People's voice. [volume] (Wellington, Sumner County, Kansas) 1890-1917, 1894-12-20

]
She was quite different Lady Lati-
mer then. 1t seemed as though all
the brightness and the sparkle died
out of her. She looked bored by
everything. She eat little and drank
less. She looked unutterably wearied.
Very few words were spoken, and it
was great relief when we withdrew.
We went to the drawing-room. where
the lamps were lighted, but not turned
on full.
Come, Audrey, to the terrace. ."
she said. land let US see the May
moon shining over the trees and the
fountains
As we stood watching it she sud-
denly caught my hand. and with pas
sion2te gesture l shall never forget,
she cried:
"Oh, Audrey. Audrey! is life worth
living after all?n
was very much puzzled by Lady
a.
Latimer. 1t seemed to ne that hay
ING so much mOney, living in such a
magnificent house. the fact OF being
surrounded by every possible luxury
under the sun, ought TO have made
/ her at least content. If she had passed
through those magnificent rooms with
a smile or 4 snatch of song on her
lips, or the light of a glad content in
her eyes, | could have understood.
/ She seemed to have two moods. When
she was with the old lord. silence.
WEAKNESS, with a certain fine scorn of
all and everything; when she was with
me, of simple, almost .child-like merri-
ment. When it was possible for her
to escape the stately, gloomy presence
OF her husband, she did so. and then it
was to hurry to me and beg that
would 60 out with her; and when we
were in the woods together she forgot
that she was Lady Latimer, and ran
after butterflies, gathered wild flow
ers like any simple country girl. We
spent hours in those bonny Lorton
/ woods. They were like fairy-land.
The boughs of the trees met overhead.
so that the sunlight which fell on the
/ green grass below became filtered, as
1t were. through the leaves; beauti-
full brook ran through the wood, sing
ing, ripping, clear as crystal, so that
one could see the pebbles plainly in its
bed; blue forget-me-nots grew on its
banks, and the green grass was wet
with the shining water The trees in
Lorton woods were strong and tall.
with great spreading boughs, and the
birds had built nests in them. Surely
no other wood or forest ever held so
many birds, and surely no other birds
ever sung so sweetly as these. Every
kind of fern and of wild flower grew
there; great sheaves of bluebells. of
wild strawberry blossoms, and of the
lovely, delicate meadOw-sweet. 1t was
a wood full of hidden beauties: we
were always finding fresh hooks and
corners, each one more beautiful than
the other. Lady Latimer loved it.
We sat for hours together by the side
of the brook, talking on every posi-
bic subject except one. We never
spoke OF herself. | had to 90 over
and over again all the details and rou-
tine of our home life. Lady Latimer
loved to hear of my fathers study and
his sermons, and how he visited the
sick, and how nervous he was if a baby
cried while he was baptizing it; how he
cheered the old people, and how kind
he was to the young men and maidens
OF his parish; how he loved the bows,
and secretly enjoyed the fun of them.
She liked to hear about my mother.
"a should think, Audrey she said
to me one day, from your descrip-
ton, that your mother must be that
wonder OF wonders-a perfect woman.
She is a saint in church, help in the
study, manager in the kitchen. a
mother in the nursery and lady in
the drawing-roOm."
"She is all that" answered laugh
ing, although my eyes we're full of
tears; that was my mothers portrait
to perfection.
Lady Latimer liked best of all to
hear about the boys; their adventures.
their escapades, their desperate en-
counters, their daily deadly peril of
life and limb, amused her more than
anything else. She would talk to me
OF myself, and what would be my prob
able fate. | could sco nothing before
me but few more quiet years at
home, then probably marriage with
a high church curate; but Lady Lati-
mer would laugh and assure me there
was something more than that in store
Tor me.
ave shall see what those dark ewes
and that dark hair of yours will do for
you, Audrey" she would say. For nv
own part, could not imagine why
nature made, the Oldest of nine chill
dren and the daughter of a country
vicar, beautiful.
During all OF those long hours. when
lie at that vicarage was dissected and
laid bare. no word was ever spoken of
herself or of Lord Latimer. The
longer | remained with them. the
greater grew my wonder that she had
married him. He was so old, so dull. |
so gloomy; she SO young, so fair, so
gay. But no allusion to her marriage
ever crossed her lips or mine. 1 en-
loyed my visit. loved Lady Latimer:
everything and at-os,. QUO no. - -..,.-s. ]