The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1881-09-03
HILARIE GRAEME.

l.
her, under one of the grand old trees
skirting the grounds of Beech Hall, the
home of my fair fiancee, Clara Beres-
ford, to visit whom happy comming-
ling of duty and pleasure had lured me
from town this fair June morning
Glare had duly informed me of the in
stallation of her orphan cousin Hilarie
as a member of the family and de-
pendent upon Mr.. Beresford s bounty,
and had also described her as an " un-
interesting, odd-tempered girl of sew
enteen."
"Odd-tempered'' she might be. Ide-
decided, noting the naughty curve of
the slender white throat, the stern, set
expression of the delicate red lips, and
the brooding passion in the large dusky
eyes of the tall girl under the beeches,
but uninterestingr' Scarcely, my
dear Clare.
A shaft of golden sunlight through
the branches above illumined an untidy
wealth of ripping brown hair, caressed
slender, hstless hands, from which had
evidently slipped to her tiny feet the
large sun-hat she was too careless or
too idle to wear. and the immature
beauty of the proud young face, the
willowy grace of the slender figure in
its dingy gray gown, destitute of bow
or frill or any of the usual feminine
adornments, interested me strangely.
Still leaning against the tree, she
lazily watched my approach, apparent
ly expecting me to pass on to the hall
without bestowing more than passing
glance upon herself; but, determined to
speak with her, l made a short detour
from the path, and, more amused than
disconnected by the expression of
mingled curiosity and defiance which
quickly overspread her features, | said,
with the utmost gallantry at my COM
mand:
Pardon me, but can you inform me
if any of the family are at the Hall to-
day. am not expected, and all seems
unusually still.'
Nevertheless, Mr.. and Mrs. Beres-
ford and Clare are all within, and,
though not expected, Mr.. Forester is
sure to be welcome guest" .lt.t
=" You have guessed my NAME" re-
piled, smiling. ''What if l return the
compliment to Miss Hilarie Graeme?
You see have heard of you, too"
"Of course, you would hear of the
Beresford's bette moir," she said-oh, 80
bitterly.
May" protested, "no such epithet
has been assigned you, Miss Graeme,
believe me-"
"Not exactly that, perhaps, but suffi-
Gent to let you know that l at least am
not welcome here"
For moment Clare's expressions.
embarrassing and "odd-tempered. :"
fitted before me, but when | would
have spoken Hilarie stopped me with a
passionate gesture OF disdain, saying:
"Spare your words, Mr.. Forester;
your face tells me enough. o, why,
why did l come here?" And, to my
establishment and dismay, she burst in
to a passionate invective against the
misery OF her dependent position and
the GOODNESS and unkindness of her rela-
tives, breaking down at last into a
paroxysm of bitter tears. .t.s..
With mans utter abomination there
of, did my best to calm the tempest
had unconsciously raised, and was un-
speakably relieved when at last she
dried her tear stained cheeks and said.
brokenly:
Forgive me; you must think very
badly of me, Mr.. Forester, but will
go away. l was never very good, but
now l am growing hard and bad. and
am so wretched that in time shall be-
come a hateful, wicked girl. will not
stay here" KIM. .
A great pity arose within me for this
lonely, high-spirited creature, little
more than child in years, and, taking
one of the nervous little hands in mine,
reasoned with her kindly but earnest
ly upon the folly OF the course she would
pursue, pointing out ways and means
for making her present life at least
more endurable; and, inquiring deeper
into her manner of occupying the long
hours she spent alone, found, as
suspected, that she passed them chiefly
in desutory rambles about the Hall
grounds and the neighboring country,
all the while brooding darkly over her
uncongenial surroundings, while she
had utterly neglected tastes and pur-