New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1885-05-10
A MARRIAGE OF THE PERIOD
ny EDGAR FAWCETT.
Author of "An ambitious WomGn." " Gentleman
ofLeisme" " Rutherford" etc.

chambers OF q New-YorK apartment mousse ea0H
having an air of WEAKNESS, not to say oepio .u
and each bearing upon her eountenance tno -
nc that prolonged meditation when may A
accounted for the long H'ei'"i
risen between them. =. 10. ,,or,,
1'S Taa oIIor Iadv had been sewing but her Work
~ Jronpcd idly into her lap some little une ago.
81 che was staring straight at tne slnlil iuIiu
.ols Of the fireplace as her rather am eyes oouid
-oo1 some fantastic revelation among their glowing
FRAGMENTS She had once been handsome; you saw
that by a glance Her gray hair. rolled backward
from, her delicately outlined face, had the pathos
which mouldered frame gives to a faded picture
Mrs Vanvelsor was now only a sad souvenir of her
nerisbed physicalsef; but this suggested memory,
discerned so clearly in than single soft curve
as of Iiostr cheek or chin lacked the most poetic
element of such attractiyeness. l cannot Just
explain why one did not lament more over her
ruined beauty. Was it because the life that sne
had lived, with trivial ambitions aud narrow
accomplishments, flung upon her sort OF bellttlng
rehection9 This may he quite untrue; the least
worthy lived women land men as we'll often
preserye facial secrecy as regards real breadth and
height of character. One fact is certain with her
Iadylike slender figure, her long, slim hands, her
refinement Of gesture, posture ana speech, you
would promptly have recognized in her the
evidences of culture, gentity and careful breeding
In the other lady cher daughter, Adeaide much
of what her mother may have been at similar age
was bloomingly reproduced. Adelaide Nanyelsor
had q sensitive, heart-shaped face lit with dark
dashed hazel eyes and surmOunted by crisp, misty
wealth of brown hair, Through which ran frequent
threads of gold. She had been reading and her
book like her mothers sewing lay in her lap. The
neat symmetry of her dropped figure was manifest
as she gazed steadily down at the floor. She
possessed no wOndrous feminine charm, and yet
there was that in her personality which was ind-
yidually sweet and winning AS well as in any
other way it could be expressed by the pleasant
cadence of her vOice-a voice with dulcet yet
husky note in it--when suddenly raising her head
she looked toward her mother and thus broke the
protracted silence between them:
aIdont know whether TO 60 tonight or not,
mamma What do YOU say p
Mrs Vanvespr started and turned to the speaker
who sat considerably away from her-near one of
the two windows which the limited and plainly
furnished room contained.
GAL suppose / would go, Adelaide" she said.
GYour aunt Linda has offered to chaperone you.
You know can't. That green silk of mine is the
only decent thing left and Archie Champlin spilled
half glass of champagne over its front breadth
last Thursday at the Southgates ball"
Adelaide Vanvelsor laughed little drearily. She
was always pretty when she laughed. Her face
was fall of what we call character but at any sign
of mrth its short upper lip cured with an nfantlle
sweetness as dainty as if it had been the petal Of
tea-rose.
@How you uaR refer to poor Mr. Champlin's
mishap!7 she exclaimed not petulantly but with d
kind of tired amusement IL am sure he apologized
for it copiously enough"
ooh yes" said Adelaides mother, with a drol
grimness. But should have liked the apology
better If il had taken the form Of n new gown
Mammafr cried Adelaide. And then the two
looked at each other and understood each other,
and both laughed with real zest
Adelaide shut her book, and tossed it upon a
chair set against the window. "Those dreadful
things are fun to say" she presently went on but
sometimes always recoIl from them-especlally in
an apartment house like this"
ooh pshaw, the walls are thick enough" said
Mrs. vanvelsor. as she resumed her sewing
al think you ,ciH CO." she continued. L" The
Delanceys always give such brilliant balls
Besides, aunt Linda will take you. Have you
gloves by the wayT
ayes. Rrhere sill three pairs left ont of
that lot cousin Charlotte brought me from Paris"
Mrs Vanvelsor was now sewing ndustriously.
What she sewed looked like useful undergar-
ment; there was implied snecure in its ample
white volume of muslin. "Oh, very we'll" she
said. @Pd 90. You've your pink silk. and it
always looks nice will my pearls Besides, Lent
is so near. How will your aunt Linda know. by
the waye It's past A. If you're not going you must
write at once"
adelaide rose, in a llotering, dubious manner.
Just then the bell in the little outer passage
sounded. &c Good gracious" said the girl, losing
her languOr in instant "Where IS Margaret
mammal" She alluded 20 the second of the two
servants they kept in their modest almost tiny
Ghat1 The other servant was the cook, aud in
virtue of culinary responsibility, doubt deserved
precedence.
Mrs Vanvelsor rose at once, with an idea Of
concealing her utilitaran handiwoTk. II don't
know il Margaret's back yet from the Avenue," she
murmured hurriedly. " The Avenue" meant Sixth
Avenue, near which their Thirty-eiGhth Street
residence lay, and whittier Margaret had been
dispatched for certain slight though needful
purchases.
al wonder il it can be anybody" proceeded Mrs
Vanvesor, while she flung her eopious muslin into
some mysterious receptacle shielded by a chntz
pOrfiere. al don't believe it is" And then she
added vaguely. in the tone perplexed ladies use
when they speak more to their own convictions
thar to any actual listener: Do your
But it proved to be decidedly somebody, as both
mother and daughter discovered. when Mar
garet (who had very recently returned from her
pilgrimage of economical commerce) admitted no
less a person than the SAINT Linda" whom We
have inst heard mentioned.
Aunt Linda was Mrs. Hulsonton Newburgh. the
only sister of Adeaides mother The two sisters
had both been married on the same day, twenty four
years ago. One had married Yanvelsor the other
Ncwburgh. Both matches had been regarded as
excellent. The brides daughters of Mr..
Brevoort Bondstreet, gentleman of secure Knick-
erbocker lineage and large wealth The two bride
groOms, John Vanvelsor and HudsOntou Newburgh,
were both dead. The first had turned out a sot and
o spendthrft, drinking and gambling away his
wife's fortune and his own the second had died