The interior journal. [volume] (Stanford, Ky.) 1872-1881, 1875-04-23

conversation with Mr. scrope in the
morning. She was even glad that
all around her looked so commonplace,
so poor-poorer and commoner than
ever tonight. And bitter feeling rose
in her heart and made her almost indig-
nant that some people should be 40 much
more favored in worldly point Of view
than others.
When she went to her room, instead of
undressing, she opened the window and
gazed out towards the yew-tree under
which she had parted with Mr.. Scropc,
and then suddenly untwisting her long
hair she turned to the looking-glass, not
with any feeling Of vanity, but in order
TO find what had so attracted him.
Il was more than a handsome face
that answered back her gaze, one which
showed an amount Of earnestness and in.
telligence not often met with. OF this
she was no Judge herself, neither Of the
continual change Of expression which
Mr.. Scrope had begun by curiously OBJ
serving, and ended by being thoroughly
interested in. lie was passing the long
vacation at shelford, reading and fishing,
and had made the acquaintance of
William Jervis on the banks Of the
river, and through him, whom IL was a
condecension on the part of Mr.. scrope
to notice, Of Alice herself
Alace perhaps understood the footing
on which they stood better than her
brother, and the innate pride in her
nature caused her to accept II with reser-
vations. She felt the gulf betwee nthem
and measured il by the worlds standard.
Therefore when Mr.. Scrope made his
somewhat startling offer, she, in spite of
her surprise, was not unprepared with her
answer
And now that she had given il, she
asked herself if she had done right.
Mr.. Scrope was an only son;
brilliant future was before him; a world
Of which she knew nothing was familiar
to him. Could she, who was accustomed
to the lttleness incident to circumstances
somewhat above actual poverty, move
with propriety in circles accustomed to
every luxury? Would his relatives, so
far above hers, accept her and her be-
longingsf She answered, "no." Mr..
Scrope had argued--what matter since it
rested with him to give her place and
position in the world as his wife ! But
that she knew would be a separation from
all his former associations, and her own
unfitness to move in her lovers sphere
would make her clog upon the life of
him to whom, before she knew it, she
had given her heart.
Such had been the train of argument
she had pursued, and she had struggled
free from the prospect open to her not
without pain, and had dismissed it as a
dream of beauty that had naught to do
with waking hours. And now
But it was over. The morning rose,
and she went about her tasks as usual,
perhaps even more energetically, since
she needed an outlet for her pent-up
feelings. Mingled with pain there came
sense of happiness in the knowledge of
Mr.. Scrope's love. To have possessed it
nay, perhaps to possess it still-carried
her into another world, in which, how
ever, she must always be alone, since all
that had passed must forever remain her
own special secret
Mr.. Scrope went abroad and after a
time he returned home to begin his
career.
Alice Jervis pursued her homely and |
monotonous life. She grew quieter and |
graver, and worked more diligently. |
She believed that she had decided .
rightly as regarded Mr.. Scrope's happi- /
ness, and the sacrifice she had made for
his sake made her feel that she had a .
right to be interested in him, and she .
lived in the excitement of seeing his |
name in the papers and in gaining every |
particular of him within her grasp. She .
smiled when she read his name among |
the presentations at court or noted his
presence at the court balls. At such |
times she looked down at the shabby |
dress and the poor appointments sur
rounding her, and wondered what sort of |
an appearance she would have made in |
other circumstances.
At length she saw another announce. |
ment. Mr.. Scrope was going to be mar
ried.
She turned pale, and put down the
paper.
And yet she had expected this an
nouncement-had looked for it day
after day. Nevertheless, she felt a
strange pang, which as long as he was
unmarried she had escaped.
Down by the river, where the water
flags hoisted their yellow standards .
among the reeds, and where the forget
me-nots blossomed along the banks, she
sauntered, listening to the murmuring
waters, whose burden was "past, past,
past" Even Rover appeared to under
stand it, for he looked up into her face
and whined.
The great gray bars Of clouds spread
across the setting sun and blotted out
the sunlight; but still Alice paced up
and down under the pollard-windows
until the evesing was far advanced.
Night was setting in around her; the
light and life was over. She had scarcely
realized until the present moment how
present Mr.. Scrope had been in her
every thought.
The morning after reading the news in
The papers another very startling piece
If information came to her
She was an heiress.