The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-10-27

What made me think OF her tonight
Of all nights. I wonder? haven't given
her a thought for years and years-at
least not often. Let me see, she-that is
Marian Chatterton-parted from me just
twenty years ago, when 1 was a slight
sliS of a newly-joined subaltern, and
she well. she was a year or two older.
Was she good looking? Yes, the hand
soonest woman / had ever seen up 10
that time. Tall and stately and uncom-
mon-Iooking. with dark hair with rud-
dis tiuee fin *. and soft dusky eyes that
shoue out of her pale pure face like black
pearls. Yes, yes, most beautiful wo-
man. 1 had never seen her like before,
I have never seen her like since.
And we parted Wen. it was through
no fault of mine; that was always con-
ISOLATION 10 me. Indeed, it was through
no fault of anyOne's. 1t was fate. Yes,
that was It For Marian, my most beau
tiful. the love and lode-star of my youth,
was already engaged 10 be married when
We first met ] remember it as If it had
been but yesterday.
We met at the very first ban which my
regiment gave after 1 joined It, Yes, /
was but a young chap and quite unused
to the ways Of the world. for ] had been
been in love in my life. and ike an young
STEERS who have been kept tight, when
did break out 1 did not half do it, No, I
put all my eggs into that one basket, and
when the basket fell out Of my hand 10
the ground my poor young ignorant eggs
went to smash. every one of them.
Twenty years ago the ball dresses were
not like the ball dresses Of to-day. Oh,
no. for a young lady when she appeared
in a ball room then always gave one the
idea of a ball Of swan SHOWN, and was
surrounded by pillows of foamy tulle, OF
if not tuus of some thin and transparent
diaphanous material which revealed
what ii was intended to hide, and was
probably exceedingly dangerous when in
the vicinity of a lighted candle. Ana
that was the kind OF dress that Marian
ChatterOn wore on the night Wheh sa"
her first
I remember it so well. was standing at
the door of the big bathrooms at Blank
hampton feeling not a little proud of my
position as one of the hosts OF the evening,
and determined to cOmport myself with
the dignity becoming 10 the occasion. i
remember that l refused to dance with a
fine air of caTeiessness.- as II 1 had used
up all those desires long ago. As matter
of fact / danced out of the common Well
and my feet were fairly itching to be off
in time to the music of the waltz Just be
gun. And then she came. She came with a
"
an in white and looked like a snowflake.
ssXVho are those peOple2' / asked of my
nearest neighbOr, a handsome lad called
owen, who was afterwards killed at eau
Those! oh, that's Lady de Longueville
the stout old party in black velvet and
diamonds" he replied. Il believe she has
q biggish house-party for the occasion
Terrible old bore the old lord Is too. by
Jove, he nailed me at dinner the other
night and talked for over an hour on early
nd 81 mi / could have
cut my throat, or his, with pleasure"
But the dark girl, the one in whiteY
persisted, following Marian's Inquire with
sFThat? Oh. that's Miss Chatterton,"
Owen answered, earelessly.
'Do you know herr" / asked
"Oh yes; she has been at the Park
naming Lord de Longueville's place-"for
some little time"
good chap" / said, persuasively.
Introduce you" he said, In a demurr-
SOh. but If I do. I shall have to ask her
to dance, and make rule Of never ask
ing woman taller than myself to dance
it makes fellow look such an ass, you
know"
you needn't ask her." I said, taking
him by the arm, and pulling him along to-
wards the part Of the room where Mar
ian was standing beside Lady de Longuey
Vile. You can just introduce me and slip
away while 1 am getting some dances from
her"
eventually owen OlQ so, ana IN less
time than it takes me to write this, 1
was standing in front of her asking very
humbly indeed if l might have the honor
Of a dancer
she replied that I might, and added
two magic words, with pleasure" in a
way and with a glance which set my
already smouldering heat in blaze, and,
so to speak, brought me completely TO
her feet in a twinklng. / danced a great
many times with her that evening, and
the next day, having made myself very
elslNt to al q agt
over to the park and called TO inquire if
the understanding Marian-were any
worse for the exertion the previous even
That call lasted just six weeks! No. I
don't mean that / stayed six weeks at
Lady de Longueville's house, but for six
whole weeks ! was in and out of that
old and stately mansion like a dog in
a fair, and at the end of that time, en-
couraged by Marian's soft and smiling
giances l summoned up pluck enough to
ask her If she would marry me?
l was young fool. l did not know it
then, but | have told myself of it many
and many a time since. Still, as l say /
did not know it them and l put the all
important question to her with the in
genious confidence Of youth, which knows
not the bitterness of rebuff
And Marian went very red. said she
had never dreamed of anything like that
happening that she had looked upon me
quite as friend and nothing more, and
that it could not be- 1 asked why, and
she replied that she was already engaged
u duOl4IET IIdus anu llAdl she was TO De
married as soon as he came home from
India few weeks later.
l was only young fool, not quite IS
years old, and the news knocked me all of
heap. / believe that 1 cried. l am sure
that l buried my head on my arms and hid
my face. while she stood beside me and
implored me for her sake not to give
way assured me that she was not worth
II, and finally said in a queer little voice
that / might think little of her, and
that If it was so bad for me, what did
! think il must be for herr
remember l raised my head at that
ana looked at her eagerly, poor young
idiot that I was, and then she came
q bit closer to me and rested her head
on my shoulder, and whispered that 1t
was as well that things should be as they
were, for, of course, there was no de-
nying that she was years and years older
than / was, and that my people would
probably have objected, and perhaps l
did not really mean it in downright sober
earnest. I-who would have gone down
and licked the very dust under her feet
If by so doing I could have given her the
smallest pleasure of qualification What
strange world ii Isl
1t was soon over. In vain did assure
her that I had never been so serious in
my life, in vain did / tell her that / had
no people whom l need consult, the only
person TO whom I was in any way respon-
sible being my old guardian, who looked
upon me as most praiSeWOrthy Young