Sharp County record., 1881-03-31

.
same strange, sad feeling" cried Vlo-
let, with a pretty burst of enthusiasm.
The place was quite empty; in the far
distance the last visitor was Gathering
down the long gallery out at the other
end. 1t was already growing dusk.
"sYou feel that,.too; the wr9tched-
ness of knowing something beautiful
that is beyond us-Out of reach?'
asked BeeSly, turning round to her
quickly.
How strange and dark her eyes
burned in tAe twilight; how graceful
the subtle lines of her figure; how de-
void of all coquettshness and conscious
ness her pose The dark purple hang
ings swept behind her, and out through
the window the sun was all red, a-dying
in pinky sky.
She was actually beautiful at the mo-
ment, but she was more than that to
Elliott Beesly; she was a sweet, breath
ing woman, who made him feel the
blankneSS of his life, who opened out a
world of possibilities
Something beautiful ofreachP"
repeated Violet, becoming suddenly
conscious, under his direct gaze, of the
meaning of his words. "IdOn' know,
Pm sure" She stammered
He watched how the quick color
spread over the girls face and throat,
how her deep eyes met his with an en-
treating startled gaze. What fool,
ten thousand times fool, was Gretton
not to snatch at such happiness! Then
with a sudden start he remembered his
friend, and he asked himself what he
was doing, looking into this young
lady's eyes.
bah! Pm talking nonsense" he
said in a changed voice. 'You must
be getting cold, Miss Wood; had we not
better be going home?"
After the above episode Mr.. BeeSly
kept wisely to strictly neutral topics
with Violet and for the next few days
cOntrived that the mother of this dan
geroUs syren should be in constant at
tendance. He even evinced hitherto
concealed ardor for millinery and as
sisted upon accompanying Mrs Wood
several times to the jewelers. to see
about the setting of her diamonds.
OF course his conduct was mystifying
in the extreme to Violet, who could not
help noticing his changed manner.
What had she done to offend him? She
could no longer conceal from herself
the fact that she valued what he thought
of her. There was vein of tenderness
in this reserved man, with his hard
mouth and cold gray eye, that was a
surprise to her who had been in the
habit of seeing him constantly for the
last eight months. But in London they
had been differently placed He had
never called at their house without
Andrew Gretton, and had always stood
aside to make room for the tenor to
warble his love songs, or to drop in
mock humility at her feet. Sheremem-
bered one evening when she found herself
with Beesly in the conservatory, he had
jumped up on Gretton's approach, and
ceded his place to his friend. Was she
too silly, too girlish, to please him? she
asked herself. For her experience of
men told her that they will be inclined
to find the ways and means if the OBJ
iect be worth their while. All this was
true; but his reserve ard GOODNESS had
seemed to drop for an instant in the
twilight of that afternoon. 1t was as if
she looked through a loop-hole at some
wide vista, of whose existence she had
never dreamed; and once having known
the view beyond could never be content
with blank walls.
1t was, therefore, in much perplexity
and nightly questionings that the week
went by for Violet. In the beginning of
the next a hard frost set in; the air was
keen and sharp, the skaters focked to
the Bois, and the sun hung like red
lamp in the sky.
80, mamma, how l should like to
skate" exclaimed Violet, as she ap-
peared for breakfast in the bright little
room.
"Well, my dear, I've no objection"
answered her mamma; "only you know
| can't stand about on the ice, my dear.
You must get Mr.. Beesly to take YOU"
80, | wonder if he would mind 90
ing" said Violet, who perhaps had her
doubts. "Do you think Mr.. Beesly
skates, mamma?n she went on; "we
must 90 and get skates this morning if
he does, and then we might 60 this
afternoon.
SO it happened that, in spite of Mr..
Beesly's precautions against what he re-
garded as a culpable weakness in him
self, he started out with Miss Wood for
an afternoons skating in the Bois de
Boulogne.
In the bright, cold daylight, and in
the crowd on the ice, things went off
entirely to Mr.. Beesly's satisfaction.
Violet and he were on exactly the same
neutral ground as they had been all the
week. But as the sun sank, large and
crimson into the mist, and the twilight
grew apace, Beesly could not help re-
calling the afternoon in the Louvre.
Perhaps it was only the same effect of
light.
Violet could not help noticing that his
hand trembled as he helped her into the
little tiacre that had been waiting for
them. Did he not linger an impercepti-
BILE instant as he drew another wrap
around her shoulders? Why did the
long drive through the Bos and Champs
Elysees seem the shortest drive they
| had ever taken and whv did Mr. Reeslv