The Cincinnati daily star. [volume] ([Cincinnati, Ohio]) 1875-1880, 1879-05-05

my pdi dituOA uauShUNit VI NY OAAS SAA'~5
in fact"
Armstrong" said Mr.. Seaford, rather
crestfallen, al give you my word l
l thought you were in love with the girl,
from what you said of her when l saw
you last; but that isn't the worst of it, |
told her so to-day. Now don't look so
shocked. / was, when l saw how utterly
miserable and despairing she seemed, and
| told her this to comfort her, she seemed
so much afraid of being alone"
GLOW dreadfulP Mr.. Armstrong said.
II will see Thalia at once" suggested
Mr. Seaford, "and set her right upon the
subject"
'Pray don'tp exclaimed his partner;
~ will myself speak to her, and wound
her feelings as little as possible"
GAS you will" said Mr.. Seaford, with
an injured air. 81 am obliged to 60 out
for couple of hours on business and
will send word to Thalia at once OF your
arrival"
Mr.. Armstrong walked up and down
the luxurious drawing-room in anxious
thought, knitting his brows, and dread
ing to meet the girl who had been so i'm
posed upon, and who, no doubt, would
rush into his arms at sight. Then he
felt rather than heard, some one ap-
proach, and, turning, saw, not the bright
little butterfly he remembered so well as
his partners daughter, but a slender
girl in deep black, with a pallid face,
eyes and eyelids red with weeping, her
hair in heavy but ungraceful coil upon
the top of her head, the only beauty now
apparent in her sorrowful face being the
mouth, which was womanly and sweet
She looked very much frightened as she
put out one slim little white hand to
him in silence; and as he took it in his
own his annoyance vanished, he onl y re-
membered her sorrow. He led her to a
seat, and gently told her how much he SYM
pathized with her in her bereavement,
and then, before aware of it, she was
pouring out her sorrows in his ear, as she
had always done with her father, and he
was comforting her with soothing words.
He was deeply touched by her grief, her
feeling of utter desolation, and he quick
ly resolved he would not disabuse her
mind of the idea that he had long re-
garded her with tenderness. One of
them must suffer, evidently; would it
not be more honorable for him to take
the consequence of Mr.. Seaford's mis-
take than to throw the burthen upon
this helpless child? Perhaps she really
did not love him, but she trusted him.
certainly, and he would not prove un'
worthy of this trust. Others had mar
ried, without especial love, for wealth
he knew some such marriages, and they
had not proved unhappy. Would it not
be more honorable to marry lonely cir
through sympathy? And then, his pur
pose formed, he asked her to be his wife
81 do not understand" she said
thoughtfully, in answer, "why you
should care for one who is SO helpless
and lonely and afflicted"
"My child" he answered, of you had
hosts Of friends, and were happy,
might, perhaps, feel less tenderness fol
YOU than | do now"
"For myself" she said, 81 want to tel
you that | do not know you well enougl
to love you as / suppose | ought, but
care lOl hu OlIc SiHtj anu ItSpStU am
honor and trust you so fully | am yer,
sure l shall grow to love you dearly, b.
and by"
What could he do? She seemed s.
sincere IN all she said, so devoid of al
atfectation or pretense, he felt strang
. tenderness in his heart toward her al
ready lie stopped and kissed her un
steady lips, and drew her closer to him
, and 50 they sat for long time; she witt
a serious face and dOwncast eyes, check
ing occasionally a sigh, feeling bot
comforted and troubled; and he, strokin
, her hair gently with his disengagcd hanC
, and wondering that he felt no regret fo
what he had done. When she rose a
, last, for the knot Of hair upon the top o
her head had fallen down in a brgh
J mass about her shoulders and waist, sh
F explained to him simply that her mai,
: was gone and she had been too muc
? troubled to try and arrange her hair.
+ b. "But if you will excuse me for a fe'
: moments" she said, 81 will make myseI
+ more presentable. | forgot, until nov
how untidy must appear"
+ She was gone long time, it seemed t
him. and he smiled as he thought no
- anxious he was for her reappearanc
. when he so dreaded to meet her only tw
" hours before. When she did come 81
q looked altogether changed. Her ey'
e were brighter, her whole face more hop
h full in expression, her hair braided an
Il loo ed at the back leaving on y fc
short rings over her forehead. The
~ was certain shyness in her mann
e which was not unbecoming, and NJ
- Armstrong wondered how he could ha,
p thought her otherwise than pretty. NJ
,s Seaford returned to dine with them, al
ia Mr.. Armstrong, excu5ing himself to TIL
" LA, explained in an aside to him the trl
- state of the case, and charging him
n keep what had passed between them du
10 ing their first interview secret. TT
" promise was readily given, for Mr.. S.
, ford was highly delighted at the tu
/. affairs had taken.
f. Mr.. Armstrong sent on for his moth
10 to come and remain with Thalia un
Il their marriage should take place. F
,e himself he took rooms in hotel net
r. spending all his evenings in Thalia's col
10 pany, and it was not long before the me
Is casual observer could see he was We
g much in love with her indeed, while s
or received his devotion in a manner viii
ID plainly attested the fact that it was
ID from disagreeabIe to her. He purchas
n the house and her fathers interest in t
OF business, taking charge of everything
10 his own careful way; and when it "
d. running smoothly once more, and all "
to settled, they were married.
r. Six months passed away, and Mr.. s.