Litchfield enquirer., 1869-06-10
maa,z .gs,sv4s From Every Saturday. A VERY SINGULAR STORY. aaa4

.3 sira e.ssr 4g5.sy From Every Saturday, .:a. ea1 A VERY SINGULAR lSTORY.aaaa; a Al H0zglia dsigI --.-o gaibaa1 ba3oss 6 ] l 1ssa f .'~ai 1cooscIuDED! r @b se4 si l.a.' i But iii spite of Lord Cosmo and Mr. Sari i toris, and other little annoyances insepar j able from Cheddington.i 1t was very pleas ,j ant visit, and veal enjoyed it the mprs
 from having expected something So differ ent. The first day or two that the ice was ! really good, the female portion of the com
 pany assembled at the edge of the ponds
 and watched the skaters, but no one ven tnred on the ice except in chairs; but, ths third day Mr. Sartoris came up to Valerie
 after we had been standing there 2 few
 minutes. '''....,-,.. 1..e -.
 Wont you venture to try the skates 2
 he asked. T would promise to take good l7care of you" ,s
 T don't think there would be d pair
 to fit me, was her answer, given rathe, indifferently, thought. as she put out her foot. ....'--'s. - I Her indifference, however, did not seem to have the effect of damping his
 eagerness, for the next, thing he said 1 was, .,..+,. -,..5.,, ?. r:sf4t
 ,, eff find pair will you come?''a +T
 .'.Yes, I should like it very much. 's She answered. .. .5,D z, D.. -.l..'.ss' He instantly sat down and took off his skates without another word, and went of himself to the house. was amazed; l
 had never seen the man put himself out of the way so much for any one before, but Valerie seemed to take 1t all as matter of course. She had never known him before, 1 and conld not tell how different it was 1 to his usual habits, Presently he return ed triumphant, holding up a small pair of skates. ...... .-...E..... -....
 ,"Whose are they?" Valerie asked as she sat down and gave him one of her feet. .. ....+.s.. 3cs az..I got them at the rectory, was the an swer; ''there were not any ladies skates up at the house. so, as the reetory people said on there, and asked them to lend me a pair" t-s. ea ot a.e7r s"Sa1ilta f'a ':It was very kind of you to take all that trouble" Valerie said. as-l sh13fsf a - -- s'It was for my own qualification, I am afraid. "of as~9 4o z@oss'A.lJ Ag"z '-~&.
 He was bending over her foot, but he looked into her face as she said the words in French, and in such low, rapid voice l that only just caught them. .a@!i-17a ! It was not the words, but the tone and look that made me watch eagerly the effect on her. Not shadow of blush rose in. | to her clear face; she looked over his head
 with ad,.vacant eyes, bent6evidently on
 another scene than that before her. What was there in his words to bring such sad,
 hopeless look into the beautiful face? Something seemed suddenly to have stir-l rcd within her crowd of sorrc wful re. membranes. In moment it passed. and
 there was nothing different about her voice or manner when she next spoke. When. the skates were on, before she could rise, Mir. Sartoris put out his hands, saying neryously,- a5 lo'@99i9Fi''' 9t'' f9LaD b2-T fs ..Now, please take care; you have no idea how difficult it is, even to stand firm ly, just at first" -A9A
 But she drew back, and witha smile, half arch, half sad, rose lightly on her feet
 Then she put her hands into her muff, and glided away with long, slow sweeps. Her cavalier stood still, watching her without 8 word. don't think he liked it !; it was as if he had been rather taken in, and made to look foolish, and that, in the verimost trife, was to him gall and wormwood. When she came back to us, there was more of his usual cool sarcasm in his voice than I had ever heard in speaking to her. a- "I bow to your superior skill, he said, in half mocking tone; "forgive my mis-
 take, and accept my humble apologies" Y
 Though he smiled, she was very quick to
 mark the change in his manner, and in-
 stantly set herself to work to soothe him ::
 not that think she cared for him, but she
 had an innate horror of being disagreeable to anybody, and delicate sensitiveness
 with regard to other peoples feelings.
 His feathers were certainly effectually | smoothed, and, in fact, as I watched them, I began to wonder whether he was trying l to play with her, or whether he really liked her. The idea of Mir. Sartoris being atten-
 tive to anybody, except in his own cool, insulting, detestable- way, was an idea so new as to be startling. She was here un der my mothers protection as much as we were, and determined to tell what had seen. One thing, however, Inow resolved Ito do. I would give Valerie the letter; be-
 fore speaking to my mother it was better
 to be sure that there was any cause to in
 terfere. We generally sat together and read or talked in her room the hour before
 dinner. She had got hold of French
 book in which she was interested; I knew 1 if brought book she would read that i;
 so slipped the piece of letter, as it ap-
 peared. between the pages of her novel 3
 little way after her mark, and left it on her
 table. About an hour before dinner, as1
 had hoped, she went to her room, and
 soon followed :; but it seemed as though she would never settle to her book. sat i vhere could see her face without her see l ing me, and tried to answer her remarks, l feeling horribly guilty. For some time she
 kept up desultory sort of conversation, keeping me in fever of expectation by playing with the leaves of the book. z Z.
 s'sHow well your uncle speaks French,
 Rachel r she said-n fssesi- -sao aafa a1a aa
 Yes, very we'll; he goes very often to
 Paris, answered, rather shortly. re4r o
 MT. Sartoris talks better, though" .s,,
 .sDoes he ?" said. Ias.Why, of course i he does; you must Ibear." Ks, ..Yes;s LsupposaEso.n bev4aro SIS axoo. I ssa'i.But I wish | could talksto your big Mr. l lMountioy." she said, refectiyely. ul tsWhy?a s1oaasc' yabafe ssAE Ws1
 st.Ach 1" she smiled 9awhy one does wish
 those sort of things I know not: he looks 1so honest and upright" .vfggsl a.aI.s~rg I n" And Mr Sartoris doesn't, you think ?'' She raised Der eyebrows comically. u2 LAR;
 Neither of our Frenchmen are of an lopen character, ," she said, with wise
 shake of her head. esfsod