The Highland weekly news. [volume] (Hillsborough [Hillsboro], Highland County, Ohio) 1853-1886, 1879-01-30
OF DISCORD.
BY HELEN LUQUEER.

w new! Tobacco smoke, CARA. My
curtains are completely saturated" ," and
Aunt Alice Amesbury shook out her
immaculate window drapery with many
expressions of disgust.
at is Just Imagination, aunty," re-
turned her pretty niece, giancing up
from her embroidery" Mr. Paul Seldom
ALWAYS smokes on the balcony"
eyes, consequently the OdiOus smoke
is waited by the window drafts directly
into the parlor. For my part deeply
regret ever having taken gentlemen
boarders, hey are such upsetting Great
ures and make such a world Of work"
''It was your own proposition. aQnty.
If YOU will recOllect I was in favor Of
taking only ladies. But you said they
were never satisfied, were meddlesome,
and did not pay as well as gentlemen. "
'All very true" answered Aunt Alice,
with a little pink creeping into her
faded cheeks, "but, Clara, / did not
,,uspect you capable of getting up
irritation with one of the gentlemen"
Having been beaten in the argument,
she. womanlike shifted the subject in
hand into an entirely different channel,
dropping the old grievance fOI = new, as
if the much abused curtains were after
all only a secondary consideration.
Filtration, Aunt Alicep exclaimed
Clara, in wide eyed innocence, though
the very next moment they were yelled
in modest confusion, while the tell tale
color frightened the pretty face.
81 do not know what else you call 1t,
Clara. Paul Seldom has become your
almost shadow. If you practice, he is
leaning over the pianO-if you sit read
ing or sewing he is certain to be at your
feet or very near. You cannot even step
into the garden to gather a few flowers
but he is instantly there keeping you to
waste time by the hour"
'Now, aunty, you are not your dear,
old, kind self but Just a bit cross and
unjust" exclaimed her niece, with tears
in her blue eyes, and springing up she
threw her arms about her aunt, (who
was very energetieally dusting and
arranging the pretty little parlor,) there
by considerably mussing the cr1spness q
the morning wrapper, which like herself
was precise and immaculate upon most
occasions.
Though an unmarried maiden of mid
die age, Miss Alice Amesbury was not
in the least like the traditional spinster,
soured ana 6isagreeable. On the con-
rary she was gentle, kind and always
sweet tempered, and had thus retained
very much of her youthful bloom and
prettiness. She owned a lovely home
in one Of the suburban villages that
surround New York, and with her
orphaned niece as sole companion, lived
in calm independence until the hard
times reduced the income from the Rail
Road bonds she depended upon for sup
port. Then, as a last resort, she had
opened her quiet house 10 a couple Of
gentlemen boarders-a Iich bachelor, old
and gOuty, who always kept his own
room, and a young nephew who was his
devoted attendant and general business
agent, and IT, cause of much anxiety to
the watchful Miss Amesbury.
"There, there, Clara, you are wrink-
ling my dress. Sit down, child, and
listen to what have to say. Paul Seldom
S exactly what his uncle was at his age,
vain. selfish and exacting."
"Oh Aunt Alice, how can you know
ANYTHING of what his uncle was at his
7"The moment those SeIdons set their
feet in my house, 1 recognized the elder
as an old friend Of my youth-one 1 now
congratulate myself as having escaped
linking my fate with"
"Were you actually engaged to that
old bear of a fellow, auntyY
eyes" she sighed, with misty eyes,
"it was the one rose dream of my youth.
There was much of folly and sentiment
upon my part, jealousy and suspicion
and unkindness upon his. And-Weli,
Clara. I cannot dwell upon that portion
of nv life. But let me warn you, l will
never cCuntenanCe any engagement
between yourself and one Of the family
They are selfish, naughty and overbear-
ing"
"Have you any idea the uncle, Charles
Seldom, recognized you? questioned
Clara, ignoring the last remark Of her
aunt.
Ifeared so at first, but, ah! time has
changed me so much-sO many years
have passed, that it is quite impossible" 4"
The name Of AmesbJry, aunty, is an
uncommon one and I should think he
would recognize you by that"
'IIe may never have heard it since
coming here. MIR. Paul seemed to find
some difficulty in recOllecting it, calling
me 'Ainsley,' and almost everything else
that sounded like it. Then you know,
YOU only address me as Aunt Alice and
I requested him to call me Miss Alice
when he endeavored to get my name
correctly"
'rWhat a cute woman you are, aunty.
Woman's wit foreverI And as the gentle
man never sees you or hears your name
spoken, of course there is no danger of
his recOoniziDo Won"
It is said that woman can never keep
a love secret, and it was quite certain
pretty Miss Clara was rendered unhappy
by the possession of one, and upon the
first occasion she and the fascinating
Paul Seldom were alone she forced him
to share it with her.
They were as usual one morning in
the garden cutting flowers when ClaT
5hanced to pierce one of her dainty
fingers with a cruel thorn. Paul insisted
upon staunching the tiny drop of blood
with his handkerchief. and afterward
playfullv healed the wound with his lips.
"Ohl Oh! you must notw exclaimed