Litchfield enquirer., 1881-06-23

I 'Oh, no! And we cannot possibly play
 lawn tennis with her. ',,f-i gt, tae ss
 The next morning, therefore, when Mrs. Tighe's little girls had finished their lessons
 she bid them leave the room, and began ner-
 vously Miss Blundell......I think perhaps,
 it will be necessary for my little girls to dis
 continue their lessons......"
 Miss Blunden was engaged in putting on
 her cloak. She stopped short with one arm
 in sleeve, and one out, colored very much,
 then said very quietly, Just as you please"
 and put on the other sleeve. Perhaps" said
 Mrs. Tighe,. rather baffled by this placid &C.,
 quiescence perhaps had better explain | . ''Well..... perhaps" admitted Miss Blun- dell.
 Il have been told then," said Mrs. Tighe,
 ''that your name is no longer Blundell, but
 that it tis.....Spryggyns."
 Miss Blundell looked up with amystified l air...-,and did not answer, according to Mrs 1 Tighe, with either elegance or dignity She
 merely said, 'tEh ?"
 1 T believe am speaking to Mrs. Spryggyns.
 have been told by people who know you
 we'll, and who saw you here yesterday, that
 that is your name."
 l "Mrs. Spryggyns!' repeated the young girl,
 open mouthed with astonishment. 'I am not
 married {. my name is Blundell" "So you have told me-"
 | Ales DiuHucil tlu uOI kuOW WueGu0r CO laugh or to be angry. T don't understand
 you," said she, adame.
 l II have been told that you are separated
 from you husband, pending an action for di vorce"
 But, never was married in my life;
 don't know Mir. Spryggyns .. I never
 even knew of a MT. Spryggyns Who is this
 gentleman?
 T only know what have been told by peo-
 pie who know you," said Mrs. Tighe.
 Whoever knows me, said Miss Blundell,
 beginning to feel and show great wrath,
 s'knows very we'll that l am Miss Blundell and
 not Mrs. spryggyns."
 'I don't know, of,course, what motive you
 may have for concealment .. but but
 of course if you have seen fit to drop your
 husbands name you will not be likely to con-
 fess at once for having done so.'
 Good heavenS!' exclaimed Miss Blundell
 with clasped hands. Burst into tears she
 would not And she knew she must either
 laugh or cry. So she laughed out suddenly
 and heartily and then she was better.
 But Mrs. Tighe thought her conduct most un-
 seemly, and sat austere and silent until she ! had finished,
 f1 suppose" said she then, ''that you will
 hardly deny the quarrel that took place at the
 station here when you met Mir. Spryggyns 1 there the other day."
 ''What l" cried Miss Bundell, more enrag- | ed than ever
 "And think perhaps that in any case-'' Il think that in any case," interrupted Miss | Blundell quickly and decidedly-' ''that your
 remarks are most impertinent, and I shall not 1 care to expose myself to any more of them. l Whether 1 am the victim of some remarkable | likeness, or whether you know many whose l only aim in life seems to be to talk scandalous l al fhou | not tell. Your foolish nonsense will not annoy l me longer than a few hours. but think had certainly not better come here any more.
 should be tempted every time to repeat what ! now saY-that you are silly, mischievous | simpeton and that 1t would de you great
 deal of good to be quietly and firmly put in | your place by some older and wiser person | than l. And wish you good-morning.
 So saying, Miss Blundel popped on her hat
 snatched up her gloves, and was out of the
 room, downstairs, and out on the Parade be- 1 fore Mrs. Tighe could have said ''John Rob- inson, Esquire" which must have been her
 version of the vulgar Jack Robinson. She did not, however, repeat this converse. | Letitia.....no! There are some things too ! painful to recall. Her brazen-faced impu-
 dence made me feel quite faint Don't let us
 speak to her anymore. am only, so thankful I that we have all been warned in time, and ! that did not recommend her to Mrs. Prym." Meanwhile most of the elite of Seaweed so- ! ciety were greatly disturbing themselves about l Miss Blundell, and Miss Bundell was in no
 wise disturbing herself about the elite of Sea- | weed society.
 | She noticed that she was not made welcome | among them, and that on some trivial preteXt her name had not been accepted at the last 1 meeting of the "Wlnter Lawn Tennis Club" l But she had noticed this with almost complete | indifference. She found no new engagements | to teach music and languages, and although this grieved her, she hoped for better luck in other places nearer home, where she had 1 so many friends, and was not at all cast l down.
 She had been passed In the street with
 rude stare by persons who had raved about Ter | playing when she had met them at Mrs. TigEe's ''afternoon." This she did not under | stand. and some sucb thought passed through her head as must have passed through the con- clse mldshlpmans when he wrote in his re- port anent certain savage tribes ''Customs nasty-panners nOne"
 She remembered too-but that with smile of amusement-that she had been mistaken for Mrs. Spryggyns.
 She was indeed well pleased with Seaweed.
 Their air was perfect: the soil was sandy. A1ooy was dItilOeb well dgdiu. LlVlIS was cheap. What more could anyone require of Seaweed ?;'
 Yet Seaweed was up in arms about Miss Blundell. l: was charming afternoon, but there were very few people at that part of the Parade
 where Miss Blundell and her little sister were taking the air. Miss Blundell was walking
 Her sister was leaning back in little old fashioned go cart drawn by an unkempt boy. If the ladies-the few that were there-turned 1 away their heads with affectation of embar- rassment, the gentlemen did not attempt to do anything of the sort. And Miss Blundel.
 who had never been able to accustom herself to this disagreeableH form of fiattery, grew red and indignant. This only made matters worse-her emotion added to her beauty and it is always impossible to walk up and down any public thoroughfare and look supremely indignant at nothing in particular, and pass unnoticed.
 One gentleman. among the many who were incapable of offensive staring at anyone, man or woman, followed her, when she had passed by, with look that was full of love unuttera- ble. He did not know if she had noticed him, though he was broad and tall enough to catch her eye. surely! And he did not wish ter to see him. lie was not yonng-very near forty most likely. He was not handsome, nor elegant. His awkwardness was most marked During the five minutes that he had been there he had in opening his umbrella to shade him from the sun sent one of the spikesiinto his neighbours eye. For he was at this time sit- ting on bench on which also reposed two or three strange ladies. He had knocked off his own hat in calling his umbrella to order, and in picking up his hat he had let his open news- paper 6utter in the faces of passers-dy. But he had for these several misdemeanors apolo- gized so frankly and humbly that everybody had been instantly disarmed Those ladies who sat on the bench with him did not view Miss Blundell as she passed with the same sort oi eyes as his They dis cused her freely. The gentleman, however, not caring for their mischievous, silly chatter, did not follow the direction of their eyes as | they spoke-for it did not interest him to know which of the ladies that happened to be