The Hickman courier. [volume] (Hickman, Ky.) 1859-current, 1881-09-23
HILARIE GRAEME.

She was standing, when / first saw
her, under one of the grand old trees
slirting the grounds of Beech Hall, the
home of my fair lidaces Glare Beresford,
TO visit whom a happy commingling of
duty and pleasure had lured me from
town this fair June morning. Glare had
duly informed me of the installation of
her orphan cousin Hilarie as member
If the family and dependent upon Mr.
Beresford's bounty, and had also de-
scribed her as an suninteresting, odd
tempered girl of seventeen"
Odd-tempered," she might be, l
decided, noting the naughty curve OF the
slender white throat, the stern, set ex-
preston of the delicate red lips, and the
brooding passion in she large, dusky
eyes of the tall girl under the beeches,
but uninteresting :" Scarcely, my
dear Glare.
A shaft of golden sunlight through
the branches above illumined an untidy
wealth of rippling brown hair. caressed
slender, listless 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 grown, destitute Of bow or frill or
any of the usual feminine adornments,
interested me strangely
Still leaning against the tree, she
Iazily watched my approach, apparently
expecting me TO pass on to the hall
without heatoyxlIlg uAnEe than .. fsssastsk1s,
Rlsrnc.s opon herself. but, determined to
speak with her, i made n 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 Mt my command;
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 Glare are all within, and,
though not expected, Mr.. Forester is
sure to be a welcome guest"
You have guessed my name" L re-
piled, smiling. "What if / return the
compliment to Miss Hilarie Graeme {?
You see l have heard of you too"
"Of course you would hear of the
Beresfords' bete noir," she said-oh, so
bitterly.
Nay" protested, "no such epithet
has been assigned you, Miss Graeme, be-
ieve me-"
mot exactly that, perhaps, but
sufficient to let Won know that / at least
am not welcome here"
For a moment Clare's expressions.
uninteresting and "odd-tempered," ="
fitted before me, but when | would have
spoken, Hilarie stopped me with pas
sionate gesture of disdain. saying:
"Spare your words, Mr.. Forester !:
your face tells me enough. Oh, why,
why did come here?" And, to my as
tonishment and dismay, she burst into a
passionate invective against the misery
of her dependent position and the cold
ness and unkindness of her relatives,
breaking down at last in paroxysm of
bitter tears.
With aman sutter abomination thereof,
l did my best to calm the tempest l had
unconsciously raised, and was unspealt-
ably relieved when Mt last she dried ter
tear-stained cheeks and said, brokenly ::
Forgive me YOU may think very
badly of me, Mr.. Forester, but 1 will
go away. i was never very good, but
now, am growing hard and bad, and
nun SO wretched that in time / shall be-
come hateful, wicked girl. will not
stay here"
A great pity arose within me for this
lonely, high spirited creature, little more
than a child in years, and, taking one OF
the nervous little hands in mine. /
reasoned with her kindly, but earnestly,
upon the folly of the course she would
pursue, pointing out ways and means for
making her present life at least more en-
durable; and on inquiriDg deeper into
her manner OF occupying the long hours
she spent alone, I found, as / suspected,
she had passed them chiefly In desultory
rambles about the hall grounds and the
heighboring country, all the while brood
ing darkly over her uncongenial sur
-onndings. while she had utterly neg
iected tastes and pursuits which might
have lent a charm TO solitude. Finding
one of these To be an innate love of art,
for which / am myself an enthusiast,
/ arranged meeting next morning for
Hilarie and myself in Alton Woods, a
miniature forest adjoining the grounds
of Beech Hall, where l engaged to
initiate her into the art of crayon sketch
ing. / shall never forget the quick
change from somber despondency to
radiant hope and pleasure. which trans
formed the pale, tear-stained face into
one of rare brilliancy and loveliness. Sc
much does happiness involve of beauty
that when we parted i could scarcely
recognize the biushing, smiling maiden
before me as the pale, sad girl of a short
half-hour ago. Truly, child's April
nature had this same Hilarie Graeme
My subsequent meeting. with Glare
was of the same love-like description,
and her parents greeted me with their
usual warm expressions of welcome.
had always been q great favorite with
them, especially with stately Mrs. Beres-
ford, whose affection for me had been
mainly instrumental in bringing about
IN engagement between her daughter
Glare and myself.
Glare was five years my Junior: fair