The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1882-07-15
CHAPTER VI.
NF1AT EN T.
HORACE MARGRAvEs CONFESSION.

had been accustomed since her mar
riage. Her aunt's visiting list was very
! limited. Four or five old dowagers.
who thought that the glory of the world
had depar ed with the Bourbons, and
that France, in the van of the great
march of civilization, was foremost in
a demoniac species of dance, leading
only to destruction and the erection of
new guillotine upon the Place de le
Revolution; two or three elderly but
creditably preserved aristocrats of the
ancient regime, whose political princ-
pies had stood still ever since 1888, and
who somewhat resembled ormolu clocks
of that period, very much ornamented
and embellished, but entirely powerless
to tell the hour of the day; three or four
very young ladies, educated in con-
vents, and entirely uninterested in any,
thing beyond M. Lamartine's poetry,
and the manufacture of point lace; and
one terrifcally bearded and mustach-
iOed gentleman, who had written vol
ume OF poems, entitled CLOUDS and
Mists," but who had not yet been so
fortunate as to meet with a publisher
this was about the extent of the visiting
circle in the Rue st. Dominique; and for
| this circle Ellinor's aunt set apart n
particular evening on which she was
visible, in conjunction with can Sucree.
rather weak coffee, and wafer biscuits.
The very first day of El'inor's visit
! happened to be the day of her aunt's re-
| ception, and it seemed to her as if the
! tiresome hours would never wear them
selves out, or the equally tiresome guests
take their departure. She could not
| help remembering how different every
thing would have been had Horace Mar
grave been present. How he would
have fought the battle of the tiers ctat
with the white headed old partisans of
the departed noblesse; how he would
have discussed and critically analysed
Lamartine's codes" with the Young
ladies from the convent how he would
have flattered the vanity of the bearded
poet; and regretted the Bourbons with
the faded old dowager. But he was
away--gone out of her life, perhaps, en-
tirely. 81 shall never see him again"
she said; ''that dear and honorable
guardian, in whose care my dead father
LETT me- -,
The next day she went with her aunt
to the Louvre, to see the improvements
that had been made beneath the sway of
that new ruler, who had already began
his work Of regeneration in brick and
mortar. The pictures only wearied her;
the very coloring of the Rubens' seemed
to have lost half its glowing beauty
since she had last seen them; and Marie
di Medici, ford and respondent, bored
her terribly. Many of the recent ac-
QUESTIONS she thought frightfully over
rated, and she hurried her aunt away
from the splendid exhibition before they
had been there half an hour. She made
few purchases in the Palais Royal;
and loitered fora little time at mil
liners, in the Rue de PEchelle, discuss
ing q new bonnet, and then declared
herself thoroughly tired out with her
mornings exertions. l %. i'll
She threw herself back in the car
riage, and was very silent as they drove
home; but suddenly, as they turned
fromSthe Rue de Rivoli into the open
space between the Tuileries and the
Louvre, they passed close to a hackney
coach, in which gentleman was seated,
and Ellinor, starting up, cried out:
t'Aunt! my guardian, Mr.. Margrave.
Did you not see him? He has iust this
moment passed us in hackney coach"
She pulled the check-string violently
as she spoke, and her aunt's coachman
stopped; but Horace MargraEe was out
of sight, and the vehicle in which he
was seated lost among the crowd of
carriages of the same description, rat
ting up and down the bustling street.
Never mind, my dear Ellihor," said
her aunt, as Ellinor, letting down the
carriage window, looked eagerly out;
"if you are not mistaken in the face of
the person who passed us, and it really
is Horace Margrave, he is sure to cal
on us Immediately" i.,N.,..
Mistaken in my guardian face! No,
indeed. But of course he will call, as
you say, aunt" f''I inh
iDH'Yes; he will call this evening, most
likely. He knows how seldom go
out" b4l.t o,.i III t.,a ..,.'-.
What can have brought him to
ParisP" thought Ellinor. :" knew he
would rather shun me than seek me
out; for, since the coblness between me
and my husband, he has always seemed
to avoid me; so can have nothing to
do with this visit. But surely he will |
call this evening"" |
All that evening and all the next
morning she constantly expected to
hear the lawyers name announced, but
still he did not come. "He had inn
portant business to transact yesterday, |
perhaps she thought, land he may be |
employed this morning; but in the
evening he is sure to cal"
After dinner she sat by the low wood |
fire in her aunts little drawing-room,
turning over the leaves Of book which
she had vainly endeavored to read, and /
looking every moment at the tiny buhl