Louisiana capitolian., 1879-06-28

was. " nephew inlRnt De less SUP
missive than Nathalie, therefore he
never failed to discover some decided
faults in each Of those who sought au
alliance with the pretty widow.
Beside his egotism and his epicir-
ism, the dear uncle had another weak,
ness; IL was q passion for backga'n.
mon but he WIS often annoyed Ut
the. difficulty Of finding one to play
with. II by accident any Of their
visitors understood II, there was no
escape from q long siege with the old
gentleman but most people preferred
cards.
Things were At this crisis when one
evening at u ball, Nathalie was intro
duced to NJ. d'Aprcmont, o captain in
the navy. She raised her eyes, ex-
pecting to see " great sailor with a
wooden leg and a bandage over one
eye, when, to her surprise, she beAeh'
u man Of about thirty, tall and finely
formed with two legs and two arms.
Armand d'Apremont had entered the
navy at nm early age, and, although
still young had arrived at the dignity
Of o captain. He had amassed a for
tune IN addition to his patrimonial
estates, and had now come home to
rest after his labors. As yet, he was
a single man, and, moreover, had al
ways laughed at love. But when he
saw Nathalie, for once his interest
was aroused. IS
who is that pretty woman who
dances so well = he inquired.
THAT is Madame dc Hauteville. Is
she not handsome ? It
'Oh, yes, she Is appears perfect
Yes, and the graces Of her mind
equal those of her person. Ask her
to dance the next set, and you will
find that | am right Il
'Ah! but ] do not dance and for
the first time in his life he regretted
he had never learned to dance. But
he kept his eyes constantly fixed on
the lady. Nathalie perceived this,
although she pretended to take no
notice Of him. a
What fun it wouf be- thought
she, TO make that nan whom they
any scarce ever speaks to II lady, fall
iu love with me- Y
But q few weeks p'fssed when his
attentions to the youig widow be-
came subject of general remark, and
several Of his friends ufid to d'Apre-
mont:
Take care. Madame tic Hnuteville
is q coquette. She will 'tnuse herself
with you for q while arid then cast
you Off
At last the report Of Nathalie's new
conquest reached the emf Of uncle,
and one evening when she mentioned
to him that she expected the captain
to spend the evening with her, the
old man grew almost angry, and ex.
claimed, rather hastily:
Nathalie, you act entirely without
consulting me. Ihave heard the cap
tain is very rude and unpublished in
his manners. 70 he sue | have only
seen him standing behind your chair,
but he has never even asked after my
health. OF course, ! only speak for
your interest, MS you are so thought-
less .
This amiable niece Immediately
begged his pardon for her inconsider-
ateness in acting on her own respon-
sibility, and even offered not to
receive the captains visit if he SO
desired it; but this he wisely forebore
to require, secretly resolving, how
ever, not to allow his visits to become
too frequent. But how frail are all
human resolutions overturned by
the merest trihc! In this case the
game of backgammon was the nncon-
scious cause of Nathalie becoming
Madame d'Apremont.
The captain was an excellent hand
at backgammon. When d'Ablain-
court heard this, he proposed game,
and, understanding how important
it was to gain the uncle's favor, he
readily acceded. This did not please
Nathalie, as she preferred he should
be occupied with herself. So when
the guests had dispersed she turned
to her uncle, saying,
'You were right, dear uncle, after
all. | do not admire the captains
manners, and see now that should
not have invited him.
'On the contrary, niece, find that
he is a very well behaved man.
have invited him to come here very
often and play backgammon with me
that is, mean to pay his addresses
to you.'
An idea dawned upon her mind
She saw that he had found the way