The Hickman courier. [volume] (Hickman, Ky.) 1859-current, 1882-06-23
LADY tRoDNEY's PLAY.

LADI fhVDNL1 - IL LIZA Il .
"I wish you wouldn't, Dorothy"
"Wouldn't what
YOU know very we'll"
Indeed do not"
"Well, if must be more explicit, l
wish You would not act with that-that
Ponsonby. The way he stares at you,
and fixes you with his eyes, is
enough to make man forget his man
ners."
/ have never heard you so unreasonable
before
Unreasonablel Myfdear girfi Con-
sidering we are to ,he married so soon,
and all that, i really Thought you
would not objec. to a little advice from
me-" r ler - u
"Of course not. If like il, shall
always follow it. You know that"
=" But surely, Dorothy, it can't be a
pleasure to go Through sreheafsals with
"wen, yon see, 1 am Bound to act
now. This is the 10th, and the the
atricals come off on the 19th-only three
days; and how could Lady Rodney
provide a substitute in that time?. And
besides, 1 should like to.
"Oh, would you?.% That, of course,
settles the question
"Why, Cyril, exclaimed Miss Bohun,
81 do believe you are jealous"
"I am. 1t does not make a man
particularly cheerful to know that the
woman he loves IS to be. the object of
another mans alteration for even an
hour" 80
"But, my dear Cyril, it is only a
farce"
"But, my dear Dorothy, L see no
reason why it might not terminate in a
tragedy" a
Miss Bohun laughs.
"Even that" she says, "wouid be
better than nothing. This place has
grown so dull'sin the Stewards left,
and those men at Coote Hail." $50
"Look here, Dorothy, throw it up, :"
says Mr.. Disney, leaning over his chair,
and bending his head until his face is
very near to hers, I" for my sake"
"Well, if You can bring me some
fever, I'll take it; but don't see where
you'll get it, as there's nothing of the
sort in the parish, and Pm convinced
that nothing less could save me from
this thing"
"Then you are quite determined not
~ AANC IL uPE SAYS DtSuCN. COlllll OlIdM-
ing himself to his full height.
/ never was determined in my life, "
says Miss Bohun, with some Just indig-
nation. 81 am remarkable for never
saying mo- TO anybody. You, yourself,
have frequently told me had the sweet
est nature in the world, and it is quite
too late to alter Lady Rodney's arrange
ments now"
NO doubt you are right, as you al
ways are. I'm sorry 1 can't be present
on the 10Th, but it is impossible, as /
shall have business that will detain me
about that time" - So
'syery pressing business?"
" Yes, very pressing business"
"Ah y says Miss Bohun.
- a.
When Disney has been absent two
days, his thoughts undergo a decided
change.
To have left Dorothy in the manner
he had, seems to him now to have been
not only an unmanly, but a most un-
worthy action.
There is only one way out of it. He
viii write to her, and humbly apologize
for his conduct.
The night passes YEARLY enough. and
the morning brings him no relief. He
Is still indescribably miserable. and
sinks into the belief that there is no
balm In Gilead for his. uneasy spirit.
The next day he grows even more des-
perate, and finally decides that to-mor-
row, come what may, he will-mata-
phorically speaking-throw himself at
her feet, and implore forgiveness.
: How slowly the train seems to move,
and how intolerable seems the delay at
each station to Disney, as the next
morning he travels on his way to Brom-
pley. One half-hour more, and he is
fulfilling the guards demands for the
shattered remains of his mutilated ticket,
and awakes to the fact that he has actu-
ally arrived at his destination.
Hastily procuring his luggage, and en-
gaging the first car convenient, he I'M
mediately proceeds to the hall. Arriving
there, he dismisses the mans and giving
his luggage TO the inestimable Williams,
he enters the house.
How good it seems to him being back
again, and how small by this time have
Dorothy's own sins grown in his ewes |!
After al, how could she.help it? He is
sure she hated having to do it. And how
could she refuse lady Rodney, after
promising to play her part? And, be
sides, how many women act in private
theatricals, and why shouldn't Dorothy.
who is evidently fitted by nature for that
sort of sport? And when one comes Co
think of itsdispassionately, there are few
things 500 innocent as little tableaux.
and little drawing room pieces, and that !
In fact, when they are married, he
doesn't ssee. why they shouldn't have
private theatricals once a month. That
green-room at Kingsmore is Just the
place for a stage footlights and drop
scenes, and so on. =
He is getting positively enthusiastic
over the theatricals, which subject has
carried him as far as the drawing-room.
when it suddenly occurs to him that
Miss Bohun is not there, as the man has
led him 70 suppose. -
No doubt She is in the conservatory,
which she so much affects. He pauses.
He thinks he will give her a pleasant
surprise, and, cautiously moving aside
the curtain, that he may not too rudely
break in upon the reverie that. is doubt
less filed with him, he gazes upon the
little perfumed paradise beyond.
At first the light dazzIes his eyes. He
draws his breath quickly, and then
what is it he sees? ? In the distance
stands Dorothy--har features eloquent,
her eyes alight, her lips half parted, as
a smile fond and tender hovers around
them.
At her feet kneel Ponsonby. his hands
tightly clasped his whole attitude be-
traying devotion the most intense.