The Conservative. (M'connelsville, Ohio) 1866-1871, 1869-03-05
Selrrtro lllisfeIIanB.
OFF TIE STAGE.
Adrentures OF an Aetre.s.

1AAANa ~
twenty-five in that condition which is the
delight of French women-she was q wild.
ow. She had married at an early age, in
compliance with her father and father-in.
laws decree, and had been neither happy
nor miserable during the two years that
her union had lasted,
NJ. de Florac had been 30 u%nimpoftant IN
her existence that, after the hustle Incl.
dent TO his funeral, the reading of the will,
and the wensng of mourning, she was very
often obliged to think twice, to remember
distinctly whether he was dead OF alive.
Nine. de Flonc was of q most affection
ate disposition, and wa romnntieally in
clined, pretty and rich besides-which,
though not romantic in itself, is not un.
pleasant, and permits of romance being in.
dulged in withou tany very fatal consequen.
Gee.
As sooD as the year Of mourning had ex.
PRED, Nine. de Floac began at once 10 in.
dulge her love for the amusements Of the
world, from which she had been declared
by her seclusion, and which she had hith-
erto never enjoyed but in the tedious com
pany of her commonplace husband.
Scarcely, however, did she reappear in
the Fauborg, before suitors presented them
selves for the hand of the young widow.
and grave matrons, on propriety intent,
limited that Nine. Flornc was over young
to 90 about the world alone.
But Clara de Florac had resolved that
neither suitors nor gossips should force her
into a humdrum marriage like the one she
had experienced, whichmight have the dis
agreeable difference of lasting for life, in
stead of for two years.
Clara had resolved, if she married again,
she would marry for love. She had read a
great deal; the sublime sentimentality Of
Lamartine's poetry; Balzac and Sand she
knew byhearti and she thoughtit very hard
if, whom these authors portrayed so many
ardent passions and never-ending attach
ments as pictures Of actual life, she could
not, with her youth, good looks and good
intentions, stumble upon some hero who
should invest life with q charm which she
had dreamed, of but rs vet knew nothing.
In her own circles she waited and watch
ed, and allowed herself 10 be wooed; but
everything was done in such q refined,
matter-of-fact way, terminating by the ex-
hibition Of a rent-roll, and an offer of mar
riage through her nearest Of kin, that Clara
Indignantly turned away from all with dis
appointment and despair.
One evening; Clara, who had Just had an
other illusion dispelled by a proposition Of
marriage from n man she had seen but
twice, aud who had dwelt upon the fitness
Of fortune and position, and had never
mentioned hearts, in a 1T Of WEAKNESS and
discomfort with herself and all the world,
determined suddenly not to 60 10 the ball
for which she was preparing a dress; and,
sick with the sameness Of the great world,
decided on sending for a box at the Vaud-
eville, where, she imagined, she would not
meet any Of those who appeared indirectly
to control her actions.
An aunt Of her husband, who chaperon.
ed the young widow everywhere, was her
only escort; and, in the simplest toilet,
Clara reclined in one corner Of the box, m
tent upon forgetting all in the enjoyment
Of the play, particularly as, on looking
around, she could not discovera single face
that she had ever seen before.
At last the curtain rose. The play was
n Of those modern pieces in which in
tense passion is woven into the common
place events Of life, and Clara's attention
was attracted towards it at once. From
the play her s~ympathies went to the hero;
and certainly no hero could have been bet
ter represented than by the actor, whose
face, form and voice We're all calculated TO
arrest attention, and 10 lascinate and
charm.
Clara looked for his name. II was O..
She had never heard it before, but she
repeated it to herself frequently, and on
her return homo that evening, every word
and information, every look and every atti-
tude, were recalled in the solitude of her
boudoir.
The following evening Clara de Florac
went again TO the Vaudeville, and the next,
till the placid and usually unmurmuring
aunt began TO complain that il was very
uresome TO see the same place five times in
succession.
Luckily for Clara, the Baron de L,
the last sutton that had been refused, came
to pay her a friendly visit, coolly ignoring
the little circumstance of his proposal and
rejection. Clara accepted his escort 10 the
Vaudeville, and again lost herself in the
Contemplation Of her idol. O. had Ia.
ken entire possession of Clan's imagina.
ton. By dint Of thinking Of him of even,
ings, she had woven a romance Of her own.
n resolved on seeing him. To accom-
plish this, she wrote him such q note al
only The most %yirtuous or most perverted
could write-the one perfectly unconscious
OF what she il doing, and the other fully
knowing the effect she will produce.
Clara appointed an hour when the great
world was still in its first slumbers. In q
simple muslin dress and straw bonnet, and
with beating heart, she walked to the APP
pointed place. There was o. She
felt inclined TO turn back, but calling hel
remembrance of modern literature to hel
aid she advanced toward him and address
ed him.
After a few words had been interchanged
Clara began her plan.
II am" said she, "a young widow from
the south Of France, in very Strengthened
circumstances, and being obliged TO earn
my own living, have a desire to become an
actress. Ihaye seen you act, and, being O
stranger, have thought of no better means
than of addressing myself to you"
II is needless 10 say that o. replied
by ~dissuading her from any such attempt;
for every actor, though he may love bis
art, has a horror Of the stage. However,
Clara met argument with argument, and
other meetings were appointed.
1t happened that o. was a gentleman
OF education, high breeding, and most no
BILE feeling. Therefore there was nothing
TO dispel Clara's illusion, bat everything to
turn her passing fancy into real and sincere
Clara was now in the enjoyment of the
happiness she had desired. In
rider to carry out her plans she had taken
INTO her confidence her foster sister, who
Tas married TO a respectable tradesman,
nd living in a small apartment in the Rue