Mexico weekly ledger., 1890-12-18
CHAPTER VI.

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81 hare so many things that I lrdnt to
SGY To g0u.'
To be convinced pessilnist it is be-
fore all things necessary to have reached
middle age and to suffer from a dis
ordered liver. Deprived of these two
essentials, man will be very apt to find
nature too strong for him. and to foIm a
more fatterinG opinion of this world and
its inhabitants than perhaps he ought to
form. An unfortunate love affair is all
very well so long rs the soreness lasts;
but this invariably wears off sooner OF
later. and then II reaction takes place in
the minds Of the young and healthy
which cannot but prove fatal to their
wisdom and philosophy
Thus, Ill the course of the summer
with which this narrative is concerned,
it came to pass fiat Percy Thorold, who
was still young, who did not so much as
know that he possessed a liver, and
whose love for his cousin had become a
mere memory. began to think that there
were good and even adorable women in
London, notwithstanding the excellent
reasons that he had for believing the
contrary. AT all events he thought that
there was one such woman, and it is OBJ
yious that when You have gone the
length of making that admission there
is an end of your pesSimism.
Paramount as were the claims of pub
lie affairs upon his attention, he had
nevertheless found time during those
summer months to see a great deal OF
Dorothy Leslie, and the more he had
seen of her the more he had learned to
appreciate her iEimeasurable superiority
to the rest of her sex. After all, there
must be IA few exceptions even to the
most stringent of rules: and here, surely,
was one of them. He was still willing
to maintain that women in general are
false. tickle and foolish. Now, as re.
garded this bright and rare example OF
what all women ought to be, but IN.
fortunately are not, there was one thing
specially noticeable about her; namely
that although she might, if she had
chosen to give them any encouragement.
have had a very respectable number OF
admirers, she did not seem to care in the
least for admiration.
What made her so delightful was that
you could talk TO her as to reasonable
being. When she spoke of art OF
music or politics or any other
subject in which you and she
were jointly interested, you might feel
sure that she had no arriere pensee-
that she was not merely leading you or
with a view to putting you in good
humor, and SO acquiring firm basis fol-
the opening of those siege operations
which rich men soon learn to recognize
and dread. It was, in short. perfectly
clear that she neither expected mol
wished you to make love to her.
Not that these sage and Just refiec.
til prevented Percy from making love
to her-quite the contrary. There are a
thousand different ways of making love
and his, if a quiet and undemonstrative
one, was no whit less effectual and effect
i've than the others. AT what period Of
their acquaintanceship it first dawned
upon him that the feelings which he en-
tertained for Miss Leslie were not pre-
cisely those of father he could not af
terward remember, nor indeed was thi:
aquestion Of any Importance. It was
sufficient for him to know that life
would no longer be endurable for him
without her. and it was very pleasant
to him to suspect that when he should
tell her as much-which he fully intend
ed to do before the end of the season an6
the session-she would not be altogether
displeased. But there is no rose without
thorn, and a very annoying little thorI
tif indeed 1t could be called little one,
was provided for Percy Thorold in the
memory of that fell compact to which
Lord Guise had persuaded him to be
come party sCme months back. He
was very angry with Lord Cruise when
he thought of it and still more angry
with himself.
Of course there was no getting out OF
the absurd agreement: he had pledged
his word of honor. and he must do wha
he had undertaken to do. Still the ide;
of submitting Dorothy Leslie's name fol
approval to three such men as Guise
Moreton and Schneider was horribl,
distateful to him. and his inclination
was to put off the bad quarter of an hou
as long as possible. OF the disapprova
of these gentlemen he did not feel mucl
afraid. In the first place they woul,
bar.lly, he presumed, have the imper
tinenoe to object to Miss Leslie: in tn
second place they We're but slightly &C
quainted with her; thirdly and lastly. b.
was prepared. by way of bribe, to &C
cord to them his full and free permission
to marry any three ladies upon the fac
of the earth whom 1t might please then
to select. What he did not like at al
was the prospect Of hearing his own sc
lection discussed. however cursorily
and this deferred him from sulnmonini
meeting which, in good faith, he ough
to have summoned as soon as his inten
tions became clear to him.
1t was not until the month of Jul
that he was somewhat rudely awakene'
to sense of his duty. BY that time hi
devotion to Miss Leslie had been YER
generally remarked upon. and Miss Les
hes mother. for one, was beginning t
think that if he meant anything he ha
better say so. Mrs. Leslie was not
worldly woman, and was in no grea
hurry to see her only daughter married
but she thought that Dorothy ought t
have the chances TO which all girls are eI
titled, and it stands to reason that thos
chances must be diminished by the cor
spicuous and apparently welcome after
tions of one man. She therefore too
an opportunity of saying to Mr.. Thorold
Il hope you won't be too busy to com
and say good-hy before we leave. W
shall be going home in less than a wee
now"
Itwas at one of the last big officis
receptions of the year that this con
,aunication was made to Percy. VIII
was good deal disconnected by it. A
though he had of late been so constantl
in Dorothy's society. their meetings ha
for the most part taken place under th
benevolent auspices of Lady Beivoil
and. his interviews with Mrs. Leslie ha
been few and far between. A certaI
anxious look in the good ladys eye
made her meaning tolerably plain
him. and indeed he felt that her anxlet
was iustifiable. Well, it should soon Z
set at rest; but of course he must mo-
lose no time about taking Guise and th
other men into his confidence. He tol
Mrs. Leslie how yery sorry he was