The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1866-12-25

cvnltation Over the matchless beauty of the
W,,o1n will here describe 70 the read
er before the fat goes forth which is to
separate them for ever and day; 8,
Angel Temple was talli and slight, igh With IL
Observation-Disclosures ,1of oriental grace,
and skin that ;lwas.almost dazzling III it's
alabaster whiteness and transparency. Her
small shapely head was crowned with the
finest raven tresses in the world, and her
large, gazelle-like, brown eyes were deep,
earnest. and tender, or naughty, disdainful,
or. Indifferent according to the varying
moods Of the owner Of the lovely head, in
which they b burned like lamps in the temple
of. Diana. .s.=
Those wonderful eyes eclipsed all the
!, other charms Of the face, and fascinated the
beholder with their basilisk spell. Stephen p!
Hautain looked into what he believed TO be
their true pure depths, and felt that they
had bound him to their service either for
life E or death; and she looked into his deep,
orev land fathomable to those whom he
ioysdS, and felt that she had set the seal to
his death-doom. ssHe will be faithful, !"
she thought, faithful through all to me-
and sharp pang, like the sting Of steel
weapon, shot through her heart, and left her
cheek paler than the white flower in her
hair He looked, as Lady Hautain had
told her, handsomer than ever, and his slim
but firmly-knit figure was cast in the mould
of an Apollo.
Stephen Hautain was reckoned the hand
soonest man Of his day, and was adored BY
the women of his acquaintance who had
not daughters to marry; and Angel Temple,
il. whose perverted nature satire was
browning gift, said to herself, as Reginald
entered the room at the same moment, and
gazed sulkily round it until his eye lighted
upon her own face, "Look on this picture
and on that" and did not spare the lash in
the bitterness of her own self-contempt.
Mr.. Hautain, as the world called the man
whom we have introduced to our readers as
simply Reginald" was not going to allow
his fascinating brother to engross the atten-
tion If the woman whom he (Reginald) had
honored with his notice; and bringing his
ungainly person to her side by series Of
awkward eyolutions (which always, by the
way, mark the progress Of that odious ano-
maly, q man shy through egotistic self-con-
sciousness), he commenced a conversation
qqiittte, irrelevant to the one which she had
begun with Stephen, and which had not, as
yet, oyerstepped the usual conventional OBJ
servances. ~: 5j.=s.=4=#..s#,#..= ss.
Fl ii. have, have been trying to get up to you,
Miss Temple, before they announced dinner;
it is my privilege to take you in, you know,
now"
esstYou have cleared quite passage for
yourself amongst 1Eaaay Hautain's tables and
chairs, she replied, and might claim claaiilm VIC
#toria Cross for the way ip whichS;you ehargg..
J cd poor Miss Olementipa's hoop.:7.She. is
vainly trying to- look unconscious Of the
rent l ii d, her gown now. Have you no re;
morse, MI, Hautain Z" n =,
eConfound her gown r was the chiyalrji!c j!
reply, and, "Lwish you would call me Regga1
nald, Angel" Mr.. Hautain added in an nm
dertone, as be stuck out his arm awkwardly:
3o.her as dinner was announced; "it's rather
hard on a fellow" he added, as they ira
sversed the long corridor together, which
led into the banqueting hall, "to be always
snubbing one as you do.
Miss Temple gave rather an irrelevant
answer to this leading remark on the part
Of her uncouth adorer. She could not help
listening to the ringing tones Of Captain
Hautain's s voice, who was talking gaily to
one Of the honorable spinsters before men
toned, who had been boiling over with in.
dignation at being taken into dinner after
"t6at chit, Angelica Temple" but. who was
cooling again under the genial influence OF
Captain Hautain's lively conversation.
He was so happy, in such buoyant spirits,
in the radiant presence of his beloved, that
he made himself more than usually agree
able, circumstance which the Honorable
Clementina Hautain put down to the credit
Of her own charms. She had been the
beauty Of the family in day long past
away, but had been too wayward and capri
ciiotus in her treatment of her adorers, fact
which IN her dreary spinsterhood, support
ed upon mythical means, and an occasional
dossceuv from the generous head of her
house, she now bitterly regretted. She was
always throwing out ominous hints to her
young nieces and cousins, especially those
remarkable for their good looks about not
being atoo particular, my dear;o and fire.
quently repeated one or two stanzas Of an
old-fashioned song, Of which the first lines
we're
"When was girl Of eighteen years old.
Twas as handsome as handsome could be;
Ny hair DER nay neck In ringlets flowed,
And lovers came courting TO me-"