Waterbury evening Democrat., 1888-06-27

SAx 0A0C0S 0a0 laken QkaOo 5lnoo u1D SxflNsa 1t was close upon mic nis |, and he had found ho opportunity of speaking to her. Would she never be disengaged2 Il l At last, with utter satisfaction, he saw her seat herself alone. Her partner had left her. probably ice-bound. Now was his time. Bockaby moved quickly in thedirection of the black and gold dress, and reached it without accident. There was chair beside Malvina. Tt was partly screened by ferns and palms. {Bockaby dropped into it, and gave vent to sigh of relief.
 ''Dearest," he said softly, reaching for the tiny gloved hand, which was not refused him. Twill you ever forgive me?"
 The powdered head gave coquettish little nod. The gloved hand remained in his pressed his slightly. An, after all, there was no one in the world like his wife, he thought.
 .'How foolish we were to misunderstood one another" he went on, stupidly glad, "and about such triie, too."
 Hush,' whispered his companion, turning from him and removing her hand. little lady in apple-gree silk was close beside them. She had evidently seen the manifestations of mutual approval. Bockaby laughed to him. self as he thought how absurd it was for married couple to fear been seen in affection ate communication. Yes, a bal poudre with dominos was certainly a very amusing affair. The complications were so weird. He glanced at his wife. She was flaming herself with sweet little yellow feathered fan. An he had never seen it before. She had evidently thought that as he refused to buy her q new dress she would invest in. a fan. An, Malvina never would economiso. Well, he would not quarrel about tho fan. He would never quarrel any more, in fact. Twelve o'clock! big clock, with a sol- emn cathedral chime, which had been placed in conspicuous position by Mrs. De Snigsby in order to warn her guests of the important hour, struck slowly. In a moment there was | a rustling, silky sound, and every lady held her mask suspended by its lace string in her | hand. Bockaby glanced with smile al his | black and gold clad neighbor. The snliie | added from his lips, his eyes opened ill utter oewilderment. He recoiled involuntarily. ''Letitia Ruggsmith! l" he gasped. Mrs. Ruggsmith indulged in sugared smile.
 l And whom did you think was?" sho asked jauntily
 l He mistook you for me, I presume" intcf. posed the little lady in apple green silk, com | ,ng hastily forward.
 ''Malvinaw exclaimed the luckless Archi-
 bald, so supremely surprised that he rei.lilei nothing.
 l Now, if Mrs. Bockaby had been equal to the occasion she would have marched her hus-
 band away from Mrs. RugScrsmith before l further harm was done. But her feminiIity | got the better of her diplomacy. She had
 ueard Archibald's honeyed language and Lc- utia's outrageous acceptance of it, and she
 could not leave the hated Mrs. Russersn;gh 1 50 soon. She made a great mistake. l Mrs. Ruggersmith," stammered Archibald, | with nervously imbecile smile, ''you-you l must r-really excuse me. IT thought you | were my wife. I c-could have sworn that ! W-yyaS her d-drpSSo
 It was an awful momentl Letitia RuSg
 smith, practiced as she was in the art of de
 ception, could not avoid the tell-tale b!usl ! that came to her cheek. Not a word coulC | she utter, she was tongue-tied. Maiyan;
 Bockaby, of all wom en in the world just nov
 knew that she bought "superhuous" clothes
 Mrs. Bockaby's anguish was no less bite
 than that of her rival. It expressed itself b,
 marble pallor which robbed even her lip'
 of every vestage of color. Letitia Ruggsmith of all women in the world now knew that sh
 sold "superf1uous" clothes.
 Yes, man-like Archibald Bockaby had "pu
 his foot in it.'' Mrs. Bockaby was the first to recover her
 self. "You are a foolish boy, Archibald" sh
 said, with Q carelessness she did not fec
 "Mrs. Ruggsmith's dress is not in the leas
 like mine, but to men, suppose, ladies' COS | tunes are all alike."
 |
 time to make any other ridiculous remark
 and requested that he call her carriage. Fiv
 minutes later they are on their way home.
 Malvina could bear nearly all the ills tha l fall to the lot of women and bear them wit , perfect equanimity, too. But the events of to ! night were too much for her, and soon sh was sobbing in the arms of her husband, wh , was himself again.
 "Never mind, dear," he said, soothingly ! Ggyyy T , Mrs. Ruggsmith bought it. said pleasan
 things to her because thought she was m little Malvina, and wanted to make my peac with her."
 "Y-yes, know th-that," sobbed Malvina l convulsively. "I-I-d-dont m-mind tha, B-but - Oh, Archibald - she Hooked s l-lovely in that bl-black and g-gold dress.
 w-was the finest in-in the r-room. And , ! s-sold it. Oh! Oh! Ohl m-must have bee 3 I m-mad. You w-were the b-best j-judge afte 8 ! all."-[The Epoch. THE END.