Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1886-04-18
CINDERELLA.

otofy a enacted under different cifcnm-
stances. with varying details, IN many
a Enelish household. The daughters
e che land may be fair, but there are
60 many Of them, perhaps, for the anx-
ious mAn0uvripg mother to pilot among
lie shoals and qaicksands Of society.
Now and then younger one Is kept
out u the cold for little forbidden to
cross the bordsrlsnd between the
school.foom and the drawing.room--
not exactly forced to sit In ashes, but
impressed, hidden away in the dim
background. There. may be reason,
plenty Of worldly wisdom in this, and
yet the girl woman Is apt to wax 70.
bsllious her sisters triumphs gil her
with envy. All sorts Of radiant visions
Of possible and impossible delights
seem to beckon to her from that un-
known world. Why must she, poor
little Cinderella, waste her sweet bloom
unseen and unbecdeds
One fears Mabel Templeton had some
such thoughts ~ these IS she watched
halS.sadiy, alfenviously the progress
Of her sistcrs' toilets one bright June
afternoon, and also the packing OF two
vsll-fillsd trunks, into each Of which
Resale was depositing perfectly new
and dainty ball dress. For Mr.. Tenn
plston had consented to take his two
elder daughters to Oxford for the Com
msmoration and though there was no
mother In this case, Aunt Selma, who
was also Of the party, had fatty refused
to oct as chaperoa to more than two
nisces ct time.
"Disssreeable old thing 4" muttered
Cinderella, with . curl Of her pretty
Inns. She was trying to brave out her
disappointment in this fashion, but
tears lay very near the surface, for the
Door girls heart was very sore. at
Is such q shame, too, when Owen is my
own brother, and I have never seen his
rooms, or his cap and gown; and papa
took you both last year."
"Yes, but il was not Commemora-
ton time everything was as SLOW and
stupid IS possible" returned Violet
placidly. Don't DO cross, Nab
neither Pauline nor can help Aunt
Selina's fsds. You know papa does not
Ike us to cross her, because she is so
rich. II was not possible for me to put
in word"
She spoke in q tone Of good-natured
banter, and patted her young sisters
shoulder kindly as shs passed.
"Don't, vi !" returned Nab, rather
irritsbly. at is all very well, your
saying that about Aunt Selma, but you
know that neither you nor Pauline said
one word; you never even mentioned
me; and yet Owen begged SO hard that
I should 90 this year."
"Oh, Nab how tiresome You are J"
observed Pauline, IS Nab paused in
her indignant speech. All the Tenn
pleton girls were handsome but
though Pauline was very fair and
stately, one or two old friends Of the
family had predicted that Nab would
one day bear the palm. 81 wish you
would not provoke me into saying it,
but must own that | think aunt
Is quite right, and three would be too
many. 1t is our turn this year, but
next Commemoration, who knows?"
And here she stopped to survey her.
self in the glass.
Mabel gave q little stamp with her
foot, but she had sweet nature, on the
whole. and she wisely resolved not to
give vent to the feeling that oppressed
her. She was cross, she knew-dread-
fully cross-but. oh If they only i'm
asined what this disappointment meant
to her, how really unhappy she was.
But that was just what she could not
own to any one.
Nab had her own little secret, though
she was only eighteen, and neither
Pauline nor Violet would allow that she
was quite grown up. Why, it was only
this week that the governess had
been dismissed. And she was quite right
in her surmise that neither of her sis
ters wished to include her in their party.
1t is difficult for q girl to be perfectly
honest on all occasions. Nab was
hardly telling the truth-that is, the
whole truth-when she alleged her
fondness for Owen and her desire to see
him in his Undergraduate garb as q
reason for wishing to 60 to Oxford.
Owen was certainly very dear to her,
but 1t may be doubted if some one were
not becoming desrer still.
Last vacation Owen had brought
friend home with him, and the two had
been . great deal in the school-room.
where Nab still did some pretence Of
lessons with Miss Dalton. Neverthe-
less, her demure manners in the draw
ing-ro Of an evening we're as grown
up % Pauline's could be.
What would Mr.. Beauchamp think
when be saw only Violet and Pauline?
And yet he had begged her so earnestly
to come down for q week.
/" You will be out then" he had said
quite eagerly. "Miss Dalton tells Inc
she is to leave in June"
"Oh, yes. shall be out then. l
am quite grown up now" Nab assured
him with much nairete and little dig
nifty but she blushed like rose over
the young mans next words:
"yery we'll. / shall look for you,
and you must give me your first
dance ct the University bali. l will
dance with no one else until you appear.
Do not disappoint me. l shall know
what to think il see you. 1t will
show you care little for my wishes,
In spite Of oil your teasing-for you
have tessed me sadly, have you not,
Miss Mab?n
But to this Mabel made no sort of
rejoinder EXCEPT by that blush.
She sat ana Npught aboutit all when
The carriage had taken them at last to
the station, and she was left alone id
the sunny, deserted drawing.room.
Miss Dalton Was gone I; oil the lesson
books were put away she was . grown
up young lady, ~ she said. Her time
vas her own. At tho present moment
! Ghe Vas mistress Of that great house, and
had half dozen servants at her com.
mand. When the carriage came back
she was at liberty to get into 1t, and
order the coachman to convey her round