The weekly Floridian. [volume] (Tallahassee, Fla.) 1867-19??, 1884-02-12
BAINBRGDGE X son.


BAN I'd NJ HDGE K son.
There was a suppressed murmur of con-
versat'on in the dressmaking department
of the large drapery establishment Of
Messrs. Bainbrilge Il Son, which the
steady whir Of hundred sewing ma
chimes could not wholly drown. Where
the presence feminine can be found, he
sure the tongue feminine will he heard.
The superintendent Of the room, under
standing this, did not attempt to enforce
silence, so pretty Dollie Wynn and May
Bruton talked very confdentially in their
corner Of the great room and no one in
tertered, so long as fingers were busy as
well as tongues.
And this was what May said, Dollie's
blue eyes being riveted upon the quilting
on which she was at work
" saw her yesterday when | was 90
ing out to dinner. She was Just stepping
into her carriage, and Mr.. Edgar himself
handing her in. She looks old-nearly
forty, ! should say hut they say she is
immensely rich, and her dress was splen-
did. so suppose her money goes against
her age
Ibid you hear they were to be married
soon:"
/" Bless me didn't tell YOU that? NV
brother is in the stationers where the
wedding cards are being printed They
are to be married on the 27th. Mr.. and
Mrs. Edgar Bainbridge, and the card of
the brides mother, Mrs William Wilson.
Twelve . Come, we will 90 for a walk"
"No, | am ,ired,'' Dolly pleaded.
And her friend left her, never needing
the sudden pallor Of the sweet young face,
the dumb agony in the great blue eyes.
When she was alone Dolly stole away
to the little room where the coaks, shawls
and hats Of the girls were kept, and there,
crouching in a corner, hidden entirely bv
a hinge waterproof, she tried to think it
all out
What had it meant i: What did Edgar
Banl ridge mean in the long year he had
tried hv every masculine device to win
her love?
She had not been unmaidenly; heart
and conscience fully acquitted her
She had given her love, pure, true and
faithful, to the son of her employer; but
he has sought it dcIica;ely and persistently
before he knew that it was given him.
The young girl. now sewing for liv-
ing, had been laintilv bred and thor
oughly educated, her father having been
4 man drawing a salary sufficient to give
his only child every advantage. But
when he died, and his wife in a few months
followed him, Dollie had chosen life of
honorable labor in preference to one of
idle dependence upon wealthy relatives.
And yet in the social gatherings Of
these relatives and the friends of summer
days, Dollle was still welcome guest
1t was at her Uncle Lawrence's subur-
ban villa she had been introduced to Ed.
gar Bainbrdge After this she met him
frequently, and in her simple dress, with
her sweet pure face, had won marked at
tention from him.
With the frankness that was one of her
greatest charms the young girl had let
her admirer know that though she was
Lawrence Wynn's niece she worked for
living in the dressmaking department of
Bainbridge Il Son.
Then he had made her heart bound
with sudden, grateful JOY by telling her
he had seen her leave the shop" might
after night, but would not join her for
fear of giving annoyance by exposing her
to the remarks of her companions.
After this, however, she often found
him waiting for her at some point further
from the establishment, and always so re-
spectful and courteous that she was glad
Of his protection IN her long walk.
But he was going to marry an heiress
on the 27th, only week away, so he had
but trifed with her after all.
Poor little Dollie, crouching among the
shawls and cloaks, felt as if all sunshine
was gone from her life forever, as if her
cup Of humiliation and agony was full to
overfowing.
But the dinner-hour was over, the girls
coming in or sauntering from resting
places In the work-room, and the hum of
work commenced again, as it must, what
ever aching hearts or weary hands crave
rest.
Dollie worked with the rest, her feelings
SO numbed by the sudden blow that she
scarcely heard Mays lamentations over a
sudden food of order work that would
keep many of them in the room till mid
night.
"We'll have all day tomorrow if we
can finish these dresses tonight" said
one of the small squad of girls told off
for the extra work. Miss Brown says
40. But these must be ready to deliver in
the morning"
Talk, talk, talk! Whir. whir, whir
Dollie folded and basted, working with
rapid, mechanical precision, hearing the
noise of voices and machines, feeling the
dull, heavy beating Of her own heart and
the throbs of pain in her weary head, but
speaking no word of repining, excusing
her pallid face by the plea of headache.
1t was after eleven O'Clock when the
last stitch was set in the hurried work and
the girls ran down the long flights of
stairs to plod home through drizzling
rain, following the late snow-storm.
As Dollie passed down the staircase
she saw in the counting-house her recre.
ant lover, busy over some account-books.
But for the heavy news she had heard
that morning she would have felt sure that
this sudden spasm Of industry was to fur
nish an excuse for escOrting her home at
the unusually late hour.
But, if 30, Dollie felt it was but an ad-