The Cincinnati daily star. [volume] ([Cincinnati, Ohio]) 1875-1880, 1880-02-28
LADY ADELAIDE.
ASTUDY.
BY L. B. wALFORD,

"A PART OF HIS LIFE"
'Dearls Did you reallyf How clev-
erw
II can put up with everything about
her, but that How cleverr" cried Eliz-
abeth, when the lady had departed. at
always comes out in the same tone,
and with the same emphasis. Whatever
one does-if it be but the veriest trihe,-
something that even Lady Adelaide
could accomplish without too much
trouble-it is sure to obtain that all
embracing epithet. / do not think her
vocabulary could supply any other mote
of admiration. She never rises above it,
and never falls below. When she heard
thN Captain Webb had swan across the
Channel, and that / had worked
chrochet anti-macassar, she said Of us
both, How cleverP"
Her friend laughed. rs44r
"Is it not provoking, Amer
"Provoking2 Perhaps; if it were
worth being provoked about"
"You think it il. not? But you don't
know till you've been tried. 1had rath-
er endure one good sword-cut and have
done with it, than be the victim of
Thousand lancet-pricks. How often did
you hear that little soft ejaculation in
the course of the last half-hour? Be on
your honor, Anne" .....-.
Whore than once, l confess"
"And you had noticed itT'
eyes, had"
swell, was it not, as i said, called forth
oy great and small, something's and moth
ings, alike? Was it not most absurd
comment. most promiscuously applied,
by most stupid woman? Come, Anne,
join me; it will do you good-or, if not,
it will do me good to hear it. Say what
you think, you prudent Anne; confess,
break forth, you fountain of wisdom, and
overflow your banks like Jordan! You
had noticed it. you had felt it all the
time, and yet you knit your eyebrows,
you shake your head. Oh, I fear you
not; I shall say my say, and moan my
moan, and none shall stop me. See, l
am Hhe better for it already! have not
upon my word, l have not feltso char
itably disposed towards the poor dear
lady for long time"
Anne, smiling "That does you credit,
surely. The prick of pin srirs up this
tempest, and the tempest subsidies with
the same show of reason wherewith it
arose. A storm in tea-cup, Lizzie.
Much ado about"
''Not nothing-not nothing, you tire
some creature! You will not surely pre-
tend to declare that it is nothing?
"You will not surely venture to affirm
that it is somethingf
T affirm it, and maintain it, Anne"
"Then you are ittle--foolish, dear"
"And you are igreat deal-exasper-
ating, darling"
Anne smiles, Elizabeth laughs The
door opens, and the footman, with un-
certain, bewildered, steps, approaches the
upper end Of the room.
"My lady's gloves, ma'am. Under the
sofa, or on the mantel-piece, or on the
floor"
"Look on the piano, William"
On the piano the gloves are discov-
cred, and carried off, doubled up on q
salver.
.Now it will be, 'How cleverp to have
found them so quicklyl and with more
grounds for saying so than usual" con.
tinues Mrs. Tresham, with a curled lip.
"AnneS you might have pity on me.
What may be amusing in friend, is
torture from relation. If Lady Ade-
laide could only be metamorphosed into
an ordinary acquaintance--a neighbor
even, though not too near at hand-how
joyfully would ! engage her in converse
tion, nor dream of attempting to clear 8
single ,aa1)Eeb off her brainsl"
"You would simply despise her worse
than eyer"
"No, no. no; at least, I think not"
"You would"
"And have you no compassion? Yet
I would grieve from my heart if yor
should ever have the misfortune to bt
tackled on to a--Lady Adelaide. Wha
can say moref Yet defy you, ever
you, my mentor, to twist anything un
dttifu or disrespectful out Of such {
a tame conclusion, such paltty eli
. max
Anne, gravely-'she is a very kind
hearted woman"
$50 she Il"
"And you have. no fault to find with
her, except that she calls you clever"d
"Clevar, not clever. You missed the
accent, DEAR"
'1s that her only faultw perseverel
Anne.
"Huml / did not say 60; / did moi
g6 so far az that Her only great fault
perhaps; her only perpetual, ever recur
fling fault"
"She has no other that you can notcon
donew e
"Is@s6t that one enough? ! begar
years ago by being called clever child
then was clever girl, and now I am 8
clever woman. / was tired Of the wore
before I had ever seen Lady Adelaide
now ! am perfectly sick of it."
"After all, Lizzie, what . baby yol
GA baby II you like. I have no oh
lection at all to being called a baby
Nice. little. soft, fluffy things, made I,