Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1888-06-15

who, seated In the doorway, was looking
on at the dancers, among whom Temple
now saw the young lady from whom he
had Just been 30 ruthlessly parted. To
his delight Mrs. Sevellon received him
more kindly than she had ever done be-
fore, for her manner also had revealed
the fact that she shared her daughters
Just indignation. 1t seemed now, how
ever, that she had shared also in her
daughters spirit of forgiveness, for she
looked at Mr.. Temple as If she, too, were
willing to forget the past. Perhaps
mother and daughter had entered into an
agreement to this effect 1t looked so.
Mr. Temple approached her with some
hearty words of commentator of the
tableaux, to which she replied, as If de-
liberately: Eyes, they were pretty tab
leaux, thought-the last especially. 1t
did carry me back to see Gertrude in that
dress 1t was an old toilet she used to
wear when we were in Italy one idle
summer when we spent our whole time
in dolce far niente, and Gertrude was
half the day in the hammock which
hung in the garden. used to try to get
her to devote little time to her paint
ing, for she really has talent, but she
was SO lazy, and the old Italian whose
services l was so fortunate as to secure
for few lessons found her incorrigible.
The lessons usually consisted of morn
ing chat with Gertrude lounged in a
hammock, and he made little sketches
of trees and an old fountain near by,
which never seemed to come to anything,
for he always thrust them out of sight
and said they were failures when tried
to look at them. He was always urging
me to let him paint Gertrude, but she
objected to having her portrait painted.
and positively refused to pose for him.
So the lessons came to nothing, and the
courteous old man advised me not to con-
strain my daughters reluctant art, and
wouldn't allow me to pay him a cent
though he had come several times, and
really given up good deal of his time to
u.s."
She was a decidedly voluble parsonage,
Mrs. Sevellon. and she poured forth this
stream of talk half automatically, giving
a large part of her attention to the dane
ers all the time. Temple saw that she
had actually been too preoccupied to
seem to notice that she had been treading
on ground that to him would naturally
|
same preoccupatiop for the fact that the
startled look on his face, as the food Of
light was unconsciously shed upon the
subject that had puzzled him 80 long,
was unnoticed.
"What was the old artists name2'' be
asked.
"Guizi, Carlo Guizi," said Mrs. Sevel-
Ion, innocently, keeping time with her
fan to the motion of the dancers flying
feet. The chain Of evidence was now
complete. The old fellow might well
afford to decline to pay for those hours
spent by Gertrude's hammock under the
palms and lexes. He had made good
use of theml
what can I do to atone for my
shameful treatment Of you2" said Ger
trude with bewitching humility, when
Horace had given his explanation and
made his peace.
"You can do this" said Horace
''You can consent to my becoming the
purchaser Of the picture, a thing my
mind is bent on
II don't know about that" said Ger
trude, doubtingly. II have never given
my picture to any one, and l always said
l never would, except to''-she flushed
and hesitated. and then went on, ''but l
would have no power to prevent it now,
that wretched Italian has stolen it; it is
his, to do as he chooses with, suppose.
"Never mind the Italian for the pres
ent," said the young man eagerly.
"What were you going to say? Who
was to be the exception in the case2'
Miss Sevellon's reply was SO embar-
raised and incoherent that its significance
can only be guessed at; it is possible,
however, that Mr.. Temple found it salts
factory, for the next day he bought the
picture, and the next autumn the origi-
nal of the picture became his wife.
Gertrude always declared she was
jealous of that picture, to which Horace
would reply that, as the picture was his
first love, she consequently could only be
second, and that she would have to be
satisfied with that condition Of affairs