News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1882-09-14

the left of our hostess, the Baronet
opposite me. A was placed some
distance down on the other side, so that
1 could keep an eye on him, which I
soon began to think I must do. 1 had
now an opportunity of noting more
particularly Mrs. Ms personal APP
pearance. Her age I should judge to
have been somewhere about eight and
twenty or thirty, considerably under
her husbands. Her figure was fault
less; neck and arms of that nameless
tint one has SO often seen imperfectly
described in novels as creamy white;"
a corona of hair of that deep auburn
red which so sets off fair woman; and
a face of singular beauty, of which you
forgot everything but the eyes the
moment you looked into them. Such
eyes they were. Their particular size,
shape, this or that color, would never
occur to one; it was their strange,
almost weird, effect when turned on you
that one felt. 1t was as though they
OWNED what you were thinking of and
could answer your thoughts. Yet it
was not a satisfactory or restful face.
L can recall certain half-disagreeable
sensations 1 experienced as her eyes
occasionally rested on mine while we
talked, and once or twice a flash as of
something malevolent seemed to pass
out of them.
One incident I recollect. We were
discussing pictures, and Mrs. NJ,
pointing to some fine family portraits
hung round the dining room, said,
my husband and are distant cousins,
Major P, so that you see we are
mutually represented here; and yonder
is lady of bygone days, supposed to
have been very wicked, and to be like
me-" 1 looked up, and sure enough
there gazed down on me from the can
vass woman's face strikingly like the
speaker's-so like, that except for the
quaint costume, the portrait might have
been taken for her own. It was a finer
specimen than usual of the formal yet
fascinating style in which our great
great grandmothers have been depicted
for us-a stately attitude, regular but
immobile features, and exuberant
charms sumptuously if somewhat
scantily draped. The lady's figure, as
it CHANGED, was turned toward our end
of the table; she held fan in her hand;
the lips had disdainful, almost derisive,
smile g.; and the eyes, which in such
pictures usually appear to be con-
templating the spectator and to follow
him about, seemed directed full on our
hostess. "There is certainly a like
ness" said, "but the lady on the wall
is entitled, l feel sure, to an entire
monopoly of the wickedness." Mrs.
M laughed, and winged glance at
me, and the smile and the eyes were
those of the portrait.
Another circumstance / remember
discovering in looking round the table,
which, had been superstitious, might
not have added to my comfort. We
we're sitting thirteen. Mrs. NJ, l
rather think must have noticed me
counting the numbers, for she made
some remark as if in reply to my thought
$50 sorry we were disappointed of
one of our party at the last moment"
Meanwhile A--was again attracting
my attention by his extraordinary be-
havior. His partner. a pretty-looking,
lively girl, was evidently doing her best
to make herself agreeable, and he was
answering her in an intermittent fash
ion; but could see he was eating very
little, and erumbling his bread in a
nervous, preoccupied manner, while
every now and then his eyes wandered
to Mrs. M, with a curious fixed
stare that was positively ill-mannered
and altogether unaccountable. Instinct
| lively turned to the same quarter to
see what could be the object of this per-
sistent scrutiny, but in vain. There,
indeed, was beautiful woman, dressed
to perfection, and with those wonderful
eyes; but what right had he to cape at
her like that ? 1 began to wonder if
she or any other of the guests would
observe As rudeness. I tried to
catch his eye, but without success. In
little while L lapsed into comparative
silence, and set myself to watch As
movements more narrowly, as well as I
could, across the table. After a time it
seemed to me that the direction of
As gaze must be at Mrs. Ms
head, or little above it; but there was
nothing / could see to account for this.
To be sure, she wore, fastened into the
thick top curl of her hair, jeweled
ornament of some kind that seemed to
sparkle at times with intense brilliancy;
but still, why this repeated and often
sive contemplation at her own table of
married woman, on whom, so far as I
knew, neither A-nor I had ever
set eyes before? Could these two have
been known to each other in some by
gone love affair, or was the man gone
out of his wits or had he taken too much
drink?
How this memorable dinner struggled
on to a conclusion 1 hardly remember.
The more fidgety I got the more IRE
sistibly was i drawn to watch A.
His face wore pale, scared aspect,
quite foreign to him, for he was ordi-
} narily CHEEKY, common-sense fellow,
not easily disturbed. At length it
seemed that our hostess became aware
of the intent observation she was being
subjected to, and before the ladies rose
from the dinner table her handsome
features had grown very white, there
was visible trembling movement in
her hands, and her eyes took an uneasy
expression not previously there.
AS soon as we men were left alone,
and almost before we could reseat our
selves, A turned to our host, and
in an odd mufled voice announced that
he felt unwell, and begged permission
to take his departure. Mr.. M
glanced at me with puzzled air. "He
was very sorry. Gould he do any
} thing? And, of course, the carriage
was entirely at Mr.. As service. 4"
By this time it was evident something
was really amiss with A; so made
some sort OF excuse that feared he had
had hard days march and got soaked,
sent our sincere apologies to Mrs.
NJ -, and rejecting the kind offer of
the carriage, we found ourselves ont
again in the moonlight. The moon was
n a