The Canton times. (Canton, Miss.) 1893-1906, 1895-02-08

news was observed To be paler than
usual, and when she spoke in a low,
concentrated tone her words attracted
immediate attention, for it was pretty
generally understood that the cold,
proud Miss Hammerton had at last lost
her heart while listening to the hand
some poet reading his own passionate
love verses, not few Of which had
been inspired by her beauty and royal
bearing.
There is no such need for astonish-
ment," she said, with slight touch Of
scorn. ''Mr. Thorne's choice only
proves that he is human after all,
though we have been accustomed to re-
gard him as being belonging to
Olympus. Like most men of genius,
though he writes so beautifully Of pow
erty and the stings Of adversely, he
does not pine for personal experience
in such matters. He is a poor man,
and he is determined to marry money.
We all know our dear little Jenny's
worth and sweetness, but she is not
mans beauty, and her charm for Glenn
ent-for Mr.. Thorne, l mean--lies in
the fact that she is the sole heir to her
uncle's millions"
"Oh, Theresa, you are too cynical"
exclaimed Kate O'Hara, warm-heart-
ed girl in whose veins still flowed the
blood Of her far-off Celtic ancestry.
"Why shouldn't Mr.. Thorne love
Jenny for herself? Don't we all love
her, and which of us cares one pin
about her uncle's millions?'
Eyes, we all love her quite as a mat
ter of course" replied the youthful
woman Of the world, because in way
she belongs to us, and she has not one
quality Of mind or person calculated to
excite our envy or rouse our jealousy.
Believe me, my dear Kate, when girl is
universally beloved and admired by
her own sex it is but very left-hand-
ed kind Of compliment and simply
means that she can never be thought of
in the light of rival"
"Oh! OH" and "Oh, Therese!" were
the EXPLANATIONS, half-laughing, half
indignant, that greeted this speech,
but inasmuch as nearly everyone pres
ent felt it to contain at least grain of
truth, no one openly contradicted it,
and Miss Hammerton had the triumph
Of feeling that she was mistress of the
situation outwardly, whatever the
wild tumult of her feelings might be
within.
And within there was wild tumult
for Therese Hammerton was in love
with Clement Thorne, and as she had
never doubted that the feeling was re-
turned with equal ardor she had al
lowed her passion to gather force
with every glance she met from his
dark, glowing eyes till it had passed
quite beyond her control and she truly
believed that in his ardent face and in
the low, deep, impassioned tones OF his
voice she read the response to the love
they had kindled in her hitherto cold,
restrained, but intense and concen-
trated nature.
The announcement of Thorne's en-
gagement to Miss North-which, hap
ply for herself, she had just learned in
the privacy of her own apartment
had struck her with the force of a
physical blow, and, although her gaze
still remained riveted on the letter con-
tanning the news, she no longer saw
the written words. Her head fell back
against her chair. Everything seemed
wrapped in darkness, and she was so
far unconscious that she no longer felt
the keen pain which had rendered her
almost insensible. But that numbness
of sensation soon passed away, and