Litchfield enquirer., 1881-01-20

8 quick movement, and was going to leave the room, but to do this she had to pass Frank, and he was not inclined to let her go so easily. , I At least forgive me before you go made moiselle ? he said with an air of the deepest I penitence. What have said or done am perfectly wretched. shall go out and shoot myself
 l At this threat smile just quivered about j Marguerite's mouth.
 I beg you will do no such thingy she said with nlomentary glance and 8 renewed blush. I am very foolish. l must tell you the truth. The old lady you saw is an aunt of ours. We have all lived here together for the last nine or ten years. She is peculiar l and has rooms of her own in that part of the house. She does not like strangers-never sees anyone think you had better not go near her again. a.e asaf I Frank bowed. 5 -. -,.-tss .-. s. ,. | I am very sorry indeed that intruded on her, he said. But no one had given me a hint of her existence.' aes sI 4i7 .si-es 5
 'She prefers to be unknown, said Marguerite, and she slghed deeply as she turned away to open the door.
 Frank Morley always prided himself on his knowledge of foreign life and customs. He used to talk finely of meeting foreigners on I their own ground; but it seems as if he must l just then have forgotten where he was, car I ried away by the excitement of the moment, l Forgettingsall the prophecies. he dhrew him. self-fguratiyely at the feet of Mademoiselle Il de Saint-Flor
 ''rhis is not place for you; you are not happy herei' he burst forth; and then he told her that he loved her passionately, aud asked I her if he must be miserable for life
 l She elapsed her hands, and retreated from him step or twO for at that moment Frank was very tragical She looked extremely 1 surprised, as well she night at his extraordi- nary breach of etiquette. But she did not seem angry, and she made no effort to leave | the room. ,--r .... .f..4.- ,.j rs.-... .... <.
 !'Ah, what are you saying i? she whispered You forget-you forget t.....- .. | What do forget :? asked Frank. Is there I anything l ought to remember? Are you offended2 Will you answer me P
 She shook her head. Presently, after more prayers and eager questions, she confessed that she did not hate him-no, why should | she2 But he had surprised her very much, | and-in fact, she did not know what to say. 1 I ought to have spoken first to your father ? cried Frank suddenly recollecting himself I But that roundabout fashion is all very well for those who don't care as do. Are you | angry? Do you wish that had spoken to him first ?
 I don't know-everything is strange said Marguerite. It is only-because 1 am afraid he will think that you ought. We always do, you know -....' .....-.. .. l Then you will let me speak to him now ? | exclaimed Frank in immense excitement. | You frighten me-you are SO terribly En- glish. ( Can prevent you?' ,1 .,..u. | . As the Baron was half a mile off through | the snow, and as Frank felt that his part of the business must be managed through Albert | with all possible fornality, he did not find it necessary to leave of his love-making at this point inorthodox as it was. Marguerite, W ith all her charm, was puzzle to him. l There seemed to be more wistful sadness than ever in those wonderful violet eyes as she looked up at him; sort of sad indifference in her manner too, though through it all he knew that she belonged to him, and that she recog- nized the fact. For some minutes she seemed to be trying to say something, to give him some warning; she had a way of lifting up her hand, as if to check him in his protesta- 1 tions.
 Let me speak, she said at last; Get me tell you something. You are making sad mis- take; it may be only the beginning of the end ali? 2'-' i.~ ->"' 'ON,~
 Not in the least, thank Heaven,' said Frank. And 1 never make mistakes Are you superstitiOus? Is there anything that makes you afraid for yourself9 Is it leaving your country ? ... ........s....... ..-. ..
 I am not afraid for myself she answered. And the superstition-it is all nonsense, after all. But what did want to say to you An, this. am not girl you know. I am a woman, more than twenty-six years old. I have suffered great deal have not much ! tn
 What do 1 want more ? said Frank. 'Yes one knows you have suffered, even by your dress. Do you never wear even blue rib bon, Marguerite
 She looked at him solemnly for moment. and then smiled.
 Mo- she said; but you must not ask me why. Perhaps some slay I may tell you. | Now 1 must not stay here with you any longer Open the door, if you please and let me go.' rt
 Frank obeyed She paused m the doorway, under the shadow of the velvet curtain laid two fingers on her lips, and looked at him. deeply, intently, as if she was asking him some question on the answer to which her life depended. He thought afterward that he had | never seen anything so extraordinary.
 | You love me? 2? she said, under her breath and without waiting for any sort of reply she glided away and was gone. He stood for at | least two minutes with the curtain in hls hand staring in a sort of bewilderment, long after she had vanished. ':
 | A few weeks later, after his visit to frozen Paris, Frank Morley found himself once more at Chateau Maupas, this tme, wonderful to tell, as the accepted lover of Mademoiselle de Saint-Flor. Frank never knew, and did not much try to find out, how Albert had con- qsered the predjudices of his parents. There may have been more reasons than one for their consenting Besides the solid advantage of belonging to rich and generous Engishman, this marriage was perhaps, seen by, them to be way out of painful difficulty Frank was afterward conscious that the whole ex- planaton was very clear if he had cared to think it out but he was a chivalrons fellow, and thinking it out seemed almost an impert- hence, both to the poor. proud people who bowed their heads in such a stately way to circumstances and to their beautiful, unhappy daughter. He came to Maupas by special in vitation, on his way back to Bordeaux, joining Albert, who had gone before to smooth the I way for him. .t. F @st s'' + The snow was gone, but the weather was still bitterly cold. Albert was the only per- son who received him with any animation Monsieur and Madame de Saint-F were grave and polite; Marguerite, though her smile made him understand that he was very welcome, looked, if possible, sadder than ever Her eyelids were heavy, as if she had been crying. Blythe end of the evening, the dis .covery that they were not to be left alone to- gether had thrown Frank into state border ing on frenzy. What was the use of being engaged if they were to behave to each other like strangers, if they might not even talk unheard by other peoplea Frank resolved that either these manners and customs should give way before his English will, ,sor else that I he would leave the chateau the next day, and see none of them again till it was time to be married. He could not annoy his lady, love and her parents by any open rebellion. but he promised himself that Albert should know his mind on the subject; and he gave it to him that evening in the smoking room, after Mon- sieur de Saint-Flor had left them and gone to