Orleans independent standard. [volume] (Irasburgh, Vt.) 1856-1871, 1868-10-20

and I vas hidden there. only too glad
to SHAKE the dust of London off my
feet among the bursting of apple bios.
SONS Of a Kentish orchard. My
"young mal's fancy" had "lightly turn
ed to thoughts of love-" over and over
again sinceI had last seen Lillian Lee.
Up in London had tried to persuade
myself that my boyish affection was
just SO much folly. In action over
and over again | had been untrue to
the love which had warmed my young
heart: in reality, never. There was
a something which kept on telling me
that | only liked in London, and loved
somewhere else. Whenever | fiirted
and firted on every possible occa-
sion-made little mental contrasts,
and knew very we'll to whom l would
have rushed f every woman | had ev-
er seen had thrown off her reserve.
Perhaps she had firted, too; but |
know when tur eyes met as we stood
IN the old oaI dining-room at Craven
Court, man ad woman now, in an in
stant the old ove rushed back intensi-
lied; and to he it never would have
come back, a,d would never have
been intensitia, had there not been a
something in thse strange, blush, gray
eyes OF hers wheh told me | had not
come down amolg the apple blossoms
for nothing.
And the fre-lig,t was Pickering off
from the old wainaoting on to her
marvellous hair.
l assure you | did not bully her in
to loving me. In worldly point of
view, she could gain nothing but sor-
row and misery by listening to the
tale had to tell. She knew as well
as | did that were our secret once
known, her family would cut out her
name from its records and discard her
at once aud forever.
She loved her father, and her faith
er loved her; but in this one respect,
his heart would have become marble
towards her, and she knew it. She
loved her mother, but she knew on
this one topic her mother would have
been mercleSs. Her sisters, broth.
ers, relations, triends-every one she
knew in The world-would have in.
weighed against such a match, and
still she stood there in the freight
and her eyes told me more eloquently
than any words, that she lay
In my hands as tame
AS pear late basking over wall,
Just touch to try, and off it came;
'Tis nine Can I let it fall ?
And this is what | did:
gave her eyes my own eyes to take,
My hand sought hers as in earnest heed;
And gave th me theAfssetf hAs iRa6Sedfoor NV noble Sak
Marriage between Lillian and my
self was secretly considered so outra
geOus and out Of the question at era
ven Court, that we were left alone tC
do just as we pleased. In addition tc
the exquisite pleasure we both felt
the secrecy of our love lent an addi
tional charm to the romance. We
were never watched, never suspected
never thought of as anything but {
pair of cousins, and old and well-trieC
friends.
Indeed, so daring and heterodo1
was our exploit, that we hardly dared
to breathe to one another what we
really felt.
One evening it all came out il
spite of ourselves.
1t was after dinner in the long, low
drawing-room. We had been togeth
er nearly all day, riding side by sid,
among the flowers OF delicious spring
Still nothing unusual had occurred
A thousand times | had been on tn,
point of venturing a little farther, bu
a thousand times | had checked nv
self.
| had had the strength to reflect
One unlucky word, and banishmen
from Craven Court would have beer
inevitable.
1t would have required the strong
est love that ever woman possessed tC
bring matters just then to a successful
issue, and though | felt that Liliar
loved, | was not by any means certain
that her love was all-powerful agains
the strong, pitiless world that would
have trampled on US both.
1t was natural that | should pause
AS we were-with no word said-wt
were safe for some years, perhaps of
dreaming. With that one word sale
we should both inevitably have tc
wake, and grapple with serious anc
overpowering difficulty.
And so we went on still dreaming
dreaming, dreaming. The one wore
was not said, the eyes of the authori
ties were still filmy and dull, and VT
were allowed to sit in cosy corner
of the long, low drawing room, she a
the piano, and | in ambush at her side
where she could see me, and | coule
not be seen.
The music, as usual, had sent me
off my head.
She was playing sonata of Cho
pins, which will ring in my ears till
die. The sonata opens with music OF
the widest description, which I uset
to liken to lover riding at night thro
dark and gloomy forest, seeking il
despair the castle in which his lady il
concealed. All kinds of danger sur
rounded him; he is lost, and then sud
denly he strikes into the right patl
again, and the moon shines out. Ii
an instant the wild and troubled mu