The Vermont transcript. [volume] (St. Albans, Vt.) 1864-1870, 1865-05-19

- ~ 'N''Oi NHlCH cOulu Nlelt
the most winning heart tones, must
nave given the lie to his sparkling
shafts, for Rosne never suffered from
them She even felt drawn toward
this powerful, cross-grained man, as if
she were safer and stronger for his
presence in the dreary building
One Of NJ. Brillan's apartments adj
joined that of Mdme Chatelle's, and
not only was the partition thin, but
there was a crack in it which helped
him to knowledge of much that was
going on upon the other side Mdme.
Chatelle constantly complained of en-
nW ut was so dull when Rosine
was away Not new novel, not a
canary bird not a cat 10 purr on her
knee, not even a pot Of mignonette on
the balcony What was the use Of
front windows when there were no
handsome dresses or fine carriages to
be seen She was starving, too, liter
ally starving How could Rosine ex-
poet her to live on dry bread and on
ion soup" Then the sweet voice Of
Rosine would be heard, sometimes ex-
planning and coaxing, but more fire.
quently detailing a little street Incl
dent relating pretty anecdote or re-
calling pleasant reminiscence
Upon such occasions, NJ Brillan
happened to sit near the wall, and
even to lean his head against it in
close proximity to the convenient
crack To DO him justice, it must be
said that such accidents had never oc-
CURED to him before He was not
naturally curious, nor did his time
hang so heavily on his hands as to
drive him to ungenerous modes of
disposing Of it; but he had never un-
/ til now come in companionship with a
true woman. His mother was hand
some and gay the yeriest triAe that
ever was tossed on the surface Of
French society. Her husband was
gay, also; but where she foated like
thistle-down, he plunged deeply in
Vicious himself, and acquainted with
vice, he was jealous Of her every
glance. Hot words, fierce conten-
tons, angry recriminations followed,
and the little Brillan formed hard,
contemptuous views Of his race, which
had thus far robbed his life Of sweet
ness and beauty He had seen, in
deed, shining examples Of every vir-
tue, both separate and in combination;
but he had grown up in such isolation
and misanthropy that none Of them
had come directly home to him; and,
besides, their effect had been lessened,
if not destroyed, by lurking doubt
Of the purity Of the motives which
had dictated acts SO utterly at vari-
ance with his preconceiyed opinion Of
possibilities. But here was n genuine
revelation. There was no chance for
mistake or misconception, for he
could read for himself all its marvel
lous pages. Here were strength with
gentleness, youth with patience, beau
ty with purity, and courage with ten
derness. .The lovely picture stole
into the heart of the gray-haired
cynic and haunted his memory. At
first, he imagined that he felt merely
the surprise and delight which would
have been occasionod by discovery
I in science or art; but when he found
that Rosine illuminated the whole
building by her presence-when the
touch of her garments as she passed
him on the landing thrilled him with
intense pleasue-when every thought
and feeling gradually drew around
her as their proper centre-he could
but acknowledge to himself that his
intellect had very little to do with the
JOY which he experienced
One twilight there was knock at
Mdme, Chatelle's door, and for the
first time Nj. Brillan appeared on the
threshold "Had Pompine strayed in
to Madame's room? Pompine some
times wandered, but still she had her
good points. She was handsome, -
that nobody could dispute,-if Mad
anne had ever observed her, she must
have perceived that the gray of her
coat was of perfect shade" Mad
anne had never seen the animal, which
was not to be wondered at, as she
had been struggled into the house
twenty-four hours before, and was at
that moment securely fastened in the
next apartment; but Monsieur's OBJ
ject was accomplished He had, in a
legitimate manner, caught sight of a
white dinner cloth, and ignoring