The Superior times. [volume] (Superior, Wis.) 1870-1912, 1895-03-16
CHAPTER XVIII,

and worse still, disCnchantment.
HAD the girl 10 whom he had given
such high place III his imagination
"a well as in his heart, been rlaying
towards him part 50 unwort y? Had
she, whom he had all unwittingly
sinned against for it had been unwit-
tinglv, when all was said and dome
hat this bright, beautiful creature,
with her noble bearing, and her proud
orn OF all that was false and mean,
stopped on his &C oant 10 vengeance
50 far beneath hers elf:
He could hardly believe il. Had an
angel dehtcned TO sOll its wings he
C Ul( not have felt his faith in COOL
ness, purity. and truth more cruelty
shaken.
Could this have been Geraldine who
had JUS fled from him, as though his
touch were contamination Could it
have been she who had poured forth
such derisive taunts. and annOun ed
such Il petty, base, and degrading
scheme As her own; Gould it have
been hersWeet fa"c,sO many q time AMI
oft turned towards him, shy as "a blush
ing rosebud, which had now been over
spread by the angry glow, and whose
features had been. alas distorted
object?
He felt as if a rough touch had been
laid on his shoulder. an rOugn voice
i'm his ear had hidden him awake
from fair dream AMI face a hash
reality. His idol hat been shattered,
and lay in pieces at his feet.
She, for her part spent the night in
tears Why make mystery OF it:
Of course the whole had been &c lis
work. lie had contrivea. goodness
knows how. to draw his cousin aDart,
ana get her 10 himself at last, on the
second day OF the festival; aud he had
then first pleaded his own cause, and
pleaded, as We know. in vain: and SUI
scguontly, and doubtless with more
u rimony than might Otherwise ha
been vented. turned his attention to-
warts blasting the hopes OF his pre-
sumabIy more successful ri al.
He had meant to order his plan OF
action on this wise. 1t was to have
been thus: Clear the course oil Fol
lenden, then walk the cOu Sc, Ray
mJnd.
But lovers seldom keep to their pro
grams on such occasions, and Cecil at
the criltcaI moment had come to grief
His own wrc kaye had been cc.-
talnty almost from the outset: Int he
had done himself none the less damage
in that ne had sought to involve Bel
lcujcu in his ruin.
1t must be supposed that finally this
had been apparent 20 him. But there
Is. a. every one knows, a certain fierce
consolation in hitting back, even
though each blow reroils on the head
o. the striker, and GcraIjjne's suitor,
b -1.,.r
may &c pardOn"d if. not being q man
o me character, he had rot taken the
downfall OF his hopes cutie so well as
he should have cone.
He HAD been as unable to bride his
tongae as u woman and sore from his
own wOuuds, mad rcckic-oly dcIiy cred
a. many a. he could in return
Nothing he knew would heart the
proud-@pirited cir! pore than any re
verting to the old childish folly, and
accordingly we are sorry to say it Is
it had been 70 this that the defeated
candidate had tGrno 1T once.
\ very Indifferent tale it had been
to hearkrn to. He had been watching
his cousin, he had u lowed, and had
been very mu'h afraid, very Spprehou-
siyc and anXiO on her account lie
had hoped against hope that he had
been mistaken. Not less on her
account than on his own on his Cwn
he would now say nothing that was
past and, therefore. and only since il
was past, was he now free TO raise a
note of warning: but, on her account
he thought he really -ght row to
speak. He must speak as a relation
Is a rOthcr. since she would a low him
no nearer and dearer title. \ certain
Tightly friend of hiS-shc must know
to whom he alluded was now, he
feared, PLAYING the same game that he
had tried on with Geraldine before
All had known this, and had noticed
this. 1t did not become him to Judge
whether or not he would this time
meet with like success; but Cer~I.
dine knew, Geraldine N st remember
how her fancy had once been caught
by I5ellenden's foolish and unmeaning
gallantry had got no further.
80 ar he had ICcn heard out. since.
in her hcWilderment and consterna-
ton. she had no words wherewith to
stop him but all al once She had real
lied that her cEildhOod's romantic
dream which had cost her So dear. bat
which she had deemed all h-r own.
had been and still was, the sport an /
scoff OF others
Cecil had exaggerated, perhaps ma
turality, in saying that "ail" had
known and notice ed, but he had Ger
tainly, in furtherance of his end. been
happy IN the hint: it had Feen caught
up at once by the sensitive ear on
which II had fallen. and had been con-
strued into something Vet further
rom the truth than was actually the
ease.
She had been gOssiped about. giggled
over, smirkcQ at-oh how terrible
Never, never could she hold up her
head again among those VINO hal mad .
her their Jest: never again could she
meet Bellenden in their presence. nor
hear them pr0nOun his name with
cut shjvcr.
As for quietly going on her wav.
having daily inter, Ourse with the Ie-
lations in GroSvcncr Square. meetinr
Cecil going in ana out he had begged
mat there might be no alteration in
the usual routine il was not 10 be
thought Of
The earth had shaken under her
feet. She had do bted everyone. dis
trusted everyone. almost hated every
one that Crucl summer day. 4 little
wisdom, ana a little common sense.
even Il eW hours repOSc and time to
think the matter over, might have Dut
Now face upon past ana future. but
Beuenden had been too mccipitate: he
hal a pcared when the storm had
been Yet Al it hight and had come in
smiling, happy, confident ar. fac too
confident. 10 her mind ana he had
even worse time OF II than Cecil RAY
mOnI.
20 now, what was to he dones
Imagine granny : CONSERVATION when
the next morning. the hcaIstrong girl,
neither Ca-m"r nor wiser than on the
night before, announced her next de.
ctS'on, which was that back tie two
mus, HE and that without moments
breathing spa g to the wiIds OF Inch
martW.
1t was the first week in july. and
some o. the pleasantest part OF London
season was Vet 70 come; there we're tire
garden parties, the suburban fetes. the
river excursions. the little frolirs
lLrEaFs and bir IaT, FDr, VI bf.r - - =