The San Antonio light. (San Antonio, Tex.) 1883-1886, 1885-04-11

fellowship. AMI that John Penn was a 1
man whom any girl should have been F.
proud Of winning. lie was no hero, or T.
genius. or anything of that sort: but !
then most of us move amongst ordinary
men and women, and only know heroes,
heroines, and gcniuscs. ~ we know
princes and dukcs-hy name. lie was
a clever, Woodworking doctor, with
good provincial practice. MOdcsty
dclcrs me from saying much about his
personal appearance. rs The world secs
u strong likeness between us. | will
only say lie was tall aud wcll-built. and
carried In his face u certain look of
power, which right-mind'd women like
To see with men who seek their love.
His 1gc was something over thirty. Our
family was good and our name unsullicd.
What could have induced Flcurctte
DOryauX To reject limy beautiful she
might he; but the times are mcrcenary,
and beautiful girls don't win the love Of
u man like John every day in the week
Although John told me all about 1t
in II cynical sort of way--a way which
sHt upon him rs badly rs another mans
coat might have done. he could not CON
Ccal from me how deeply wounded he
was-how disappointed or how intense
had been his love for the girl. As Lee
finished his recital grLsped his hand.
saving. with the assurance of one who
has seen much life:
lizard work * the best antidote. and
you seem To have plenty of that-you
will forget all about II in time, old Eel
low
Il don't think shall. feel like u
man who. having been kept In twilight
all his life, Is shown the sun for an
hour. and then again put back into twi-
light. lie will forget the sun no more
than ! shall forget Fleurctte.'
"Shc seemed to me such Il sweet girl
| said. doubtfully.
"She is perfect" said John. "You
have seen nothing Of her MS yet. Wait
until you can fathom the depths of
thought and feeling under that bright
exterior. Then you will say was not
wrong in loving her rs | did-as | do
even now"
"lIas any one else won her? Was that
the reason she refused YOU"
NO one. She loves me, and me only"
"What do you meany" laskcd, greatly
surprised.
That evening when she told me firm
| ~ and decisivcly She would never mar
~ mc-never could marry me-cycn
while | said mad, cruel words to her. !
| saw love in her fearful eyes. And when,
| forgetting all. held her and kissed her
once. and once only. felt herlips linger
on mine. Then She broke away and
| fled; but know such woman rs Flcu-
rette DorvauN would not suffer mans
| kiss unless she lu. him. She wrote
me few lines the 90 vt day, telling me
II could not DC, begging me not even to
ask her why. Since then she shuns me,
and all is at an end; SO please talk no
more about it,"
Here was Il nice complication Here
was knot to unite! John refused by
| girl who loved him! | own was glad
| to hear him assert his belief in her love,
us, somehow. it panied me to think of
| Fleurette sporting with n mans heart.
| Although, rs told you, | determined
at first that she was not the right wife
for John, | had soon recanted, and
thought now how wonderfully she
would light up the old house, and how
happy John would be with such bright
little woman to greet him when he re-
turned of an evening weary and tagged.
So | resolved to see all | could of
Fleurette; to study her, and if | found
her as good as John said she was, tn use
my skill in untying the knot and
smoothing the strands of their lives. |
never doubted my ability to arrange the
matter. | had always been an able
family diplOmatist. Had not, ut New
Durham, brought Roaring Tom Mayne
back to his faithful but deserted wife,
and seen them begin life together again
| with courage and cOntentmcntp Had |
not made those two old friends and
partners-whO for some time had been
prowling about with revOlvers in their
pockets, hoping to geta snap shot at
each other-shake hands, and eventual
ly left them working a new claim to-
getherp Had not stopped pretty Polly
Smith from running away with that
scamp Dick Long, who had two or three
wives already somewhere up country
In fact, so successful had | been in ar
ranging other peoples affairs, that it
seemed, to an experienced hand like
myself, an easy matter to place John
and Fleurette on proper footing.
Dalebury is a very little town. Its
enemies even call it avillage; but boast
ing as it does of a mayor anda corpora
ton, ii can afford to treat their sneers
with contempt. Different people may
hold different opinions as to whether
life is pleasanter in large cities or small
towns; but ut any rate, one advantage
offered by small place like Dalebury
Is, that everybody knows everything
about every one else. You cannot hide
n farthing rushlight under abushel. So,
if anybody has anything to keep secret,
don't let him pitch his tent in Dalebury.
With the universal knowledge of
ones neighbours affairs pervading the
that the first person chose to ask hast
ened to give me all the information re-
speeding the DOrvauX that Dalebury had
as yet been able to acquire. Mrs. Dor.
vauX was widow; not rich, but, it was
supposed, fairly well off; she was great
invalid, and rarely or never went out
Appearing to dislike society, she receiv
ed no one, and scarcely any one knew
her. Those with whom she had beer
brought in contact stated she was 9
quiet, ladylike woman, who spoke very
little. Ii was not known whence they
had come-probably France; but this
was only conjecture, and the absence OF
certainty on this point rather distress
ed Dalebury. They kept only one ser
want, an old woman. who had been will
them many years. Fleurette had made
many friends, and, ii seemed, few. i
any. enemies. She did not go out much
being devoted to her invalid mother
but every one was glad Of her compan,
when she chose to give it. Altogether
Dalebury had nothing to say against tn,
new-comers-a fact speaking volume
in their favor.