, 1891-07-19

PHCoS TSoSlHh NnIoSl~
ing her portrait lone for Cousin Harr
She made n coniidante of her mothe
and the arrangement for sittings w
made and punctually carried out. Darl
was delighted: he had never done sue
good work; he had found himself
He had also found what was more serior
that he was in love. But Olympia wa
supposed to be the destined heir Of ht
cousins fortune, the latter having II
nearer relatives, and Darke did not lik
to appear in the guise Of a fortune hunter
This situation, familiar in fiction an,
not unknown in real life, continued M
til the epoch Of our story. The portrait
born of the love Of art and nOuriShc,
by human love, was all but completed
Darke had never declared himself, bu
he believed thatshould he do so he Womb
nave n chance. Finally, with the las
sitting and a possible cessation of theil
intercourse in prospect. he felt that now
or never he must take n step. In the
ordinary American course of things he
should have addressed himself in the
first instance 10 Olympia herself. But
his pride cOunseled him 10 make an at
tack upon her guardians; that is, upon
Mrs. Raven and Harry Trent. As re-
gardel the former, however, he reflected
| that she WIS a person Of feeble charac-
ter, dominated both by her daughter and
| by Trent, and that she would be sure, if
approached, TO refer the suitor to that
gentleman. To Trent. therefore, he de
cided to betake himself. If Trent ac-
guessed the posture Of the affair would
be hopeful, and Darlic would not be rea-
sonably obnoxious to the fortune hunt
ing charge,
At halr.past ten o'clock on the morn
ing of the twenty-sixth Of February the
studio bell rang and Olympia and her
mother entered. Keppel Darke rose from
the sofa on which he had been lying and
stood before them. His face was pale,
his hair disheyeled and his eyes dry and
heavy. His expression was gloomy and
distressed. Owing to lack of sleep, n
painful emotion or some other cause, he
seemed dazed and hardly to know what
he was about. He replied to Olympia's
cheerful greeting only with a troubled
and AN inarticulate murInur.
II am afraid Mr.. Darke is not well,
my dear" said Mrs. Raven in an under
tone. In fact, the good lady thought he
had been netting as young men will some
times act during the night and was not
yet sober.
'ls anything the natter" demanded
coming forward to shake hands
with him, unsuspicious of evil, at once
and sympathetic. you do
look pretty badl Have you n headache"
He did not seem to see her outstretched
hand. Nothing is the matter, " he said,
his throat. 1--WE had n bad
Imean, I've had bad news. Ican't
go on with the portrait this morning"
Olympia, l thing we had better CO."
said Mrs. Raven apprehensively.
But Cousin Harry's birthday is day
tomorrow" exclaimed Olympia.
the portrait isn't lone today, it Will
be no use. Won't it do us it isl" And
she advanced to remove the veil that
hung before it.
Darke intercepted her with a gesture.
No" he said; he can't have it; he
won't want III"
Not want my portraitr' Olympia
her eyes.
'He can't have i'll" repeated Darke,
almost snynrely. "It's mine, Let him
keen Won. that's enougbr"
..Why. how ouearIv Won taIk Mr.
Darke " said Olvlnnia evipg him grava-
Ia What has b,nuanaly Aren't W.
fri.ndsyr
ooh hay your r,,rdnr far h,.irg n
" r.trrT.I ia. nrtist ir.,us.o-sn
.u -,
1;Jn?!, ahi"I. ~ '',I5
~" ~ 81 "osuiu'
''"s'"' anu '"i"ou
'""!,
""lI' shiu Darke' III an lhlPerious
II faced INN again with "A flush
On her checks. 81 have been absurd, =" he
went on, but now I'm done with it.
If YOU had told me whom you were to
marry, / should have begun it."
81 10 marry!' repeated Olympia, lift
ing her head.
My dear, | am afraid Mr.. Darke is
not himself; we had better GO" inter
posed Mrs. Raven, shifting from one
foot to the other in u kind of subdued
dance of anxiety.
"Oh, its no secret. You are TO be
Mrs. Harry Trent. Yes, ! have it ON the
best authority" Here he dropped his
sarcastic tone and spoke with passion.
What have | done that YOU should hu.
initiate me2 Do You think it a Joke that
a man like me should love YOU? Well,a
woman may insult a man, but IF
Mr.. Durkc, it is all II mistake she
interrupted. Il have no intention of
marrying my cousin never had. Who
ever told You so said what was untrue.
l could not know you loved me until
you said 80 yourself: but if | had known
it | should not consider it a Joke, but
an honor-one"-