The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-10-21


center of this dark smoky room. The OLD
tools were arranged in the same lines as
they had been for centuries-the punches,
the avis, the mallets and the hammers; on
the work frame the little donkey waste
basket and the tinsel, the thimbles and the
needles, moved up and down as usual while
in the different corners, where they ended
by growing rusty, the diligent, the hand
spinning wheel, and the reel for winding,
seemed to sleep in the peaceful quiet which
entered through the open window.
Days passed. Angelique broke many
needles between morning and evening, so
difficult was it to sew down the gold,
through the thickness of the waxed threads.
To have seen her one would have said she
was so thoroughly absorbed by her hard
work that she could think of nothing else.
At o'clock she was exhausted by fatigue,
and, going to bed, she sank at once into a
heavy, dreamless sleep. When her EN-
broidery gave her mind moments leisure
she was astonished not to see Felicien. AL
though she took no steps toward seeking
him, it seemed to her that he ought to have
tried every possible way to come to her.
Yet she approved Of his wisdom in acting
as he did, and would have scolded him had
he tried to hasten matters. No doubt he
also looked for something supernatural to
happen. 1t was this expect ton upon
which she now lived, thinking each night
that it would certainly come on the NOR
row.
Until now she had never rebelled. Still,
at times she lifted up her head inquiringly,
as if asking:
"What! has nothing yet come to passp
And then she pricked her fingers so deeply
that her hand bled, and she was obliged to
take the pincers to draw the needle out
When her needle would break with sharp
little sound as if of glass, she did not even
make movement of impatience.
Hubertine was very anxious on seeing her
apply herself SO desperately to her work,
end as the time for the great washing had
come again, she forced her to leave her
panel of embroidery, that she might have
four good days of active outdoor life in the
broad sunlight The Mere CADET, now free
from her rheumatism, was able to help at
soaping and rinsing.
1t was regular fete in the Clos Marie
these las August days, in which the weather
was splendid, the sky almost clOudless,
while delicious fragrance came up from
the Chevrotte, the water of which as it
passed under the willows. was almost icy
cold
The first day Angelique was very gay, as
she beat the linen after piunging it IN the
stream; enjoying to the full the river the
elms, the old ruined mill, the wild herbs,
and all those friendly surroundings, SO
filled with pleasant memories. Was
it not there she had become
acquainted with Felicien, who I'M
der the moonlight had at first seemed so
mysterious being, and who, later on, had
been SO adorably awkward the morning
when he ran after the dressing Sacque that
was being carried away by the current. AS
she rinsed each article she could not refrain
from gIancing at the gateway of the bish-
ops garden, which until recently had been
nailed up. One evening she had passed
through it on his arm, and who could tell
but he might suddenly now open it and
come to take her to the presence of his
father! This hope enchanted her as she ap-
piled herself to her work in the midst of
the frothy foam that at times almost COW
cred her.
But the next day, as the Mere CADET
brought the last barrow of linen which she
spread out on tho grass with Angeiique, she
interrupted her interminable chattering
upon the gossip of the neighborhood, to say
maliciously:
by the way, you know that monseigneur
is to marry his SOM
The young girl, who was just soothing
out sheet, knelt down in the grass, hei.
strength leaving her all at once, from the
rudeness of the shock.
YES, everyone is talking of it. The son
of monseignenr will in the autumn marry
Mademoiselle de Voincourt. 1t seems that
everything was decided upon and arranged
yesterday"
She remained on her knees as a food of
confused ideas passed through her brain,
and a strange humming was in her ears.
She was not at all surprised at the news,
and she realized it must be true. Her
mother had already warned her, SO she
ought to have been prepared for it, She
n M HnDhf Ealipian's Iowa
her, as that was her faith and strength.
But at the present moment, that which
weakened her SO greatly and excited her to
the very depths of her being, was the
thought that trembling before the COM
mands of his father he could at last yield
from WEAKNESS, and consent to wed one
whom he did not love. Then he would be
lost to her whom he really adored. Never
had she thought such an act on his part pos
sihle; but now she saw him obliged by his
filial duty and his sense of obedience 10
make them both unhappy for ever.
Still motionless, her eyes fixed upon the
little gate. she at last rev olted against the
facts. feeling as if she must go and shake
the bars, force them open with her hands.
run to Felicisn and, aiding him by her own
courage, persuade him not to yield She
was surprised to hear LerSelf reply to tue
Mere CADET in the purely mechanical in
stinct of hiding her trouble.
"Ah! Then he is to marry Mademoiselle
Claire. She is not only very beautiful, but
it is said she is also very COOL"
Certainly, as soon as the old woman went
away, she must go and find him. She had
walled long enough; she would break her
promise of not seeing him as if it were a
obstacle. What right had any
one to separate them in this way! Every
thing spoke to her of their affection-the
cathedral, the fresh water. and the old elm
trees under which they had been SO happy.
Since their affection had grown on this
spot, it was there that she wished to
find him again, to go with him arm in arm
far away, so far that no one would ever see
them.
That is all" said at last the Mere CADET,
as she hung the last napkins on bush. 'In
two hours they will be dry. Good night,
mademoiselle, as you no longer have need
of me-"
Now, standing in the midst of this effior-
escence of linen that shone on the green
grass, Angeique thought of that other
day, when in the tempest of wind, among
the tapping of the sheets and tablecloths,
they unfolded 50 ingenuously the secrets of
their lives to each other. Why had he dis
continued his visits to heri Why had he
not come to meet her during her healthy
exercise of the past three days? But it
would not be long before she would run to
him, and when he had clasped her in his
arms, he would know well that he was hers,
and hers only. She would not only even
need to reproach him for his apparent
weakness, it would be enough for her to
show herself to make him realize that their