Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1886-06-17
CHAPTER II.
A VERY SHORT CHAPTER.


This passage, the only morsel of sensation
in our boudoir story, has been dismissed as
rapidly as was possible. Indeed, it would
link in the chain of incident on which the his
tory depends. ..
OF course, all Kettlewell applauded our
Sophia Her midnight descent, her flight
across the hall, her plpcky behavior at the
bell rope-everything sne had done was
praised This burglars fed at the first peal,
but Sophia kept on ringing until all the
neighbors were aroused; and then such a
congregation Of servants and others had
gathered in the house and grounds that
fear was not to be thought of. All of us
applauded her quickness of thought about the
belfry; the only person who spoke in anything
like qualified tone being Egerton, who re-
marked that he was far from wishing to cast
any slur on Sophia, but still he must say that
she would have made great deal more noise
if she had used the Chinese gong which stood
In the hall For sounding an alarm, Egerton
said, there was nothing like Chinese gong.
Sophia, in the gsutlest way, but with laugh
ter trembling on her lips, pointed out that
the gong stood just where the robbers were
working; upon which Egerton retorted that
he had not said anything about where it
stood, but only that for sounding an alarm
there was nothing like Chinese gong.
Now, how would you expect the little
mother to have acted2 TO Lave denied her
own abject terror, and attenuated Sophias
braveryl She did nothing OF the kind.
II was dead with fear" che said,i in her
gay way. Courage is not one of my vir-
tues. could no more have gone down those
stairs and past those dreadful men than
could raise that piano with my finger. Deuce
take my heart!"-sometimes In her easy
moods, she would let fly an expression of this
sort-"I thought 1t would never beat again!
And Sophia was as cool as if she were going
down to see visitor. Sophia ought to be
soldiers wife; she ought to be soldier her
self. Few women would have acted as she
did that night. Really, Iwould not have be-
lieved she had it in her."
One happy result for the poor girl was that
her mothers wrath was not so much ap-
peased as effaced. The whole Prenderpast
incident was for the Tina forgotten; and
when Mrs. Barbara Temples mind reverted
to the matter, she admitted to herself that in
charging Sophia with weakness she made
great mistake She still deplored the issue
of the affair, but she never again reproached
her daughter, and she ever made one or two
indirect apologies fer her severity of speech,
and these we may be sure Sophia was only
too willing to accept
And now there began quite an era In
Eophia's life Her lover was absent, and
they were not allowed to communicate with
each other, for on this point Mrs. Temple
never relaxed. She was not formally en-
gagged; indeed, she was understood to be open
to an offer-a fact which her mother, still
following her original policy; took care to
publish abroad Caroline and Sibyl now
fully agreed with their mother that Sophia
was acting recklessly in allowing the fresh
ness Of her youth to pass away under this
blighting spell. And all this time, only by
the merest chance, seldom-perhaps never
could shehear anything Of Percivai Brent. He
might be untrue; and even then, according to
the words Of their agreement, she could not
reproach him with incontsancy. Il was
trying time for her; but during this period
her character was formed, and she who on
her flftieth birthday was with general CON.
sent and delight styled "Lady Beautyn learned
her secret of charming in this period Of
anxiety and waiting, when her constancy
and her patience were SO severely tried. I
here relate themain incidents Of this uneyent-
full period, and having at the same time tried
by touches here and there to give you an
idea OF the.maturity Of charms toward which