Western liberal. (Lordsburg, N.M.) 1887-1919, 1895-03-22
HITCH.

Eva Darlington. the bride elect, was
y beauty.
Eva's soft blue eyes and bright little
ways wrought dire destruction in the
ranks Of the stronger sex, but she ap-
peared quite unconscious Of her power
or indifferent to it. To all intents and
urpose she had promised to marry
Charlie Nelthorpe. His will was her
law and TO please him the chief object
Of her life. In short, his programme
seemed Ia a fair way to be carried out.
Hor total submission delighted him,
and he took every advantage Of it. It
was not in him TO show generosity to a
woman or indeed to anything be
thought weaker than himself. He was
tho sort Of man who is brutal to his
dogs and horses and overbearing to his
servants - who, IN short, tyrannizes
whenever he can do so without fear OF
retaliation. His nature asserted itself
in his dealings with the woman he
loved, and he took the keenest possible
pleasure in trading on her forbearance,
taxing her endurance to the utmost and
showing OFF her plant will and obedient
temper to tho world at large. It was all
a part Of the system that could not fail.
Charlie went on giving his petty ar
roganoe full play until, as was only to
DO expected, things came to a crisis.
The wonder was they had not done SO
long before.
On the occasion OF Lady Brown-Jones'
ball he went the length Of forbidding
bis fancee to dance round dances with
any one but himself, and though she re-
oeived his commands without a muir
muir her soul rose in passionate revolt
against his tyranny. This last test that
he had devised seemed to her the worst
OF all. As a matter Of fact. she bad sub
mitted patiently to far harder ones, but
we all know the female capacity for
swallowing o camel and s~traininR at a
gnat, and Eva was no less inconsistent
than the rest Of her sex The gnat stuck
in her throat and o~bstinately refused to
be dislodged. There always must be a
last straw, and this was it.
Whom the ball was half over, Lord
Dolly put In an appearance, and at that
moment Eva happened to be sitting
quite alone. Charlie had left her for a
minute OF two to speak to a friend, and
she was looking wistfully at the maze
o icouples that ~revolved before her. Lord
Dolly made straight for her.
mot dancing, Miss C~arringtonl Luck
= me, by Jovel Ripping waltz, this.
Have q turn?'
he stuck out his elbow invitingly,
but Eva turned away, biting her lip.
"No, thank you, " she answered in a
low tone. II can't dance with you,
Lord Dolly"
Can't" echoed his lordship. "How's
thatp What's up? Not i'll, are you?
Not GROSS with me, eh?"
Eva shook her head.
mo, / am not i'll or Cross, but-but
1 have promised Charlie to waltz only
with him. He doesn't like to see me
waltzing with other men.
Lord Dolly ohoked down the forcible
but inelegant remark, cleared his throat
violently and ran his fingers through mis-
hair. The two latter proceedings were
signs of severe mental disturbance.
There was a slight pause.
"And he dances so awfully badly, -
Eva went on, with a queer little catch
in her breath. HE can't waltz a bit
not a little wee bit. He-holds you all
wrong"
Her voice quivered and broke on the
last word, and she looked up at the man
at her side with great fearful eyes, like
forgetmenots drowned in dow.
That look finished it. Lord Dolly was
only a man.
''Beastly shanel" he said hurriedly.
"Come with me. Nice and quiet out ON
the veranda. A fellow can talk there,
don't you know. Come along"
And Eva went.