The Meeker herald., 1893-10-28

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ain afraid | am fool. l feel however,
as though l owed 1t almost to his
memory, and something to her, too.
Yes, there is no doubt, | owe her
something in that liue-and yet, good
heavens! am not doing it on that ac-
count. l love her, desperately, down
to the ground.
Dick" she said to me yesterday,
looking straight at me with her Won
derful blue eyes-"Dicls, why do you
ask me-now?'
Better late than never, answered.
She began, Five, six years ago you
-" and stopped.
II know. l was fool. Lucille.
never once thought of it, though.
You see, the idea was foreign to me.
J never intended to marry"
And now?'
"Wi'h YOUR kind assistance, do
intend to"
"Why?'
Her question almost bowled me
over. ! gazed at the carpet, wonder
ing how l could best put it to her.
Presently looked up, and as our eyes
met blurted ont, because l love
you, of course"
| ] did not mean to say that, just
then; the truth is that the idea of
PREPARATION" had got sole possession
of my brain, and how to express it
grsveled me.
Lucille laughed lightly. THAT,
Dick, is n second Thought, and not
bad one for man offering himself as
u husband, Still, want your first"
Il was thinking that, love apart,
yon have Il moral claim upon me-
y great wave of color rose and fell.
leaving her beautiful face pale as
marble. "A claim-really? A moral
claim. Why moral? Why not ma
terial? When / turn huckster, Dick,
] will traffic only for gold"
saw what she meant Loves giftA.
being no irnpovcrishment of love, en-
tail no Indebtedness upon the recipient
Love is paid for its gift in the giving.
This, thought, was a counsel of per-
lection, and better suited to angels
and angelic loves than to men and
women in an earthly, highly conven-
tional and British society.
And that is why you wish to marry
me?" she added
l felt that l was on thin ice. mo.
darling. it is not love you. There's
no harm in that, hope?'
No, not bit. 1t is very good
reason. Genuine, Dick?"
Quite, on my honor"
"The honor of an English general
more, of an English gentleman-more
still. of well-tried friend-that is
good enough for me. Here's my hand
on it, Dick"
That was only yesterday; it seems
twenty mhyyN yen n,,s ago P9 nor, tR2Rsthen.
to blame. l acted Loyalty enough by
him. 1t was like this, you see. Rob
cthon and were pretty close friends.
ST cnt much of my time at my clubs,
and ut one or other of them i was
always coming across Robethon. The
taste for chess was mutual, and was
the ground of our first acquaintance.
We were about the same nge, heading
fast for fifty; he was short and stout.
! was long and lean. ! had been all
over the world, while he had never
been outside of England; sometimes
fancicd he had never been outside of
London. II lie had he was careful to
conceal the fact. We We're both bach
elors; his chambers were close to st.
! james street, mine To Piccadilly; we
never visited each other, though. lie
was partner in n well-known firm of
bankers, but had not entered their
place of business for twenty years.
| lie had read n world beyond me and
was gentle, sympathetic, clean
souled gentleman.
| | wish could say as much truth
fully of myself; no false modcsty
should keep inc from writing 1t down.
| Still Robethon cared for me and am
deuced sure l cared for him. His ret
icence was characteristic of the man;
| it was like suit of steel armor COW
ering him from head to foot Some
| times l think it was fundamentally
shyness-not of the ordinary kind, of
which there was not trace ABOUT
him, but deep spiritual shyness
On the other hand it might
haze been due to an austere
selectness of spirit, sensitive, doll.
cate pride of soul. The club men held
HIM IN great esteem. in "A manner were
proud III him, considered him an au-
thority on disputed points of honor
and the like, and accepted his Judg-
ment with docility and reverence.
One day / met n lady on Pail Mall.
tall, fair, straight as dart, and with
a face that fell on me like a vision. /
turned and watched her, and while SO
doing she suddenly halted, turned
round and came towards me. l stood
still. In passing she gave me mo-
mentary glance. Ha, she was very
lovely
A month OF six weeks later there
was a reception at certain foreign
embassy ana happened 10 DC pres
ent. 1t was not my kind of thing At
all, but CHANGED to be an old ac-
quaintance of the ambassador in ques-
ton. There was big crowd and
dancing was in full swing. Passing
by the ballroom, stood for moment
to watch the dancers. The first thing
saw was the lady of Pail Mall. glori-
ously arrayed, waltzing with Ger
man.
"Who is she?" asked of a man
knew.
(Which one? oh, that divine sym
phony of color there, eh? That is
Mrs. Trcnchard.'
And who is Mrs. Trenchard?'
He shook his head. shes widow;
that's all know. She is in the swim;
wonder you haven't met her before.
have, half dozen times, but ! live up