Delaware gazette. [volume] (Delaware, Ohio) 1855-1886, 1869-12-17
A MANS ART.

A MANS ART.
I.
The Metropolitan Theater one Sep
tember night, eleven years ago. The
house blazing with light and beauty,
all eyes intent upon the curtain.
Rising, it disclosed a stout female in
pink. We looked at her with interest.
If not the rose she had been near it.
Besides, she gave to many of US our
first experience of the genuine hoop.
What amplitude, what hitherto un-
dreamed-of spread was there And
that dress, WhatWas it made of? Pink
vapor? A bit of cloud, transfused
with the glow of sunset and siIVered
with radiance from the rising moon
How it flowed and glittered after her
as she moved about the stage, this
seemed, with a laugh that vibrated
through all her liberal person like a
sudden shock through tremuIous jelly.
We watched her, pleased yet impatient,
to the end.
Again the curtain rose. We beheId
| a peaceful scene quiet garden, a
sleeping servitor. Then entered two,
conversing as they came a man and
woman. He, clad in the garb of a
Venetian magistrate his companion
yes, it is she /! Look, yonder, for
there she is-Rachel
/ ". L
summon you from the relentless Past
| Would could show to others as I saw
| it then, that pale and spiritual splen-
dor, that charm which was not beauty
/ but transcribed it. All that glory has
sunk in night; the grave hides it /; but
who that saw Rachel will not keep for
ever the dazzling memory?
The play was fEAngelo, vicious lit
| tie thing of Victor Hugo. Read it il
you Gke-I never cared tO-and you
| will find it Melodrama of the worst
/ type, I doubt not. Her genius made il
/ Tragedy.
In the last scene I turned my eyes
away; it was too real I shrunk from
/ seeing the fatal blow. As did so my
/ glance was fixed by far different OBJ
! ject. A young man, of aspect the most
peculiar had ever met, was gazing in
! tently at the stage tears, actual tears
/ were running down his cheeks.
The play was over, the audience dis
persed. As we made our slow way
! through the crush saw the unknown
again, almost at my elbow. Julia saw
him too, and recognition frightened
| her face. f'Erastus % she said, softly
and he turned at once. 1t was hel
cousin, Mr.. Bolton.
/ She took him home with us to sup
per. By the time we were fairly seated
at table, our raptures had abated some
where near the level of ordinary life
We could speak of our delight and an
alive its causes. Every one was en-
1 dinarily so matter-of-fact. Mr.. BOltoI
alone was imperturbable; his cOolnes
seemed a sarcastic comment on ou
tsWasn't that last scene terrible p
asked Julia. 'I shut my eyes-I coulC
not look"
UI. on the contrary, kept mine open,
said Mr.. Bolton. Il watched her, as
used to Signor BlItz, to see how it wa
dOne.'
This effrontery was little too much
stranger though he was.
go, Mr.. Bolton" exclaimed, eff
should tell what I saw ~
He turned towards me with the great
est urbanity. "And pray, Miss Darcy
what did you see ?"
I made some subterfuge and was EN-
barrassed. I felt sure that to expos
, his little weakness would anger hin
deeply if not visibly. He was not EN-
barrassed, however, but honored m
. with a stare that implied somethin
, very peculiar in my conduct.
l t'HOW exquisitely she was dressed !
: said Julia. "It was art, and by II
means its lowest phase"
''There's woman's ingenuity" OF
tseryed her cousin. ''She won't own t
her delight in an elegant toilet; sh
must disguise her admiration in arts
tic fervor For myself, I am aboV
such duplicity. I lost half an act try
ing to decide which was the handsom
2 er, the blue dress with diamonds. c
the black velvet, when she wore th
sequins in her hair"
1 knew that this was fibbing that b
,. had not lost word nor gesture. BIT
if such were the tone he chose to TAX
it was his own affair. If he wei
ashamed of emotion, considered
: weak, Just as well. liked much be
ter the frank enthusiasm of Fred. MuI
70, who sat next me, and whose sent
: ments mirrored my own.
By-and-by it was late, and the CUES
i, departed.
n dIsn't your cousin rather eccentric I
s; asked Minnie Munro, as we went NJ
d stairs.
d You needn't state it so mildly, N
r dear. He is odd, excessively so. r,
my own part, feel sure that if hs
been about to be beheaded, and hs
s, spied him for the first time among Il
crowd, I should have lifted up n
head from the block and asked the e.
ecutiOner Who IS that?, 1t is not h
. looks alone, but his demeanor-aI
then that cold glare he fixes on "
through his spectacles-did you n
- tice it. Helen +? You think speak t,
freely. perhaps I might just as we
do it to himself; of all morta1s he
. the most utterly Indifferent to other
opinion"
e Being just seventeen and desiro
re to please every one met, this chara
., ter appeared to me the most unamiab
il that could be drawn.
Julia and I occupied the same rool
IA Just as I was dropping asleep, 81
ID startled me with the question,
d, "Do you know what those damon
=, were like ?''
n q i'No,7 I answered, not deeply inte
he ested.
at s'Did you ever see a tree in the ear
z, morning, hung with rain-drops from
" shower that had fallen in the nigh
- Do you recall the luster of those inn
he merable pendants? Not prismatiC
a, that would be vulgar in comparison
Nj but clear, pellueid drops of eoncentt
IL ed light? ~
es eyes, - I responded, sleepily.
y, And all night swan before my ey
y, the great theater, the glitter, t
a- jewels, and that one pale face, with
story of passion and of power.
10 II.
IL Two years later, was visiting Ju,
as in her own home. It was rather a qu
ste visit, for Mrs. Fairleigh did not great
% affect company. But we rode a
ed walked, read, and talked over q
reading, and enjoyed ourselves excee
ingly.
. As we drove up one morning, gr,