Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1881-09-22
EiILARIE GRAEME.

IiILARIE GRAEME.
She was standing, when / first saw
hrr, under one Of the grand old trees
skirting the grounds of Beech Hall. the
home Of my fair faacee Glare Beresford.
to visit whom a happy commingling of
duty and pleasure had lured me from
toN1 this fair Juna morning. Glare had
iIi.' informed me of the installation of
her orphan cousin Hilarie as member
Of the family and a dependent upon Mr..
seresford's bounty, and had also de-
serted her as an uninteresting, 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
broodiug passion i'll the large, ,usky
eyes If the tail girl under the beeches.
but uninteresting |" Scarcely, my
dear Glare.
A shaft Of golden sunlight through
the branches above illumined an untidv
wealth Of ripping brown hair, caressed
slender, lstess hands, from which had
evidently slipped to her tiny feet the
l1rgo sun hat she was too careless OF too
idle to wear, and the immature beauty
OF the proud young face, the willowy
grace Of the 81 Uiler figure in it's dingy
gray grown, destitute Of bow or frill or
any If tle usutl feminine adornments,
Interested me strangely.
Still leaning against the tree, she
laAly watched my approach, apparently
expecting me to pass on to the hall
without bestowing more than a passing
glance upon herself, but, determined to
speak with her, | made a short detour
from the path, and, more amused than
disc jncerted by the expression of mingled
curiosity and defiance which quickly
over pr nd her features, said with the
utmost gallantry at 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 Clare are all within, aud,
though not expected, Mr.. Forester is
sure to be welcome guest.
You have guessed my NAME" l re-
Piled, smiling. What # / return the
compliment to Miss Hilarie GTaeme /?
You see | have heard Of you too"
"Of course you would hear of the
Beresiorls' bete NOR" she said-oh, so
bitterly.
NAY, protested, no such epithet
has been assigned you, Miss Graeme, be-
heyc me
Not exactly that, perhaps, but
sufficient to let you know that | at least
am not welcome here
For a moment Clare's expressions,
"uninterestng' and "odd-tempered, 4"
fitted before me, but when would have
spoLen, Hilarie stopped me with pas
sionato gesture If disdain, saving:
"Spare your words. Mr.. Forester !;
your face tells me enough. Oh, why,
why did come here?" And, to my as
constituent and dismay. she burst into q
pass onate invective AGAINST the misery
of her dependent position and the cold
ness and unkndness of her relatives.
breaking down at last III paroxysm Of
bitter tears.
Withaman's utter abomination thereof,
did my best to calm the tempest / he'd
unconsciously raised, and was unspeal.-
ably relieved when at last she dried Ter
tears tanned cheeks and said, brokenly {:
Forgive me; You may think very
badly Of me, Mr.. FoSester, but l will
go away l was never very good, but
now, am growing hard and bad, and
am so wretched that in time l shall be-
come a hateful, wicked girl will not
stay here
4 grca' pity arose within mo Cor this
lonely, spirited creature, little more
'han chi d in years, and, taking one of
the nervous little hards 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-
dGlable; and on inquiring deeper into
her manner of occupying the long hours
she spent alone, fond, as l suspected,
She had passed them chiefly in desultory
rmhles about the hall grounds and the
uc,ghtOrlng country, all the while BROOD
ing darkly over her uncoDgenial sur
rourdingS, while she had utterly neg
lee Ell taStes ana pursuits which might
have lent charm to solitude. Finding
ono of these TO be an innate love of art,
FOR which / am myself an enthusiast,
| arranged a meeting next morning for
Hllar.e ard myself in Alton Woods, a
miailture forest adjoining the grounds
Of Beech Hall, whore | engaged to
init .Atc her into the art of crayon sketch
ing. / shall never forget the quick
change from somber dependency to
radiant hope aud pleasure. which trans
formed the pale, tear- stained face INTO
one of rare briliancv and loveline S. So
much doss happiness involve cf beauty
that when we parted / could scarcely
recognize the blushine, smiling ma den
before me Us the pale. sal girl of short
haif-hour ago. Truly. a ohild'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 "A great favorite with
them. especially with stately Mrs. Bsres-
ford. whose affection for me had beer
maiulv Instrumental in bringing about
an engagement between her daughter
Clare and myself.
Clare was five years my junior; far
aristocratic little lady Of twenty sum-
mers She was extremely devoted tc
me while I was proud to know that only
q few short months must intervene be-
tore the time fixed for our marriage.
In the conf iential chat with Glare and
her mother before luncheon was served
in the quaint old dining-room, l was
made painfully aware of the necessity
for conceahng NY encounter with Hilarie
and the consequent arrangement for Al
ton Woods on the morrow. Mrs. Beres.
ford WIS loud in her censure of the i'm
providence Of her husbands brother IN
law, Arthur Graeme, which had resulted
at his death in the advent Of Hilairt