Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1885-11-01

| tflick.
Kerr was silent for some seconds be-
| fore be spoke again.
"Mlle. Lecmur, on the contrary
he continued, awakened in my mind
a curious train Of thought, which j am
tempted to share with you, less for
your qualification thru in the hopes
Of shaking off the disagreeable sensa-
ton which Expresses me.'
Linburn began to feel uncomfortable.
While delighting in fictitious sentiment,
real tragedy Of any sort was abhorrent
to his Pleasure-loving nature. He shiy-
cred and drew his furred and wsdded
cloak closer around him. The cold was
very great. Through the loose and
broken palings on the right were seen
glimpses of desolate park, whose
moonlit lawns were interspersed by
groups Of ancient trees. Heaven and
earth were filed with a white light
from moon, stars, and snow. Only
kerr's voice and the sound Of their feet
grinding down the gravel disturbed the
silence of the hour.
my first IMPRESSION" said Kerr,
"on entering the drawing-room this
evening, was Of too much light, too
much color, too much noise. The little
golden lady to whom Mrs. Campion in
PRODUCED me was all glitter from the
diamonds in her ears to the diamonds
on her shoes. Her mind seemed to
have caught the infection. Every word
she said was with view to dazzle. |
had not talked with her five minutes
before was bored to death. My eyes,
involuntarily seeking some point of re-
pose, fell on lady standing at table
little apart from any one else. The
pensive quiet Of her attitude, the uni
form darkness of her gown, were at
tractive after the sharp colors and noisy
gayety Of the rest of the company.
The first few seconds | looked at
her were enjoyable. Her face was
turned from me, but | could see that
the lines Of cheek and throat had once
been charming. There was something
in her figure, in the droop of her hea-
yily-braided head, in the languor Of her
long, 1.-THE arms and hands that fasci-
mated me; but presently the feeling of
pleasurable repose she had awakened
in me was replaced by an odd sense of
uneasiness. | tried to analyze the
reason. could not determine whether
! had seen her before or whether she
merely recalled to me some other per-
son or some picture.
Mrs. Webster, no doubt, wondered
at my preoccupation and began to form
that unfavorable opinion of me, which
| afterward did so much to confirm. |
could not keep my eyes long from the
woman by the table. Her limbs were
so motionless, her attitude was so
dreamy, that the odd fancy struck me
the soul had escaped, and was wander
ing. perhaps, thousands Of miles away,
while the body patiently awaited its
return. This notion was dispelled by the
movement of her hands, mechanically
halfopening and closing black fan which
she held. Did you ever notice her hands,
Linburn? They are long and white
and well cared for, but to me they are
repulsiye-looking. They are compress
ed and very narrow, as though they
had never been exercised in honest
work or extended to help fellow-crea-
ture. A hand is often a better index
Of character than face. In the lines
Of that woman's hand is neither can
dor nor generosity. She would take
much and give nothing. 'But the
fingers and nails are still more
typical, though the former are slender,
the points are no thinner than the
roots, and the finger-tip, instead of
turning slightly upward, as we see in
examples by Canova, has a contrary
inclination, while the nail, which is
large and fiat, is depressed at the ex-
tremity downward and inward. Her
history is written on her hand. A
trifing scratch on that satin-smoOth
skin would have excited once the deep
est pity in the owner, but those pallid
fingers would steep themselves in blood
if there were no other way to preserve
the ease and security which her soul
loves"
Kerr's voice was sending a sincerer
thrill of emotion along Linburn's spinal
cord than ever a japanese vase had
done. The power of the wine, the ex-
element Of the conversation, were
clearing off his mind. The memory Of
Mrs. Campion, with her coaxing voice
and encouraging smiles, began to fade
away, with all the other memories of
the evening, into a misty background,
against which he vainly endeavored to
paint the figure Of Miss Leceur, whom
he had seen so often and so indiiler-
emily.
~ don't understand" he said in
troubled voice II have never noticed
her in the way you mean. | seem I'M
able even to recall her face"
"Let me aid you" said Kerr.
Judging from her figure alone, she
might be a woman in her twenties ; but
in her haggard face, among the wrecks
Of lost beauty, is the experience Of
who shall say how many years? Do
you not see her narrow forehead, with
its heavy crown of hair: Her dark
and fugitive eyes, with the violet stains
beneath, caused by unceasing tears?
The lips that have once been lovely but
now are wasted and colorless through
pain?
"As l passed her on my way to dim
ner | accidentally brushed her dress,
and my touch brought her back from
the dark land in which she was wan
derng. She started, and her fan fell
to the ground. When | returned it to
her, and she murmured a word Of
thanks, her eyes met mine, then looked
away but in that seconds glance |
saw such hopeless misery as to give
me the feeling Of blood-curdling which
people tell Of looked at Mrs. Web
ster, curious to know if she, too, had
experienced like sensation, but her
silly little face was as brilliant as ever,
and all her mind was given to the |
proper adjustment Of her golden train.
So who was that lady in black |
asked her as we entered the dining |
room, and she answered, as you did,