Hot Springs weekly star. (Hot Springs, S.D.) 1892-1917, 1894-05-25
10, sssracsed by her fair f.oe and,

sce, attracted By her fair facs and.
wtnsome manner, seemed to have con-
esivsd = sudden friendship for her.
Amidst all the homage and adulation,
while she was the object Of general OBJ
servation, the quaen Of the fete, the
most admired, while her heart beat
high in triumph, while princes bent
before her, Leonie was outwardly calm
and self-posscssed. The sun shone
bright, flowers bloomed, fair faces
smiled around her; the whole scene
was one of splendor and beauty; but
the still, small voice she could never
sttfe made itself heard. She, well
coined by royal lips, fiattered by
princes, crowned with her own beauty
and grace-she was. after all, "a thief"
II they had known it, those great and
noble ones who smiled upon her-if
they had known that she had robbed .
loyal man of his estate and his money,
there would have been small mercy for
her, their f~lattering lips would have
told another tale.
Once or twice during those sunny,
brilliant hours, when she was more
quiet, and had fewer people around her,
1t seemed to her that, far above the
sound of the music, the silvery laugh
ter, tho murmur of conversation. she
heard the hiss of the word "thief.'
Thief. What would they think Of
her If they knew: How they would
shrink from her. All hcr beauty, her
wit, her grace, would fail to charm
them. She would be scorncd, depised
an outcast. Why, her proper place
was a felon's deck, and not the grounds
OF a good and mighty queen.
Then tho dark thoughts were all dis
pellcd; IL prince was talking to her,
and she read admiration in his eyes.
He laughed at her wit, he enjoyed
himself, and again the spirit of vanity
never been a greater social success
than this of Lady Charnleigh's. AS
she looked round, feeling herself queen
OF that brilliant throng. she said to
herself:
1T is worth it all. My gifts we're
given to me that ] might reign. They
would all have beenlosthad remained
a poor, obscure governess. Why
should I give up that which / know
how to hold so well?:"
She drove home with the sound Of
homage and adulation in her cars, tri-
umphant and successful. Ethel Ducre
had never seen her in higher spirits.
There is no need to. ask If you have
enjoyed yourself, Lady Charn1eigh."
mo, indeed, Ethel; / have laughed
and talked without ceasing."
You must be tired" said Ethel.
mo. l am not tired. OF what use is
It to be tired? l am going to Lady
Bagshawe's concert, and after that to
the Countess of Arlington's ball"
EN1,01 ,,o;eoJ L~, 80 so ,.o~l.
How you live through it puzzles
me-"
"How l should live without it would
puzzle me still more. Are YOU going
with me to the concerto"
Yes, I will go. Lady Charnleigh,
that picture of Captain Flemyng's has
arrived, and he has sent me q note.
asking me, if you are too busy, to at
tend to it. He wants the picture very
carefully removed from the frame and
sent to Monsieur Dudevant. Will you
do it, or shall T."
do it yourself, by all means, Ethel,
II you will. l have neither skill nor
patience to be careful over anything"
Miss Dacre was only too delighted.
What would please her more than to
do anything for Paul: To attend to
this request of his was a great happi-
ness to her.
Il will begin at once" she said.
You had better get one of the SER
wants to help you to take the picture
from the frame, Ethel" observed
Leonie: those white hands of yours
will never manage it,"
Il should not like a servants hands
to touch it," said Ethel. eagerly:
neither, | am sure, would Captain
Flemyng."
Leonie laughed, and the laugh
sounded harsh and unnatural.
II am amused in many respects,
Ethel" she remarked. You are SO
much like Paul. 1 should never have
thought of such q thing. Keep all pro-
lane hands from it, my dear, by all
means"
Miss Dacre went away to attend to
her commission, leaving the countess
alone. The laugh died from her lips
as Ethel closed the door.
I wish | were like her." she cried.
p~assionately. II wish to heaven that I
were only one-half so good".
A m%an-servant carried the packing
case into the morning-room, and re-
moved the heavy outer covering.
do not touch the PICTURE" said Miss
Dacre. Il will attend to it myself"
DIG Wdllou uIll1l Lu6 m6Q ndO l0IL
the room. Some delicate. womanly,
graceful feeling led her to take her first
look at this picture alone. 1t was
Paul's mother, and perhaps Ethel
guessed how dearly Paul had been
loved and cared for. She withdrew
the paper that hid the portrait, and
gazed long at the sad, beautiful face,
SO like Paul's own.
"Dces she know how much I love
him?" said tho girl to herself. docs
she know that all my life is dark and
dreary to me, because he does not care
for me?"
She looked long and sadly at tho
beautiful face, wondering to herself
what "a the secret of that life, why
the picture had hung in the Earlfs
room, and VIII; he had loved it better
than he had loved any living woman.
Then she carefully took the back from
the frame, and as she did so it struck
her how very loosely it had been placed
there-it seemed as though tha back