Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1889-03-30

!,
Dolly springs up and catches her by the arm.
NO, no, Marian, don't go; don be angry.
viii do whatever you tell mei"
Then harken and obey. Dick Wyndham is
coming tonight You know he is rather fond
OF YOU. Talk 10 him. and to him only, all the
evening. Do not once glance in MIR. Lascelles'
direction; viii keep my eye on him. and re-
port TO you how he takes it II he approaches
you in the evening look bored and distract,
and reply to him by monosyllables."
Il shall never be able to do it," groans
Dolly.
Not with such big stake to win?' a little
sarcastically).
All you don't know what it is to love-
cries Dolly.
Not as you do, certainly" retorts Marian.
with An infection of voice which Dolly is not
acute enough TO catch.
Dick Nyndham arrives in time for dinner.
He Is rather fond OF Dolly-he is exceedingly
hard up, and he wants her money even more
than her sweet self, He is bright and anus
ing has considerable fund of small talk. is
devoted to sport, and has not MIR. Eascelle's
esthetic taste or lofty manner of showing SUI
periorlty. He has n genuine contempt for
man who talks art and plays classic music Ss
Mr.. Lascelles has for one who thinks of nothing
but hunting, lawn tennis and polo. though he
rides fairly straight and Is an average shot
himself.
Not little disguised is I.ascelles. therefore.
when Dolly, whose sorrowfulness and its cause
have greatly soothed his competency for the
last twenty-four hours. seems TO have eyes and
ears for no one but this half-witted soldier at
dinner. She is looking charming in a dress of
a delicious apricot tint. which he has not seen
before he Is great connolsseur OF dress; II
he could only catch her eye he would beam on
her one OF those glances which have lntoNl-
Gated her maiden soul. But whereas II has
been his wont to meet her tender, pleading
giances every two minutes heretofore, tonight
Bannnn'E ghost ia nA Dt
Macbeth guests. for ali she seems to see HIM.
dis memory serves him up various sneerlng
and saving quotations on the theme of soUyeut
femme varIe. He Is SO little congenial 10 his
nelghbor at dinner that she expresses the most
untayorable sentiments regarding him in the
uraNlng-room later on. causing Dolly 10 halt
between the desire TO defend him hoty and
sense of pleasure that some one beside herself
has suffered from his GOODNESS. Mrs. Dalton
makes pretext for calling Dolly aside.
Excellent, my lover she cries in high good
humor, pressing the girls arm. He is enraged
beyond measure. He scarcely took his ewes OF
you. Go on and prosper
Thus stimulated. Dolly does go on, and pros
pers exceedingly When Mr.. Lascelles and
Dick approach simultaneously she devotes her
whole attention TO the latter, and has scarcely a
word for the former, who presently retires in
tragic dudgeon. and leans against the wall hook
ing like Hamlet, Lord byron, or any other
bhghted being IN the sulks.
In reality Dick is the person most to be pitied,
although his face is alight with smiles and his
heart aglow with anticIpatons of possessing a
lovely woman, and satisfying the debtors who,
metaphorically speaking. take him BY the
throat, crying, Pay me what thou owest," In
nocent creature that he is, lac suspects no
treachery, nor dreams that milk white bosom
palpitates for the internal young prig'' over
| the way. Dolly will play billiards and lawn
tennis with him on the morrow; in the after
| noon they are to ride together; and. as he sits
smoking, after the ladies have retired. he re-
fleets on the most approved method of asking a
certain question.
Up to this moment Clement Lascelles has not
seen any necessity for putting his fate to the
! touch because he has been absolutely certain
OF winning; but now that for the first time he
has rival who is progressing by leaps and
| bounds in his lady's favor he sees that some
| thing must be done. He cannot have been be-
| fooled She loves him or-or he, the adept az
reading the secrets of souls. must for once have
been deluded. Perish the thought!
| With gloomy brow and stately step he retires
! from the smOking-room and seeks the solitude
| OF hls chamber, but not his couch. The dawn
has broken ere he courts repose.
Marian cries Dolly a few hours later.
bursting into her friends room whilst that lady
| no early riser at the best of times-still mes
ties among her pillows, read this and she
seats herself on the bed in a state of great ex-
| element, while Mrs. Dalton languidIy pursues
! the letter thrust into her hands.
Il call 1t great impertinencer' she remarks
| returning it to Dolly.
''Impertinencei" with wide open eyes.
certainly and Mrs. Dalton, taking it back
| quotes from it:
Though cannot pretend to offer YOU the
one great passion of life-sad passages be.
| yond the ken of other mortals having furnished
| the pure iuster which once surrounded nv sou
as with halo-yet, If you will take heart
weary with the sorrows of the ages, dimmed by
/ the darkilng doubts with which an intimate
| knowledge of humanity clouds the spirit. take
| me to your tender breast. and let me find
/ shelter there from iife's griefs and disappoint-
| ments. What recompense a heart blighted as
| mine has been can bestow | will strive to make
! to your angelic sympathy and goodness
| is 1t not beautifully cries Dolly in an &C.
stasy. Il wonder what he means? suppose
some horrid woman threw him over oncef''
Il thing it is exceedingly impertinent, and
| hope you will resent it.
Resent itr' almost shrieks Dolly. why, i,
| is a declaration"
Get my blotting book of that table" CON-
mands Mrs. Dalton, resolutely. Now" she
| says, beginning to write, you will answer i,
| in this way, or l wash my hands of you. and to-
morrow he will have reduced you to abject
| misery again"
She writes hurriedly for few minutes. and
then, with heightened color, reads the DRAFT
| aloud:
DEAR Mr.. LAscKLLEs: have received your
| u
| you seem to have suffered But. for my part
l look upon the world as a very pleasant place
| and have made up my mind to enjoy myself al
much as possible; SO, / could not console
you, and you. with the ideas you express, would
| make me miserable, / think YOU had much bet
| ter look out for somebody whose temperament
Is more like your own. suppose you meal
me to understand that you have been much
| moro in love with someone else than you are
with me, which, to say the least, is not very
iattering. No! must have an undivided
| heart, or none at all
| Your sincere friend. sd. s."
There is a desperate fight between Mrs. Dali
| ton and Dolly before the latter can be persuad-
| ed to copy md forward what she considers a
Marian triumphs. Mr.. Lasceles does not
soul quakes within her, laughs and talks to
Dick.
Later in the morning. when they are playing
smaller than he has ever done i'll his life. seeks
smile she alternately pricks him with daggers,
but she does him an excellent turn by taking a
good deal Of nonsense out OF him. He con-
| fesses that he adores Dolly. how, oh, how is
he to win herr Has be the ghost Of a chance?
Mrs. Dalton, looking solemn, declares her in
ability to reply to this. She hints at Dolly's
| youth and love Of amusement. She hints too
at Dicks unhaggiug good spirits and temper.
| And the upshot OF il is that when Dick returns
crestfallen from his afternoon drive with Dolly,
| having spoken and received his answer, Gle
/ m carrias off tho xyoDpu Lady IN