Semi-weekly south Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1883-1889, 1885-03-10
HILARIE GRAEME.

she was standing, when IlrSt saw
her, under one of the grand old trees
skirting the grounds of Beech Hall, the
home of my fair .fancee Glare Beresford.
to visit whom happy commingling OF
,duty and pleasure had lured me from
town this fair June morning Glare had
duly informed me of the installation OF
her orphan cousin Hilarie as member
of the family and dependent upon Mr..
Beresford's bounty, and had also de-
scribed her as an uninteresting, odd.
tempered girl of seventeen"
"Odd-tempered," she might be, l
decided, noting the naughty curve of the
slender white throat, the stern, set ex-
preston of the delicate red lips, and the
brooding passion in the large, dusky
eyes of the tall girl under the beeches,
but "uninteresting" Scarcely, my
dear Glare.
A shaft of golden sunlight through
The branches above illumined an untidy
wealth of ripping brown hair, caressed
slender, listless hands, from which had
evidently slipped to her tiny feet the
large sun hat she was too careless or too
idle to wear, and the immature beauty
Of the proud young face, the willowy
grace of the slender figure in its dlngy
gray grown, destitute OF bow or frill or
any Of the usual feminine adornments,
interested me strangely.
Still leaning against the tree, she
Iazily watched my approach, apparent,
expecting me to pass on to the hOll
without bestowing more than passing
glance upon herself, but, determined to
speak with her, l made a short detour
IRON the path, and, more amused than
disconnected by the expression Of mingled
curiosity and defiance which quickly
Uverspr, ad her features, said with the
utmost gallantry at my command:
Pardon me, but can you inform me
il any Of the family are at the Hall to-
day? | am not expected, and al seems
unusually STILL"
Nevertheless, Mr.. and Mrs. Beres-
ford and Glare are all within, and,
though not expected, Mr.. Forester is
sure to be welcome guest"
"You have guessed my name" re-
Piled, smiling. "What if / return the
COu DuuIeuC ~ AulnS IllldIlt vi ACME I.
You see have heard of you too"
"0f course you would hear of the
Beresfords' bette noir," she sa:d--oh, 60
bitterly.
May" protested, emo such epithet
has been assigned you, Miss Graeme, be-
lieve me-"
Not exactly that, perhaps, but
sufficient to let you know that at least
am not welcome here"
For a moment Clare's expressions.
embarrassing" and "odd-tempered, "
fitted before me, but when would have
spoken, Hilario stopped me with as
sionate gesture of disdain, saying:
"Spare your words, Mr.. Forester
your face tells me enough. Oh, why,
why did L come here?" And, to my Az.
constituent and dismay, she burst into u
passionate invective against the misery
Of her dependent position and the cold
ness and unkindness Of her relatives,
breaking down at last in paroxysm oi
bitter tears.
Withaman'sutter abomination thereof,
did my best to calm the tempest l had
unconsciously raised, and was unspaal.-
ably relieved when at last she dried er
iear-stained cheeks and said, brokenly
Forgive me; you may think very
badly Of me, Mr.. Forester, but l will
60 away. / was never very cool, but
now, l am growing hard and bad, and
am so wretched that in time / shall be-
come hateful, wicked girl. will not
stay here"
A great pity arose within me for this
lonely, high-spirited creature, little more
than child in years, and, taking one Of
the nervous little hands in amine, I
reasoned with her kindly, but earnestly,
upon the folly of the course she would
pursue, pointing out ways and means for
making her present life Mt least more en-.
durable; and on inquiring deeper into
her manner of occupying the long hours
she spent alone, found, as | suspected
she lpld passed them chiefly in desultori
rambles about the hall grounds and the
neighboring country, all the while brood.
ing darkly over her uncongenial sur
roundings, while she had utterly neg.
lected tastes and pursuits which might
have lent charm to solitude. Finding
one Of these to be an innate love Of art,
for which 1 am myself an enthusiast,
l arranged meeting next morning fol
Hilarie and myself in Alton Woods, 9
miniature forest adjoining the grounds
OF Beech Hall, where 1 engaged tc
initiate her into the art of crayon sketch.
ing. | shall never forget the quick
change from somber dependency to
radiant hope and pleasure, which trans.
formed the pale, tear-stained face into
one of rare brilliancy and loveliness. Sc
much does happiness involve of beauty
that when We parted 1 could scarcely
recognize the blushing, smiling maiden
before me as the pale, sad girl of short
ha!f-hour ago Truly, child's April
nature had this same Hilarie Graeme.
My subsequent meeting with Glare
was of the same love-like description,
and her parents greeted me with their
usual warm expressions of welcome. |
had Elways been q great favorite with
them. especially with stately Mrs. Beres-
ford, whose affection for me had been
mainly instrumental in bringing about
an engagement between her daughter
Care and myself. =
Glare was five years my junior; a far,
aristocratic little lady Of twenty sum-
mers. She was extremely devoted to
me While l was proud to know that only
few short months must intervene be-
fore the time fixed for our marriage.
In the confidential chat with Clare and
her mother before luncheon was served
in the quaint old dining-room, / was
made painfully aware Ct the necessity
for concealiug my encounter with Hilarie
and the consequent arrangement for Al
ton Woods on the morrow. Mira. Beres-
ford was lond in her censure If the i'm
providence Of her husbands brother in
law, Arthur Graeme, which had resulted
at his death in the advent Of Hilaire
under her roof us "useless dependent
upon her uncle Clares laughing uQ-
gestion til It Hi arie replace her in COM
partnership to her mother after our mar
Rage, hurt me even more than Mira.
Beresford's EXPLANATIONS against the or
phan there was such an utter want Of
sympathy in smile and voice that con-
trusted oddley with the sweet motional
face was longing to see again.
1t was not until dinner that my wish
was gratified, when, after careless in
trn1urt on frnm NJ Rara.gord II;.,;o