Mrs. George Sheldon Downs

“ Have you any ambition for honest, painstaking effort—for hard work, John, to attempt this under a first-class artist?" Helen persisted.
The man began to grow restive; he could never bear to be pinned down to committing himself to anything, or to yield a point.
"You have no idea, Helen, what a grind it is to sit before an easel day after day, and wield a brush," he said, in an injured tone, and with a frown of annoyance.
"Everything is a grind unless you put your heart into your work—unless one is governed by principle and a sense of moral responsibility," said Helen gravely. ”

“ I beg of you not to ruin your future in the way you are contemplating—you know what I mean—for life is worthless without an honored name, without the respect of your fellow men, and, above all, without self-respect. You have rare talent—talent that would lift you high upon the ladder of fame and success, if you would cease to live an aimless, barren existence. For your own sake, I pray you will not longer pervert it. That is all. Good-by, John; I hear Dorothy coming, and you may have something you would like to say before you go. ”

“ Love, she had learned, was not a mere emotion or sentiment, to be put on or off according to the attraction to or repulsion for the personality of those with whom one lives or mingles. No, she had just been awakened to see it possessed a far deeper, higher significance than that.
Love—to be love—must be a motive power, an indwelling principle, an all-absorbing desire always impelling one to do good. To do good to whom? To all men, she had been told.
And hate? "Hate is criticism, condemnation, resentment," she repeated, a shiver sweeping swiftly through her frame. ”

“ You shall never know a care nor sorrow from which I can shield you. My financial future is assured, I know I am a better man, and I want to prove it to you. This newborn love for work, for right living, and noble achieving has made me yearn to mount even higher upon the ladder of success, and you would be a continual inspiration in my career; while, having been lifted out of the depths myself, I long to save others as you saved me, and we could work together in this way, for our faith and aims are now the same. Helen—oh, Helen! ”

“ The man had stood before her while she spoke, with averted face and bowed head, which sank lower and lower as she proceeded, until it rested upon his breast, while his attitude was like one bereft of hope.
"I cannot bear it, Helen—even though I know the sentence is just," he faltered, at length breaking the silence. "It was through your heavenly compassion five years ago I gained a new lease of life, and that life I solemnly vowed should be spent in the effort to master the weaknesses that had been my ruin, and bereft me of all that a true man holds most sacred—family, home, and reputation. ”

“ Now, Helen," she went on, with grave authority, "you simply must put out of your consciousness every desponding thought, for your own sake, as well as ours. Don't worry about money, or how you are going to manage when you get to New York; everything will be taken care of for you until you can take care of yourself, and I know if you will only call back your courage, take a fresh grip on hope, and do your best to get well, you will ultimately conquer every adverse circumstance, and you and Dorothy will yet have a beautiful and happy life together." ”

“ Just know that I love you for what you are, and that I honor your mother for the noble woman that she is. She has shown wonderful fortitude during all these years, and deserves the highest esteem of every one. As for your—that man—whether he be living or dead, he has passed forever out of your life; so be happy, dearest, and let none of these memories ever cloud your dear eyes again, or cause your dear heart a single tremor."
"Clifford! Clifford!" tremulously breathed Dorothy, while she clung to the strong arm enfolding her. ”

“ Helen went home with a heavy heart. She was well-nigh discouraged with what she had heard and seen. She had long suspected, and she was now beginning to realize, that her husband's chief aim in life was personal entertainment and love of ease; that he was sadly lacking in force of character, practical application, and moral responsibility; caring more about being rated a jolly good fellow by his boon companions than for his duties as a husband and father, or for attaining fame in his profession. ”

“ Helen exclaimed. "One yearns to be pure in thought as well as in deed, but the wrong-thinking seems to go on and on of itself. How can it be conquered?"
"By putting self out of sight and giving loving service to others."
"To those who have done us desperate wrong?" panted Helen, with an inward shock.
"Even to those," said Mrs. Everleigh gently. "They need it most of all." ”

“ Thus she spent a very unhappy day, haunted continually by that portrait, and brooding anxiously over what the future might hold for them; while, at the same time, she was both indignant and keenly wounded in view of John's improvidence, prodigality, and supreme selfishness, and of his apparent indifference to her peace of mind and the additional burdens he was constantly imposing upon her.
John returned that evening, in a most genial mood. He made light of his protracted absence and of Helen's anxiety on account of it, but offered no apologies for keeping her in suspense for so long. ”

“ Her clothing was cheap—shabby genteel—perhaps she even knew what it was to be hungry—and Helen wished now she could call her back and give her some money.
"Truly life is a strange problem," she said to herself, as she slowly wended her way from the park and boarded her car for home, her spirit chastened by the experiences of the day, her heart strangely softened toward Marie Duncan, for whom she had always entertained only condemnation and resentment—bitter hate—because she had robbed her of her husband, and entailed a lifelong blight upon her own future. ”

“ To make the great artist there must be more, much more, than mere talent, the love of the beautiful, and skillful wielding of the brush; there must be the will to work, work, work. Ah, if madame could but inspire monsieur with ambition—real enthusiasm—to accomplish something, to finish his pictures, he might yet win fame for himself; but the indifference, the indolence, the lack of moral responsibility, and the love of pleasure—ah, it all means failure! ”

“ I have won a competence and some measure of renown as an artist; and my one inspiration throughout has been the hope of a blessed reunion with my dear ones. Failing in this, the future holds nothing but emptiness for me," he concluded dejectedly.
"The future holds all good for you, John," Helen returned, and, as once before during his illness, her voice was full of strength and encouragement. "You have, as you say, learned how to overcome—how to govern your life by principle instead of by impulse, and so have found your true manhood. ”

“ Helen lifted a glance of surprise to her. She had not hinted that she was unhappy, or needed help of any kind.
Mrs. Everleigh met her look with her winning smile.
"Your voice told me over the phone, dear, that you were in trouble," she said. "Now, open your heart to me. What can I do for you?"
Her tone was so kind, her smile and manner so loving, Helen's forced composure melted like wax in the sun, and a sudden flood of tears rendered her utterly helpless to respond for the moment. ”

“ Everleigh had said, during those weeks of his illness at the Grenoble had shown him that they were living in a higher and purer mental atmosphere than he had ever known, and he craved to learn more of the faith or motive power that made possible the invariable peace and serenity that illumined their faces and exhaled from their presence. He knew that if he were ever to win Helen again he must first rise himself, mentally and morally, to her stature. ”

“ Six months from the time she had made her request, Helen received a beautiful, richly framed, three-quarter size portrait of her dear one, that was to make her heart glad during all her future years—glad not only because of the faithful likeness, graceful pose, and artistic costume, but because of the masterly work that proclaimed it a production of high art, and which, to her, seemed like a priceless seal set upon the complete redemption of the man who had once been her husband. ”

“ And Helen fully appreciated Dorothy's manly husband, and grew to love him as well as if he had been an own son.
He had repeatedly pleaded with Helen to come and make her home with her "children," but she had invariably replied: "My 'children' do not need me, and I cannot become an idler yet." And, indeed, her many patrons would have regarded their loss as almost irreparable, had she ceased to grace their functions; for her voice had lost none of its brilliancy or sweetness, nor was her personality one whit less charming than of yore. ”

“ How will you live?"
"Oh, I suppose 'the wind will be tempered to the shorn lamb,'" he quoted, with mocking irreverence.
Helen sprang to her feet, and faced him with flaming eyes. She felt disgusted with and outraged by his utter indifference to her long-suffering patience under many trials, and by his deplorable lack of manliness.
"John Hungerford, where is your manhood?" she demanded, with cold scorn. "Where your respect for your wife, or your love for your child? Do you not even possess self-respect?" ”

“ Helen's voice was almost inaudible as she concluded.
Mrs. Everleigh did not immediately reply; she sat gravely thinking for several minutes.
"Dear Mrs. Ford," she at length began, "we each have different problems in life to solve, and it is difficult and perhaps unwise for one to say to another what he or she would do under certain circumstances which had never come into one's own experience. Loving service is that which best promotes the welfare of the one served. What might be loving service and helpful for one might be just the reverse for another. ”

“ Helen explained, "I have believed myself to be a good woman, a devoted wife and mother, faithful to my duties, charitable, conscientious, God-fearing, self-sacrificing to a fault, and absolutely loyal to my friends. I believed all this to be love. When trouble came, I bore it patiently, taking up my burdens with courage, and setting my face steadfastly toward the work of regaining for myself and my child that of which we had been cruelly robbed—home, position, and an honorable name. ”

“ Every eye within range of her was fastened upon the singer, a queenly matron, charmingly gowned in some soft material of pale-pink lavender. Her abundant brown hair was becomingly arranged and surmounted by a glittering aigrette of jewels, her only visible ornament. She was good to look upon as well as to listen to, and bore herself with the ease and poise of one long accustomed to entertain fashionable audiences like the present, yet without a suggestion of self-consciousness to mar her excellent work. ”

“ Dorothy realized much of this as she went, day after day, to study these treasures which her father had brought from his atelier in Paris, and her heart glowed with ever-increasing pride in these unquestionable evidences of his genius. It also overflowed with devout gratitude as she read, beneath the surface, the story of a wonderful consecration; of the courage, fortitude, and perseverance which the man, in his lonely exile, must have exercised in order to have been able to rise out of the depths to which he had fallen to achieve such grand and noble results. ”

“ It seemed to Helen that her cup of woe was filled to the brim—her endurance taxed to the limit, as she began to query within herself what would be the outcome of Marie Duncan's present engagement in San Francisco. But the courage that is born in heroes had also been planted in Helen Hungerford's heart, and, after the first shock of dismay had passed, she began to ask what she could do to counteract Marie's influence and keep her husband loyal to her and true to himself. ”

“ He knew he could no longer go on in this desultory way; something radical must be done, and done at once. He was tired of his art; he was tired of facing, day after day, Monsieur Jacques' grave yet well-deserved disapproval; while, for some reason, he had become weary of Paris, and, one morning, to Helen's great joy—for she believed it the best course to pursue—he suddenly announced his intention to return to the United States. ”

“ When the Wells Opera Company arrived, Helen made it a point to attend a matinee, to ascertain for herself what the personality of the popular favorite was like.
That she was exceedingly beautiful and peculiarly fascinating there was no denying, and her voice was a marvel of sweetness.
John had never painted anything more true to life than the portrait she had discovered in his studio in Paris; although, if that were possible, the siren's charms were riper and even more alluring than at that time. ”