The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1894-08-25
THE WIT Or MAN.

met her ut a garden party, not Joyous
gathering of tennis players and girls
laughing to tho sun, but the gloomy affair
OF tho morbldly select. In bright red she
blossomed with all tho sweets Of n woman
magioally feminine. Her crisp, black hair
seemed ready to fly out against convep-
tionalities, against hats particularly, and
her brown eyes were golden with the joy Of
life. wit had chiscled her features, SO excel
lently Irregular in the rOundness of their
curves to pointed nose and chin. could
not but enjoy, rs n relief from all the elab-
crate angles of her stiff surroundings, tho
rapid undulatons Of her litho figure, her
expressive arms, dancing little feet, as sho
sat there, wild gypsy, fashionable and
polished, but still untamed by society.
Pouting like some playful child over les
sons, her mouth rigidly set against the
1ickerng dimplcs of irrepressiblc laugh
tor, She listened to the pompous old Due
de Rctz or answered his wise sentences at
random, with n wavo of her hand
WHO is shef" inquired Of NJ. Pmo-
dan dc ST. Ouen, walking edition of LIZ
Tout Paris tightly bound in frock cont.
why, that is la belle Comtessc do
Crcquy dc Canaples. A widow mon cher,
young, rich"
And no retired, as Nine do Canaples
smiled up ut mo with her humorous eyes.
ly said, "Wo aro not quito strangers, for
have met your charming sister Mt the Plot
Chadicus." Before could franc COM
plimcnt she suddenly added, do you
love her?'
"Who2"
"Your sister, of course like every man
to love his sister,
well, hope do.'
You only hopcI Arc you an English
mani"
Moro or less"
Less, decidedly less An English
man with blue eyes like yours should not
only be honest and brave, but sure, sure
| of everything
When 1 called next day, Nine do Can
aplcs was in her boudoir Sho listened to
my reading, silently attcntivcly, almost,
1t seemed, revcrcntly, and when left tho
house after dinner l felt very great. The
next morning we met in tho Bots and rodo
together. Tho same night wo danced a
cotillon mt Mmc.dc Plot Chandicu's. Fate
seemed determined to make us meet, and
perhaps We helped her.
If IL man and woman SEQ much of each
other, they invariably talk of themselves,
wax sentimental by waltz music and i'm
aginc themselves in love after supper. But
1 am tired of ilrtations, sick of telling
woman, whom only admire, that love
her. SO one evening, as we discussed SEN
timent over pate dc foie gras, l told her
how much | regretted that two great
minds should slavishly follow tho exam
pie of the stupid. She agreed. IF We
remain Oh our present footing one of us
may fall in love" She opened her inno-
cent eyes, smiling. Yes" 1 continued,
"in love. What else can happen? Where
as If wo go off somewhere together and
live naturally, unconstrained by the
world, we shall know ourselves truly and
enjoy few days of rest
oh, the wit of man!'' she cried, gayly
clapping her hands, her whole face beam
ing with delight.
The next evening we started by rail for
Fontaineblcuu. Soon we wero both fast
asleep only to wake Mt our destination.
She took a room at one hotel, at another
The next day we drove in the forest ST.
lcntly watching the royal trees till our
eyes grew tired and we fell asleep We
staid there fortnight, driving, sleeping,
barely saying word and yet quito happy.
When we were back In Paris, she asked,
And why did we go to Fontaincblcau for
that?'
Because" 1 replied, lat Fontaine-
bleau we kept regular hours, allowed our
selves no cerebral excitement, drank no
champagne heard no one whisper, Little
Castlehgh is awfully in love with Nine.
de CanapleS, or The countess Is decided
ly sweet on &C cher garcon.' have SIM
ply proved, dear lady, that society was
forcing us, with its champagne and talk,
to think of each other whereas nature left
us to follow our own individual and sep
arate thoughts. Oh, that fortnight In
Fontaincbleau! We scarcely spoke twice
day. Silence Is rcposc, and repose is
bliss To think that we might have been
vulgar lovers! a few more days of Paris,
and my fate at least was scaled. But L
understood the dangers of our situation.
Could anything be more paradoxical and
modern than our elopement to Fontainc
blcau? Carry off woman mysteriously at
night. two hours by rail- to strange
town, remain there fortnight en- tete-a-
teto! And all that not to become lovers;
but on che contrary to escape the neces
sary. tho historical development of stu
alton without issue. Don't you think our
late adventure gives us incontestble SUI
periority over the greatest wits of our age?"
She seized both my hands and fixed my
eyes. 1t was rapid, searching. wondrous
look. Only her irregular and mobile face
could have such expression. and for half
second sho seemed to tear open my soul,
take q peep, see it all and shut 1t up.
Then she sat down on the sofa and gazed
meditatiycly at me. Humor and disep-
pointment were blended In her dimpled
smile. She crossed her arms, nodded her
head examined her little feet slowly one
after tho other and sighed. The wit of
man" She shrugged her shoulders most
charmingly as she reiterated, each time
with quite new and singular intonation,
The wit Of man; the wit OF man
Most people would have been put out by
the obvious double meaning of this re-
mark. but am psychologist-in fact.
pride myself not a little on my pcnetra-
tion understood that she smiled at my
wilt, compared me to others and sighed as
she reRretfully reflected how few mon are