Urbana union. [volume] (Urbana, Ohio) 1862-1872, 1869-05-05
THE CRACK IN THE DOOR.

Some people also declared that she was
the prettiest woman in X, but these
were not the other women. They said
that she had red hair and was too fat,
and what the gentlemen saw to admire
in her, they couldn't guess, etc, etc
But say it often as they might, every
man in the place was Hetty Armstrong;
devoted servant, friend and admirer
and a dozen of them her lovers, also. \
bright, dashing, WaTm-heaTted woman
she was. As merry As though she had
never known a care. Not that she had
forgotten the lover Of her youth; the
gallant black-eyed sea captain, whose
ship had gone down i'm mid-Ocean, five
years before, and whose pictured face
lay near her heart, day and night, sleep
ing and waking; but she was too full of
life and hope to live entirely in the past,
and neither loved hours of melancholy
musing nor what women call a " good
cry" To forget all sorrow, if she could,
and be as happy as she might, were the
two grand rules of her life, and there
fore, people who did not know Hetty
Armstrong, thought her heaTtless, and
made a great mistake.
They called her a flirt, TOO, and that
was not true, either. She only fiiTted
with those who began the game first,
and that, a woman has a right to do. At
| X, if a gentleman called twice upon
a lady, his attentions were reported to
be every particulars" if he "saw her
home from meeting,n TUmOr declared
that they were engaged, and ifhe spent
an evening with her, they were to be
married next week. for a certainty
! but Hetty Armstrong was somehow not
! included in the general rule. She had
| determined to do exactly as she chose
! She went everywhere with every Unmar-
Tied gentleman Of her set. She was
! friendly when she chose to be, and fir
| ted when she liked. After setting Cos
| sip at fault a dozen times, she gained
/ her point, and people let her alone. 1t
was Hetty Armstrong; way, that was
all, and no indication of matrimonial
| intentions. For years, gentlemen had
/ haunted her parlOTs, escorted her hith-
! er and thither sang with her, danced
with her, cOnfided in her, and adOred
/ her, and village gossip had not married
her. Until suddenly q stranger made
his debut at x, and set the tongues
agOing even beyond Hetty ArmstrOng's
power of silencing.
He was tall; he was handsome; he
was comparatively young. He had just
that touch of exquisite about him which
is so charming when a mans q man for
l d Lllulg ldUlllGSS III lDlltLg ldultlGSS Ill
manner; educated; accomplished; al
tOg6ther charming; he openly flung
himself at Hetty ArmstTOng's feet, and
declared himself her admirer. Of course,
we do not mean to intimate that he
ruined the knees of his faultless habili-
ments by going down upon them, or in
any other way conducted himself as did
the knights of old when heart-Smitten
but after the manner of the nineteenth
century, he declared his intentions quite
as openly.
He sang to and at the lady. He haunt
ed her parlOrs like a well-dressed ghost |
he wrote poetry for the X Luminary
dedicated to H. A, and signed c. R.; he
breathed deep sighs, and gave soft glanc-
es, and said things that might have
double meanings; and this, not for
week or a month, but for a year. At
the end Of which time Hetty Armstrong
began to understand that she was eX-
pected by everybody to accept Charles
ROkewOOd when he offered his heart and
hand. Meanwhile, the soft eyes and
sweet voice, and delicate attentions and
the winning songs of her admirer were
not without their effect on Hetty Arm !
strOng's heart. 1t began to be conscious
of certain tremOrs and flUtterings in his
presence. Her cheeks flushed as they
had in her giTlhOOd. Her dreams were |
not the sober, practical dreams, which /
nature at five-and-twentys should alone !
indulge in; and as the days rolled on, |
she felt more conscious that the YES |
which was expected of her would be |
very easily uttered.
She tried to be very prudent and Judge |
the man carefully, The result was that |
she declared him to be fan angel At |
last Hetty Armstrong fairly let go of the !
rUdder of selfwill to which she had clung |
so long, and allowed herself to drift !
down the tide of circumstances which |
were to lead her into the arms of Charles !
ROkewOOd. She let her hand Iinger on |
his arm as he bade her gOOd-by. She |
smiled up into his eyes as women only |
smile into eyes they love. She felt that
life would be happier with such a bosom |
to repOse upon, and began to wonder
whether it would be necessary for a wild
Ow to be married in pearl color when
white was so becoming to her complex
ion.
So matters stood when Christmas drew
near, and with it Hetty Armstrong;
regular Christmas-eve party.
All x, or nearly all would be there.
Even the Rev. Luther Paragon, who
amiably forgot to say that he disapprOv-
ed of dancing and charades when Mrs.
Armstrong declared that she adOred
them 1t was always the meTriest par
ty Of the season at X, and this time
Mrs. Armstrong decided that she would
Out-dO herself. There was a dash more
Of cOqUetry in her dress q dash of eX-
travagance in the supper; glitter Of
rare china, and a perfume of rare flowers
in the parlOrs- as they say wine
warns up the wits, and fancy does love
at times. All things would be brighter,
fresher, more sparkling just now, thought
or ia ther vaguely felt the woman, who
had just began to know her heart Alright, /
and thought that she knew anOther's.
She stood in her rich dress of silk and
lace, flowers in her hair and on her bO-
som, before her guests arrived, before
the CRATE fire in her parlOT, when some
one touched her on the shoulder, and,
turning, she saw Charles ROkewOOd.
Her face was a little paleT, her eyes
more earnest in their look than usual,
and sort of happy terror came upon
her as she guessed why he had come so
early.
~ knew I should find you alone" he
said, 'and have something to say to
There she stopped him.
Don't say it ROIO;" she pleaded. 81
have an evening before me which calls
b.
for all my calnness. If it is anything
agitating, LII must ask you to wait.
After those guests of mine are gone-Or
tomorrow will hear you; not nOw."
Charles ROkeWOOd bowed.
"YOUr will shall be my law" he said;
and he took her hand and kissed it. She
let him do it, blushing the while, not
daring now to look at him.
All the evening, after the other guests !
were there, her thoughts wandered back {
to that moment. She knew what he !
would say, and she could only answer in l
one way-only One-she liked him so t
well. d
And have felt 50 sure never could {
like any one again" thought Hetty 1
"There is a fate in it." q
But she danced and sang, and talked
rs usual, and no one guessed that she S
was dreaming-nOt even Mr. ROkewoody !
who, with Il chosen friend, had slipped l
away from the parlors, and was smok-
ing and talking in the edressing-room. t
Hetty, conscious of her duties as host q
ess insisted on being public property,
and could not be alluTed into u tCtc-U-tctCj q
and the women who were ready to be c
talked to he did not care about. Engag- s
ed men are generally to he known by d
their bearish conduct to ladies generally, t
and RolewOOd, although not engaged, 5
believed himself fur enough upon the L
road to forget his old suavity, and fall @