The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1895-02-08
A WOMAN'S LIFE.


elbow upon the mantel and ran her gloved
hand through her hair Her loosened
cloak slid to tho floor and lay in black
and pink mass at her feet.
AS she stood outlined by the glow of the
fire against the dark tiling she looked like
some fair goddess The mirror over tho
mantel reflected the queenly pose of the
head crowned with golden brown hair.
Two dark eyes blazed like stars, and y
brilliant flush was on the usually white
checks. The ivory satin Of her evening
dress took on the soft hues of u rose in the
flrelight
What an evening 1t had beenl She
closed her eyes and reviewed its scenes.
She saw again tho long dinner table with
its lights, flowers and china, all mingled
in Kaleidoscope mass Of brilliancy. She
saw tho distinguished persons gathered
around tho board where she herself had
been the guest of honor How they had
praised her And how sweet it all rang in
her ears, for she was young enough to be-
lievo In the sincerity of praise and to love
it. The name of her book was on every
tongue and Jean thought as she glanced,
flushed and happy, into the faces bent to-
ward hers In 1attering attention, This
world can have no greater joy than this"
NUW IL WIS over Dub jean kDeW tHdb
In the morning she would be announced
as one Of the successes of the day. Her
book was already in ali tho store windows,
and representatives of the press were clam
oring for her picture. She know that In
another week tho invitations would pour
in upon her and people beg for introduce
tions. She knew the world and knew her
own magnetic power and brilliancy.
"How hard / have worked for it alll'
she snid, with little sigh, which was in
stantly smothercd lest She awake the maid
asleep oil the couch, But it is worth it,
There is nothing so sweet as fame. II it
is SO grand to one standing upon the
threshold, what must 1t be to be known all
over the WORLDLY
She turned slowly from tho fire and sank
YEARLY into tho Guddling depths of an
armchair The white lids closed over the
brown eyes. Only for an instant. Then
che drew herself up rigidly and looked
around with startled gazo. What odor
was that which came stealing over her
senses like breath from the pastf Pshaw,
she WINS dreaming! There was no odor,
save in her excited imagination. She drew
deep breath, but only to smell again the
same sweet, delicate, intangible scent.
Jean turned and looked. A vase Of
white lilacs stood ON the stand behind her.
She turned with the hercencss Of tiger
and tore the blossoms from the vase. A
lettor fell to tho floor, but sho did not heed
it, She buried her face in the cool white
blossoms and drow In deep breaths of their
odor. -.
Tho room faded from her sight, and she
looked past the tinted walls upon scene
dimlned by years. She saw an old fash
famed uprlpu cuitn unl still I'm fha pNnnp-
light and filed with the scent of tho
spring flowers. A youth and maiden stood
by the saeging gate. He leaned heavily
against the post and looked at her with
troubled eyes. She stood tall and slender
In tho silvery light, and her whole figure
tremblcd with nervous excitement
1T is the dream of my life" she said.
II shall mover DO happy nor contented I'M
til have tried 1t. You love the country
and arc cOntentcd here, but hate it. l
long for the city and people. ! want to BIO
part of the world and to become famous.
l feel here" she continued, folding her
slim white hands over her he;rt, that
some day | shall be famous You cannot
understand me, Paul. do not quite UNI
derstand myself Only this thing l know
Il will give up homo, friends and even
love for my ambition"
A long silence followed her excited, car
nest words. Then Paul spoke slowly and
with repressed emotion;
You must choose for yourself, Jean"
he said, and | will abide by your deci-
sion. You are but chlld in comparison
with the world and you will find it very
hard to u woman, Your happiness has
always been moro to me than my own;
but, Jeanne, dear, it is hard to give you
ia ~ I.. tir,,,
-'tshOuld you grow tired of the world, or
should you find it disappointing, you
will send for me. You will always ind
mo waiting and faithful, though it DO
years
Jean impatiently waved tho white lilac
she had plucked from the bush over the
gate.
Il promise, Paul, of course, and you
must not think don't care for you. l do
really, only l am ambitious and do not
wish to bo tied to any one
Paul suppressed u gruan How lightly
she treated it, this queer girl who had the
ferceness Of wild animal and tho gentle
ness of an angel He felt SO commonplace
and dull beside her. 1t was part of life
however, the renunciation Of tho dearest
things, He was not coward to whine
about fate
He caught the hand which held the lilac
In his.
"Thank you Jean, and God bless you,"
he said Il know that You will keep your
promise and send for mo II the day comes
that you need me-, Ills gray eyes looked
earnestly into hers for u moment; then he
tore the lilac from her hand and was gone.
All this was six years ago. Now as
Jean sat in the freight she followed her
ma CT sri nm Inv nm hat m
work it had beenl Failures and diseour.
aNcmcnts on every side, and yet she had
never given up She had fought her way
inch by inch and now was beginning to
taste the sweets Of success. The book over
winch she had worked 30 hard for weeks
had pleased the criIics, and her fame was
assured.
but, after all, hat did that fame meant
To have no life Of her own, to stand al
ways in the glare Of tho worlds curiosity
and to have heralded from ocean to ocean
her most trivial actions, to go daily through
the same thing-dinners, teas, receptions,
among crowds of people, not one of W HON
really cared for her, to work to the utter
most of her stree. ny day and crowd
her already wearicd brain by night
Tho glamour was already wearing off at
inc euSes uhuef thb homeiy spell OF the
lilacs.
Paul stood before her, as she had last
seen him, calm, gentle and sympathetic.
She remcmb, rcd all the kindnesses which
she had valued so little then, and hor
heart was filed with queer pain. What
cared she for the world, or what did the
world care for herr The best fame could
offer was not worth home wherein one
could rest, protected by love. When her
youth and beauty wore off, when she be.
came woTn0ut in body and mind, when She
became old and sick, what would tho
world do them II would leave her to die
alone and would seek new celebrities
She remembered Paul's words and sail
them again softly TO herself Should you
grow tired of the world, or should you find
1t disappointing, send for me. You will
find me waiting and faithful, though 1.-The