The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1879-03-30


| know thu difference, she i5 such a visionary.
or COURSE under the oireuP. stances, ID Ia for
| tunate for her: one woults. want her head
turned for nothing, but. Al the same,
| creature with milk In her vittna Ia very pro-
voking. But Cecile -ah there Is a woman 10
her ilnger-tipsl Only make her madame In
inalauise. she will do credit 10 your choice"
nodded madame. wisely. MS eilo chartered
on.
AngeIigue meanwhile had stepped through
the window out upon the lawn, where she
went wandering among tho ptim garden beds,
touching the tallest flower heads Familiarity
as sho passed. ~ II IN friendly communion
with them. All ut once she stopped short,
| looking ~ flSeilyat a window above then,
With several quick nods stoopnd down and
began gathering here u blossom md there
spray. with which sho vanished, into the
| house. Madame De Varennes followed the
| direction Ut her nephsws glance, and smiled
"Ah, the coquettel you can guess where
those Howers are going, and for whose bene-
| Ill. by-and-by. That Is Cecile exactly. you
will see. But YOU must really reioin your
| friend now2 Well well. come back 10 dinner,
and DO sure You bring NJ. Ut Estgyan; he
comes Of u good stock. Tell him ! knew hs
uncle, the deputy, once, not SO long ago, paf'
They are not much ALIKE said Do Mar
| for silence
"Ln. ID, we will cure him Of the bad hablt
responded madame, with o laughing mol, ~
parting to mako her toilet, while De Marcaye
| passed out upon tho lawn again. from which
| the sunset light was fading rapidly, leaving n
| cold crude faint on the rainbow Hover beds
that had Haunted so gaudily half an hour be-
| fore.
| The young man walkod along with n slow
| and distracted step. He would perhaps have
| carried himself more consciously had he
known Of the bright eyes following his move
ments. Ceeile on learning his departure
| had rushed from her mirror to peep at this
unknown betrothed, with eyes full of wonder
lat h,.t
atrangeneas Of their relations, which seemed
| quito matter Of course to one OF her nation
atty. That two fortunes should be ailianced
before their respective owners had met or
that In order to preserve intact the dowry
| which will secure one sister u good marriage,
| tho other should be consigned to tho peaceful
shades of the clolster. was nothing surprising
| to n French mind Cecil's curiosity was of y
more universal kind. for, ~ girls nre sui
| girls even In France. she felt n natural IN
terrst III the looks and ways Of one who bad
become all important now. and she WAS In
manaeiy relieved 10 find That his bearing was
graceful and distinguished, and hiH hair ~
| the color sbe liked. Angeligue, looking shyly
over her shoulder, wondered why he walked
| 40 slowly and looked neither to the right nor
| left but or this she said not word 10 Cecile.
III whom slie stood too much In awe To risk
| taking tho Initiative.
Tho two sisters indeed were such only in
name so slight had been their acquaintance.
| There was neither sigterIy condolences nor
ayinpathy bet ween them--R fact duo not so
| much "a the three years differences In their
npcs as to tho lifelong differences In their des
| tnips IT, would have been otherwise. no
doubt If Angallaio had said final good-by
60 tho convent, and entered upon an existence
involving the same interests and pursuits ma
her sisters: but this was rather that good-hy
to the world authorized by tho singular GUS
tom which sends It's elect from their CloiSter
for one brief season Of pleasures tbencefOrth
10 be forbidden, like n SAVIOR of the wine one
mny not swallow Since few weeks would
exchange tho white muslins and Hover
wreaths Of the debufantf for the nun y straight
parb and VOL, II seemed perhaps hardly worth
Uecles while 10 commence that girish int-
macy which must die ON the threshold or the
convent cell.
SO. without word to each other on tho all
engrossing subject, the two girls turned away
from the window, Cecie back To the toilet
that was To dazzle two pairs Of eyes Mt din
nor. and Angclique to stifle the apathstic
Lii with caresses, until the completion Of her
sisters toilet should leave old Marthe free TO
attend TO the simpler robing Of "the little
ma IN selle."
DE Marcaye found ample opportunity to
| make his betrothed's acquaintance that
evening, as Madame De varennes devoted
| herself 10 the entertainment OF NJ st. Este
| van TOR the sake, perhaps, OF his uncle the
deputy" who had apparently been'a lover OF
mndame's In that by-Rone once OF which she
cherished u tender recollection. II 80, no had
| been but ONE OF many, for madame, besides
| her beauty, had had o dowry that more than
excused her want of birth, and made M. DE
Varennes, for ell his long line, estoem himself
| lucky to find favor with the daughter Of the
great manufacturer Martgny. 1t was
whispered that Dol. De Beaumont himself
| had not been insensible 10 the charms Of
| Therese Martigny before his marriage; but
1t any rate, when, years after, Madame De
yarreHncs, widowed and without children,
proposed TO take charge OF his motherlcss
/ j., IL LAT xt.II,
grace and beauty had completely captivated
| her, and to marry her to her nephew Castor
do Marcaye, no wounded vanity on the col
onel's part prevented his accepting the offer.
Her dowry, he knew, hardly warranted 40
brilliant match; and with Cecile well mar
ried and Angeique safe In convent, the old
soldier would feel relieved OF the sole solicI-
tudc that troubled his distant Algerian life.
Things certainly looked well for his peace OF
mind now, for here was the long afflanced
pair rapidly growing acquainted, while the
| little SDur Angelique In u brief season
would return to the convent to complete her
novitate with the final black vail Mean
time she sat opposite Nj. st. Estevan, listen
| Ing very dutifulIy to madames chattcring,
her head bent over her embroidery, and her
thoughts apparently as busy MS her fingers.
! Still, when handsome five-and twenty looks
| admirinRly at sixteen, one can hardly expect
the latter to remain wholly unconscious, so
no wonder IL mortified color flushed her
cheek when madame rose with very little
ceremony. exclaiming, But you have wasted
time enough on an old woman and q baby.
CASTOR exchange places with nj. st. Estevan
before we bore him quite TO death"
De Marcaye, deprived OF his seat beside
Cecile, as he turned round observed Ange-
lique's modification. "She is annoyed at the
change he thought; but he sat down be-
side her, as In duty bound, and talked on OF
one thing and another until the arrival OF the
tea-tray.
BY that time their acquaintance had made
considerable progress. Those demure eyes
had not been fastened to the embroidery pat
tern as with st. Estevan just now. But then
that was probably because he himself was
merely a commonplace brother-in-aw,
thought CASTOR, and bit his lip. For II SHur
Angelique, was. as madame said, a stock
| herself, she was not calculated to make
stocks of others. After the young men
had taken their leave that night, Gas
ton wondered II he ought not to tell st. Es-
tevan that she was destined for a conventual
life, but decided that his own observation
would teach him that, SO left the matter
where 1t was.
1 perhans however IL might have been as