Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1888-07-13

losophiZes old Gabbadio over his
mute friendlings as he sits in his armchair,
and tickles the end Of his nose with a fresh
plucked reseda.* This is his favorite flower,
Ill formed, almost colorless, yet exhaling
sweet perfume from every little fiber and
flament This flower was first brought into
Europe in 1859 and had already for years
been cultivated by Gabbadio in his gardens
and Conservatives. He loves the little flower
so tenderly that he seldom calls his little
daughter Teresa by any other name than
Reseda. She seems to him the embodiment
of this wondrously fragrant flower soul. And
in this he does little injustice to the beautiful
child, for little Reseda Is in all her simplicity
and modesty a glorious creature She be-
longs to the rose world in the richness Of her
nature.
Today she scarcely knows how her head
keeps its steadiness. The father is tied by
govt to his armchair, and this afternoon Is
the flower corso, and hundred orders are
yet to be executed, and the care Of all this
falls almost entirely upon her. The two old
servant women are of little help to her One
must be young to know how to bind flowers
Resedchen is skilled in this beautiful art as
no one else. She knows what odors belong
together and how to mingle them; what
colors fall into beautiful harmony and con-
trast, and bouquet bound by her hand is
always masterpiece of fragrance and per-
feet natural beauty. Hard it seems that
such things must wither! The old man
watched over the work from the adj
joining room, but as often as he called out
about this or that order it is found already
dispatched or quite ready. 1.-TWO hundred
little nosegays for the Palazzo Ruspoli, for
get not, Reseda!' "Quite ready, papal"
LAS many for the Palazzo Chiga" "All
ready, papa!" "And the flowers for the Pa
lazzo SciarraP "Quite ready, papa!" Amaz-
ing it is, almost a marvel, to see the swiftness
with which the little maiden fingered the
flowers piled up before her; how quickly she
seizes the roses, violets, pansies, geraniums
hyacinths, orange blossoms, and arranges!
them with exquisite art. 1t is as if the flow
ers flew together, lovingly seeking each other
Reseda is their mistress. They divine her
wishes, they anticipate her thoughts They
seem to ask sadly why now and then little
cloud fits over her fair brow. Does our
beautiful queen sorrows Does she grieve,
perchance, that she must bind flowers for
others, but remain herself away from the
festivitya In truth, queen, thou shouldst also
be there. And see how the flowers grow
merry and rally the maiden as she bushes
over secret thought. OF what is the beau
tiful queen thinkinga Aha! she is thinking
of the gay Bertino Brandani, who buys SO
many bouquets of her. All, see how the
beautiful maiden is perplexed She is
afraid, she remains seated. But the kindly
voices Of the bells drown these loose chat
terings. Every maiden, as every fragrant
flower, has her own secret; that Is the
charm Of the maiden and Of the flower, and
none shall invade it. The fraumothers are
much too good to grieve the lovely queen
Out of a thousand flower cups and bell BIOS
SONS ring out words of comfort "Hold thy
patience little dear queen, we will surely
help thee to a husband, but we know not of
a certainty yet If it is to be the gay Bertino."
sand the bouquet of camellias which the
Signorina Giletta orderedg" again cried out,
the old man. II am just binding it," an
swered the little daughter. The camellia was
then as yet one Of the rare flowers. The Jes-
uit father Camelli had brought it from ia
pan into Europe in the first half Of the
century. Gabbadio cultivated it with the
greatest success, but beyond that cared little
for its odorless, spiritless beauty. Asuitable
flower for Giletta, he would have thought,
certainly, had his respect for the upper
classes been no stronger than his flower phil
OoOphy. LID OOu4uSu 11oO 10 IlOW IttOJ.
Reseda has fashioned it with especial care,
meanwhile involuntarily asking herself to
whom the signorina would throw it, ITO
Bertino, to Bertino!" hum the voices under
the flowers The clouds are gathering over,
the bright stars which will dim her bright
eyes. "All readya" inquiries the old man.
eyes, papa" A few resedas are left among
the heaps of various flowers. Half mechani-
cally the maiden gathered them together, and
stuck an open red blossom in the midst.
That plain little nosegay, with the flaming
red In the center, is not slow tongued to tell
of open heart wounds. She inhales thank
fully the mild fragrance
Alas, this Bertino! How could she, a gar
deners daughter, even so much as think of
it, that he could become hers? As little as
that this poor nosegay should ever adorn his
coat! And the flowers nlurmured in chorus:
sComfort thee, beautiful queen-it Is not he;
it is another"
The Corso was splendidly decorated for the
flower festival. The windows were hung
with carpets, the balconies with bright
silken stuffs bedecked, the logga displayed
adornments of various kinds. Each house
strove to Guido the other in show and osten-
ton. But the palm of beauty belongs to
those whose windows and balconies were
filed with groups of lovely maiden faces.
"Flowers and maidens" becomes the watch
word of the day. In the narrow street of
the Corso, stopped here and there by the
thronging masses of people, two lines Of car
riages pass up and down in opposite direc-
lions, and the occupants of the flower laden
equipages pelt each other from opposite
sides with large and small bouquets. The
lovely missiles dart h;ther and thither they
fly up to the beautiful faces at the windows
Or fall flung by these pretty ones upon the
heads, and necks, and noses of the pass
ers beneath. Meanwhile they overhead
pour upon the moving sea below a
rain Of many colored paper clip
pings, and cast over the whole carni-
val scene a glittering variegated cloud.
Upon the balcony of the Palazzo Lamberto
stands Giletta at her fathers side. Near her
is a great basket, illed with little bouquets,
which Messer Lamberto was plundering with
busy hand. He bombarded all, friends and
acquaintance. The basket was soon emptied,
and the camelliaS alone remained, which
Giletta, however, holds in reserve. A gold
ring, plain, but expressive, had been placed
by her among the flowers. In this manner
sought she to convey encouragement to her
silent adorer, Bertino Long she waited for
his carriage. What 1t he should not have
entered into the flower sportl At last she
saw him approach. But how vexatious! In
oerunos carriage sat also his friend, the,
Coronti. 1t requires good aim not to.
miss-One, two, three!
$50, Countess MoronH, is itg' exclaimed
the old man.
"But that is not what meant" said
Giletta, stamping her little foot.
'Didst know, indeed, what thou didst
wishq' answered her papa, laughing.
And gathering up with both arms all the
flowers which the hundred wooers had
thrown up to the bankers beautiful daughter
he tossed the whole gift upon the count be-
meath. As the latter was, not without diff
Guilty, extricated from the fragrant ava
lanche, he waved up his joyous salutations.
holding in one hand the camellias, in the
other the golden hoop. All this took place
In an instant. The incident only took few.
seconds to decide the destiny Of the irresolute
Giletta. She questioned her heart once more
No, it beat no faster than usual-that same
regular tick-tack, tick-tack all day long She
loved neither the one nor the other. She
would have welded one as readily as the
other. The accident made her Countess Mo-
ronti; the decree of destiny be fulfilled! The
count was noble minded, of unsullied charac-