New-York tribune., 1885-07-12

rfasOn-Or no rca80n-l n1Q TAKEN IL TntO NY Bcd
that Mrs. Wilkinson would be- big and handsome;
that she would have good deal of manner. that
she would still be In half mourning for her late hus,
her neck q large jet locket with the date OF his
dcmise incrusted upon it in diamonds and finally,
that she would be much pleased at adding the
ances When, therefore. was introduced on the
following afternoon to an extremely pretty and
rather dcmure-looking little woman, whose blue
cence and whose quiet. but perfectly fitting frock
matched these in color, was. must confess some
what taken aback. Moreover. although she re-
ceived me very civilly, and did not look exactly
surprised at seeing ME. there was just something IN
her demeanor which suggested the query. % what
do owe this pleasure y and such suggestions are
dsconcerting. Pole was not the sort Of man who
would anything ont of the way in taking one OF
his friends to call npon a lady with whom he was
intimate but the proceeding was, of course. trio
irregular. and l should never have been guilty of
such rregularity had not chosen TO assume that
Mrs. Wilkinson was person with whom there was
no occasion to stand upon ceremony. AS IT was, i
was glad to be able to explain my visit by saying
that knew Miss Warde's father and mother ana
hoped to have an opportunity OF paying my respecus
to the young lady herself that she was IN Lon
don. Miss Warde however, had gone out; and so
we sat and talked for a while to the widow, who, as
was obliged to acknowledge to myself. was not
only unobjectionaDlc but decidedly attrac,iyc.,
"You are great politician are yop not cG,onGI % ,i
von at once that that am Liberal so that you may
know the worst of me. But Mr.. Pole says my case
is not such a very bad one as some peoples, be-
causc don't really know the difference between the
al am reioiced. Mrs. Wilkinson" quoth I. in my
happiest manner. I. to hear that your Liberalism Is
not very Profound; because. if it were. should
tremble for our friend Poles allegiance"
She looked full at me with momcntary serious
ness but began to smile again almost d mmeaasy
us accept our political convictions as do our re-
ligious creeds. We are born Catholics or Protes-
tants Conservatives or Liberals and 1t isn't worth
while to change"
"Were yoa born o Liberal T. | inquired. for
thought she might take this occasion of enllgbten-
sThose with whom have lived have been Liberals
for the most part" she replied. y But yOu are Q
soldier first. and Conservative afterward. ism
that sol You would let the Radicals have their
wicked will as regards great many things, if only
they would leave the army alone am sure you
must be right. How can a civilian Minister know
the other day about the difficulty of getting good
non commissioned officers and, ignorant as am,
could not help seeing that your facts are unassai
It Is. That is perfectly true. If am asked for my
have it supposed that am simple as to be taken
in by every lady who has found out my hobby, and
chooses to simulate an interest Ia it. Very nearly
t 90 10 b Sev an0%
similar manner when they have to deal with my
friend Admiral Bunting. or with Drinkwater the
dividual who happens to be more or less of q
specialist. Nevertheless, l am quite willing to AL
a a to b to
and every appearance of pleasure by pretty
woman is gieat deal more agreeable to me than
being contradicted and pooh poohed, and snarled
at. as / too often am BY certain other hearers OF
NINE certainly enjoyed my visit, and when Mrs
Wilkinson invited Inc to dine with her quietly on
the following Thursday, ccepted without hesita-
ton Why shouldn't / dine with heri She lived in
o remarkably wellappointcd little house IN South
Kensington. and from the general look OF her snr
roundings Judged that she would give me good
dinner. II thought her very nice. and said SO
canddy to Pole. as we walked away;
But YOU know, my dear fellow" added, 1t Is
one thing to make friends with pleasant chatty
woman from no one knows wherc, and quite an.
other thing to marry her. II yon will be advised
visiting hire just usual and gradually let her sec
anything anSs hin" Of f women % she viii drop YOU
| fnllv q will be most satlsfactory, no doubt
Worry evident 1t was to me that Pole stood in sore
need of a stanch and determined friend to look
after him. suspected as much then, and was
quite certain of 1t few days later, when the little
dinner TO which had been so Hospitality invite
took place. Estimated by the number of guests who
sat down to it. il avery little dinner for these
consisted simply of Pcle and myself. So long we
remained at table. the conycrsation was general
and indeed could not very well have been anything
else with only four people present: IL was in the
drawing-room aftcrwaId that ] discovered how
serious matters were. found that had to talk 10
Miss Warle (whO Is twenty two years younger than
am and may possibly think me an old bore. while
the ether couple withdrew to remote corner. and
stnr very eose to bis fair saw S
| gazing at her with an immense admiration IN those
sleepy eyes OF his 1t was clear that he was no more
able TO escape than mouse with whom cat has
| begun to play. / can't say that Mrs. Wilkinson
frted vulgariy. nor perhaps was she hirtrng at all
| in any offensive acreptation of the word but
could not doubt that il was her purpose to change
her present name for that Of Pole. and felt sure
that if She we're not inerfered with, she would do
| that no account Of her was obianable from Miss
Warde. That young lady was so rctlcent when
casually questioned upon the subject that at first
suspected her of having something TO conceal but
satisfied myself after time that size ouly withheld
particulars from me because she did not happen "a
be- IN possession of any. elected the fact that the
Wardes had spent the previous summer IN Swtzer
land where il seemed tolerably safe that
they had picked up Mrs. Wilkinson and that the
latter should be anxious to establish connection
with people Of such und0ubted rtspcctabilty was
comprehensive enough
.It was so very kind OF her TO ask me TO STAY
with her" Miss War1c said gratefully. 81 had
made up my mind that was tU have no season this
year for papas g0ut has been so bad lately that ht
hated the idea of leaving home. aud mamma woni
not consent to come up without him. il struck
me that both papa and ma!nEa would have been
more prudent if they had not eonseDted to let Tho
young lady come uD without them; bat that WA
inst hat might have been expected OF the ar lcs
They are "A simple. innocent old pair who wond iol
low the absnd rule of trusting every one who has
not been proved unworthy OF trust and was not not
their daughter to tie clapcrona2e OF total sianGer
However, that was their affair. not mime. Ny
business was to get upon MRS. W!IknsohS rack
and follow it back TO its starting point When
say that this was my business. mean that had
resolved in poor Poles interest TO make 10 so lie
honestly avowed to me. after had LETT the house
that nc distrustch himself It's all very we'll ic
tell me that I'm thinking Of dong confoundedly
foolish thing" he said: I" hut between you and me-
my dear old chap. I've been doing foslish.thngs all
nv life long and / suppose j shall keep nip the
same game 10 the end OF the chapter. unless some
body is kind enough to knock me down and SIT on
nv head until the temptation passes' ] assured
him that he might RELY upon mo to do him this
service in figurative sense il necessary. and that
/ would at once sat about making inquiries which
the case appeared to call for.
did so and my surprise Mt finding what mum,
Der of people knew Mrs Wilkinson was cGualled
only Dy my disappointment Mt the very meagre IN
that they able to give respect ing
her Most of them bad made her acGnaintance