The Cape Girardeau Democrat. (Cape Girardeau, Mo.) 1876-1909, 1895-10-12
A LITTLE RIFT.
BY T. 4.

IAN l 20 send Valerie's breakfast up,
Rex. or will she join us this morning?'
Yes, she'll be down directly, Kate;
she's got Il new gown or something,
and she is delighted with herself and
everyone else"
Mr.. Hamblin took up a pile of letters
beside his plate and began examining
their contents; one in a delicate fem
mime handwriting caught his eye; it
had been left by hand at the club, and
sent on Immediately by the hall porter.
An exclamation of annoyance escaped
him as he cut open the envelope; his
sister, however, was busy with the dis
position of the breakfast cups and did
not notice it.
WAS the party a SUGGEST" she
asked; did Valerie enjoy herself?"
"A success? Yes. l suppose So ne
answered without looking up; there
was a terrible crush, and the air was
positively s~uffocating with the scent
of the flowers, and the heat of the
lights, so of course, Valerie enjoyed
herself"
'rOf course she didy' said a voice
from the door, and Rex hastily put
down his letter, while Miss Hamblin
looked up eXpectantly.
Valerie came slowly forward, I'M
willing to lose any of the effect of her
dainty costume even on this family
audience.
How lovely!' cried Miss Hamblin
with real enthusiasm as her sister-in-
law drew neal her.
Tall. dark. with her soft hair fan
t~astically caught on the crown of her
head by Il silver dagger, while stray.
curls escaped in all directions, with
her filmy muslin gown clinging round
her in its ~studiously simple elegance,
she looked like some delicate pastel
which had just stepped from its frame.
isn't it charming??" she said, with a
laugh, az she suddenly dropped into
her chair at the table. Don't you
like it. Rex" she asked coquettishly
of her husband; and then, without
waiting for his answer. she addressed
herself to Miss Hamblin: You should
have come with us, Kate; it was de-
lightful. Oh, l did not think you Eng
lish could say SO many pretty things
as I heard last night"
Miss H"mblin laughed.
II don't suppose many would have
come to my eas, dear, if | had been
there"
Valerie glanced half involuntarily at
her siSter-in-law. and could scarcely
suppress a smile at the notion of those
middle-aged ears being the recipients
of such compliments as had reached
hers last night. Had anybody eve
made love to Kate, she wondered?
Kate could never have been pretty;
eve when she was young, ever so long
ago. Rex was not handsome, either,
and he vas fifteen years younger than
his sister, but he had a certain dis
tingue air about him which had fasci-
mated her the very first evening she
saw him at the British embassy ball
at Rome. 1t had soon been all over
and done: in just six weeks from that
first meeting the Signorina Valerie del
Lucia had become plain Mrs. Hamblin.
Valerie's thoughts were apt to run
or by leaps and bounds, and, while
Miss Hamblin poured out her coffee.
she reflected with some complacencv
that there were advantages in the mar
ried state, when it implied dainty
morning gowns like this, and dreams
of loyeliness from Worth's, in place of
the n party frock per season, to
which all the ingenuity of q clever
maid could not always impart a look of
absolute freshness; besides, of course,
there was Rex, who was charming
and But she had arrived at this
stage of her reflections when she be-
came ware hat her coffee cup was
being handed to her, and immediately
she returned to the ~exigencies of the
moment and set about discussing her
breakfast and her party with equal
zest.
do you know, Rex" she said, You
hurried me off last night without Civ
ing me time to say good night to
Guido?"