The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1884-01-04

do you know him He has looked fire..
quently toward you.'
"Has he 7"
"Who is it
Il cannot tell. I have not seen
him"
Suppose you look :"
81 prefer not. l came to see the
play. Is not Helen Fanchet superb o.
$50, So | wish you would tell me
who that gentleman on the left is.
am sure he knows you, and he is strik-
ingly handsome
cat present the stage interests me.
Besides, if men are rude enough to
stare at strangers there is no occasion
for us to initiate them"
"Y our ladysbip has no curiosity -
mot any; | exhausted it some time
ago"
Her ladyship was not telling the
truth; she was intensely curious, but
1T pleased her at that time to pique the
Honorable Selma Dorset. The strange
sympathy that makes us instantly con-
scious of familiar glance, even in a
crowded building, had solicited her re
gard just as Selma had advised her of
it. If she had not been asked to look
toward her left she would probably
have done so as it was, she resolutely
avoided any movement in that direc.
ton.
The play finished in tumult of ap-
plause. Lady Kate Talbot forgot
everything in her excitement, and She
stood up flushed and trembling, she in
advertently turned toward the left. In
stantly she recognized a presence with
which she ought to have been familiar
enough.
The gentleman bowed with an ex
treme respect. Lady Kate acknowl-
edged the courtesy in manner too
full of astonishment to be altogether
gracious, and the elaborate poiteness
OF the recognition was not softened by
any glance implying a more tender in
tlmacy than that of mere acquain-
tance.
My lady was silent all the way
home, and for some reason Selma was
not disposed to interrupt her reverie-
1t did not seem to be an unpleasant
one. Rates face had bright flush on
1T, and her eyes had in them light-a
light that resembled what Selma
would have called hope and love, if nv
lady had not been already married,
and her destiny apparently settled.
Selma, when you have got rid of
all that lace and satin, come to nv
room; l have something to say to |
you"
Selma nodded pleasantly. She was
sure it concerned the gentleman on the |
left. She had no love affairs of her
own on hand or heart at present, and,
being neither literary nor charitable,
her time went heavily onward. A lit
tie bit OF romance, especially if con-
nected with the cold or proper Lady
Talbot, would be of all things the
most interesting.
She was speedily unrobed, and, with
her long blonde hair hanging loosely
over her pretty dressing gown, she
sought my lady's room. Lady Talbot
sat in a dream-like stiffness, looking
nto the bright blaze on the hearth.
She scarcely stirred as Selma took a
arge chair beside her, and scarcely
smiled when she lifted one--of her loos-
'ned curls and said: "What exquisite
lair you have, Kate! True golden"
"Yes, it is beautiful. / know that,
IF course"
"Of what are you thinking so in
emily ?"
"Of the gentleman on our left to,
light
"Ah, who is he9 He seemed to
now you?'
He ought to know me much better
han he does. He is my husband, 4
lord Richard Talbot" It
"Kate |" f
at is true"
81 thought he was in Africa or e
ASIA, or Europe, or somewhere at the
nd of the world" s
"He is now in England, it seems. | o
impose he just arrived. have not T.
cen him before" v
"Where is he staying, then o. n
81 presume in the left wing of this
lansion. | notice there are more I
ghts than usual in it tonight. His D
partments are there II
"Now, Kate, do tell me all, dear. a
Gu know / love romantic love'af. v
lir, and am sure this is one.n ri
"You We're never more mistaken, b
ellna. There is no love at all in the n
falr That is the secret of the whole 81
ositlon. thought that as you were IL
aging here this week, and might N
'obably see or meet my lord, it was y
etter to make all clear to you. Peo. Il
e are apt to associate wrong with a
ings they do not understand" OF
ITO be sure, dear / suppose Lord le II:
ichard and you have had little dis 81
yreement Now, if | could only do W
,ything toward reconciliation, II
lould be so happy, you know" III
mo, Selma, there has been no
larrel, and You can do nothing at all pI
9tween us, / don't want you to try al
lst be kind enough to ignore the m
hole circumstances Lord Richard W
I'd understood each other nearly
vi ySoio "oo. w
"But it is not four years since you la
arried 7"
Just four years-yesterday." IT
"And my lord has been away" d
"Ihree years, eight months and
ghteen days, so far as / know" 81
swell, that is a most extraordinary b'
ing, and very very sad, must al
~" hi
ut might easily have been much N
oder. | am going to tell You the tC
act truth, and / rely upon your hon
and discretion to keep the secret in nj
olable. W
"My dear Kate, ! would not name it h'
r the world IN
"Listen, then. One night when | .
ar scarcely II years old, my father ii
Mt tor me to his study | had known I'll
r months that he was dying. He al
as the only creature that | had to ca
We, and loved him very tenderly. | &C
ust mention this also, for it partly ex- tr
aims my conduct that the idea of m
sobeying him in ANYTHING had nayar IL