Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1884-03-21
CHAPTER XI.


Angela had said, in reference To- the
ball: II will find chaperon:' and she
had easily succeeded in doing so. A
note. written in haste, to Mrs. Berg
haus, and sent by the servant of the
clearinghouse. despite much grum-
bling ON the part of both her mistress
and of the girl herself, produced a
good-naturcd reply from the lady to the
effect that she aud her party intended
To be mt Mr.. Starkie's house mt such
and such an hour, and il Miss Massey
and Miss Fairfax would be there about
the same time, and would wait in the
drcssing-rOOm, she would chaperon
them with pleasure.
Angela was Fairfax, and descended
on her mothers side from an aristo-
cratic house, which had never paid the
least attention to the renegade daugh-
ter who had married country rector:
still. Angela had their blood i'm her
veins, and derived from them n shirt
which, she was wont to say. was ali too
hcry and impetuous. Yet all the spirit
OF the Fa!rfaNes and of that other noble
house combined could not give her any
pleasure in the contemplation of that
drive of an hour and n half with Grace
Massey, angry, injured and unwilling.
To the scene OF the festivities. Grace
was ready at the appointed hour. look
Ing very handsome, despite her DIS
trcss. in her amber silk AMI gauze. with
the black velvet knots; but her eyes
were rcd with weeping. and swollen witt
the tears which had not fallen. and
her manner was dull and cold i'm the
extreme.
Angela was so closely shrouded in a
long white cloak that il was impossible
To guess ut the appearance likely To be
made by herself or her dress: all that
Grace could see was large. star-like
white Hover, repOsing somewhere in
the mazes of wavy black hair which
covered her head, which made her look
like some naiad or nymph, realized in
flesh and blood-and artificial flowers.
what n trial this is. dearr' sighed
Angela.
WHAT" inquired Grace"
.-"fhilips going away. II is most dis
trossing. Nothing but n sense of duty
tho very strongest sense of duty
would have induced me TO go TO this
miserable ball. am sure / shall not
dance n Bit" and she sighed heavily.
Grace struggled hard not to saw some
sharp bitter things. rs she was con-
stantly tempted to do when with Angela.
The remembrance of that dear face
which she had kissed in farewell not an
hour ago, and that alone. held i'm her
desire To be sarcastic. even sardonic. In
her replies. and she said:
Yes; i don't expect any pleasure
from It, must say, and in my iud0.
ment Il would have been better not r.
go. But 1 could not refuse Philip' !
last request"
Il wish It had been in my power tc
stay away" sighed Angela; ..but II
would have looked SO very marked. yor
know" NV
II thought you and my brother wer,
now definitely engaged. He told m,
So" said Grace.
1--WE are. but not publicly. II Womb
have been more than / could bear. To h,
openly engaged to him, and he gon,
away, for no one knows how longl''
Grace's rage could no longer be en-
tirely repressed.
You must lave n very scnsitiy,
nature, said she, in honeyed accents
"Oh, very" asSented Angela.
But to my mind" went on IN,
downright Grace. IF 1 loved n ma,
enough b marry him. there is nothin,
that / should like better than to have I
known that / was engaged to him.
should be proud Of il, and / shout,
glory in il. :"
"Oh, my dear Grace, how shocking
You are so young, dear. you really don
know what you are saying"
Grace laughed shortly and bitterly
and remarked:
"Do you mean that have not had n
much experience as you on the subject
l have never had any. allow me 10 tel
you, except that agreed to marry on,
Of Philips school-fellows when he wa
ten and L was zine. But see we shall
never agree upon the subject. so we haC
better let II drop"
Nothing 10th. Angela complied will
the suggestion. and the rest OF the jour
noy vas pursued in unbroken silence.
They had scarcely entered the dress
ing-room at Mr.. Starkie's before thu
Berghausss also arrived; Thekla and