The Penn's Grove record., 1884-11-08

allowed such ideas to come into his
head. Vulgar indeed ! Why, She seemed
to him the very personidcatlon of re
| 6nement and Of everything that was
womanly and graceful J How pretty
| she was he thought. as he lay back in
| his chair and conjured up her image 10
his mind. What deep tender brown
eyes she had, what a sweet tremulous
mouth, what lovely hairl And lie had
actually thought of this girl as if he
would be comforting a favor On her by
asking her to marry him He felt that
he was a horrible wretch, and ought no
longer to be allowed to inhabit the same
house with such a divinity divinity
against whom he had so treacherously
conspired.
The fact was that Henniker was as
| much in love with Lilly Maitland as it
is possible for a young fellow to be in
love with "A girl after only eight hours
acquaintance. 1t was quite a case of
| the bitter bitten and, as the days rolled
on and he came to know her better, and
| the beauties of her character were grad
| ually unfOlded to him, he yielded more
and more to the influence hat her
| sweetness a2d grace were exercising
| over him. And the fonder he grew of
the girl the more relf-reproaehful he be-
| came for his previous thoughts and de-
signs concerning her-untll at length
the matter preyed upon his mind to
such an extent that he grew perfectly
miserable. What Llly's feelings were
| towards him be could form no idea her
manner perplexed HIM sadly. Some
times she would be quite frank and I'M
| constrained /; but Immediately he made
| advances of equal cordially she drew
back and became corTespOndingly dis
tant. Once or twice he almost imag-
med that she avoided him and he be-
gan at length to think that she disliked
him.
So the days passed until Nhlt.Sunday
was at hand. Those days had enlight-
ened Henniker very much as to Mr..
Maltland's true character. lie had
been amongst his work-people and had
seen how they all reyerenced and re-
spectad him, he had seen how consider
ate and thoughtful he was towards
| them. and he had heard from the peo-
pie in the neighbOrhOod OF the Midlands
how good and unselhsh he was, But,
more than all, he had been brought into
close contact with the man himself and
he had had time and opportunity to be-
come acquainted with his disposition,
and to mark the many little ways in
which his generosity and true nobility
of character showed themselves. The
| result was a total revulsiOn Of feeling
towards Mr.. Maitland, almost as com
plete as that towards his daughter and
he now condemned himself for having
70 harshly misjudged that gentleman,
and having allowed himself to be led
away merely by speech and manner.
1t was the evening before Nhit-Sun-
day, the time about six. Henniker, who
lad beeE out riding, went to the draw
ing-room, not expecting to lind any n
there, for Lily had driven'intoth the town
to make some purchases, and he hardly
fancied she could have returned yet.
He was mistaken however, for she was
seated before the fire, and in 50 deep a
reyerie that he mad to speak TO her be-
fore she became aware of his presence.
Your thoughts seem to be pleasant
ones, Miss Maitland, if II may judge
from the expression of your face" he
said, as he took a seat near her,
She started violently, and a hot color
stole into her cheeks. Henniker won
dered why she should blush so much at
such apparently innocent words. 1t
was but momentary however, and, when
the flush died away, it seemed to leave
her face paler than usual.
Thoughts at WhItsuntide ought to
be pleasant, Mr. H%enniker, ~ she said
but | don't know that mine we're par.
ticularly happy. Did you enjoy your
ride ?"
VERY much. Sam, as 1 think you
called him, carried me splendidly, and
| had no idea the country about Man
chester was so interesting. 1t is really
very pretty out beyond Cheadle."
II am glad you liked 1t you will, at
any rate, have one pleasant remembrance
of Manchester to carry away with you"
There was something in the tone in
which she said this, something half sad
and r%eproaehful, that caused Henniker
to lose his head.
There is n remembrance that will
always be inexpressibly dear to me, y he
SAID, in a low voice.
The moment he had spoken he felt
that he had betrayed himself. There
was no turning back now come what
might, he must go on. A choking sen-
sation rose in his throat but he reso-
lutely forced it back, and steeled him
self for the coming ordeal.
The flush again rose to her cheek. 1t
was impossible to mistake bis meaning.
For a moment what he would have con-
strued as almost a happy look came over
her face but it passed away quickly,
and her features grew hard and set.
Il hardly understand you, " she said
nervously /; and he noticed that, despite
her efforts to remain composed, the
hand nearest to him was trembling vio-
lentlv.
"The dearest remembrance l shall
have when | leave Manchester will be
of yourself, he said. 81 scarcely in
tended to make this avowal 50 soon,
Miss Maitland but, now that circum-
stances have led up to it, il would sim
ply be cowardice if / did not speak
plainly. love you'll l know that this
Is great presumption on my part, and
that am not half worthy of you; but
indeed | couldn't help myself. 1t was
impossible to be In the same house with
you without loving you. Think have
cared for you from the very first day we
met ; but how great my love now IS,
how deeply it is implanted in my ma
ture, | a never tell you. VIII you be
my wife, Lily, and let it be the sole OBJ
Iect of my life to prove it to your On,
my darling, If you only knew how much
l love you, how passionately, since
came here, | have hung upon every
look and every smile you have given
me, surely your heart would come out
to me as my heart has gone out to you
wiz you try to love me, LilyY VIII
you be my wife ?"
He had flung himself upon the ground
beside her as he spoke, and had clasped
her hand in his. For a moment she
permitted it to remain there unresist-
lngly, while her whole woman's nature
seemed to respond to his appeal then,
with a sudden effort, she drew herself
AWAY and rose IN hau fook