The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1892-09-28
JENNY WREN.

burneu 10 look again. 1t was such sweet
and dainty face, with eyes Of a deep, lus-
trous, golden brown; skin trifle dusky,
like sunbrowned Neapolitan, but with
ruddy, pomegranate redness of the cheeks
and lips and great abundance of fine
brown hair that shone like satin, 10 was
SO smooth and bright. Her name was
Etoile North, but nothing could have been
more inappropriate, for she was not In the
least like star, and of all stars she was
most unlike the North star except perhaps
IN certain steady, unchanging attributes
OF character but dimly suspected even by
her most intimate friends
Besides having brown eyes, brown hair
and brown complexion, she had a great
liking for brown in color, and nearly all her
costumes, especially in the autumn and
winter time, were made of various shades
OF brown, and for that reason somebody
once compared her to jenny wren. The
name clung to her. 1t was one of those
lucky hits that seem kind of inspiration,
and before the end of the season people
had half forgotten that she was called
Etoile North. Even to strangers she was
often playfully introduced as Jenny Wren,
with few laughing words of explanation
and the addition of her full name. With
her own sex Jenny Wren was a universal
favorite. Among the other she was greatly
liked, and young men who had no sisters
often wished for q sister like her. But
when it was one day announced that she
was engaged to marry Clement Thorne
there was almost an outcry of astonish-
ment and something like Indignation, the
latter sentiment being occasioned by
feeling of personal interest, almost amount
ing to possession, which nearly every one
unconsciously experienced in regard to
Jenny Wren.
Clement Thorne was a poet-handsome,
talented, inlpecunious as poets are apt to
be, and admired by the girls in Miss
North's set to pitch of enthusiasm sell
dom reached except for men of his stamp
unusual, magnetic, personally beautiful
and therefore for variety of reasons
quite the rage" at least for a season or
two.
"Our Jenny, our charming sweet, de-
mure, little brown Jenny, that we are all
in love with more or less, carried off by
this brilliant bird of paradisep' said the
young men among themselves. "Well,
but why not2 Since we all admire her who
should nots Who would have supposed
it, though and how will it turn out eh2'
And with a few more wondering excla-
nations this unexpected turn in the little
brown maiden's affairs was quietly ac-
cepted, for though all these young men
really cared for Jenny and loved her-as n
sister-not one Of them was in the least bit
in love with her, and as rule the most
affectionate brothers are quite philosoph-
ical when it is only sister who prefers
another man.
But with Jenny's sisters" it was quite
another thing.
"What in the world can he see in herr"
'She is quite unsuited for the wife of
such a manr'
"He will tire of her in o weekr'
'She will die of neglect and ennui before
the honeymoon is over"
"He will break her heart flirting with
other womenr'
Such were few of the exclamatons
among those of her own sex that greeted
the announcement of Miss North's engage
ment to Mr. Thorne, and when the first ex-
citement had passed away one out of the
bevy of girls who had been discussing the
news was observed to be paler than usual,
and when she spoke in a low, concentrated
tone her words attracted immediate at
tention, for it was pretty generally under
stood that the cold, proud Miss Hammer
ton had at last lost her heart while listen
ing to the handsome poet reading his own
passionate love verses not few of which
had been inspired by her beauty and royal
bearing.
"There is no such need for astonish-
ment," she said, with slight touch of
scorn. "Mr. Thorne's choice only proves
that he is human after all, though we
have been accustomed to regard him as a
being belonging to Olympus. Like most
men of genius, though he writes SO beau
tifully of poverty and the stings of adver-
sity, he does not pine for personal expert
ence in such matters. He is poor man,
and he is determined to marry money. We
all know our dear little Jenny's worth and
sweetness, but she is not a mans beauty,
and her charm for Clement-for Mr.
Thorne mean-lies in the fact that she
is the sole heir to her uncle's millions"
"Oh, ThereSe you are too cynicalp ex-
claimed Kate O'HAra, a warm hearted
girl in whose veins still flowed the blood
of her faron Celtic ancestry. why
shouldn't Mr. Thorne love Jenny for her
self Don't we all love her. and which of
us cares one pin about her uncle's mil
lionsst
YES, we all love her, quite as n matter
of course replied the youthful woman Of
the world, because in way she belongs
TO us, and she has mo- one quality of mind
or person calculated to excite our envy or
rouse our jealousy. Believe me, my dear
Kate, when girl is universally beloved
and admired by her own sex it is but a
very left handed kind of compliment
and simply means that she can never be
thought OF in the light of u rival"
"Oh! Oh!p and "Oh, Thereseln We're the
exclamations, half laughing, half indig-
nant that greeted this speech, but mas
much as nearly every one present felt it to
contain at least grain of truth no one
openly contradicted it, and Miss Hammer
ton had the triumph of feeling that she
was mistress of the situation outwardly,
whatever the wild tumult of her feelings
might be within.
And within there was wild tumult, for
Therese Hammerton was in love with
Clement Thorne, and as she had never
doubted that the feeling was returned
with equal ardor she had allowed her pas
sion to gather force with every glance she
met from his dark, glowing eyes till it had
passed quite beyond her control and she
truly believed that in his ardent face and
in the low, deep, impassioned tones of his
voice she read the response to the love they
had kindled in her hitherto cold re-
strained, but intense and concentrated ma
ture.
The announcement of Thorne's engage
ment to Miss North-which, happily for
herself, she had just learned in the privacy
OF her own aphrtment-had struck her
with the force of physical blow, and al
though her gaze still remained riveted on
the letter containing the news, she no
longer saw the written words. Her head
fell back against her chair. Everything
seemed wrapped in darkness. and she was
SO far unconscious that she no longer felt
the keen pain which had rendered her al
most insensible. But that numbness OF
sensation soon passed away, and every
nerve seemed to tingle with agony. She
started to her feet, fercely crushing the
letter in her hand till her finger nails
seemed to pierce her soft palm.
sit is not truel 1t cannot bel won't
believe ita she muttered. "He knows that
/ love him; every one knows it'll have
taken no pains to conceal it, and every look
from him has been the confession of love
returned. Oh, no man would dare deceive
me sol But l must now begin to school