Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1888-12-30

Bhe read and reread her poem. one Whe
rather silent during breakfast. As she
finally eat down her coifee-cup she said
thoughtfully:
II wonder whether could write poo
try2" ,.. r.
den, cheerfuIly "it's very easy.
Mary plunged again into reverie. She
wac disfra,te eli day. That night OF IL
o'clock she knocked at Miss Emden s
door.
"Am disturbing your" I've been
trying to write poetry and / have come
TO read you my first attempt.
Next spring the literary world was
taken by storm.
MAY Blossoms" by the Countess de
Villermay- with its white binding, its
gold hawthorn spray, designated 10y
Jean Emden. its wide margin and clear
type-was the yerse-book Of the season.
Critics praised it people read it, and,
above oil, the public boughtit Its spe-
cial feature was the piduancy given to II
by the incongruity OF its democratic SEN
timents with the fact that it was written
by a countess. "Not Wanted-A Life s
Story" tho most striking piece in the
volume, was a realistic poem of real
power and merit TWAS tale OF des-
perate struggle against starvation.
Probably the Countess had never been
80 happy in her life From her former
position as a sprat among salmon she was
now raised to the rank OF a salmon among
minnows. People who had snubbed her
now cultivated her. She received din
ner invitations from those who had
formerly sent her at Home" cards.
| Her friends became more friendly, her
acduaintances more numerous. The
! Athenoeupa called her our greatest living
poetess, the discerning remark
ing Of the weakest poem in the book,
"Surely this has in it something OF the
inductveness of vitality" and even the
Saturdoy youchsafed encomiums.
Miss Linden was to the full as happy
az the Countess in the success of MAY
Blossoms" She bad copied out the
manuscript, corrected the proofs, de-
signed the cover. Sho collected the IA
vorable reviews there were no unfayor-
able ones, for the press was unanimous
90 it ought to be in praising q countess.
And she read and reread the book with
a devotion that sometimes made Mary
almost impatient.
When Everett Dobbs wrote and asked
to be permitted to call and offer his
homage to the author OF " MAY Bios
sons" Miss Emden and the Countess
were equally excited.
"I've only met him twice." said the
Countess, "to speak to, that is. | al
most wish he wasn't coming; I'm horri-
bly, afraid he will find me out"
Glow DO you mean "
"Well, he will expect the author OF
May Blossoms to shine moro in con
versltion than she will do.
"You are much more brilliant than
most OF the poets we know"
And Mary, mentally reviewing in 9
flash line Of long-haired, fabby youths,
felt her remark to be Just.
She had dressed herself to receive Mr..
Dobbss visit in n gown whose fashiona-
lie trimmings were moro than usually
+ elaborate She was nov engaged IN
quitting the drawing-room straight, IS
she called il. That IS she was d yto-
rOusv obiterating all marks of human
occupation and reducing the room to
something between the drawing-room OF
a hotel and that represented on our ma
tional stage.
1t was delicious May afternoon.
Hampstead Heath Was pr0fusey dotted
with nursemaids and perambulators.
Fvcrard Dobbs IN bis hanson, leaned
back and enjoyed through hls piuc,nc-
the beauty of the day. 1t was to him an
hour moro interesting than hs hours
were wont to be. lie was a man whose
unhealthy social environment had proved
too much for his own healthy impulses.
st five and twenty he had become an
extreme Radical, but his early expires
sons Of his changed views bad been
eneered and laughed at by his iniimatos,
and he bad reached thirty without having
ever found strength enough TO defy public
opinion, which with him. as with all OF az,
meant the prejudices of 4 very narrow cir
Gle. The five years struggle with Lis
own moral consciousness bad LEFT ITS
marks upon him nni he was unhappy.
lie compounded with his conscience iof
lis oowardlce ly running the before
mentioned ppec under an assumed
name, and by subscribing ont Of an am
pie income 10 several Democratic and
Socialist societies. But the hush-m0uey
brought him no comfort. Ills own SCI
voted him "liito mad on those Qu q.
tiOns, and promptly changed toe con-
versation when he approached them,
which he did rarely now. Ills few
working-class acquaiutances, while they
took his money, distrusted him, and
called him "dilettante.
"Mav-Blossoms" encouraged him.
Here at last was woman Of his kind.
Surely q countess. though only foreign
one, would be able to live with foot in
both worlds-that of the "hayes and
"have nots." BY her side he might bo
able TO occupy the same uncomfortable
position.
And he inquired about the authoress,
not Identifying her in his recollection
with a stout lady whom he had occasion
ally observed al receptions and concerts.
The poems haunted him. lie read them
sgain. They were stronger than he had
supposed They expressed not only sub
he refinements of sentiment and dainty
f.ncies, but seriousness. a determined
championing of the wronged and the OPP
pressed, which he had not met with in tho
/ poetry Of any woman, and which he had
never been quite able to get into his own.
SO he wrote and asked if no might call
upon her.
His mind was filed with the beauty Of
her poems and when she came forward
to meet him in her Partisan costume no
bowed low, rendered speeches. by the
emphasis of the contrast between her
poems and herself. She held out her
hand, which he took mechanically.
Lovely weather. isn't it ," she asked
as he seated himself.
"Yes, quite perfect" he replied as
earnestly as though that needed saying,
with the sun shining outside and the
May airs blowing through the room.
He was violently disappointed. He
could not have said what he expected her
to be; but whatever it was, she was no.
/ thinglike il. He pulled himself together.