The Arkansaw traveler., 1884-07-12
NINETTE
e TREeIL-suR-MEk. SEIxE-iNfEeIEf RE.
 FRAN. :. Arri.s.

IEEt iL-sUR- MFR, SEINE-INfEgIEf RE,
 FRAN t. August [.
 DEAREST SUSAN: Oi course you are heartily sick of London. Those leaden skies, those pea-soap fogs that damp ness which crep; into the very marrow of ones bones tha; mono.ony of a gray ex. isience can never be forgotten, the funeral so-calicd enjoyment of a people abso- luteiy without elasticity oi nature; those heavy. never-ending, s,ill-beginning par ties, those stuffed rooms. where people were packed like sardInes in box, talk ing Of mere trifles.
 Don't you g.oan for liberty, sigh for another life, one with sunshine and real nature for true art, no; for fashionable Iargon about Il, and to see real peasan; ploughing field under ,he golden srn- set. From ny iight-blue chin,1- furnished room, overlooking delightfc, old fashioned country garden. wi,h delicious swee,-peas, fai cabbage roses. rnigoaet,e ctc., can see the yeiiox pumpkins with their rich leaves reminding me of Gin. derelia lfor they are the same sort of thing which he: fairy godmo,her ,rans- formed into 6 coach). and cueumbers. and vines with the grapes JUS; beginning to ripen under the hot sun: the gray wall Is covered with moses the old well tready to be sketched by your clever fingers. with the bucket, drawn by a boy III blue-co,ton knickerbockers and bat tered straw lat. Behind Is a wood in front i've are Tn farm IS yard filled with cocks, hens, rabbits, and sheds for the three brown COWS. whose milk drink three times day. What Is there in Lon don society 10 equal these rural delights :? or course l have several f,ita,ions on hand what would life be withou, them : enclose timetable the diligence meets the Havre train. 1 will come 10 meet you al the hour you men,ion-do not, you canno. refuse me the pleasure ot your society. French air is as exhil- arating as champagne the sur loves my native iand-i, does not shine through gray waterproof as is the case in Eng land. do nothing bu, bask out in the open air bathe in the sea-,hat is my special delight: dance at the Casino pu, on lovely dresses, for there are several artists here. Mir. Herber, Lumley. whose picture made hit in the Salon. lives a, the hotel opposite the farm call bin, Lucifer, because he is so wickedly hand some. am sure tha, you and he will be eongenial spirits. Daddy is writing big drama lie sends you his affection. ate regards, and joins me in the wish that you should come at once-your room is ready. Write by return. Your loving friend. "NixErrE TALBOT,
 received this epis,le on a sul,ry morning early in August; it was handed to me by the unsmiling footman of my aunt, Lady Gray, with whom was living in Queens Gate.
 "Of course shall come. and only too glad.' l exclaimed out loud. clap ping my hands with delight a, the un- expected prospect of so total a change. and utterly forgetting ,ha. my aun, was not aware of the contents of the letter.
 Go where, Susan ?' she exclaimed from her satin soia, where she was re- posing in white peignoir covered with lace.
 "To Treuil-sur-Mer-this letter is tron my friend, Ninette Talbot; she has just invited me to spepd few weeks with her and her father at Treuil-sur-Mer in Normandy; her graphic description makes me long to accept"
 A look of dismay overspread the placid. good'looking, soulless face of Lady Gray.
 guessed the letter must be from that undisciplined young person the scrawled envelope with the stamp upside down, could only come from tha, wild girl" remarked my aunt. "r do hope Susan, that you will refuse. do no, ap- prove of the Talbots. Mrs. Talbot, poor thing, is dead-she was a French. woman but Mir. Talbo, is a real ho- hemian, often in debt, always untidy. and does not belong to our set. Besides. | want you to come with me to Scarbor- ough; there we shall meet our circle. Ah Susan, it is high time you should settle. want you to be a success and marry well; if you 90 roaming about on the continent with harum-scarum girl like Nettie Talbot, you will utterly spoil your chance of making a suitable match n our set"
 "Your ses!" groaned ont from my Chippendale chair. "Oh. don't I see them parading up and down the fashion able resorts, without any expression, save that ot being bored, on their clean counr tenances? To marry well means to be- long to that utterly uninteresting portion 4of humanity, with their narrow conver- ticual mindA No, dear aunt, cannot belong to that world; would much