The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1894-12-02
THE SUN, SUNDAY. DECEMBER 2, 1894

there was no separating them. Fer her own
her elbow. But Maokinnon now had found
some other elbow SEpough Of that was ss
therefore Mrs. Tslboys, quite unconscious OF
evil. allowed herself TO be enErossed by O'Brien,
Ard then, about three o,el9cs' we returned
stances always means dinner, and we arranged
ourselves for a yery, comfortable meal, Tothose
eruption Of the scene Ia necessary, and TO those
who do not, no description will convey n fair
OF great diameter, but OF beautiful proportion.
standing far outside the city, close on to the side
Of the old Roman way. 1t has been en-
SS Sron' in On order that Il f might 'tSS Be used
for protection to the castle, which has
remember rightly, this was done by one Of the
Transplant, and a very Lovely ruin rgi he has made
residence in Italy more picturesque than this
baroniel ADJUNCT TO the old Roman tomb. OF
Whit V our minds Sfrn1sS b WIN st sne R BaSdfi seSs sna tse
Mysteries of Udolpho. IT lies along the road,
protected on the side OF the city 10y the proud
long ruined walls OF the back OF the building
stretches a grassy slope. at the bottom of which
yond that is the long, thin, graceful line Of the
Claudian aqueduct, with Soracte IN the dis
aud Frascati Lying among the hills which bound
the view. That. Frangipani baron was In the
right OF II, and ! hope he got the value q his
himself. I doubt. however. that he did but little
good to those who lived In his close neighbour
We had a very comfortable little banquet
seated on the broken Jumps OF stone which lie
whether the shade OF Cecilia. Metelia was look
ing down upon us. We have heard much OF her
i nbd these liza latter Z days s.n and coyn yet we mES n. nothing ling
other Roman mstroh. There were those
she might still Come back among us.
and with due assistance from, some cognate
widowed SasGbandys piiibersilty, Alas, alas Il
we may Judge OF the Romans by ourselves, the
t M0s,d re rSSosDd f0 II,, T1G 10 r., sep srsdl, q, T tse i 1sST
Cecilia Metella herself, or TO that Of Crassus.
her bereaved and desolate lord.
this banquet, possibly because we had no tables
there to turn In preparation for her presence;
more eloquent OF things OF the other world than
was Mrs. Talboys.. | have said that Mrs. Tai
glass OF champagne, but | am inclined to think
that on this occasion 1t may have done so.
O'Brien enacted. G~anymede, and was, per-
medes, to whose services Mrs. Talboys had been
accustomed. Let It not, however, be suspected
Greet joyousness. by no means! The generous
wine penetrated. perhaps. 70 some inner cells Of
ling words, which otherwIse might have re-
mained concealed; but there was nothing In
what she thought or spoke calculated to give
umbraRe either to an anchorite or to q vestal.
A word or two she said or sung about the flow
Ing bowl. and once she called for FalernIan; but
beyond this her converse was chiefly of the
rights Of man and the weakness. of women; of
the iron ages past, aud OF the golden time that
She called a toast and drank to the hopes OF
the latter historians of the nineteenth century.
Then 1t was that she babe O'Brien FIJI high
the bowl with Saminn wine" The lrishfnan
took her at her word, and she raised the bumper
and waved 1t over her head before she put IL to
spill a drop. The true 'Falernian grape she
said as she deposited the empty beaker on the
not think ever swallowed but it was the the
DRY OF the wine, not It's palpa6le, body present
there: as II were. In the flesh which inspired her;
amounted to reality.
as. must confess, did l also. Mrs. Mackinnon
made useless little signs 70 her husband. really
offices too thoroughly. My wife, getting me
apart as ] walked around the circle distributing
S SISpd so af%s di.sGs chat Se essf EEo%Bs n, I TS Ss.er fSedii
that after, the disposal of that bumper she
worshipped the rosy god in theory only, and
Bacchus,' she said and come, Silenus, II thou
wilt: l know that ,ye are lowering round the
too. nymphs OF Egeria." and she pointed TO
the classic grove which was al, but close TO
did not always ss' despise the abodes s'o Of mem! But
who can become godllke ourselves! We
us shall the tables Be spread with ambrosia; for
us shall the nectar flow"
awhile; and as soon as we were tired Of II we
arose from our seats and began to stroll about
and somewhat cool, but the evening air was
pleasant, and the ladies, putting on their shawls.
e esr aSe Sef a a ,nS'i rate. Mrs a on Tel % ys' w snso mot mot
40 inclined, for she started down the hill to-
ward the long, low wall Of the old Roman
elbow, started with her.
.n Ida .slG ny dear, you bad better tier rein remain III her, hsssr
you come as far as we are going"
no. mamma, shall not said Ida. " You
to Sonss. yes f fRRs w, wa. o sn snd Of aG Il n Tor T ida, s s2dd
M M6i:s T u. n ioo and ID 2 ,Dta .a.S walked sibsd,s Of g. together
1t would be q charity TO go with them" said
.".pc you be charitable. then y said his wife.
1T Is a pity that the mother Of the %.P9tlssss
ind ertake such a self-sacfince." Any attempt
the kind would. however, now have been too
hill. o'Brien certainly had drunk freely of the
contents OF those long-necked bottlesi
and though no one could fairly accuse him OF
made others drunk had made him bold, and he
Jared to do-perhaps more than might become
enough TO make an avowal of love to Mrs.
Ialboys, he might be expected. as we all felt, to
= W etNu " ~ lhCy maui. iuI ~ gap ia
he wall which led through into the large en-
closed space OF the old circus. II had been an
arena for. chariot games, and they had gone
Down with the av0wed purpose OF searching
where might have been the meta, and ascertain
.pg how the drivers could have turned when at
heir full speed. For awhile we had heard their
rather her voice especially. The
heart OF q man. O'BHen, should sufice for all
mergencies,' we heard her say. She had as
'umed a strange habit OF calling men. by their
names, as men address each other.
When she did this to Mackinnon, who was
much older than herself, we had been all
amused by II, and other ladies OF our party
lad taken To call him ."Mackinnon'' when
Talboys was not by; but we had felt the
to be less safe with o,Brien, especially
when, on one occasion, we heard him address her
IS Arabella.. She did not seem 10 be In any way
truck by his doing so, and we supposed there
that II had become frequent betw cen them.
What reply he made at the moment about tho
leart OF a man l do not knOw-and then in a
.ew minutes they disappeared through the gap
n the wall.
None OF us followed them, though 1t would
rave seemed the most natural thing In the world
o do SO had nothing out of the way been
,xpeGted; As Il was we remained there
4 our dear friend, and hoping that O'Brien
you'd be quick in what he was doing.
That he would mechanically get a sian In the