you my story, Mrs.
Brown--it seems to me that I shall go wild if I do not tell some one;
and you seem so sympathetic and kind. May I trust you?" she whispered,
with a great tremor in her voice.
"Yes," said Dorothy, slowly; "anything that you may say to me I will
hold sacred."
"You are very good," returned the other. "You would think," she began,
quickly, "that with wealth, and being the _fiancee_ of a noble young man
like Mr. Garner, and so soon to marry him, that I was the happiest girl
in the world."
"Yes," returned the other, choking back a sob.
"I was not always surrounded by wealth and affluence, as you see me
now," commenced Jessie Staples, burying her head in her pillow. "Only a
few short months ago I was poorer than you are now, and worked for my
daily bread. Among the companions who stood side by side with me was
one, a lovely girl whom I loved with all my heart.
"She was gay and thoughtless, the life of the work-room, with her
bright, girlish, mischievous pranks. Though they called her 'Madcap
Dorothy,' yet every one loved her for her bright, winning ways.
"There was one employed in the same place whom I had loved ever since I
could remember--loved in secret, making no sign, for it was hopeless--as
he loved pretty Madcap Dorothy, and loved her with all the strength of
his great, noble, manly heart.
"I was her best friend, even though she was in secret my rival. I did
not care for myself. I only wanted to see the two whom I loved so well
happy. One of them was Jack Garner, and the other Dorothy; and I will
tell you of her."
"She was young, and gay, and pretty, as I have said, and she knew it.
She knew that she had all of Jack's heart, but she longed for more
heroes to conquer.
"One fatal day--oh, how well I remember it!--she fell in love with a
handsome, black-eyed stranger--a car conductor on Broadway. That was the
beginning of the end for Jack, who loved her so. One fatal day she ran
away with the stranger and was never heard of again.
"Rumor has it that later on he tired of her, and was soon to lead to the
altar a proud and lovely young girl--a school-girl--who had never known
what it was to earn her bread, as did poor, pretty Madcap Dorothy.
"Dorothy's desertion nearly cost Jack Garner his life. I went and nursed
him and took care of him; and when he recovered, his mother was stricken
low, and I in turn nursed her.
"In the darkest hour of that terrible illness, when we were all gathered
about her bedside, waiting for the angel of death to stoop and bear her
away to that bright land that knows no grief nor partings, suddenly she
beckoned Jack near her.
"'Oh, mother, is there anything that you wish?' he cried. 'Anything that
I can do for you? Tell me if there is.'
"'Yes,' she whispered, 'there is one thing you could do, my son, that
would make death easier to me. I--I could die happy if you would do as I
ask.'
"'I promise you beforehand, mother,' he cried, 'if there is anything
which I can do, it shall be done.'
"Feebly her hand crept toward mine and drew it toward Jack's, clasping
them both together.
"'She has saved your life, my boy,' she whispered, 'and she has been as
faithful as an angel to me--unto the last of mine. If you care for your
mother's wishes, ask her to marry you, here and now. I love her as
dearly as my life, Jack. My one wish in this world is to see you wedded
to each other. You must say "Yes" or "No."'
"He buried his head in his hands, and I could see his stalwart form
shake like a reed in a blast.
"He hesitated, but only for an instant. Slowly he raised his head, and I
could see that his face was as white as death, in the dim-shaded light
of the lamp. Then slowly he stretched out his hand toward me.
"'You know of my past, Jessie,' he said, huskily, 'and you know that my
life-hopes were blasted. Will you take me under these conditions--if not
for my sake, for--for my mother's?'
"I could not tell you the emotions that swept through my heart in that
one moment of time.
"I do not know in what words I answered him; but, even without scarcely
realizing what I did, my hand crept into his strong, cold one, and I
nodded my head. I could not have spoken to have saved my life--my heart
was too full for utterance.
"Mrs. Garner did not die that night, and she has always said ever since
that she believed that promise brought her back from the gates of death
to be a living witness to our happiness.
"Three months passed, with, oh! such unspeakable joy for me. My lover
was all that a lover could be; still, there were times when I thought
Jack's heart was not in his words, but was far away with the girl who
had so cruelly jilted him.
"At length the wedding invitations were printed and sent out, and only a
week later the terrible _denouement_ came that has shattered all my
hopes.
"I was about to enter Mrs. Garner's _boudoir_ one night, when I heard
the sound of voices.
"Playfully I drew back, for I had recognized Jack's voice. I had a
little gift for him, and I was hesitating a moment as to whether I
should take it in and lay it on his lap, or wait until the next morning
and give it to him in the library. Jack was pacing up and down, and I
saw through the door, which was slightly ajar, that his face was very
pale and stormy--and this was something unusual with calm, placid,
courteous Jack.
"'For Heaven's sake, don't nag me any more, mother,' he cried, 'or you
will drive me mad! Constant dripping will in time wear out even a stone.
I have ruined my life to satisfy one of your whims; surely that ought
to suffice. If I can't have peace in the house, I will take my hat and
walk out of it. I can not endure this eternal nagging, that I must treat
Jessie better--more as becomes a betrothed lover. You know very well
that I do not love her. My marriage with her will be all your doing. My
heart is with Dorothy; and when a man loves as I loved her, even if that
love is destroyed, no one can ever fill the same niche in his
affections. It is an impossibility. So, have done with this subject,
mother, at once and forever.
"'I shall marry Jessie, because I am pledged to do so. I will make her
life as happy as I can. She need never know that my heart is not hers,
although she will bear my name.'
"I--I--never knew how I groped my way into an adjoining room," continued
Jessie, "and there I sank down unconscious.
"How long I remained there I never knew. When I came to, Mrs. Garner,
greatly frightened, was kneeling beside me and laving my face with
eau-de-Cologne.
"And I knew by the fearful look in her eyes that she suspected that I
had found out about Jack not caring for me.
"'Tell me what is the matter, my little Jessie!' she said, clasping me
in her arms and pillowing my head on her breast.
"In broken gasps I told her, adding that I was going away--back to the
poverty from which they had taken me, and Jack should never see my face
again. Oh! how she prayed and pleaded with me on her bended knees,
crying out:
"'If you love me, Jessie, do not break from Jack. I am sure he did not
mean all he said. He was only incensed a little at me. He would not have
you know it for the whole wide world. Oh, believe me, Jessie! Do not try
to break my heart by your rash action. The marriage invitations have
gone forth. What could we say to the people? Think of the scandal,
Jessie, and save us from it. Let my words be a prayer to you. I am older
than you are, Jessie. Let me tell you how this will be:
"'There might be in his heart only deep respect for you, but when he
marries you, he will learn to love you. Every man loves his wife.'
"Against my own will and my better judgment, I allowed her to persuade
me.
"I made no mention to Jack of what I had learned, but every day it has
eaten into my heart like a worm in the heart of a rose.
"I loved him so well, I was only too willing to hold to him. I did not
have the strength to follow the dictates of my own will; and now, God
help me! the day is drawing nearer and nearer. What shall I do?
"My brain is going mad with the torturous thought that I shall stand at
the altar by the side of a man who does not love me--whose heart is
given to another.
"Every time that he stoops to kiss my lips I am sure he wishes they were
hers.
"His thoughts are with her. I am a mere shadow to his life; she was the
substance.
"People about me look upon me with envy, but you can realize that I am
more to be pitied than the poorest beggar on the street. Tell me," she
cried, eagerly, "do you think any one on this earth ever had a sorrow
equal to mine?"