Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1885-10-25

I&o <141Istft)0 CANE jdto cotsiSlou *ssu
smother bet9e<n twenty snd thirty
miles ffom town, and there wes no
means Of sending any Of the passengers
on Gov sonse time. At one time, she
added. . did not think ! should have
arrived here tonight"
/" That would have been dreadful =
nv sister said, coming forward from
behind melt was always she who
was first 10 do the right thing--and
taking the strangers hands 10 hers.
:" We should have been so unhappy
about you. knowing you were among
foreigners, and not knowing what might
have come 70 you. You must come to
the ere and get warm and tell as oil
about IL, and, Essie, there is some sup
per to be brought mis- there nots"
| She had begun In her eager way
/ always so anxious to set people at ease
and at home--speakipg English; now.
remembering. she checked herself, aud
added in French:
You do speak English; don't you?
little. we understood. We do not
know much Of your language. my sis
ter and l."
"A littlc,v the other answered shy
| ly. still in her own tongue.
She looked more nervous than ever,
and she shisered as she spoke. Mary
almost pushed me aside, noticing 1t, to
make way Cor her 10 the fire.
You are very good, madame-I am
not cold" she said then, in English,
with strong accent, and speaking very
| deliberately, as one who had to frame
her sentences before uttering them :"I
| am only very tired, and would like to
60 to bed. /
"But we cannot let you do that
until you have had somethiog," / said.
=" You must have had great shock.
Was the accident serious one!"
She was afraid, very there had been
a considerable loss Of life. 50 she had
been told; indeed, she had seen as
much for herself. She could not bear
10 think Of it.
"But the carriage you were in es-
capped? You sustained no injury?"
IL was thrown from one erd to the
other Of it, and was little bruised ";
she pulled of her glove and showed us
her left arm slightly grazed and con-
fused, and gave light, significant
touch to both elbow and shoulder;
"but that was all. l was very fortu-
nate"
"And your fellow-passengers? Was
there nobody else in the compartment
with your"
She hesitated before answering me,
rs If she was not sure of the question,
and I repeated it in that la5ored French |
which I should have liked to feel sure
was as good as her English, measured
and unmistakably foreign as it was.
mo" she said then nobody"
She had been made to sit down by
this time in one of the easy-chairs, and
Mary had mixed her, with her own
hands, some hot wine and wate-, which
we made her drink, and which brought
little color back into her cheeks and
lips. Her cloak she would not remove,
but she took off her hat and the little
spotted veil, worn like q half-mask
across her face, and l could feel the |
mingled surprise and admiration in my |
sisters countenance reflected in my |
own.
We had had governesses Of all sorts
and sizes at Inglewood House, but this
was the first time We had enlisted the
services Of one who might have posed
for public admiration as professional
beauty. She was so much too striking
looking that slept little all that night
thinking of it. l was always more or
less afraid Of a pretty pupil. One
never knew the complications that
might be involved, and pretty
governess was worse still. l shoald
never have engaged Mary had she been
offered to me in the later capacity-I
always told her so.
If she shared my misgivings on the |
present occasion she would not allow
it. She was a greas lover Of beauty,
and from that first night she took Nine.
Laure under her wing, and did all she
could to help her in her work and to
prepossess me in her favor. was not
predisposed in it. though / could have
given no good reason for my own feel
ing. Her good looks worried me,
confess, and being so handsome, could
have wished her older; it was difficult
to believe that she counted anything like
the thirty years she professed; bat that
was not all. She had, to my mind,
neither method enough in her work
nor interest enough in her pupils
progress. Half her time she seemed to
be wool. gathering, and she did not APP
pear to understand being found fault
with. She was not rude, and she did
not retaliate, but she had a way of
looking at me to which was not accus-
toned, and which made me uncomfort-
able. | am tall myself, but she was
taller, and | never felt myself so much
mistress with her as with her prede-
cessors. liked to be looked up to in
both senses by my governesses, aud
there was none of this looking up in the
case of Nine. Laurie so far as | was
concerned. 1t was to Mary-Mary,
who never exacted any Difference from
any body-that she deferred.
1t was no matter Of wonder to me
that my sister should attract love and
veperation. There wereg generally three
or four girls in the school who would
have done anything, gone anywhere for
her; but the French governess was no
girl, nor would she have struck one as
SO likely to pay homage as to expect it.
1t was not, imagine, so much the
others kindness to her individually as
to the charm Of her simple goodness.
Whatever else madame might forget
whatever duty she might neglect-she
never forgot her little attentions to " Miss
Mary" However dull she might be
looking, she had alwaysa smile ready for
her. My sister must, felt, see it, and be
touched by it; and, in spite of myself,
apetty jealousy was ashamed Of added
to my prejudice against the French wo-
man. Mary admired her so much, and
in mel became so foolish as that,
who had never allowed my plain face to
distress me before-there was nothing
to admire.
-. A. Il