Weekly Chillicothe crisis., 1885-07-30

caught HCI HHHuS III MS boH au-
swer, dear he said 81 had no right
to ask. will not bind you by a
single word. Only give me flower
for old loves sake. 1t pledges you to
nothing, but may be glad to have it
if | come back some day and find no
daisies here
"One daisy will be here said Meta
softly-so softly that perhaps he did
not hear; or perhaps he would not.
Robin Lindsay had no fortune but his
profession, but he was Scots
man, and as proud as he was
poor. 1t seemed TO him baseness to
try to win a pledge from this fair
young cousin of his, whose mother
looked so much higher for her, and to
whom an engagement to himself
could only bring years of indefinite
waiting.
The waiting and the burden of sep
aration and doubt and anxiety should
be his, and not hers, he told himself;
and 50 he went away and left her free,
not understanding that her freedom
was heavier burden than them all.
He only wrote once, formal letter
to Lady Mary, acknowledging her
hospitality, that somehow found its
way among Mcta's treasures; but
every year there came a Christmas
card adorned with white Marguerite
daisies, and bearing an Indian post
mark and the initials X. l..
That was all; just such Christmas
cards as any one might have sent,
pretty tokens OF cousnly remembrance
that might be the cmpticst of compile
ments; but Meta flushed into trcmb-
ling delight over them, and hid them
away as a miscr hides his gold.
And Lady Mary, looking kindly at
her daughter, with the unexpected
acumen which otherwise foolish wo.
men sometimes display in matters of
the heart, thought to herself that if
Meta had not been such child when
Robin Lindsay went away, she might
have fancied there had been some
"noncsenscn between the cousins
when they wandered so long in the
garden those soft June evenings five
long years ago.
Ii was only n passing thought, dis
missed the next instant as too unlikely
for serious reflection, but it came back
to Lady Mary with startling viyidness
this fair June morning as she went in
to the garden in search of Meta, and
found her standing by the daisies with
eyes that were luminous and tender
and sad. The golden bosses, surround
ed with pearly shafts of white, sud-
denly recalled the Christmas cards
that had borne them in every variety
of dainty devices. And when Lady
Mary looked at her daughter with un-
conscious appeal and questioning, she
knew, with thrill of unwelcOme con-
viction, that the girl eyes fell before
her own. Was this it-this- that Meta,
her proud, unapprOachablc Meta, was
only proud and unapproachablc be-
cause she was already won, and won
either clandcstncly or unwoocd9
Either suppOsition seemed Il desc
Grafton to Meta's mother, with Meta
standing before her in her proud young
beauty; only the daisies made n back
ground to her thoughts, an unacknowl-
edged arriere pcnscc that had its share
in determining her speech.
"DO you know that Lord Castleman
is coming for his answer this morn
ing?" she asked with an attcmpt at
severity of demeanor that was not too
successful, What are you gong to
say to him, my dcarPn
"WOn't you see him, mamma? You
will say No so much more graciousl"
than | should"
"But need it be NO. MetaPn
"What else can it beP' said Meta,
rather drearily.
The daisies were an unconscious
background to her thoughts also. The
daisies that had brought only happy
memories and golden dreams to the
girl in her teens, had come to have
quito other meanings for the woman OF
twenty-five.
Five years! Was it likely that the
five-years-old story could seem any
thing but a boy and girl romance tc
Robin Lindsay now? That was the
question that tho daisies had been ask
ing Margaret Lakewood this morning,
that they had already asked her more
than once as the empty years went by,
and Robin Lindsay gave no sign OF
claiming "the one flower in the world
for him.
Need il be No, MetaP' said her
mother once more. Lord Castleman
is well born, distinguished, polished
gentleman, and an upright man.
What fault can you find in himP'
None" said Meta, YEARLY. She
thought that life would have been
easier to her if her suitors had been a
little less uneXceptionable.
Then, my dear, why do you not ac'
cept him? Do you know, Meta, what
is the natural conclusion when cir
behaves IS you doP"
"Yes," said Meta, hastily. "ThC
natural conclusion, the only COnclu'
sion, is that she likes her home and
her mother too well to leave them"
Lady Mary put aside the ilattery
with lofty indifference.
"The natural conclusion is that there
is some one she likes better or fancie.
| she does" said the mother considerate
ly changing the form of expression as
she saw the sudden flame in Meta.
cheeks. 1t faded as quickly as it had
come, and Meta said steadily
THAT is not the case with me, nam
ma"
1t was not n willful untruth. Hel
mornings communings with the
daisies had brought home the convic
ton that Robin Lindsay had forgotten
her, or thought of her only as {
cousin, and nothing could therefore
be more evident TO Margaret Hazel
wood than that her own feelings mus
have undergone similar change.
al am relieved to hearit," SAID Lad,
Mary. al had really begun to won
der-absurd as it seems-it there coulC
have been anything between you anc
Robin"
mo! oh nor' cried Meta vehement
ly. "How could you think so, nam
ma, when he has never" She stop
ped, afraid Of her own voice. Wha
was she going to doP To falter ant
break down before her mother-to be
tray the weakness that had robbed hel
girlhood of its brightness, and tina
instead of being conquered as she hat
believed. seemed ready to overwheln
her now with a sudden despairins
shamep She paused a moment, steady
ing herself against the garden seat
and then she said with Il nervous littl,