Middletown transcript., 1892-05-26

oH Wy luo meulcdi uopHoW3 WuO Sui
into her sentences remorselessiy. hav-
ing apparently not heard them. De.
sire had settled into apathy. She
was sweet and gacious, but like a
woman in dream.
So she remained through the fall
and into the winter. We stayed on.
all Of US the doctor was practising
about the neighbortood, and Martha
Fellows was always free to visit !; the
priest gave no reasons, and ! knew
Desire needed me. Sometimes her
calm would be strangely broken.
was with her one night in her room.
We had taken a cup of chocolate
there, she making it over a tiny lamp
and serving it daintily. Then We sat
in the dark, broken only by the jewel
of the fire, while she told about their
Italian days, talking fast and fascinat-
ingly. Chello's name was always on
her lips. "We did this" she said.
/" We went there" 1t seemed not to
occur to her,-that pungent thought
which stabs the lonely" there is
but one to go, now" It was ten
o'clock then heard the quarter and
half hour, and hoped she would not
notice. This was like one of our old,
waketul nights when we searched the
universe with questions. Ten minu-
tes more, and her brightness tagged.
She stopped in the midst of a peasant
romance to 60 to the window and
look at her watch in the moonlight.
Twenty minutes of elevenl" she
said, with a quick change in her voice;
then suddenly, " Dorothy, good.
night"
:. =" Not yet. One half-hour more"
Not one," she said, laughing, but
iff earnest. Dorothy, goodnight" !"
fused to take privileges with De-
sire when no one else dared. To.
night was like going back ten years
therefore / dared again:
"I'll go at eleven. Your never
used to sleep early. Tonight you
are like cat when the wind blows. ]
can almost see your eyes through the
dark"
Desire stood still by the vim
dow, white shape in the moonlight.
She turned to me suddenly.
Dorothy, go" she said. in low,
intense voice. 81 can't tell you why,
but you must. Go, dear. if you love
me-"
She pulled my hand impati-
emily, drew me up, and almost drag
ged me to the door. When she had
pushed me through and closed it, !
heard the key turned with sharp
click. Some one moved hastily aside;
he must have been waiting close by
the door. The hall-lamp had been
turned ont the figure and | were
alone in the dark. Luckily, its head
came within range of the window, and
I recognized the ignoble silhouette Of
DR.. Solomon.
What are you doing here ?"
said sharply. I was surprised, fright.
ened. A dozen emotions filled the
instant.
"seeing if the house was safe.
was round this way and heard you
talking. Do you often stay so late
with Desire p
We were cropping down-stairs BY
by this time.
I" l stay as late as she wants me-
said curtly, opening my own dool
and rattling my key. For all hi
persistent brazenness Of demeanor
DR.. Solomon had willy, insinuatine
manner of questioning, which ! re.
member as "meeching." In tina
alone did his relationship to Marths
Fellows crop out.
In the morning Desire looked quick
ly and eagerly at me when entered
the breakfast-room. / think | was
quite the same,-I tried to be !; ant
she was not forced into explanation
DIR. Solomon had taken to watching
her. He did it slyly, artfully. No
SO the priest. His rebellious eye
grown covetous, were ever on hel
face. l wondered if he began to b.
tempted by her money for himself, in
stead of the Church. Desire was un'
easy under his glance. She never
met it willingly, though little o
her rare haughtiness cropped out il
response to DIR. Solomon.
When the first snow came, Gret-
chen planned a sleigh-ride in cels'
bration. She told me privately O.
the fact that the Montagu girls hac
written that they could not visit De
sire until spring. The grandmother
MADAME Montagu was also wealthy.
was i'll, and their duty lay in hsl
sick.room.
Gretchen, her husband, and th'
blonde children, Desire, and I, wer,
to 90. Desire demurred, half refus
ed +; but, when the morning Of th'
day came, the sparkling fields
feathery tufts on the evergreens, and
sting of the air fascinated her int
consent.