The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1866-11-16
THE COUNTESS MET ustME
BY MRS. II. WOOD.
CHAPTER III.

CHAPTER Ill.
The Countess NIelusinc became the
rage at Stonelcigh. Letters of most
tiattering introduction from the Ea-
ron Guldenstern, u Hanoverian no
bleman Of unquestionable standing,
to the Hopgoods, who were the lead
ing people of the place, gave the pass
key into every house beside For the
Baron was q great friend OF the Hop
goods, and one whose notice some
what honored them; so that any re-
commendation OF his was sure Of
eager acknowledgment But among
All her adherents, none worshipped
her with so much singlcness Of heart
The infatuation OF mono struck so
deep, OF scared so high-as the
young teachers. 10 him, she WAS q
revelation, being from another
world; it was alteration, rather than
love, that he felt for her; and he could
have died for her simple wilful plea
sure with as much rupture as other
men would have lived for their own.
And she-perhaps she pitied him;
perhaps his innocence and ingenu-
BUSINESS touched her; perhaps even
another feeling came in; be that as it
may, she spared him.
The great events Of the present
year, at Stoneleigh, were the balls
and parties given by the Countess at
Oakfell Hall. The wealthy Joneses
and the superior Hopgoods both as
serted they had never seen anything
equal to them i'll their way; and il
aught had been wanting to confirm
their admiration Of their new neigh
Dor, it would have been the faultless-
ness of her entertainments. They
were subjects Of conversation and
imitation, years after, when the whole
thing had exploded and gone to the
winds. 10 be sure, the play was very
deep, and the fair Countess was no
coward in her laughing bets; to be
sure, too, no one ever seemed to win,
and the beautiful hostess herself NJ
ways protested, most strcnuously of
all, how she had been victimizcd,
complaining, i'll her fascinating ac-
cent, Of the cruelty of her guests.
and their inhospitality to a stranger
and u foreigner.
''It was very odd" Mr.. Jones used
to say, when counting up the stakes,
very odd, indeed, who had got them
all!' And Mr.. Jones, as a retired
merchant, was pretty we'll up to gam
bling in all its aspects.
Very odd, too, was it, how often
the best cards turned up, at thc right
moment, in the hands of the Count
ess; and how that pretty, graceful
way OF shutliing Of hers seemed to
bring her good luck. "As, indeed,
it should, as a reward Of its graceful.
ness" said Mr. Briggs, galIantly.
though somewhat rucfully as we'll. as
he disbursed his golden losses.
The only person who ut ali held off
from Joining in this universal choir
OF homage was Captain Macarthur.
Between him and the lady existed a
s0HicthiLg-no one exactly knew
what-but q certain mute distr,lst on
his part, and scarcely veiled
defiance on hers. He went less to
Oakfell Hall than any one in the
neighborhood, and often he used to
say, 81 cannot think where I have
oeeH INC countess before, DllG her
face seems so very familiar to me. ;"
Once he made the samo remark to
her; but she answered him so
haughtily, so much as if the assertion
were an offence, that Captain Mac
Arthur thought it needful to apollo
glze, and assure her he was mis-
taken. Still, there was nothing like
open hostility between them; and the
frequenter of the Baden tables
simply forebore to adulate her like
the rest; he never spoke with positive
disfavor.
The most curious thing in her
social tactics, however, was how She
contrived to be secretly on better
terms with half her society than cam
ont In public bearing Almost all
the gentlemen in turn were admitted
to private consultations in that de-