Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1885-11-18

you, in spite of yourself than that yol
should have drawn sources of isspna ioi
from a pale, thin lady of forty.
'And, as usual, you are arguing IRON
false premises, replied Kerr. THE par
ticular way in which person or thing af
fects you is no criterion for the manner IL
which it may affect the rest of the world
drank very little wine, and the only con
scious sentiment which Mrs. CampioI
aroused in me was desire to see somebod,
dust the powder off her face, on which il
lay an inch thick"
Kerr was silent fer some seconds befors
he spoke again.
''Mlle. LeceuE en- the contrary" he con
tinued, awakened in my mind curious
train of thought. which l am tempted t.
share with you, less for your own grafifica
ton than in the hopes of shaking off the
disagreeably sensation which oppresses
me-"
Linburn began to feel uncomfortable. :.
While delighting in fctious sentiment
real tragedy of any sort was abhorrent t.
his pleasure-loving nature. He shivereo
and drew his furred and wadded cloal
closer around him. The cold was YER,
G. eat. Through the loose and broken pal
ings on the right were seen glimpses of .
desolate park, whose moonlit lawns wert
interpelsed by groups of ancient trees
Heaven and earth were filled with white
light from moon, stars, and snow. Only
Kerr's voice and the sound of their fe.
grinding down the gravel disturbed tht
silence of the hour.
"My first impression" said Kerr, on en-
tering the drawingroom this evening, was
of too much light, too much color, tot
much noise. The little golden lady t.
whom Mrs. Campion introduced me was al
glitter from the diam. nds in her ears to tht
diamonds on her shoes. Her mind seemed
10 have caught the infection. Every wore
she said was with view to dazzle.
had not talked with her five minutes befort
l was bored to death. My eyes, involun
tarily seeking some point of rcpose, fell OIL
a lady standing at q table little aparl
from any ono else. The pensive quiet ol
hsr attitude, the uniform darkness of hel
gown, were attractive after the sharl
colors and noisy gayety of the rest Of tn.
company.
''rhe first few seconds looked at hel
were enjoyable. Her face was turned from
ne, but could see that the liues of cheek
aud throat had once been charming. There
was something in her figure, in the droal
of her heavily braided head, in the languoi
of her long, 1.-THE arms and hands that fasci
mated me; but presently the feeling of plea
surable 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 OF
whether she merely recalled to me some
other person or some picture
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my pre- occupation and began to form tina
unfavorable opinion of me, which [ after
ward did so much to confirm. could no;
keep my eyes long from the woman by the
table. Her limbs were SO ptionless, her
attitude was SO dreamy, that the odd fancy
struck me the soul had escaped, and Was
wandering, perhaps, thousands of miles
away, while the body patiently awaited ite
return. This notion was dispelled by the
movement of her hands, mechanically hall
opening and closing black fan which she
held. Did you ever notice her hands, Lin
burn? They are long and white aud well
cared for, but to me they are repulsive-
looking. They are compressed and. very
narrow, as though they had never been ex-
ercised in honest work or extended to help
a fellow creature. A hand is often better
index of character than a face. In the lines
of that woman's hand is neither candor 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 slight
ly upward, as we see in examples by CanOva,
has contrary inclination, where the nail,
which is large and fiat, is depressed at the
extremity downward and inward Her his
tory is written on her hand. A trifing
scratch on that satin-smooth skin would
, ave excited once the deepest pity in the
owner, but those pallid fingers would steer
themselves in blood if there were no Other
way to preserve the ease and security which
her soul loves
Kerr's voice was sending sincerer thrii
of emotion along Linburn' spinal cord thar
ever Japanese vase had done. The pow
er of the wine, the excitement of the con
versation, We're clearing off his mind. The
memory of Mrs. Campion, with her coaxins
voice and encouraging smiles, began to tade
away, with all the other memories of ths
evening, into misty background, agains
which he vain]y eudeavoled to paint tht
figure of Miss Lec1ur whom he had seen :,
often and SO indlfferenGly.
81 don't understand he said in trou
bled voice; 81 have never noticed her in til,
way you mean. seem unable even to re
call her face
''Let me aid you," said Kerr. "Judgins
from her figure alone, she might be wo
man in her twenties; but in her haggart
face, among the wrecks of lost beauty, i
the experience Of-who shall say how many
years? Do you not see her narrow fore
head, with its heavy crown of hairp He
dark and fugitive eyes, with the vioIe1
stains bene. .eth, caused by unceasiDg tears
The lips that have once been lovely out nov
are wasted and colorless through painp
''As passed her on my way to dinner
accidentally brushed her dress, and m,
touch brought her back from the dark lant
in which she was wandering. She started
and her fan fell to the ground. When
returned it to her, and she murmured {
word of thanks. her eyes met mine. thel
looked away; but in that seconds glance
saw such hupeless misery as to give me tb,
feeling Of blood curdling " hich people tell of
locked at Mrs. Webster, curious to know
if she, too. had experienced al like sensation
but ber silly little face was as brililanl q
ever, and all her mind was given to the pro
per adjustment vi her golden train.
"'Who was that lady IN blackY' asked
her as we entered the dining room, aud she
answered, as you did careiessly: On! hat
was only the governe ss!' She, too, had nev
er thought it worth while to study the ex
preston or the character of person in lba
position. How ever, she told me one or two
things about Mile. Lec@ur-th she is yer,
silent, that she is quite engrossed with hel
duties, that she prefers not being motto d
This is C, nvenient theory, greatly favor
ed by ladies concerning their Interiors.
But if that woman is silent it is because
she dare not speak of that which lies near
est to her heart. If she is pre- occupied
it is not with her pupils. Her pupil,
mean to her nothing more than fooC
and lodging. If she is unaccustomet
to the society she meets here it is be
c use she has lived at one time among
men to whom her will was law, and once
at least passionate love-vows have beer
breathed into her ear. She lives in the
world of her past, but her lips arc sealed
concerning it; only in the awful land O
dreams she moves through it again. car
imagine the morning agony of her face
when she rises to begin another day. Fo
if tue nights are torture, the days are worse
in their monotonous quiet, when she mus
sit for hours with her dark eyes decorously
bent over her book, while her heart is OF
fire! She would give worlds to begin again
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