The San Antonio light. (San Antonio, Tex.) 1883-1886, 1885-03-30

bis arm. joined the procession To the
dining-rOOm. or course | dropped my
fan. or something by the way. This
necessitated my cavaliers STOPPING
down To- recover possession Of IL. there
by delaying all the couples hrlindus for
a moment or two. ! WAS beg inning
badly.
We sank into our appointed places.
and rs the soup was being handed round,
Mr.. lilo. c aidrrs scd u few ordinary re-
| marks tu me. Then | hepGn tu realize
/ how sliy-huw stupid person ! was.
| Tie Ouly words my foolish tongue seem
ed cap Ice ui forming Wcru Yes" and
"No." & uuDctcd words had left me for
an indriu a. period. felt my CONVEX
sat onal hnn-,umings so acutely, that
l II WIS SOME lutle while before | was
able To- lonk ai ms ncighbor. except fur
| lively Hul t.md'r.
lie W, tail. I knew. that fact had
/ m de- ID. cli manifest as We walked arm
IN ann. had also received u sort OF
impression that he WAS cood-looking.
At last, when able TO really look ut him,
! found that Mr.. l,amsay's account, so
far as II went, was true one.
The young man was undoubtedly
handsome. His cyes--the feature u wO-
man first looks at-werc good; gray, |
| decided, with dark lashes. II IS face was
| pale. and bore u look of refinement. His
/ forehead was high not too Highland
| his chin was large. and gave him the APP
| pearance OF possessing considerable
force of character Above all. his nose
was straight and his hands well shapen.
| Twenty-eight, | should have guessed
his age. Altogether very creditable
| young man.
Fate had been kind in selecting this
| RAIIl1
something to talk abOut-sumethng so
| gifted a creature rs he was reported to
| be would not he bored with. Alas for
| me. the conversation field seemed 10
| have become suddenly barren of flowers
| Of speech-nOt even bud was left
| Yet among people with whom am at
| home, had never yet been accused of
taclturnity.
For some short time the lady on the
other side of him saved me. She APP
| peared to know him, and complimented
him on the success of an article in one
| Of the reviews. which she attributed to
him. lie thanked her for her praise;
| spoke n few words on general subjects;
then, as | suppose. in duty bound, turn
| ed to me and recommended cOnversa-
ton.
In five minutes positively hated my
| self and Mr.. Vincent Hope. Ii may be
| Kindness to bring ones intellect down
to the level of the listener: call it CON
ceit. If, in spite of my elaborate new
dress. he could not help seeing | was
but schoolgirl, was there any reason
why he should so plainly show me he
saw itp Was there any reason why he
should quite change the manner of his
discourse as he changed his listener
| should talk to me in a way he evidently
| thought suited to my caliberp If he
meant IL kindly, what right had he to-
| think | should esteem il kindnessp |
dare say deserved nothing more; but
who was he to judge of my desertsY 1t
ruilled my vanity, and destroyed any
self-conlidence | was beginning to feel.
The worst of it was, he meant no rude
ness.
lie did not even pretend to patronize
me; he simply chose to talk upon sub
| jects which he was pleased to think
were well within my limited range. II
was mortifyingl | twisted up my din
ner-napkin under the table, as sort of
vent to my veXatiOn. Soon grew des-
perate would show this man | was
| not the inane, empty-headed schoolgirl
he fancied me, or ! would perish in the
attempt.
My iluency of speech came back as
suddenly as it left me. On my own ac-
count, began to talk-of topics about
which knew nothing-Of places | had
never visited-of people ! had never
seen-and of books had never read.
lie seemed amused at my new depart
ure, and ilattered myself, tried to lead
me on TO talk. So talk | did, and
thought no evil. II was not until had
once or twice gone completely out of
my depth, right over head and Shout
ders, and was compelled to founder
back as best could. that | fancied the
wretched man was laughing at me-not
openly, of course: his manner was po-
likeness itself. Yet had an unpleasant
suspicion that more than once had
made myself an idiot in his eyes.
positively detest people who have
the misfortune to see me at disadvan-
tage; so, when | rose with the rest of
the women and left the table, felt that
it would have been a great satisfaction
to have given Mr.. Vincent Hope s broad
shoulders a Parthian stab with des-
sert-fork. | had not beena success; and,
what was worse, | knew i'll
1t was dull work in the drawing-room.
The women were strangers to me, and
| talked about their own and their friends
| affairs, in none of which had the slight
est interest. 1t was very hot too. |
peeped out of the window, and saw the
garden looking most tempting in the
light of lovely autumnal moon. How
delightful it would be if | could have
one walk round i'll
doubted whether it would be quito
right for young lady to walk about tho
garden alone and by moonlight; but the
temptation was very great. After all,
have always found it much easier and
often pleasanter to yield to little temp
tations of this kind than to resist them;
so | soon gave in. Even at the risk of
cold or a scoldng, | would have one,
Just one turn in the soft September
night.
i slipped from the room, covered my
head and shoulders with shawl, and
stole through the library window which
opened to the ground.
The change from the close atmosphere
OF Mr.. Ramsays drawing-room was, as
predicted it would be simply delicious.
The clear sky, the full moon, and the
bright stars which had tempted me out.
made me feel quite poetical. | forgot
all my little annoyance in the beauty of
the night; | became quite cheerful and
happy. The one turn round the garden
which had pledged myself not to ex-
coed, grew to a great many; yet | was
loath to leave the enchanting scene. But
duty must not be altogether neglected
With sigh, turned for the last time
and began to retrace my steps to the
house. To my horror, as | neared ii,
saw the French easements of the din
ing-room open, saw the flood of brilliant
light which poured out partially eclipsed
as one dark body after another passed