The Hancock Jeffersonian. [volume] (Findlay, Ohio) 1857-1870, 1869-03-12

our perfect lady! Lady Margart
Il used often to have me stay with he
at kempton Court; and rather NOR
than six years after her husband
death, when l was her guest-it b,
ing February, and in fact, St. Va
entine's eve, she said:
Mary: the people have been ST
years without their public days i
the park. l am thinking this yea
of beginning them again. / wonde
if it would be llked?'
! Ispoke positively of the pleasur
it would give and when ] looked q
her beautiful young face-she coul
not have been more than twenty
seven, l think--I felt glad that sh
would no longer deprive our littl
world of SO much loveliness of per
son and mind.
'And you will 60 out again-se,
friends, l mean
Yes, said she; 'but / shall not g
to London this year, think
Then l knew that by degrees the
, old ways were to be returned to, and
was glad. Yet with my gladness
there mingled a girlisL regret, be
cause felt that Lady Margaret
might become something else
something not known to me--that l,
who had only known her so very
well since her widowhoOd, might
lose something, and that what !
lost others would gam. / had begun
to be jealous of the world already.
She talked very merrily that eve
nlng; she spoke of her maiden life,
OF London, of my coming out'--for
! was seyenteen--of people who had
been beauties and heiresses of
some who had married well and
others who had married ill of love
in a cottage and of those who had
agreed that, considering the chances
OF this mortal life, ''tis best repen-
ting in a coach and six | was
amused end interested beyond meas
ure. She spoke with a brilliant Ia
miliarity of the life of her youth. 1t
came back to her in memory with
evident pleasure, and we stayed up
gossiping much beyond our usual
bedtime.
As we stood at last on the landing
of the stairs, saying goodnight, she
said
Shall We walk to the Beeches to-
morrow
%, yes / exclaimed; for the
Beeches was a wooded hillside,
dotted about with huge masses of
granite, at the foot OF which rapid
river ran, with most picturesque
windings, and there Lady Margaret
had already given me two lessons in
sketchiDg, the spot to which we went
being both sheltered and sunny, and
so very agreeable for the time of
year.
To tell the truth, l dreamt of the
things We had talked about, and when
Lady Margaret met me in the hail,
after breakfast, in her short black
serge, and. said, Come. Mary, or the
morning sun will be gone. And do
Iou know it is Valentines day p
;;2l9red ;.9ls. up to my eyes, faeSag over again,
l hope she will not marry again {
Oh, l hope, / hope!'
Away we went; the day was the
brightest that ever dawned ON any
V Valentine, l am sure; the sun was
ike Summer, the birds were singing,
.he primroses were showing in the
sheltered places, and when we got 10
the Beaches, theIe was the dry rustic
Of the beech mast beneath our feet,
and gay green patches where the
caves of the blue hyacinths had
pushed their way.
'Oh, this is exquisite = cried Lady
Margaret. See the light on those
glittering rocks-look how the shad-
DIV of those great boughs gets paint
ed on them But We have not seen the
liver yet let US get up the bank and
zee how it looks from above. | de
clare, it is hot
Lady Margaret was quite right
We had walked fast, we were in
place a. once sunny and sheltered,
and it was a moment of as much en-
oyment and promise as any lady,
,ketcher could desire. She had got
beyond me now, by rough path up
The steep bank, and she stood wait
ng.
%, Mary, it is delicious /! So
peaceful, SO pretty! it seems odd to
think of SO much beauty going On,
or not there be any to look
at it. Nature is a prodigal. Here
we are quite alone, not creature
have we seen-not valentine
And then she laughed like girl.
She took one or two steps more, so
as to command the other side of q
granite rock, and then she came back
quietly to to me.
%, / hope he did not hear. There
is man there, sitting down, drawing
in water colors what shall We dor
60 home,' / said.
Il don't know. The place is nay
own. | shall speak to him.
She went up the bank once more,
keeping me by her side. But as We
neared the highest point CT the in
wall of stone, the man ap-
peared on the top. He took off
cloth Scotch cap that he wore, and
bowed to us. We were both struck
by the extreme picturesqueness of
his position, attitude and general
appearance and it was with pecu-
Iiarly sweet voice that he said
Il know l am on Lady Margaret
Carylls grounds. But | hope l have
not trespassed too far-too near the
house, l mean.'
you are nearly mile from my
house, said Lady Margaret. The
again gave little bow.
Do not leave your sketch unfinished.
The scenery here is very fine, and
you will not often get SO good day
at this time of the year.
Thank your he said. And once
more touching his hat, he turned
away, as if to 60 back to where Lady
Margaret had seen him. We, too,
turned away, and thought Lady
Margaret looked disturbed.
We will come another time'-then
she added, after pause, with an
odd, short laugh, as if vexed at being
disappointed Of our sketching hour