Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1882-08-16

Lord Carwardine was great county
magnate, fabulously rich, great parlia-
mentary leader, forty years of age, but
handsome and unmarried His inhu
ence had procured Roland his lucrative
secretary's post he was soon to fill, and
the secret Of KathIeen's hesitation was
that at one or two dinners and balls they
had all attended at his mansion during
his short Christmas visit he had been
very attentive to her-not enough to
cause remark, but quite sufficient to
raise ambitious hopes and wishes In her
breast.
There was to be large ball held i'll
the county hall the following week, in
aid of the Irish distress fund. Lord Car
wardine would be present, and Kathleen
thought:
"I shall see then whether he thinks
anything serious or not; If he does l
shall still be free, and if not, then [ may
as well accept Roland. I dare say he
will succeed as he says, though it will be
horrid to wait for years. [ should be
quite old before he could give me half so
good position as would be mine at once
if Lord Carwardine would only propose.
It is terribly perplexing, but then [
might be worse off, like poor Maggie
even, who never had sweetheart in her
life and never will"
And the proud beauty composed her
self to sleep, while poor Maggie, who
was quite little Cinderella to her grand
cousin, minus the cinders and house
work, also tossed on her pillow sleep
lessly.
But that pillow was wet with tears of
bitter unrequited love-a first pure
love, all given to Roland Hargrove, but
entirely unsupported by him, or any one
else.
He had been kind and attentive to
her, out of pity first, because no one else
seemed to take any notice of her, and be-
cause she was an orphan like himself,
but of interest lately, because he found
her so bright and intelligent, and so
ready to listen while he talked of his
hopes and plans for the future, to which
Kathleen always listened impatiently, or
interrupted him to ask some question
about the great people he knew in Lon
don.
Her father would gladly have given
her a season in town, but he was too
poor to afford it, and their only fashion
able relative, Lady Burnett, had three
plain daughters of her own to get estab-
hshed, and took care never to invite so
dangerous rival as their lovely cousin;
SO Kathleen was obliged to crush all her
ambitious lOngings to be the leader of a
brilliant circle, unless marriage brought
her the longed-for opportunity.
The night of the ball arrived; Kath-
leen was looking surprisingly lovely, in
new costume that would cost the poor
old colonel many sleepless night to pay
for. Roland escorted her, but once at
the ball she took care to keep away from
him as much as possible, in terror less
Lord Carwardine might suspect any
thing of an engagement between them.
She was delighted to see his 1ordship's
face brighten as he first saw her, also to
have her card taken, and his name writ
ten against several dances.
AS the evening wore on gTatIfed
flush frightened her beauty. Lord Car
wardine seemed to take SO much pleas
ure in her society, surely her hopes
were about to be crowned with success.
Only once when she saw Roland and
him In close converse she felt little
uneasy, but when she reflected that
Roland could not In honor say anything
likely to spoil her chances for he had
not the slightest claim on her.
kathleen, I am SO sorry to shorten
your pleasure, but there is important
business to be attended to, and [ have
promised Lord Carwardine to catch the
night mail. Will you mind me taking
you home now?" asked Roland, imme-
diately after supper.
"Oh, I could not possibly leave yet.
just look at my card, answered Kath-
leen hastily. "Don't let me keep you,
Roland; go by all means. Lady Mount
Heriot will chaperon me, 1 know, and I
could not go just now"
"But Kathleen, I may not see you
answer. Come in here for moment"
and he drew her gently into a small con-
servatory, unoccupied just then. 81
shall leave you, if you wish it, of course,
but / am very much disappointed to
lose the lovely starlit ride / had prom
ised myself with you. However, hope
and bliss will go with me if you will
only give me your promise. j"
81 can not, indeed I can not, Mr..
Hargreve," interrupted Kathleen in
great agitation, dreadlng lest Lord Car
wardine, whose name was on her card
for the next dance, should appear and
interrupt their tete-a-tete. ''Pray do
not ask me again. lido not love
you'll can never marry youi
Shocked and startled by the decision
of her tone, which was unmistakable,
Roland released her hand and said In a
voice hoar5e with disappointment:
So Miss Macdermott, I can not sue
twice; is this your final answer ?"
For one instant Kathleen hesitated.
What if, after all, Lord Ca1wardine's
attentions were only friendly. But no,
she could not bear the thought, she
must win this prize.
81 am sorry it is the only answer I
can give you. hope you will be happy
and"
"Hush, hush, Kathleen; such words
from you are mockery. Good-by; may
you never know like grief to that you
have caused me-"
And hastily wringing her hand, Ro-
land left her standing there, forgetting