Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1878-03-14
LANCASTER. WISCONSIN, THURSDAY. MARCH a, 1878.

carry his flowers but mel! and with
heightened color Miss Arundel passed
into the hands of her hair dresser.
| Very lovely, indeed, she looked as
she stood, en- costume, waiting for
Helen. The antique court dress and
! powdered hair became her well. Hers
was that rare and peculiar beauty,
Blonde dur geur aoirs , rare, and yet
so thoroughly bewilching.
| Fortunately, when Capt. Wester
welt entered, Helen and she had Jus.
tied on their masks, and, fearful of
close a tioning, the girls hurried the
gentlemen out into the carriages.
Now, in one part of their grand plan,
they had totally forgotten to bind
BERTHE over to keep silence; and as
Nina's hand lay against the dark
cushions of the carriage, the quick
sighted fellow caught a glimpse of
her well known seal-ring. The clue
once given, he easily detected her
disguised voice; and as she drew on
her gloves and hid the tell-tale ring,
Mr.. Berries handsome eyes danced
with mlrthful mischief, and he whis-
tied softly to himself Ha checkmate!
| Mrs. Seymour's elegant house pre-
sented lively and grotcsque appear
ance as the quartette came down
stairs. Cpat. Westervelt, as the Earl
OF Leicester, fairly blazed with jewels;
and Helen Stanley, Drumming with
fun and mischief, enjoyed intensely
the deception she was playing. The
trlcksy sprite very nearly laughed out
right as she thought,
'Good heavens! if he should 90
and make love to her tor Nina Z
However, after To third dance, the
gallant captain relieved her of further
anxiety by departing sto find Miss
Stanley Truth to tell, Helen was
rather glad to have him go, being
seized with frantic desire to 60 and
torment Larry Graham, whom she
had just discovered in the crowd.
Miss Arundel had been dancing. and
was In the midst of an animated con-
versatlon, when voice behind her
said,
lNodam'e Ia Marquise
Had not the mask been kind friend,
he might have seen the girl grow pale;
but she only said laughing sentence
in French. to sustain her part, as she
took his arm.
Come, Mss Helen, said he, lightly,
you and l have chat in the conserv-
atory.'
"A Irritation, Capt. Westervelt, 1fe
What will numerous dowagers say to
all that ? said Nina, assuming Hell
ems very gesture so we'll that she
was surprised at herself.
you and | are past flirting, are we
not !? Now If it were your friend
there, Miss Arundel = and, despite her
mask, Nina felt the keen glance that
seemed to look her through.
Well What if it were p she an
swered, inditferently. Nina under.
stands herself about as well as anv
girl know
Are you quite sure of that? II
sometimes doubt whether she is not
an enigma to herself Do help me to
read little Of what she keeps so care
fully concealed
Here was a pleasant situation! To
sustain Helen's usual style, Nina knew
she must be enthusiastic in her own
praises and then if, some day, he
should find her out! Besides. she
really wanted to make her apology.
and here was fitting opportunity.
All this, and much more, flew through |
her brain as she answered,
'An exposition of Nina? Now
that's a modest request. Talk about
woman's curiosity. Experience has |
taught me that mems is infinitely |
more keen when once reused. AS for |
Nina, she is warm-hearted and affec |
Tomato, proud to fault, and too self |
possessed for her own peace of mind /;
and an unconscious sigh just reached |
the ears of the listner.
Miss Arundel and | have had |
some pretty keen encounters, and / |
find | always have to stand en- garde
with her. I'll own to you, Miss Helen,
that have tried for some time to |
find weak place in the armor. l |
think we now may do some execution,
with the small sword, in rough, |
brutal sort of way but for those
keen thrusts, under the guard, that
drain your life-blood before you know
you're hit-commend me to woman;
or rather, give her name, and cali
her Miss Arundel I
She was cut to the very quick and
in the dim, soft light of the conserva-
tory, he saw her hand tremble as she
raised it to her mask.
Stop, Capt. Westervelt,' she said.
with half sob, as she lifted her pale
face toward him, 'let me end this
very senseless deception by making
you necessary apology for a most
uncalled-for and unlady-like remark,
the last time we met I was Uerg
wrong;' and, for the first time, Cecil |
Westervelt saw the proud eyes droop
before his own. She looked at him as
she made her little speech, and ex.
pected to see, at least, flash of sur
prise as she raised her mask Rnt
she did not yet know the cool cap
tain'-he was as coldly impossible as
ever.
DO not say more,' he said, veryI
gently. 4 hardly thought you could
have intended the full bitterness of
your tone and words. Would you
mind very much telling me what
prompted you to say such thing p
j think it was-pique, perbaps,'
she said, slowly, not looking at him
as she spoke.
'Pique p in tone Of undisguised |
surprise. what had 1 done p Was
it offence at any previous remark p
She hesitated. How could she
tell him that his constant illusions
to Helen had annoyed her beyond
bearing2 No, anything rather than
have him think that; so she said
rather proudly,
Il do not esteem that perfectly
fair question:
His eyes fairly lit up; he bent
over her and whispered,