The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1878-08-28

She gave'him a wild glance, and the
blood rushed to her brow. Aunt Sophia,
in a fresh cap with lavender bows, had
to come to the rescue, and tapped him
on the arm warningly.
"Hush Did you not know? Anne
has been a widow for two years, and @
better husband than the Judge never
lived" she whispered, as they went in tc
dinner.
It would be impossible to describe
Mr.. Chambers emotions while he ate his
soup, these words ringing in his ears
Anne o widow Why had he not known
the truth before? Who was to inform
him? He looked severely at her pre-
siding wei the pretty table, with its
flowers and fruits and silver, in her robes
of pink and gray. These were he1
widows weeds, then Anne looked
back at him with a warning flash OF def:
ance or indignation in her beautiful
eyes.
"She is right" he thought, with a
sigh of deep dependency.
Aunt Sophia was delighted with him,
because he proved such an excellent
listener. She had seldom met a more
interesting man, she afterward affirmed,
although be had scarcely opened his lips.
When the meal was concluded she was
quite hoarse, and discreetly withdrew to
O comfortable armchair, the Persian cat
on her knee, while Anne and Paul Cham
bers occupied the window, and watched
the twilight deepen over the city.
Aunt Sophia, with the philosophy
peculiar to middle age and a good dl-
gestion, after dinner, fell into reverie.
Her page in the great volume of expert
ence read thus:
Her nephew, the mature and wealthy
Judge Moore, had fallen in love with q
mere schoolgirl, Anne Horton, and
married her for his second wife. Aunt
Sophia was not surprised the extra
ordinary ways of men never surprised
her. The schoolgirl was docile enough;
a trihe pale and l~istless, perhaps, and
willing that Aunt Sophia should man
age the household in that old-fashioned
| homestead of the country town, famous
for it's hospitality and the historical
characters once sheltered beneath its
roof. The schoolgirl Anne had made
a very great match, and was the envy
of all the country round, where ambi-
ton lurked in the feminine breast to
handle the old china of the grand pan
try. locked most of the year, and drive
out behind those fat gray horses in the
family carriage, slow and ponderous, If
reliable, like the Judge himself. Posi-
bly, Aunt Sophia, by guarding her
nephew from these ambitious ones in
sighting their invitation to tea, was I'M
prepared for his being taken captive by
a slim maiden in q straw bonnet, who
showed a marked aversion to looking at
him. The secret of Anne's subtle in
Auence over her husband remained m
unsolved riddle to Aunt Sophia. Sit
ting in a Florence saloon after dinner,
with q Persian cat on her knee, she re-
called another scene intimately connect
ed with her Own transportation. The
awful day when Judge Moore had been
brought home from the courthouse,
smitten with the apople1y on the bench,
had passed with the summer heat. Now
late autumn had succeeded, the sombre
skies promising snow, and the woods,
sere and brown, carpeted with fallen
leaves. Aunt Sophia had caught the
pretty widow seated before q mirror,
and accepted it as a good omen. The
face reflected in the mirror was pale
with much weeping and painful thought,
vet dimples lurkedcin the fair cheek and
rounded chin. The lines of woe were
rendered more prominent by a widows
cap and the sable garments in keeping
with the silence OF the old house, stand
ing remote from the village street in
the seclusion of a garden. The public
had been surprised by the overwhelm-
ing grief of Anne Moore at the death
of her husband. To be sure, the bar
and the country had sustained an ire
parable loss in his demise, according to
the obituary notices in the county
papers, yet everybody knew that Anne
had only married him for his money.
The town was not to lie cheated on this
point. Well, she had obtained her end,
and there was no use in crying her eyes
out, since the judge was ripe in years,
after all, and had left her all his world
ly possessions. Deaf to this advice, the
widow shut herself mp in the old house,
and pined with a grief too sincere to adj
NIT OF incredulity. The key to this sor.
row was emorse She had not loved
her husband, and had married him as
the only venue leading to independ-
ence.
Aunt Sophia had said, behind the mir
ror: my dear, the new minister has
arrived"
"Ah |" was the apathetic reioiner.
"Yes, and I wish you would try to
interest yourself in the fair for the town
hall fund"
ooh, aunt, I can not |" and the widow
had begun to sob, the human instru-
ment being so sadly out of tune.
The older woman had folded her
hands, and said, decisively: canine,
you must go away"
"Where ?" with a faint CLEAN of curl
osity. .
"To Europe, perhaps" And Aunt
Sophia studied maps with a zeal after
ward.
She had achieved every thing, and
might be permitted to repose now in an
armchair, with q Persian cat on her
knee.
The couple in the window also turned
their leaves of experience in the silence
which had succeeded a rush of words,
the cold constraint of mutual misunder-
standing, and this Stiffness melted the
barrier Of estrangement far more effect.
ually than explanation. Anne's leaf was
a closed page to excellent Aunt Sophia;
in turn that of Paul Chambers had been
by her unread all these years. Anne
beteld IN a dream her own youth again.
There was the young ladies' seminary,
presided over by Miss Crimp with prim
gentility-a structure whose very walls
vibrated with the jangle of many pianos.
Who 80 affable to parents and guardians
as Miss Crimp, and who 30 t%yrannical to
young Anne, assistant teacher, homeless
and friendless, gaining her own education
at odd moments ? Those were dreary days
in the tread-mill. Paul Chambers had
made all the sunshine. He was the
drawing-master, with slender purse; yet
when the roses bloomed there were al
ways fresh buds for Anne's brown bair.
Judge Moore, portly, digniied, and
rich, was observed to study attentively
the seminary pews in church. Miss
Crimp bridled complacently, and Paul
Chambers suddenly departed. Then
the Judge astounded his world by max
ing Anne an offer of marriage. How
acrimonious had Miss Crimp then be-