Litchfield enquirer., 1875-12-30

she was so very. very fair. For foolish { men have always nay, wise men, the very misest have been always the ones to lose Itheir heads to beauty; the beauty, I mean, ! Of perfect flesh and blood, made exquisite ! by life, by the mere facts. grand, indeed, but not the grandest-of pulse and tlnt and motion. And many men accounted but fools m comparison. have been divine E V wise in seeing beneath the marvel of fair akin to the chiefest beauty of the
 But this feeling left me when came to Margaret. standing in her white lily calm under the chandeliers, greeting her guests < with quietly cordial grace, the color so Ifare with her beginning to burn softly in { her cheeks. When Alice in hertruly won- \ fderfal beauty of curve and color hoated \ near, and settled with the airy motion of a butterfly at her cousins side, it seemed D hefghteh Margaret's charm: but when Ehiliu. benhing his tall form. whispered f to me: 'sLoo' at Margaret! are people blind that they never call her beautiful?" tEsqheszed his hand in my pleasure, and the foreboding mood left me for the time, ab uttefiy as If it had not been I only smiled, when. few moments ater, I saw Philip passing down the parlors with Alice ! on his arm.
 The rest of the evening came to me ka- leidoacOpicAlly. There was tise continual moving of the bright fhrong, the groups forming and breaking mp in shifting sue Heeasi0n, bits of conversation caught here ! and there. the shimmer of lights, flowers, ! costumes, and that musicle babble of we'll | intoned voices like no other sound on earth.
 'sWhoia tllat little one in blue, with tspuHgpld hair?'' as fsr
 "S5anding yoDder by that old lady
 SJfby tha. fellow with the long. 70. you mean the gnrl who is winding Philip Crown. student, artist, and philos- opher. round her little finger so demure- ly?''
 .'Noshing of the kiudl'' cried the youn- ger nan h0kIy. He IS m0nopolizing her; you can tell she is dying to get away-just see her little foot tapping the floor to that delicious Strauss, and her eyes fixed on 4he dancers; her eyes are like fringed gen. ! tians, she is the most bean tiful--" s'sShe ia Alice BRoHn, the artists cousin. she IS beautiful, and portionless as Cophe- tua's beggar-maid," said the elder man, smiling gravely and kindly at the flushed young fellow.
 "Ah! there they gol' eagerly cried the latter.
 bs Alice and Philip had risen and were stepping the first measures of the waltz on their way to the ball room. The men watched them in silence, the younger in an enthusiasm of envy and admiration; ;the elder. critically.
 .'she does it like Pelasia, srid the lat E Eter with shade more of interest in her tone. '.and she is like Pelagia, full to her Out1nesk curve of utter health, the incar- nate spirit of the sweet and sensuous dance. But. after . pause, ''there is an- other face, one that impresses me moro than any. more than all the faces here. It is the tal young woman in black, with the single lustrous camelia Tn her hair"
 .'That!-yhy that only Margaret.- Miss Brown"
 's Only Margaretr blind, blind, boyl To me she is Hypatia, with oil that sweet
 bly, nay, quite certainly, all her tender
 ness of heart. She will have history. she
 cannot escape"
 Pleased yet troubled by this compari-
 son, which struck me with great force as I
 looked across at Margaret, her unstudied
 posse was of charming grace, and her air.
 free, noble. yet reserved, ,-I moved behind
 the incantious speaker. He turned in.
 stantly but did not start more visibly than
 l, when recognized in him an old and
 dear friend of the family, who had been long
 abroad. Aunt Janel' "Jamos Chud-
 leigh!' we cried in the same breath, jerk ing out each others names as people al-
 ways do m such moments. He told me
 he had recently returned from Europe and
 but just arrived in town, and, making it a point to look up John the first thing. had entered a few minutes since and had float
 with the crowd, looking for familiar faces. and half inclined to wait until he should
 be discovered. He had recognized Alice at once as having the very face she had
 worn in the cradle, but for Margarets he not been prepared.
 We found John standing in the doorway of the ante room, between the ballroom and the parlors. He was watching the dancers and did not observe us until Chud- leigh, going very close, whispered almost
 in his ear. How John did start! and then
 the hearty greeting between them was good to see. Johus face. as they drew aside talking, sparkling like a boys and Chudleigh's laugh breeding in, low and sweet, showing the r1ch, unspoi1ed nature of the man.
 bSko hau DGcu 8u 0UXlCUS expression in Johnig face when he first turned to us. Thinking of this, looked in at the dan- cers before going to bring Margaret to Chudleigh, and Thought saw the clew to Johns troubled look, when 1 saw Philip and Alice gliding near in the waltz: for there was that impalpable air upon these two, as they moved, c1aspsd and swayipe in the bewildering measure, which seemed to set them apart as lovers in an aura of their own. They danced perfectly, it was like magic to look at them; others fell away or paused in their own dancing to
 enjoy the charming sight; the faint slid. ing of the spurning feet, the soft rustic of the sweeping robe, tho unbroken airy swirl, seeming to make the very music to
 which they moved. They came so near. Alices blue robe swept against my knees. cad then saw their faces. fit had been Margaret's face half-lifted in that happy smile beneath Philips beaming eyes. | should have been as happy as anything on earth could have made me. I shouid not have stopped to think of the sudden ness,I should have felt only it's natural ness. Now my heart turned cold to Alice and scorned Philip for the swift succumb. ing of soul to sense, for would not see not then-that 1t was love, not even while. Joheatn tue tumuft or my feelings, there was the conyiction of Philips nobility. and the innocence of all fickleness toward Margaret.
 Who can sey what touch shall crumble the last outwork of the land of dreams and let love in to kiss the sleeping prince or princess there? If Margaret. coming so near to Philip in his best life, and draw. ing him 90 near to herself, had loved him cOnsciouslyl But it chanced, if you call It chance. that the prince, already trem- bling in his slumber under the felt glow of Margarets unseen love, opened sud 0eniy hls eyes, and, in the awakening, Philip saw the rese-fair face of &lice. and the glory of her golden hair upon his breast.
 With aching heart. hotIy blaming those two happy faces, yearning over my Marga- ret, returned to the parlor. The con servatory vas nearly dark, the candles had