Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1882-01-07

4
= made among the Willows"
"And SO am T." he asserted
}. quickly and respectfully. ar shall
y see you often but perhaps you will
! not think proper to recognize me. il
!. we were to meet 90 he supplement-
! ed, uneasily.
!, With scanning bashfulness she
: ayerted her bright face and brilliant
! ! eyes; but, as she vanished among
the golden green willows, she muir
: INJURED "Au revoirr' in encourag-
!! ing accent.
Claudia went slowly homewarJ.
. ! Her mood was thoughtful and spec
ulative.
HE is certainly interested, and
perhaps infatuated" she mOsed,
with great satisfaction. / shall
meet him often, and long before we
shall be formally introduced shall
be the betrothed wife of my titled
millionaire, whom, most fortunately
for poor, ambitious, deceitful me, /
already ADORE"
With all her unwomanly faults,
Claudia keenIy cOmprehended that
marriage without reciprocal love
is only an unholy sham.
The Irritation under the willows
progressed as she had predicted,
and as favOrably as she could de-
sire.
81 shall allow you to tell me
nothing about yourself at all. Prac-
tical details would spoil all the ro-
nance of our pleasant summer
Dream" asseverated Claudia one
morning. She spoke with SEM
blance of that blind and absolute
faith that, she we'll knew, pleases
and fiatters and decieves even the
shreWdest of lovers. And morrow
er, she presumed herself to about |
become modern Lady Burleigh,
although one might doubt if she |
would ever be very conscientiouslv |
perplexed
''With the burden of an honor
Unto which she was not born.
"But our romance is no summer
dream, darling" protested Hubert
Saunders, earnestly. "You are to
be my wife, you know, and before
we are married l should like you to
thoroughly understand nay social
and financial rank"
81 will listen to no prosy explsua-
tions," she persisted pressing her
pretty hands over her ears. 81 love
you and will be dutiful wife, try
ing always to make you happy and
our home pleasant. Is not that suf-
ficient ?o
Claudia spoke with sincerity.
For love was producing one of those
beautiful and mysterious psycholog-
ical phenomena that occasionally
redeem the most faulty souls.
''Is not that sufficient, Hubert ?'
she iterated with a smile that the
man who loved her thought super
latively artless.
"Certainly 1t ought to be so," he
allowed, half doubtiully, and un-
pleasantly conscious of an indefina-
BILE sense of dissatisfaction. "But
still think it best and wisest for
any lady to know thoroughly the
prosy and practical part of life of
the man to whose keeping she con-
signs her freedom and her happi-
ness"
But the willful girl would not lis
ten. In her vain egotism she imag-
ined that she already knew as :
much, or more than he could posi-
bly, tell her.
That night they met at garden
party-a rather recherche affair /;
with an afternoon of croquet and
tennis and an evening of dancing ,
and banqueting under a round, opa- ,
line moon, among magnificent old
trees of oak and elm. =
In the midst of the festivity, while :
Claudia was for moment alone in =
a cool, arboreous nook. fantastically =
by the pale red light of :
gorgeous paper lantern swinging ;
from an arch of thick ivy, she saw !
Agnes Rothsay approaching. :
Miss Rothsay wore a simple and ;
exquisite costume of darkest, rich :
est violet silk, with sprays of snowy, !,
oderous egiantiue in her hair and
cOrsage. She looked very happy as \
she stopped beside her pretty cous- 4
in. y
"Claudie, dear, will you congrat- y ?,
ulate me?" she whispered bashful- ,
Iy. 81 am betrothed-really affi- L
anced to the baronet. One day =
while you were rowing after lilies, - -
the pastors wife brought my Jack y
for formal call. He was foolish "
enough to honor me with his admit q q
ration, and he sent all those lovely 3
lowers you wondered about so .,
much. But was never quite sure -
ne loved me until to-day. But on - -
" little while ago he met me 3
Town there among the willows and o ..
wild roses, and he told me how very - =,
lear had become to him, and he " "
kissed me, Claudio and he kissed =;
his ring before he put it on my fin. -
,er." She flung aside bit of del %
cate lace drapery and presented a - -
,raceful hand upon which glittered q.
magnificent ring of diamonds ~
nd gold. 81 am very happy cous- vi VI
n dear, for l know that my Jack 3.
) one of the noblest of all men. l a. a.
hould revere him just the same, if -. oo
Ie were bricklayer instead of be- ~ ~
ng baronet." ,
"You, Jack the baronet! Wha:
o you mean, Agnes ?" gasped
'laudia.
Miss ROthsay for d moment re-
arded her cousin with much per- so
leXity. But just then two gentle tn
len advanced through the vista of ev
reen branches hung with grotesque w:
of gaudy irrivescence. of
"Hush, dear, Mr.. Esmond is la
for me, think. He is nc
Oming this way, and Hubert Saun- Gil
private secretary-you sh
now is with him." Pr
Claudia Thorne stood motionless ac
nd voiceless. She could not utter pc
ne word, not even when Agnes be
nd the baronet had gone, leaving tn
er alone with the lover, who re- BE
arded her with troubled, loving tn
axe. sa,
Possibly he comprehended all, he
ut if he did, his affection was too tn
,yal to be weakened by the fault er
the handsoms girl who he knew ou
wed him. Sc
"Why are you white and mute, ate
~ darling? ?" he inquired tenderly.
Would you be more fond of me,
ear, do you think, il l happened ne
, have " ealth and title?" XII
All that was womanly and re- to
eeming in her ambitious and subt- lee
nature conquered the sharp pang In,
her disappointment. De
She was duly conscious that he In,
as dearer to her than rank or rich ia
J. and unspeakably grateful that =.
e so generously forgave a folly
Shn xuao hn ,,,Aro thar