The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1879-09-20
CHOICE FICTION.
THE WIFE'S DREAM.

y cosy, prettily furnished sitting room
singing birds in gilded cages, :: plump
Angera cat OH the velvet rug before the fire
Il wise-lookiug pug stretched lazily on tn
| flowing skirts of pretty woman's prett.
dress. Truly sweet, domestic picture
But stop! Surely that is frowa between
those rrettily arcied brov., and the full
swell Of the under lip is very like pout
And, as live, there are two great tears OIL
the long black lashes. And now she break
out into torrent of petulant, impatien
words:
1.-The same tiresome things day after da,
first breakfast, then kiss Charlie good 70
then directions to look for the Is o'clocL
dinner, and after that needle work-how
hate it.-or calls, made or received, in which
one is treated to u full account of Mrs
Blanks extravaganza, Of Miss Heniton'
tirtarions, of that horrid Col. St. Cyr, sc
awfully fast, my dear, and so distressinsly
good looking How tired | am of it all
And there is Charlie. Who would have
believed he could change SO in SO short a
time? He no longer cares for ball. theatre
or opera, but dons dressin: gown, smokin.
cap and slippers directly he has swallowe,
his dinner, light that horrid meerschaun,
and passes the evening behind newspaper
enveloped in smoke clouds. o dear. l wish
| had not been in quite such hurry to get
married. o! 60 away, Biou," and with
her slippcred foot she thrust. tho teasin
pug from her.
A rap at the door, and to her sharp ''Come
in servant appears, bearing 4 card
Madame looks, tiusheS, says " will be
down directly" and flies to her dressing
room, brushes her flushed cheeks with the
cooling. powder puff, pats the brown waves
of her hair with two pretty ,limpled hands,
chances at herself in the glass, smiles, and
descends to the drswing-room.
A tall, sentlemanly looking man rises and
comes toward AS she enters.
Mrs. Thornton"
That is all he says, but the tone and the
manner are most impressive, and thrills
through the heart OF the wife as Charles
words and tones used to before he took to
neslectins her for dressing gowns, sleepy
hollows and meerscl,aums.
Well, they talk of the weather, the last
new opera, etc. Commonplace subjects
enough But why should his eyes eau 50
hers to WAIVER and droop, glad to shelter
themselves behind the white lids? Why,
at parting, is the little white hand so hastily
Withdrawn from the close, warm pressure
Of his? Why, after he has gone docs she
gaze SO tenderly at the hand she had so
hastily withdrawn, raise it almost to her
lips, and then, suddenly let it drop at her
side? Why" can tell you that. She loves
her husband with her whole warm, passion
ate heart. And for 4 year and more she has
been living on husks. He considers his
whole duty done when the table is bounti-
fully supplied, the wife well dressed and he
does not waver in his allegiance TO her.
Possession has dilnmed the bright lustre Of
his love, and so the wife's heart is hungry
for it, and this old admirer, W hom she gladly
threw over for Charlie, is weirome To-day,
for the sake OF the ripple he makes on this
dead sea Incnotony, down which she is
slowly drifting. And his eye, cause hers to
throb, because there is love in the eyes and
tenderness in the hand pressure.
She does not care one iotA for this Ray
Remington. Still, she has hungered 40
long that this crust is not SO unpalat2ble to
her rs it would once have been. There. sir,
or madame, you have the explanation. As
for you, Mr.. Jones or Robinson, is there so
much difference between your conduct and
this Charles Thornton, of whom | write,
that you can afford to pass the lesson by, AS
not applicable to You? If so, Mrs. .Jonos
Or Robinson is to I've congrat ulated. She is
q happy woman, and God bless you, sir, SAL
|, and | wish there were more like you.
Now | am not going to make of this hand
some Ray bennington 4 tiend incarnatc.
No, he was simply what would he termed Il
genuinely good fellow. Which means he
was witty, generous, warm friend, no
body's enemy, and Il little, just Il little weak
and impusivc enough to follow up his own
desires and inclinations, reckoning little of
the cost or consequence TO himself "r others.
He had been very much in love with
pretty Mrs. Thornton before she became
Mrs. Thornton-when she was pretty Lon
Tremainc, and had asked her to change
bar that of ,ip,r Fat
pretty Miss Tremaine asvery much in love
with some one else, and few months
thereafter made herself and that other su-
prcmsly happy by going through certain
ceremony in Grace Church, re.plendent in
white satin and Brussels lace. And Ray
Relnnlingtcn. with dull. :nawing pain at
his heart, acted AS groomSman, and there
was not "a trenor in his voice, though the
brave face was quite colorlesr when he con-
graduated the bride and groom and wished
them bon voyage.
He had met Mrs Thornton several tim s
since her return from her tour, but never
alone, as to-day, and he found it danger
ou.ly sweet 10 sit there gazing into the
lovely eyes and at the dear tender little
mouth Of his early love.
But let us return to Mrs. Thornton. She
stands there, in the centre of that pretty
room, with a white face, and Il wild fright
cfleu IObA III INC SUCciY piNc thCii
bursts into passionate food;of tears, throws
herself on the nearest chair, drops her face
in her hands on the table before her. Five
-tcn-ffteen minutes pass. The sobs grow
fainter. At length silence reigns, save for
an occasional chirp from tho canaries and
the tickin. of the pretty French clock on
the mantel. 4 rap ut the door arouses her,
and James enters with Il cluster Of violets.
There is no card-nothing to tell from " HON
they came: but she knows only too well.-
In the dear old days, when she was Mis-,
Tremains, two such clusters were left every
,lay at her door, one bearing Ray Remming-
tons card and the other Charles Thornton S.
How long ago it seems, ond how changed
tho violets are! AS fragrant as o. oiu, and
AS quantity pretty, their dear little faces all
awry, but somehow they almost make her
cry. And she likens them to little, fearful
blue eyes, and kisses them tendrrly, pity
ingly, and then-thrusts them hurriedly
into the open drawer of the table, closes it,
and turns TO meet her husband, whose steT
had announced his coming.
A month later she is excessively provoked
at herself for thrusting the violets out oil
sight. Why did she do it? She could moi
have told You. Perhaps she felt inStinc
lively that her husband would hardly ap-
prove of her receiving even so tritling eff
AS a wee bunch of violets from his old rival
Ray Remington.
Well, the thing was DONE and there was
no help for it, Were she now to take them
from the drawer, Charlie would certainly
require an explanation rs to how they got
there, and surely it was n queer place 1T
which to put pretty, fresh flowers? Better
not say any thing about them. And should
she speak of Rays visit? Yes, she woulG
| surely tell th2t-but not now-after dinner
Charlie was always just trife impatient
croSs-whon he was hungry. She woulo
wait until after dinner. But before the dies
scrt was brought on, while she was eating
! her salad, her husband asked to be excused
"Thcre WAS n most interesting article II
the Ecening .Spoater OH the Chinese ques
ton, which he had commenced in the ON
nibus on his way home, and became deeply
| interested ill.,"
| And off he went, and when tho dainty
| cup cuStards, fragrant mocha and lusciou:
| fruit were brought in, there was trouble
some lump in the white throat and Il snSpi
cous moisture in the blue eyes of the wife
and tho cuStard was tritled with for mo
ment, and a spoonful or two of the moch;
swallowed, for were not the watchful eye'
Of "Jeemes" upon her: And then sh'
| FASTENED from the room, her mint fully
made up. She would GO to Charlie, tel
him everything-just how she missed thu
| old caresses and delicate little attentions
how lonesome it was to sit there, night afte
night, gazing at the back of his newspaper
or at the top of his sleek brown head, as i
peeped above the top of the paper. Sh
would tell him of Rays visit, and abou
the hidden flowers, and with this resolve il
her heart she opensd the door OF the sitting
room.
"Charle dcar,'-she would not give her
| self n moment for fear her courage nigh
fail" Charlie, dear, will you put your pa
per aside = moment? l want to tell yor
| something"