Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1882-01-11
Only a Private Secretary.

did manners, l hear. They will make
q most welcome acquisition to the limi'
ted society of this poor little village.
remarked Claudia Thorne, with great
animation, that was suddenly augmen'
ted by the appearance of an elegant
equipage that che had just seen comma
down the pleasant, sbadowy street
There they are now, Aggie dear, she
continued excltedly; and is not thai
carriage altogether too stylish for thu:
dreadfnlly Questionable and prosy
place and that prancing, speckled
reddish horse must be priceless flyer.
think che commented somewhat
doublfuly. Cor she was conscious OF LEI
utter deficiency in equine lore.
Meanwhile the spirited, dappeC
roan-an animal neither extraordinary
fine nor fast-wss trotting past th'
garden gate, the senescent blossoms o
the lofty locust trees falling in white
showers over gilded harness aud The
glit,eiing wheels.
The gentleman-lhe one with tha
Saxon and distinguished look and th'
tawny, curling hair and beard-he WHIT
is driving, must be millionaire who
am informed, is the son OF noble
man, but is too Americauized or re
publicauized 10 assume his illustrou'
tile. The other. with the dark hail
aud stylish figure, must he the prvai,
seer tary or travelling compan on.
One ran always discern the ditferenc,
between The palIician aud pieblan. ca
Dot?
'CerlaiL y have no such subtle giil
of di> >crimlnat'on-ln the sense you IN
fer. One hose soul IS ignob'e mus
b piebrlau, | think however arlsto
Cratic tie birth or tout eH senible ot tia
Que ua, be. answered Agnes Roll say,
quietly.
Sic aud Claudia ThOrne were cousins
and oslen,ibly friends, and were living
together IA lie OF genleel economy, hav-
ius Jointly inherited small legacy de-
yi,ed by an eccentric relative deceased
whom ueiiler had ever seen.
In the pcluresQue and tiny hamlet q
RosehitLp--a haven OF roses-lhr, had
made tier summer home.
Agnes had heeu pleased and conieni-
ed with tie small tranquil place. with
its vide, grassy, outrageous streets,
and sparse clusters Of quaint houses
builded about the obtuse, wooded angle
of Gags that Jutted into the Innblin9
waters, Just where wild, narre~
stream lrothed into the surf OF the sea.
But Claudia had thought it all-thc
serene seclusion, the isolated but i'm
posing scenery, simple habltants with
their homely way uninteresting aud
insuff'erably dull.
They we're very unhke-lhose two
Young ladies, who had yet all the bloom
and brightness Of fresh. sweet womar-
hood.
Miss Rolhsay sas tall aud notably
graceful blonde, with that rarely ard
peculiarly lair complexion that no care
can wrinkle and no time can yellow.
Her fine features were much too mOni'e
tor the artistic Grecian type, and her
large e,es-splehdid and indescri5able
were too passiouful and tender to be
gray, and too discerning and lmpcrious
10 be tie ideal and poetic blue. Her
masses of hair had the
subtle and beautiful shades OF amber
and ruddy auburn and her attitudes,
her action. her manner Of speaking,
we're distinguished by majesty,
6lguity aud gentle grscIousness that
were as natural as irresistible. Among
interiors she would have been msun-
derstood aud possibly hated, feared
and traduced. Among her peers she
was loved and reyered.
Claudia Thorne belonged to quite
lissimllar sphere Of mind, feeling ana
yo,ition. She had more cunning than
intellect: she was more emotional than
sympathetlc she liked only The excite
ment that could be made egolistically
and she was Unfortunately
ambitious for very eminent social dis
.ioctlon. She hated the deceased lega'
tur who lad bequesthcd her a humble
.or o .lence instead OF an exhaustleSs
income. II would seem that sh; was
pi,i.ully unappreciatiye OF small nAvor'
that she sadly lacked the sense oil
ora altitude. NtFctLuOiCoo S"S
vi,cblng little ladykiu, with ever rest
less fairy feet and sinsnlarly pretty
alfisb hands. She was dark and petite .
her hair was jetly black, and her black
ewes we're brilliant with mesmcric hues;
abe had red, laughing lips, and a dainty
,earlet color always wagering over her
rounded cheeks. she affect
"a the naive with the most fatteriug
success.
And she seemed very childish in
,snuous, indeed, when she first smiled
Deguliogly into the admIring eyes o'
hlm who she supposed to be wealthy
and titled.
Apparently that first meeting was
accidental.
The gentleman bad been piscatorlaiiy
hustled in q deliciously cool niche
among the willows, whose foliage OF
topax and emerald left fiickeriog sha'
lows along the margin OF still pond
where strata of wild rock had damned
tbe stream. and where q myriad oil sll-