The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1895-04-27
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M,8lt1E ! :
A HITCH.

Eva Darlington, the bride elect, was a
beauty
Eva's soft blue eyes and bright little
ways wrought dire destruction in the ranks
of the stronger SEX but she appeared quite
unconscious of her power or Indifferent to
it, To all intents and purposes 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 pro-
gramme seemed in a fair way to be carried
out
Her total submission delighted him, and
he took every advantage of it. 1t was not
in him to show generosity to Il woman or
indeed to anything he thought weaker
than himself He was the sort of man
who is brutal to his dogs and horses and
overbearing to his servants-who, in short,
tyrannizes wherever 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 treading on her forbearance,
taxing her endurance to the utmost, and
showing off her plant will and obedient
temper to the world at large. 1t was all a
part of the system that could not fail.
Charlie went on giving his petty AFRO
gance full play until, as was only to be
expected, things came to crisis. The
wonder was they had not done so long
before
On the occasion of Lady Brown-Jon
ball he went the length of forbiddng his
fiancee to dance round dances with any
one but himself, and though she received
his commands without a murmur, her soul
rose in passionate revolt against his tyr
ranny This last test that he had devised
seemed to her the worst of all As a
matter of fact she had submitted patiently
to far harder ones, but we all know the
female capacity for swallowing camel
and strainng at gnat, and Eva was no
less inconsistent than the rest of her sex.
The gnat stuck IN her throat and obstinate
ly refused to be dslodged. There always
mnst be a last straw, and this was it,
When the ball was half over, Lord Dolly
put in an appearance, and at that mo-
ment Eva happened to be sitting quite
alone Charlie had left her for a minute
or two to speak to friend, and she was
looking wistfully at the maze of couples
that revolved before her. Lord Dolly
made straight for her.
"Not dancing Miss Darlington! Luck
for me, by Jove! Ripping waltz, this
Have a turn"
He stuck out his elbow invitingly, but
Eva turned away, biting her lip.
"No, thank you," she answered in low
tone. 81 cant dance with you, Lord
Dolly"
Cant? ?" echoed his lordship. "How's
that? What's up? Not i'll, are you? Not
cross with me, ELI ?"
Eva shook her head
ono, | am not i'll or cross, but | have
promised Charlie to waltz only with him.
He doesn't like to see me waltzing with
other men"
Lord Dolly choked down the forcibe but
lnelegant remark. cleared MS throat NlO-
lently and ran his fingers through his hair
The two latter proceedings were the sign of
severe mental disturbance.
There was slight pause.
"And he dances so awfully badly"
Eva went on. with queer little catch in
her breath Gle can't waltz a bit
not 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 for
getme-notS drowned in dew
That look finished it. Lord Dolly was
only man.
'Beastly shame!" he said hnrriedly.
"Come with me. Nice and quiet out on
the veranda. A fellow can talk there,
don't you know Come along"
And Eva went