The Republican journal., 1869-04-15

AND one lace haunting lne dreams OF e2cn,
And one voice, sweeter than others are,
Breaking into svery speech
Telling through lips Of bearded bloom
The old, old story ever again. NORA PERRY.
The revel was over. Mrs. Van Duyne's
grand Twelfth-night Ball, that had been
the talk of the county for the last fortnight.
The lady had been extremely gracious in
her invitations, and the grand old mansion
opened wide its stately doors as palace
might. Indeed, there had been no lack OF
royalty. Kings, queens, courtiers, and
handmaidens, princes of nearly every realm.
had been represented. Old decorations be-
longing to past generation had been
brought to light, and re-hung, giving the
rooms an antique air that accorded well
with the dresses of the guests. Indeed,
the picture was perfect. Here. in the cor
ner of the long hall had stood two white
haired harpers in pilgrim guise, their worn
sandals attesting the length of the way
trodden since they were new and bright.
Here and there a troubadour, with his quit
ar thrown over his shoulder, joining the
melody of the dance, Or, in the pauses ut
tering some plaintive song. "Viol, flute,
aud bassoon," blended in the chorus with
their deep-throated or silvery voices, and
every moment had been crowded with en-
ioyment. Mrs Van Duyne knew we'll that
the fame of her ball would spread far and
wide, until it became county legend. She
liked the high and aristocratic distinction
at which few might aim, and fewer still
reach.
Bnt she had not done it merely as graf
iticatlon tor pride. 1t had been in part her
sons plan, and she enjoyed his pleasure as
much as her own.
If his mother, in her young days, had
been queen Of the county, he reigned now
as its prince. His horses were the hand
soonest and the heetest, his little suppers
held in hardly less esteem than royal ban
quets, his sayings aud doings copied as far
as the limited capital of others would al
low. Now and then sundry stories had
been whispered about his pleasures in Wash
ington or Baltimore, but so long as his
stately mother upheld him, few were brave
enough for open censure. She always re-
ceived him with open arms, and there was
sure to be series of festivities to render
his visits at home fully as beguiling as his
sojourns abroad.
Truth to tell, Mrs. Van Duyne, with all
her smiles, and pride, and regal airs, now
and then held troubled vistant in her
heart. In Gerald's young days she had
felt gratifed with the sensation he created
and the admiration laid at his feet by fool
ish women. Having no daughters, her
whole heart centered in her sons triumphs.
But now he was past thirty, and evinced
less inclination for settling down than at
twenty-five. Indeed, then he might have
yielded to woman's sway with admirable
grace; now he shrugged his shoulders a
little, and treated his mother to French
proverbs with all due respect.
The bellies and beauties of five or seven
years before had married, or, what was
equally fatal, faded. Perhaps in the hearts
of some there fingered faint romance con-
cerning Gerald Van Duyne, for he was ten
der, winsome and fascinating. When he
chose, he could be very sweet and danger
Gus, and being a man, he was nowise loath
to use his power
There had crossed his path at last one
royal Esther. 1t might have been because
most girls were so easily won into listening,
that he as easily tired of their sweetness,
quite forgetting that when he put the SEM
blance of his soul into the strife, they could
not always discern the wagering light that
the beacon carried.
But here was Edith Winchester, single
at wo-and-twenty, with the blood Of an
old line of royalty in her veins, and the
beauty of poets dream in her face. True
year by year the broad Winchester lands
had grown less, forests of timber had been
felled and sold the old house had fallen
into decay; the servants become an idle,
thriftless set. Mr.. Winchester was a court
ly gentleman of the old school, polished,
scholarly, caring little about the world, but
living amid his folios Of transactions, illu-
minated title pages, which were perfect
gems in their way and stores OF knowledge
from the buried centuries.
M. Winchesters brother had married a
thrifty New England woman, and after her
husbands death she had filled the post OF
housekeeper in the Winchester mansion
but when her reign ended, the careless ser
wants had to great extent resumed their
sway. Edith was her fathers companion
and friend, and she ministered to his wants
SO continually that she had little time or
thought for other matters. AS for Mr..
Winchester, no child could have been more
careless or Indifferent as to the sources OF
prosperity. So long as his present wants
were supplied, he asked no more.
They had fallen into a very retired man
ner of living, and the county folk were
rather surprised when Mrs. Van Duyne be-
gan to be attentive to Miss Winchester. No
other phrase expresses it. Edith could not
be patronized In her high-bred, delicate
way she held herself above all coarser at.
tentions.
"What very handsome girl that Miss
Winchester isl" Gerald had said one day
''The purest blood in the country. II
shows in every line of her face, and in ev-
cry movement. If these were the days Of
royalty she might be a queen,' Mrs. Var
Duyne replied.
During the next six weeks of Gerald's
absence, Mrs. Van Duyne cultivated Miss
Winchester assiduousiy, but with delicate
grace that could not have offended the mos1
fastidious. For she began to look with
dismay on her sons increasing expendi
lures and frequent journeys from home