The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1890-07-30

to lose ones thoughts in, you know.
Goodbye, Edith"
He Strengthened up now, and as the
tiny gloved hand touched his own for
one brief instant he was sure he saw
pair of big crystal tears stand
ing in the two big eyes of blue.
v
In three months Mr.. Fleightleigh had
grown partially accustomed to his
grasswidowhood,
In the meantime he was forced to
confess that Mrs. FIeightleigh had been
more of social success since her di-
vorce than she had ever been before it.
Her name was rarely out of the news
papers. Her weekly cat Homes" were
described at great length, and her
gorgeous costumes descanted upon in
glowing terms by society reporters.
Mrs. Fleightleigh was not wearing the
willow by any manner of means.
Sitting one evening in cozy corner
of the Allyoumet Club parlor. gazing
rather disconsolately through the rain
spattered pane, Mr.. Fleightleigh was
busy with his own thoughts, when the
sound of voices reached him. Some
young men, ignorant of his presence,
were playing whist behind a portiere a
few feet away, and the tones of
Charlie Slimtone, about as addle-
pated youth as ever squandered a
doting parents dollars, rang shrilly
through the apartment.
Going up to Mrs. Fleightleigh's to-
morrow night" asserted he. ''Great
little lady that, boys. Bright as a dol
lar. Little smitten, confess. Going
to make play in that direction. For
wife she'll suit yours truly to dot.
Say, what an awful fool Archie Fleight.
leigh must have been to quarrel with q
women like that"
Young man." came the deep bass
tones of old Putancall, the club hermit,
from the other side of the room, "you
are right. When Archie Fleightleigh
gave yow the right to admire Mrs.
Fleightleigh he proved himself the most
egregious ass of the age"
VI.
Before retiring that night Mr.. Fleight-
leigh gave the hotel porter a note
to mail to Mrs. Fleightleigh. 1t wa,
very brief.
Il have no wish to intrude upon you," the
lines ran, but it seems to me that if your
situation drives you to seek sOlace in the so
cety of idiots like young Slimtoe, it would be
only charitable to come to the rescue. If you
are OF my way of thinking in this matter, be
gracious enough to send an invitation to your
next At Home, to
"Your faithful friend,
ARCHIBALD FLEIGHTLEIGH."
VII.
In two days came the reply:
''If you really want to come, 1 will
give an AT Home Friday evening for
your especial benefit"
4 H. Ill Al
his tall figure resplendent in immac-
ulate evening dress, spray of hya-
cinths in his buttonhole, requesting the
affable hotel clerk to summon him a
coupe, He was trife surprised, on
reaching the neat residence that once
knew him as master, to find no line of
carriages blocking the way. The
first arrival, by all that's confusingl'
he muttered as he rang the door bell.
That spruce maid who flung open
the door gave a grasp of recognition.
He waved her aside, however, and bid
ding her announce his arrival to her
mistress, stalked grandiloquently into
the reception room.
Strange, but there was no flare of
gas light; no elaborate floral decora-
tions. A Sevres vase, full of lilies of
the valley, stood on the mantel. A
tall, solitary lamp cast golden rays
from beneath fringed yellow shade.
Before the visitor had time to collect
his senses there was a soft rustic of
draperies in the hallway. In another
moment his divorced wife stood before
him.
She wore a clinging robe of some
white, fleecy fabric, with lace at the
wrists and throat. A spray of voilets
was just pinned Just over the place
where, according to the best anatomi-
cal authorities, her heart ought to
have been.
Mr.. Fleightleigh rose to his feet,
and as he did so there swept across his
senses a vague familiar perfume, faint
as the sigh of sylph and sweet as June
roses, He remembered it instantly.
1t was the same he had known in other
days.
II thought" he stammered stupidity,
81 thought you had an AT Home to-
night?"
Il have. answered Mrs. Fleightleigh,
half guiltily, Il told you l would give
an AT Home tonight for your especial
benefit, did 1 not?'
A full minute of dead silence. Then
Mr.. Fleightleigh perceived that the
big blue eyes were swimming. Where
upon he did precisely what any gallant
gentleman, situated as he was, would
have done under the circumstances.
Hall an hour afterwards Mr.. Fleight-
leigh asked: "And do you really be-
lieVe, my precious one, that marriage
| is failure?n
II do not know about that" answer
ed Mrs. Fleightleigh, but l am very
certain that divorce isl
And the lawyer, who two days after
ward read the announcement of their
marriage. has not quite recovered from
his astonishment yet.-HaroLd r. Vy'a,ae,
| in Chicn0O Journal