Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1888-12-03


than to eat it.
No wonder the child was bored.
Brought up in the country on very
small means; and. like Cinderella of
old. suddenly metamorphosed into a
fine society dame. / would have
turned to ecarts myself under the
circumstances.
Hugh was not going with US. He
had business engagement, he said.
Germaine offered to stay at home /;
but he would not hear of her doing
SO.
1t was my first visit to Madame
Tesse's salon, and | confess my i'm
pressions were far from disagreeable.
There was no crowd; every one was
cheerful; and the conversation was
general. If the witty things said
were we'll studied beforehand, they
seemed delightfully."- unprecedented.
The most apt at repartee was GER
tain NJ. de Latour. He had been alb
sent from Paris long time, my next
neighbor remarked to me; and also
that he was equally brilliant in con-
versation and at ecarte.
1t was eleven o'clock, when, as if
by some magnetic attraction, the
guests moved to the card tables. To
my surprise Germaine refused to
play; and, it was equally to my sur
prise, no one urged her. Presently
she left her seat by me, and went to
the table where M. de Latour was
playing. In a few minutes she was
evidently interested in the game. A
bright pink spot glowed on both of
her cheeks; the hand that rested on
the back of M de Latour's chair
trembled her eyes cleaned with ex-
element. | did not see NJ. de La
tour speak to her; though more than
once he attracted her attention to the
card he was about to play.
So the evening wore on. The
clocks on the different mantel-pieces
chimed out one. | grew tired, and
was crossing the room to find Ger
maine and propose going home, when
[ saw her take a seat just vacated.
and began playing with M. Gle La
tour. l forgot my WEAKNESS, and
watched her with interest. The pink
in her cheeks famed into carmine,
her eyes fairly blazed, and she play
ed with haste, and | imagined, reck-
lessly. Certainly a demon possessed
her. There was no tearing her away :;
and had to wait until day dawned.
She must have lost frightfully; but
it was the game, not gain, that pos
sessed her.
l absolutely refused to go with
Germaine to Madame Tesse's again !;
and 1 frankly told Hugh that | con-
sidered it wicked to do so. But he
was so sure that he knew what he
was about; that he was wiser than !;
that | at last relented, though with
by no means an easy conscience. |
was clad that the third evening end
ed the visits. Every evening Ger
maine had played with M.de Latour,
and had lost heavily. The third time
the sun was up when we left Madame
Tesses; and | had scarcely fallen
asleep when my maid woke me with a
message from Germaine. Rather it
was a despairing note begging me to
come to her at once. Hugh was
away, and she must see me before he
returned. JEANNE made me cup of
coffee whilst | dressed and | found
the carriage waiting for me.
1t was very much Hhat | expected.
NJ. de Latour had a sudden call upon
him for money, and he had presented
his little account in the shape of Il
most charming note. But the amount
was anything but charming for in
three nights Germaine had lost no
less than three hundred thousand
francs. She had not brought Hugh
q dot, as do most French girls; and
though he was a well-off man, he was
by no means millionaire.
The position was trying one but
| could see nothing to be done but
for Germaine to confess everything
to Hugh. | felt he had been much
to blame in allowing her to go to
Madame Tesse's; and though he was
rather heavily punished, he ought to
be lenient. But | did not feel inclin
ed to forgive myself for the part l
had played; so | was more sympa-
thetlc than | might have been under
other circumstances.
| was as much startled as Germaine
when we heard Hugh running up
stairs, as boy might do. / cannot
do Justice to the scene. 1t was so
dramatic, so intensely French, at
least on Germaine's part. For before
Hugh knew what she was about, she
had thrown herself on her knees, and
was sohbing out a most bewildering
confession. Hugh behaved admira
bly,, placed her comfortably on the
sofa, and did his best to reassure her.
So, between us both, with a good
measure of his own wit, the position
of things was explained at last.
] thought Hugh took the loss very
coolly, when one considered the
amount. But he might have reflect
ed that his own methods had brought
much of the trouble upon him, and
that he should have interdicted Mad
anne Tesse's salon instead of encour-