The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1878-10-05
woMANs VANITY.

musllnS 1oatlng Dou ler, anu DAINTY
mauve erection on her head, which pre-
sumably she calls q bonnet, know atonce
how it will be. And Of course the other
sex will range themselves on one side to a
man; that is also beyond question. As
she rises from her knees and takes her
little lavender-gloye hands from her face
and looks about her for a moment with 9
sweet, shy glance, she is simply bewitch'
ing; and l doubt If any male creature in
our musty little church pays proper atten'
ton to the responses for ten minutes after
ward. A new face is a great rarity with
us, and such a new face one might not see
more than once in adecade, so let US hope
we may be forgiven.
As l gaze at the delicate profile before
me, the coils OF golden hair, the complex
ion like the inside Of a sea-shett, the
slender, milk-white throat, and the long,
dark eye-lashes, which droop modestly
over the glorious gray eyes, shall l own
that I steal q glance Of disapproval ut
Mary Anne-my Mary Anne the partner
of my Joys and sorrows for twenty years,
and the mother OF my six children? Mary
! Anne's figure is somewhat overblown, her
hair Is tinged with gray, and the complex.
ion of her good.humored face Is slightly
rubicund. But she has been q good wife
TO me, and l feel, with n twinge of COM
Function, that I have no right to be crit.
cal. asI think OF a shining spot on the top
| OF nv own head, and OF q little box l re-
ceived from the dentist, only q month ago,
carefully secured from observation. But
as we emerge from church l draw myself
M and try 10 look my best rs We pass the
trailing mauve robes. Jack, one of our
six, stnmbles over the train, which gives
me an opportunity Of raising my hat and
apologizing for the brat's awkwardness;
and, [ am rewarded with sweet smile and
an upward glance out OF the great gray
eyes, which Is simply intoxicating. :.
1--WE must call on Mrs. 0gilvie at once"
I observed to Mary Anne as we proceed
across the fields on our homeward walk.
at is my duty as her landlord to find out
il she is comfortable; She is a lady-like
person." l continue, automatically, for
bearing 10 allude to the obvious beauty;
"and l dare say, my dear, you viii find
her an agreeable neighbor."
"Ladylike!" cries my vile, with a ring
OF indignation in her voice. u don't call
II lady-like to come TO q quiet country
church dressed as II she were going to o
flower show. Besides, she Is painted. A
color like that can't be natural. But You
men are all alike always taken with a lit
tie outside show and glitter"
"But, my dear" l demonstrated, per
haps she did not know how very countrlf:
ed and bucolic our congregation is; and !
really do think it will be very unneighbor.
" il we don't eau. 1t must be very duu
for her to know no one" ! ignore the
remark about the paint, but in my heart /
give the assertion an emphatic eontradie-
Mrs. Ogilyie has rented a small cottage
which I own in the west country village,
in which l am the principal doctor. She
Is the wife offs naval officer who is away
in a flying squadron, and had settled in
our sleepy little hamlet 10 live quietly dur
inc bis absence. All her references have
been found quite unexcepionable, and,
indeed. she il slightly known to the
Squire. as also her absent husband, "a
sn1endid fellow he Is" Mr.. Dillon tells
me: Stands six feet in his stockings, and
ia as handsome as Apollo. Indeed ! don't
believe that, for good looks, you could
find such another couple in England"
The following day Mary Anne, with but
little persuasion agrees to accompany me
IN the cottage and calls on Ars. Ogilvle.
She Il at home, and we are ushered into
the dawing-room, which we almost laipo
= ,6o1Rad IA II
Presently Mrs 0gilvie comes IN LOOK;
ing, II possible, even loyelier than she did
the day before. She is In o simple white
dress, with here and there q knot Of blue
ribbon about it; and she has o bit OF blue
also in her golden heir. Her manner Is as
charming as her looks; and as she thanks
INV wife with pleasant cordial words for
being the first OF her neighbors to take
COMPASSION on her Loneliness, l can see
that nv Mary Anne, whose heart IS as
large as her figure, basely deserts the
female faction and goes over to the enemy.
Mr.. Ogilyie is very young, still quite a
Girl. though she has been married three
years, she tells US.
ut is dreadful that Frank shonld have
to 90 away" she says, and the tears well
mn in her large gray eyes; that Is the
worst Of the service. See, here Is his pho
tocraph," lifting q case from the table
and handing Il to Mary Anne. SIS he not
handsome? -,
He Is most undoubtedly so, If the like
ness speakes truth, and we both say so.
Mary Anne, with the privilege Of her sex
and age, addinga word as to the beauty OF
the pair.
the smallest embarrassment; I'VE are al
ways called the handsome couple"
I suppose something OF my astonish-
ment expressed itself in my countenance;
for she smiles, and says: II am afraid
you think me very vain, but cannot help
knowing that l am g~ood.looking, any more
than ! can help being aware that my eyes
are gray, not black, and that my hair Is
golden. It is q gift from God like my
talent, a valuable one, too, l think it, and
/ own that l am proud OF II for my dear
Franks sake, who admires it so much
Yes, this is Mrs. 0gilvie's peculiarly;
as we afterward discover-an intense and
quite open admiration OF her own beauty.
At first every one Is astonished ut this
idiosvpcracy OF hers, but in . little while
ali come to laugh at it; there Is something
original and amusing about it; and in all
other ways she isso charming.
Ny wife, with whom she speedily be-
comes intimate, tells me that she Is sure
she values her beauty more Tor her hus-
hands sake than her own. "She evident
" adores him" said Mary Anne anc he
seems TO think so much OF Their sweet looks.
She says he fell in love with her at first
sight, before he Y spoketo her.
But Mrs. Ogilvie has many more attrac-
tons than are to be foundin her face. She
Is q highly-educated woman, q first:rate
musician, and . pleasant and intelligent
companion, and more than all, she has a
sWeet, loving disposition, and q true heart
Al me core Tor ali her little vanitieS She
Is very good to the poor in our village, and
often when ] am on my rounds l meet her
coming out OF someeottage with IN empty
basket in her hand, which was full when
she entered II.
In a quiet little neighborhood like ours
such q woman cannot failtO be an aequisi-