The Sunday herald. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1866-1887, 1880-06-27
GWENDoLIN TREVYLIAN.
ny otrpA

ny OttnA.
Her perfumcd yellow hair hung up by tn,
mirror while she sat in the fragrant hazr
that blew through the curtaincd lattice
waiting in the sweets of jasmine and hello
tropc. On the saffron maze of perfected
years she saw the dimly -limncd pictures o
lost opportunities for rosy SHINING, and
dreamed, as she scanned the lines in the
architecture of her life Of more than one
buried chance for transgression whose bridal
robes of pallid and half-iorgotten advantages
rustlcd in the low, musical airs of her
| memory.
Rising languidly from her chair she crossed
| the velvet floor tu n corner of her chamber
where her glossy coated horse stood patiently
champing bon-bons in his satn-lined stall OF
sandal wood. The noble brute turned, and i,
affectionately placing his high fore leg around
her waist, looked down in her laps-azui
eyes with that ineflable expression of ten
derness that only lies in the expression of a
horse.
eyes, Toto" sighed the young girl; I" the
esprit de corps may fail; but, carambo, have
| not thee 7 Thou vert my friend on the old
stone bridge at Florence, when the Marquis
came not, and even now hear the fall of
| thy hoofs that beat down the echoes Of
eighty centuries and made the shallow arches
ring as rang the sword against the diamond
studded breast of him of Buondemonte when
the Easter lilies of the Va d'Arno opened
their pale threats for his bridal blood.'
The strong nature of the horse, subducd
by the melancholy memories of that bitter
night beside the flashing Arno, melted in
a fiery blast at the young girls passionate
| utterance, and the sympathetic animal
clasped her more closely to his loving
breast.
Gwendolin Trcvylian had indeed suffered.
The aIotheosis of society she had lived So
cially, and though perhaps stern mothers OF
| the lower order had pointed her out to milk
sop sons as something to avoid, she crushed
above them in the chariot of her insoucance
and looked upon the world from out her
calm, pale eyes as plain upon which battles
were to be fought, but not battles of arms.
Bred in diplomacy she left the fierce whirl
of contcndings to those below her, while she
set up jobs on all on whom the wrath of her
passionate being might fall
In the vulgar language of the common
world, she may not have been good. But she
was sociable, and did as society demanded
notwithstanding that it might involve pccca-
dilloes from which the vulgar mind shrinks
AT Caprera there had been murmurings OF
eminently social proceedings, and at Pisa, too,
Wild narratives sprang from the mouths of
men and mingled with the airs that blow
swiftly down from the gray and tan of the
Apprentices. The church bells of Rome had
whispered her fame in their dusty belfries.
and Naples and Venice looked on her with
curious eyes as She toated on the Nesuvian
bay like cloud in the spring sky, or swept
the water streets like the down of the dande-
lion. The flashing sunbeams of many climes
had wintered in the fragrance of her golden
hair, and the clouds of disappointed hopes
lurked in the brows that shaded her lashes.
{" lie will come, Toto" and she, dsengag-
ing herself from the warm embrace of her
horse and crossing over to her Bengal tiger,
that slept in another corner of the apartment;
" and you, Fidelia, my brave mistress of the
stormy jungle, you know your part" The
graceful tiger snarled pleasantly at her mis-
tress and curved her claws. eyes, yes, !"
continued the girl, as she took down the
mystic masses of molten gold from the mir
ror, and with quick turn of her graceful
arms adjusted them TO her head; che will
come, and he will remember the night under
the Italian stars, when he let me wander
among the purple lilies by the Arno, waiting
in Indebtedness for the soft tones of his satin
voice. And he will face clouds darker than
the mountain storms he braved by the Dor
der, though the warning breeze blow soft
and fragrant and the lying love that wet his
lips down by the Florentine water side"
The drawing, negligent, and aristocraic
step of young man WHO approached the
door did not disturb the listless expression
Of the enraged beauty, and as he entered she
motioned him to seat.
And have you come, BERTHE % she in
CURED, hiding the spasmodc flash of the old
iovelight that, for moment shrouded her
eyes.
" have come, Gwcndolm," he responded,
| KISSING lar imnncsiyn
things Z"
. lndiilerently, Berthe" she answered,
with smile that mOmentarly cloaked her
fixed design. 81 have waited for You.
Twice waited by the Lion, in Venice; once
l wandered along the beach in the soft Nea-
politan dews, and once the waves of the
yellow Arno washed by Toto's hoofs, while
you came not. Yet had YOU asked me to
wait for you by the Pyramids, or on the Nor
wegian HeadlaHd, on which the sun sinks
not, had waited. Why came you not,
BERTHE ?"
Busy" replied the Young man, in the
soft, low, melting tones that only breeding
can bequeath.
The young girl arose and stood before him.
From her shoulder draped the ehostly man
ties of centuries OF brave ancestors. In her
eyes lurked the rage of catacombs full of
men who had died without winking.
Listen, BERTHE" she said in a voice of
suppressed passion "you have deceived
me; You make engagements with me hun
dreds of miles apart, and fail to come.
BERTHE, do you love me i''
The young man hcsitated.
Taking him by the arm the trembling girl
led him toward the stall in the corner.
Come and look at Toto," she said family,
casting glance at the tiger which followed
| ist,tt In,
"Stand there, BERTHE" and she placed him
some three feet behind the horse.
"Now, Toto, now!' she exclaimed, and with
roar of rage the horse shot out his hind
legs-hind legs that had descended through
years OF training, through generations OF
Arabian steeds. The deadly hoofs caught
tha young man in the stomach. He flew
backward to where the tiger stood with
widely-extended jaws.
AT the window the Young girl sat once
more looking into the tomb of her past but
no regret clouded the golden haze of the
memories. Up from the jasmine and hello
, tropes swept the summer perfume, bringing
to her, perhaps, some recollection of the val
, ley of neGamaron when the red lilies blushed
even deeper cardinal as she wandered
among them; bringing to her, perhaps, som,
, faint remembrance of the Red Lions eyes as
they gazed Pitifully into hers one dark Vene
tan night while she waited in a window
looking for the footsteps that made no mark
upon the marble quay; bringing to her, il
may he, reminisepEoe OF the shadows tina
Heated Ia her across the Bay of Naples, n,
its waters kissed her feet, aud murmureG
, consolation to her ears, tired of listening fol
the coming of him she loved.
Toto slept in his stall.
+ The tiger lay upon the Persian rug, Ia,
brave to express the pain within; ia, iher,
had been bad computation Of distances
and the horse lad kicked BERTHE half wa,
through the heroine of the Jungle brook
Ign Eagie.
h""g Words and Abundant Adjcctiycs
The authors English is not of the kin,
that suffers by an admixture of few Prencl
phrases. 1t is bad enough moi 10 admit o
being easily mads worse. She is one OF thos,
who delight in long words and an abundanc,
of adjeciives. She tells how a little cir
brought basket of peaches; she calls then
| 10. l....,. a Il