Waterbury evening Democrat., 1889-04-10

cost. To be sure, the canoe might have been upset; but then, what 0 romantic op- portunity to save her life!
 Instead of taking any of these chances, Roberto calmly watched the fan disappear, asked one or two questions about it's value and history, and, as it vanished, quietly ex- pressed his regrets.
 The rest of the trip was marked by dis tinct coolness on her part
 How she longed for Francesca, with his chivalrous poetical instincts!
 To be sure, the next day she received a box containing five beautiful fans; but that was small balm to her sentimental nature
 As they were going to the tennis ground one morning Bob picked up, among the rose-bushes, what seemed to be a letter. Yes, she saw at a glance it was her un- fortunately placed letter, intended for Francisco; and seizing it she was prompted by her romantic soul to save it, with the feeling that it would yet make MT. Wolfe Browne the happiest of men. Luckily no personal names were mentioned in it, SO if it had been perused by strange eyes no one would have been the wiser in regard to the writer.)
 Sure enough, Beatrice and Francisco soon met again, at rehearsal for private theat- ricals, and, after some explanations, she pressed-as she thought-the battered, weather-stained letter into his hands, and giving him a glance full of tenderest love, she fled.
 What was her horror that night on dis covering the letter still in her possession!
 What could she have given hima A ter rible suspicion came across her tender soul. Could it have been that bill from the hair store, for new bangsa No! that missing memorandum re-appeared. But she failed to find one of the slips of paper on which was copied the speech she was to deliver in the play, when politely rejecting an un- worthy suitor in these well-chosen words:
 ''rhou driveling knave, marry theei Of Q truth, if thou vast the only knight in the kingdom, never would l thee marryy'
 There were other lines, all tending to prove that tho knights proposal did not en- tirely meet the lady's approval.
 A dozen times she began an explanatory letter to him, and twelve times she aban- doned the idea.
 Finally the date for the next rehearsal arrived, and with a palpitating heart Beatrice hastened to the meet.
 The usual restfulness, quietness and peaceful order prevailed which characterize amateur theatricals on the first dress rehearsal, and the costumes gave the customary satisfaction.
 At last Beatrice espled the wavy locks of Francisco in a dim corner; evidently he was buried in revery.
 In the din and confusion she stole quietly up behind him, and laying her pink fingers over his eyes, whispered: Guess" In a second her little hands were seized and covered with kisses, intermixed with 0 declaration of love in a torrent of eloquence. She suddenly realized it was not Francisco l No, it was Bob in his stage wig and cos tune. Without one word she took to flight; her head whlrled her surprise at the pro- | poSal was even exceeded by her anlazement | at such sentimental eloquence from the | matter-of-fact Roberto.
 | As for Francisco, that evening he point | edly avoided her; evidently the note he had | received by mistake gave mortal offense. There was one part in the play they were | rehearsing, where she, as the beautiful | Princess in the tower, passed missive | through her prison bars to a noble knight, | for which role Francisco was cast. This time her romantic mind again came to the front, and she conceived the idea of | handing him the old, weather stained, non- | delivered letter of watering-pct fame. It was still legible, and how romantic it would | be to have the faded epistle finally bring her love to herl And it did. She added post | script: "1 shall be in the conservatory after | the rehearsal"
 | The scenes and acce sSorieS were as com plete as is usual in amateur theatricals but | in trying tho prison scene she found the | barred window was so high she could only see the waving plumes of her trusty knight, | who was supposed to steal silently by the l easement, seize the note and fly. But with | it all he found time to give her delicate 1 finger-aps a warm, thrilling pressure, and though she could not see his face, she felt | that Francisco had relented and love had l triumphed.
 In her picturesque garb of the imprisoned | Princess, as soon as the scene was over, she | hastened to the conservatory. | It so happened that the electric light, by which the rendezvous was illuminated, was that evening going through a series of ec- centric flashes; and as she entered, snap!- and with a dull, heavy thud, total darkness fell She had time to simply catch one | glimpse of stalwart knight crowned with l wavlng plumes. and the next moment she was comfortably nestled in his protecting | arms, and almost before a word was spoken a ring was slipped on the third finger of her | left hand. Then, snap!-and up flashed the | electric light, for an instant only; but what a revelation it was! In that one second she saw in palm-sheltered nook, ''knight of ] ye olden time" on his pended knee, pressing 2 the hly-white hand of ''ladye falre'' to his l lips, and the light shone full on his imita- l tion-Irving features. It was Francisco She then also recognized that the shoulder l on which she had nestled, and the protect l ing arms by which she had been surround ed, belonged to Roberto!
 She was glad darkness followed; it gave an opportunity to conceal, to a certain ex- 1 tent, her conflicting emotions.
 She felt mortified at herself for not faint 1 ing, but instead of that it Reemed as If she
 did years thinking in one moment; and
 she resolved that Roberto, for it was his ring that she was now wearing, should
 never be undeceived And after all, the
 consoling thought came, 1t was a,rfulp | romantic!
 She afterward learned that all this l "Comedy of Errors" had arisen from the
 fact that a sudden change had been made
 in the cast, and Roberto had been assigned
 MT. Wolfe-Browne's part in the prison scene
 thereby receiving the weather-stained let
 ter of acceptance.
 Beatrice planned an exquisitely aesthetic l wedding and it must be cOnfesse that for