The daily gazette., 1883-10-29
A Plain Girl.
A story In Three Chapters.
tAn the Year Round. ]
oHAPIKR Z.

.ns n fIture. The immediate future was Mrs.
;VIllinq's party, where, as he perfectly
,ne~ he was anxiously expected at that
Aa.v moment. The more distant future was
o,1 ,ocne with the curious sudden blankness
IA prospect abruptly blotted out. For
"oeks he had shaped that prospect in his
oIod. had dwelt on les details, had travelled
Inward it with definite purpose, and now In
w hour II had vanished. He knew exactly
chat Mrs Willing's party would be like,
'nd Il was the dreaFiest Of certaintles; but
rsrertheless, he was going TO It. He was
,oIpp onward to the future, loo, and he did
1ot know what that would DO like, but its
uncertainty was Just as drcary.
That very afternoon, II he had been Ques-
,oned concerning his plans, and If be had
chosen to reply, be would have said that he
stapded TO marry Miss Willing. M;ss Will.
mo herself had been contemplating much
ne same picture Of the future, but while
Mr.. Iangley's vision was gllttering with
golden bplendor, hers was flushed with rose
eolor, She saw q sentimental paradise,
where where Mr.. Philip Langley was eternally 10
adore Mrs Philip Langley, while envious
women we're to gnash their teeth outside.
Tbc rose-colored vision still swan before
MIS- Willing's eyes, but Mr. Langley's golden
prospects had faded to the dullest gray.
Money was absolutely needful to convert
,pch dreams into reality, and Mr.. Langley
had so little that the amount Of his fortune
agays seemed 10 him ridiculous Miss
willing, however, was an heiress. Il is true
that be had always understood that her
mother and she had but q limited income
ill she should be OF age, though, as that In
yolyed no long delay, he had not troubled
himself about the matter. That afternoon
he had learned that an uncle had the prop
city, aud, though It must come TO her ulti-
mately, she would not succeed to 1t till after
hs death. He received the unwt lcome
news with a slight, significant compression
of bis lips 1t might not have been final.
Cncles are occasionally old and infirm, and
sometlmes even actually dying; but In this
case the subject of the lady's proepscts
had been introduced by the fact that this
particular uncle was paying visit In the
neghborhood, and Just as the talk was fln-
shed man strolled along the opposite pave
ment.
why, there Is Willing I" his informant
exclaimed, pointing TO the passer.by.
Mr., Langley could only see his back, but
Il was not an encouraging back. He looked
at 1t gravely and cslmly, the compressed |
+ lips relaxed into scarcely perceptble smile |
O eeli-congratulation, aud he began to |
fpeak Of something else with easy indiffer- |
encc. But In that moment he had recoiled |
. from preciplce.
And now, while he stood tying his cravat |
aud surveying himself with kind of melan
chOly interest, the faint smile came back as |
4 hf rallied the narrowness of his escape. |
Until the uncle died 1t seemed that Miss |
Willing would have very little, and OF course |
be uncle would not die. People die OF love |
-at least, so people said; Mr.. Langley was |
hardly prepared to affirm lt-but he was
quite sure that they occasionally lived out |
Of sheer spite; and, If ever he had seen a /
mltciously unpromising back, 1t was Mr.. |
Wlllng's. Rose would be poor for years,
and, rejecting thus, MFR. Langley exchanged |
meaning glances with his reflection In the |
glass.
His only interest in the matter now was
bow to get out ofit-gracefully, If possible,
but, at any rate, swiftly and decidedly. To |
oOk back was as distasteful as to look for |
ward. Heiress- hunting was not an ideal oc- |
Npltion at the best, but II the stake were
large and the heiress shy of her suitoIs It |
might be exciting enough, and even confer /
akHd of glory on the suecessful hunter In 1
ths clse, however, Miss Willing had been 1
rather too ready to yield, and the value of /
The prize had been greatly exaggerated. He |
oOked back contemptuously on his easy |
conquest, and only hoped that the disap-
pointed helress would not reverse the parts |
and hunt him.
Marrying money It was still his ono
lca but he saw clearly that the only thing |
which could give lt any dignity would be |
marrying a great deal of money. To marry |
Sttie would be idiotic as we'll as ignoble. |
8 It would be like the miserable beings In old |
witch stories, who invariably sold their souls |
f 70 the devil Ior so very unsatisfactory price. |
Mr. Langley determined that, If he sold |
Il himself IL should be for his full value, and |
with Lat resolution he turned away to keep
bis promise 10 Mrs. Willing. He had dc. |
bated ior moment whether he would 70 at |
al; but since Rose was waiting for him, and |
since, sooner or later, he must meet her
with the change of manner which should
mark his wthdrawal-wby, the sooner it
vas over the better. The whole business
was unpleasant enough ~ make him de-
ededly out of temper. Still, with q Bhrug
Of his shoulders and final backward glance
At the mirror, he congratulated himself that
hls love c-making, though It had gone toll
erably far, had gone no further. Things
might have been worse
hrs. Willing meanwhile was receiving her
quests in drawing room which was fur
ashed in style old-fashloned enough to
nave lost all freshness, yet too modern to
@inieresting. @ The china vases on brackets
ahd chimney piece; the pictures crowded on
,ae walls the knlckknacks strewn plenti-
laly about; ugly and ill.Chosen as they were,
Net revealed the aspirations of q nature,
Which, while desiring something better than
us uneongenial surroundings, had not force
snJ insight enough to find 10. Mr.. Willing
had possessed refined mind, which had
valnly stfVed to develop itself In the blight
ng atmosphere Of q provincial town. 1t
mad dwindlcd like a plant In a barren soil,
ana, at his death, nothing remained to show
'aat he ever had dream of artistic beauty,
except this worthless collection which carl
Caturcd IT,
Every year had added something of dreari-
ness 70 the room. The furniture was shabby;
tne gliding was tarnishei on pretentious
names and dcornices; the curtains were dingy,
and the carpets worn.
During her husbands life time Mrs. Will
ug mad secretly wearled of the society he
w'ed' Such artists and men of lettere as
We neighborhood could boast had gathered
S"ain those walls. But while she was yet
~ tle deepest blackness of her Widows
SSeeus, the local scandal-mongers had
wopped in by twos and threes to enliven the
uol0tony OF her woe, and, as soon as she
oO oou'u once more receive her friends, she be-
Su SaLle the centre of a circle as frivolous and
,ualad as herself. These were the guests
,ha9. Sa1 were assembling that night, greeted by
S"ea %. hostess with little cackling laugh.
tpso laugh served Tor welcome, for interTo-
G@oh ior admiration, for sympathy, for
sppFet. alton of anything which Mrs. Will
ing did MT In the least understand. To any
- II II