Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1886-06-24
CHAPTER "

CHAPTER V.
THE LIVES OF OUR CHARACTERS ADVANCE,
Five years had passed away since Sophia
and Percival were parted, and time had left
its marks upon other personages OF our story
beside its heroine. Without any question,
Sibyl had greatly increased in personal at
tractiveness. Her dark superb style was de-
veloped and heightened as she drew nearer to
the meridian of life No doubt the early
bloom of youth was gone; but her form had
become more finely rounded, and her carriage
had become more stately. She was beauti-
full woman of the world; no man ever looked
at her once only. But her manner had be-
come more reticent than ever. She relied on
her beauty for a place among her sex, and
was at no pains to cultivate conversation,
letters or any branch of the art of pleasing,
except the setting forth of personal charms
Had her manner and her talk been what she
might easily have made them, she would have
shone out as beauty, indeed, in the prime
of her womanhood. For Sibyl had no lack
of sense nor of education either; but proudly
reposing on her incontestible loveliness, she
rather withdrew than puS forward her other
when she pleased; one occasion well remem-
ber, when she met in company vlvaclous
Italian, who was extremely struck with her
appearance, and paid her profusion of gay
compliments At last, his English failing, he
tried to enhaHce his polite speeches by some
poetical quotation in his own language, adding
that he was afraid she would hardly under
stand what he had said. On the instant Sibyl
answered him back with q return quotation,
as understood, from the same author. Not
knowing Italian, I could not appreciate her
readiness; but that the retort was lively and
happy was sufficiently proved by the foreign
er's delight His eyes sparkled with pleasure.
"You know more than doh he exclaimed,
clapping his hands. "You are wonder-a
wonder, my dear ladyP
But Sibyl relapsed into silence, and treated
her success with a sincerity of Indifference
which showed how lightly she regarded any
mental achievement gt
Car had meanwhile changed in way the
very opposite. Size had grown thinner; and
her frame, which was large one, was more
prominent Car had gone in for Intellectual
ideas, and was improving her mind diligently,
and was fast obtaining in our little town the
woman's rights woman. She had become
rather too fond of talking in mixed companies
on high subjects, and so fell into the very
error her lively little mother had foreseen ten
years before.
"As to Car" Mrs Barbara said one day,
"she is turning schoolmistress. She talks lee
lures wonder she does not get few les
SONS in action" the little satirist said; "it
would become her drawing room and dinner
table finely. ANY actor or popular preacher
could tell how to arrange her elbows when
she is discoursing. can't; for my education,
dears, was neglected-in that particular de-
partment. We only danced and sang and
fiirted when was girl. Why, remember
once meeting man who talked of Peru, and,
assure you, dears, thought it was some
where in Germany! But what matter9 The
world was ours, and we had only to live and
enjoy and make others enjoy And we did
it, girls; we did it! o, that 1 was young
Rgain!" ..
Caroline Doolittle, however, was not very
popular in Kettlewell; and this was undoubt-
edly owing, not to her sound mental cultiva-
ton-which was as genuine as it was laud-
able-but to the mischievous habit she had of
bringing her attainments into prominence. l
suppose she did it to manifest her superiority
over the rest of the women; but, unfortu-
nately, the result was that, while she vexed
the women, which she did not mind, she re-
PEELED the men, which she did mind very
much.
One man, however, paid her the tribute of
homage which was as unceasing as the voice
of waterfall. Morning, noon and night
Egerton sounded the praises of his wife. He
had grown stout and healthy looking, and he
was as great simpleton as ever. Indeed,
his giggle had got new notes of imbecility in
it, and was now perfect wonder of vacuity
in unarticulated sound He had slight drop
in his lower lip, too, and fixed smile, which
might have made his very dog understand
what mental weakness is in mankind. But
Egerton adored his wife. They had three
children now. and from infancy he pointed
these children TO their mamma as the sol,
model of excellence and strength. Egerton
was very fonr of nursing his children, ami
would walk up and down with them by this
hour, telling them at brief intervals to look
at their mamma
Tremendously gifted woman" he would
sometimes say to his friends. Then, dropping
his voice like Guy Fawkes in the conspirators'
room: Sometimes see her reading for two
hours at stretch. have timed her by my
chronometer. What would have become of
me if had not married that wcman don't
like to say. think" Egerton would add,
solemnly, II think, with my disposition and
my way of looking at things, you know,
should have gone to the bad"
Egerton had also given himself up greatly
to the study Of cooking, and had little room
fitted up with stove, and hung round with
pots and pans think this must have been
about the time when tho great Soyer was
teaching US English people how to work won-
ders with soup and fish and fowl In this
room Egerton would eonNoct rare dishes,
generally coming out with very red face,
and now and then upsetting boiling sauce
pan down his thighs; on which occasions he
would rush from the room shrieking, and de-
clare that 1t was really too bad and he would
give the whole thing mp. Egerton had an
idea Of working reform in the present way
Of cooking red mullet. a
"A delicious fish, f" he would say; ''but under
the present system IL Is sent up In paper;
treated, in fact, as II 1t were a package. Il
Is intolerables that a delicious fish should be
treated a. IL It were q package"
Time, which was writing its record On eur
younger people had not forgot to pencil