Penny Dreadfuls, 1890 · page 131 of 297
Weaker than a Woman — page 131: what you’re looking at
A restored page from Penny Dreadfuls, 1890. Page through the whole issue in the reader above.
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tow ~ 7 Z- as es . ey es ss. ay 7 Sat ASCe oe” Fea my Re rea a: . 7 5 . x P v ' ~ ad ~ » ao a tt / nn _ : 2 " ; * ms =~J Tit; ' ’ : - € wis : ar - . . . - A AS ; ~ aES° he . “ » , - - . Po, Te 6 _*- Z Fay 199 _ WEAKER THAN A WOMAN. pe eS gold I could not give you. DELOTS Heaven, you have slain me!” His despair frightened her; she drew nearer to him, and | tried to soothe him, but he would not let her hands touch “i him. : * You are not worth a man’s thought, you are not worth | a man’s love,” he cried, “you who have slain the truest of love. Do not touch me. It is such womenas you who | lure men on to death, who take a man’s heart and crush it like a rose-leaf. No, do not touch me, Violet;” for she clung to him, weeping and crying out that he was too hard upon her, too hard. “No, Iam not hard,” he said. ‘‘To my mind there is but one kind of love, and the soul of it 1s truth. I do not under- stand such love as yours. Oh, Violet, once more let me appeal to you and warn you. Dear, you are all wrong, all wrong, and you will find it out too late. Believe me, Heaven has so made woman that to her the chief good is love; to her love is religion and life. Are you of a differ- ent nature that you can dispense with love ?” “It would not make me happy,” she answered, in a low voice. So you think, dear, in the pride of youth and beauty; |. but, believe me, though you may win the wealth you prize so highly, the time will come when you will be ready to surrender it all for love, and you shall not find it. Re-- member my words; you will long for the love you now throw away ; you will live to curse your own as, in giving up the substance for the shadow.” Her tears fell while she listened silently to words that haunted her forever. His voice softened as he went on. “You will not be young and beautiful always, Violet. The time must come when your hair will have lost its eolden sheen and your eyes their light. What will wealth do for you then? If sickness comes to you, will all the wealth of the whole world purchase for you the tender touch of a loving hand or the tender words of a loving voice? You will live, my darling, through long hours of © pain thinking of me, longing for me, wondering how you could have been so mad as to send me from you, crying out my name, until you remember that to love me is a crime, and that in my place you have the wealth you have chosen. Think of the long days when you will miss me. Ah, Violet, mind, lest in breaking my heart you break your ~ own. I warn you that you cannot live without love; heed — my warning before it is too late.” ) ‘omicbooks.com