Crawford avalanche. (Grayling, Mich.) 1879-19??, 1894-07-19
4 Promise Under Stress.

The Comtesse do Moncley--who
will soon change her name, as you
shall see--is one of the most delici-
GUS widows imaginable, and also
one of the cleverest / have ever
met. From the very first day she
knew precisely how to avoid any ex-
aggeration that could be considered
bad taste in the expression of her
sorrow, without falling into the other
extreme and making those who saw
her in her widows weeds think she
must wear red satin under her Grape.
Early in April she had quietly left
her Paris apartment, where no male
visitor had set foot since her hus-
bands death, and it was only by
accident that, week later, / dis
covered the address she had so care
fully concealed from everyone. 1t
was Sycamore Villa, Chantilly."
On the first of May there might have
been seen to arrive at little bit Of
house, situated at convenient
distance from Sycamore Villa, sew
eral trunks, an English cart and
pony, a saddle horse, Q bull-terrier,
two servants, and man bordering
on thirty. That man was myself.
/ hasten to add that, in this cir
cumstance, acted solely at my own
risk and peril, without authorization,
any right whatever, and with no other
motive than my love-my profound
lovo-to prompt me to hope that my
change of domicile would not be dead
loss. All, withholding venture, moth
ing win. And what did venture? The
Salon, the May fetes, the Grand
Prix, the mob in the Alice des Po-
teaux, q few balls-what were they in
comparison with the charoas of +
most attractive neighborhood? 1 Lave
known men to cross the seas q nd
spend fortunes to follow to the
ends Of the world adventurcsses
whose whole body was not worth the
tip OF Nine. de Moncley's little
finger.
Clarisse's pretty anger when I pre-
sented myself at her house, on the
day Of my arrival, was my first de-
lightful recompense. In spite of her
grand air, l saw that she was
touched, and l doubt if ever lover ex-
perienced so much pleasure in being
shown the door by pretty woman.
She took her time about it, too, and
only pushed me into the street after a
regulation philippe, to which list
ened very humbly, replying only so
much as was necessary to lengthen
the lecture, which concluded in these
words:
'And now do me the favor to re-
turn to Paris. The train leaves in an
hour"
''An hour" l objected, timidly.
THAT is hardly time to ship two
horses and carriage and throw up
lease"
what is thisl' she cried. "A
lease! You have presumed TOGO,
sir! What audacity! A lease! And,
il you please, where is your house ?"
"A long distance from here" /
hastened to reply; ''at the other end
of the forest. l am sure it must have
taken me fully three-quarters of an
hour to come here"
To be precise, it had taken me
about five minutes.
ITO think" she exclaimed, what
a poor woman, deprived of her pro-
tector, is exposed to! You would
not have dared to do this If my hus-
band were still alive. And to think
that he considered you his best friend
Poor Charles ~
He has never had any cause to
complain" l murmured. LET us
talk together of him."
"Never!"
Then let us talk of ourselves,
that will be better still"
This suggestion shocked her so that
it took me long time to calm her.
Finally. she did not wish to let me 60
without having sworn never to set
foot in her. house again. 1t is need
less to say that it took half an hour
to persuade me to make this promise
which l broke the next morning
and as often as possible.
pass over the months that fol-
lowed, merely declaring that in this
vale Of tears there is no more happy
lot than that of such an unhappy
lover as / was. Clarisse had the most
adorable way Of annihilating me with
a look from her blue eyes-eyes that
were intended for quite another pur-
pose than neutrality-suspicious.
she saw that was going to fall on
my knees before her, and must con-
fess she saw it at least ten times dur
ing every visit made her, still in de-
spite of her express prohibition.
The day she left of Grape profited
by the extraordinarily enough,
it seems to me-to propose myself in
set terms as a candidate to succeed
poor Charles. That evening, it was
q June evening, and the acacias made
the most of the power which certain
vegetables possess Of intoxicating one
with their perfume-that evening
her hand reached for the bell. Cla-
risse did not threaten this time, she
acted. / saw that was on the point
Of being put out by her servants
who consisted Of an old woman who
had been her nurse, and whom ]
could have bowled over with a breath,
However, itwas no time for airy per-
sifiage. Without waiting for Nancy
to seize me by the collar, took my
hat and fed.
When day broke had not closed
v,,v <voo not that tho aitua fiou aoauu-