The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1889-02-28
A VISITING CARD.


Nathan D. Urner, in Once Week.
A VISITING CARD.
Embarrassing Results Of Slight
Mistake.
1t was rainy day in January. Large
drops were beating monotonously against
the windows Of u red brick house, whose
white stone trimmings aud other heavy
architectural ornamertations wore that air
OF having been manufactured by the thou
sand which characterizes the dwellings of
those good people who have gained wealth
without gaining taste.
Behind the guipure curtains on the first
floor stood handsome blonde looking out,
with bored expression in her cold blue
eyes. This was Solange Tarvcnue the only
daughter OF Il respectable bourgeois, who,
having made mis- money in trade, now lived
. gentleman of leisure in this fine now
house.
"Hs=vcnW exclaimed Mile Tarvenue,
how tiresome this rain isl One can't 20
OUT to make any calls and no one comes to
sec one. It's enough to give one the
spleenr,,
''The spleen? What's thatW asked NJ.
Tarvenue from the depths of his paper.
''Somethlng you don't understand, papa,''
said the young lady, impatiently.
'Supposc you practice little, my daugh-
ter suggested Nine. Tarvenue, putting up
some stockings she had been darning. ''That
piece, you know, you are to play at the
Paulpiur to-night.''
YES, it would be worth while would It
not" sneered Solangc. "People who don't
know Que note from another! AS though
there WAS any one in the Ville-Abbe, any
way, who did. What is the use Of having
any talent for any thing when one lives in
the provinccs:'
40, the provinces again! Solange is in a
bad hulnor. I'll get out of the way" re-
marked NJ. Tarvenue.
Leave the child alone. The temperature
affects her. 1t is psychological" said Nine
Tarvcnue, who flattered herself that she
understood her daughter and was upon the
same intellectual level, albeit the latter had
been educated in Paris.
She went down stairs with the girl, and
there Solange, with-one must be iust-a
good deal of mere digital brilliancy, began
to practice one OF those snowy and utterly
hollow musical productions in which there
are technical difficulties in profusion, but
absolutely not one note that can speak to
the heart or the mind
In the midst Of these trills and chromatic
scales the bell rang.
''Therc"' cried Solange, stopping short,
'Pm sure that is a Call. You see, mamma,
you were very wrong to say that you were
not at home to visitors. Every one is not
as much afraid of bad weather as you are.
MY dear child, what are you thinking of 1!
Such day as this! Why, the parlor furni-
ture would have been ruined by PEOPLES
wet clothesn'
Peoples wet clothes: 1t is to be hoped
the people we know would wear water
proofs, as long as they come on foot" added
the young lady, bitterly.
She rang the bell. A young servant girl
came in.
Bring the cards that were left iustnow."
The servant returned. Solange threw an
indifferent glance on the bit Of pasteboard
Suddenly her face lighted up; she exclaimed
quickly:
Mamma! 1t was NJ. de Prevaretl And
you didn't receive hm!'
M de Prevaretn' walled Madame Tar
Venue.
Dear me! What pity, now!'' cried So
laugc, sOurly.
NJ. de Prevaret was considered the very
best catch in Vile Able! Young and hand
some and clever, and the possessor of large
fortune he lived with his mother, the dowa-
ger countess, in one of the most sumptuous
residences in the town. And this young
man, on whom every woman of rank with a
manageable daughter smiled, had rung the
doorbell Of the Tarvenues, and left his cards
for them: He bowed to them, because they
bowed to his mother, but he had never been
introduced to the ladies'
''What can it mean!" asked Nine. Tar
venue, anXiously.
Soange was standing before the glass.
"Why, it seems to me that it is very
clear" she replied, with deep complacency.
Haven't you noticed, my dear mamma that
every time we go to hear the band play NJ
de Prevaret is there, too?''
NV nat!-why-do you think-?'' Mime.
Iarvenue did not dare finish, so audacious
did her thought seem to her.
And why not?' demanded Solanee.
throwing up her blonde head with trium-
plant air that made her really immensely
handsome.
"You are right" m,lrmured poor Nine.
Iarvenue; you are pretty enough''
1t was quite true that Solange Tarvenue
was handsome enough to inspire a passion.
but she would never have had any attrac-
ZION Tor 1astldious man. This young per-
son, with her sculpturesque form. her onu
lent contours and her da:>>ns colorinp. was
absolutely lacking in innate refinement or
distinction. No reflection of a gentle na-
ture an elevated soul, ever gave that in
descrlbable charm to her regular features
That SUCH attributes only can convey. She
was clever enough, but it was q thoroughly
material sort of cleverness, and it was
joined to most extraordinary amount of
egotism and vanity. She had PLAYED. in
childhood, behind the paternal counter; but
she had been educated in a fashionable
Partisan school, from which she had brought
away all manner of ambitions. In her
dreams for the future she saw noblemen at
hcr feet, and she would not have thought q
crown misplaced had it been made to rest
on her magnificent yellow hair. It was,
therefore, no WONDER that the Comte de
frcvarets visit had not much surprised
her. She saw in it simply the natural result
OF her beauty. She received her father,
when he returned, with superior smile of
calm fatuousness, while Nine. Tarvenue.
who was most unsophisticated in her new
grandeur, exclaimed agitatedly: IF you
only knew whom we have Just missed"
"Oh! You think don't know" replied the
good man, trying to look very subtle. 80
nc has come to make his proposal, has he?''
ITO mako his proposals'' quavered Nine.
Tarvenue. "You knew, then?"
ut is to be hoped that l did know re-
marked NJ Tarvenue with Importance. HE
said t. me only this morning: ut is time
we came to an understanding. Eusebe is
fairly wasting away; he is 80 much in love
with Solange"
"Eusebe! OF whom are you talkingl"
+, "Of my friend Rami)lat, who is most anx-
ious that Solange should marry his son."
m. Ramillat did not call But tho Comte
de Prevaret rang tho door-bell while you
were away" And 8olange, having nro-