Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1896-11-19
church this morning to get a good stare

| arm as they passed through the gate
wav Of the priory The colonel mad IN
herited the property from an uncle not
I long before his marriage.
1t looks more matronly to take your
arm. john" she said, laughing. But
then her mood changed and she looked
grave, a ding:
! II do really feel nervous. l don't
want these people who have known
YOU ali your life to say | am too young
! and too giddy. and too altogether un-
worthy to be your wife. Do you think
: they will be prejudiced against me by
/ nv appearance? chose q bonnet and
this long sealskin coat because they
make me look older than the hat and
jacket.
Don't be anxious, child" and the
colonel pressed the hand which rested
on his arm. Unless people are hope
1essly stupid and short-sighted they
! must see at a glance that you are the
| most charming of young women and l
am the most fortunate of men, and
/ blessed together beyond my deserts
/ But whatever they think and whatever
/ they say. the fact remains that we are
! entirely satisfied with each other.
Il am more than satisfied and Rose
/ spoke emphatically. Il often wonder
! why such happiness should come to me
when so many women are miserably
married"
II was rather a romantic little story,
as things goes in these prosiac times,
that story of how Rose Dysart be-
| came Mrs Colonel Clitheroe when she
was is and he was 46.
Rose declared that she had been in
love with him all her life. Certainly
at years old she had been in the hab-
it Of assuring him: "Rosie'll marry
you when she's big, whereupon he al
ways answered: "All right, little wo-
man, III wait for you"
The child's passionate devotion to
the handsome officer was quite an
amusement to her parents. But when
/ his regiment was ordered off to India,
and they saw the little face grow white
| and thin. and heard her heartbrOken
sobs, they laughed no longer. Even
after she ceased to cry for "Rosie's col
onel' she never forgot him.
The pretty baby had grown to tall,
4 slim girl of 13 when the two friends
met again BY that time Rose Dysart
was pupil at q small and select board
| ing school in the environs of Paris, and
/ on one of the frequent visits her father
/ and mother paid to their darling they
/ came. by chance. across Coloner Clith-
eroe. who also was spending a few days
! in the gay capital.
How is Rosie? Has she forgotten
me?" were among his first questions.
! Mrs. Dysart laughed.
The girls face was not strictly beauti-
full. but it was a charming face. She was
/ immensely admired, both hy men and wo-
men. And there was be something low
able as well as lovely in a young lady Of
II when those of her own sex express sim
cere admiration and can praise her whole
/ heartedly.
"She will certainly marry young" said
/ the elderly people. but it never occurred
TO any of them to suppose that this sunny
faced Rose Dysart would refuse three
eligible men simply because she loved a
middle aged colonel.
| Like many other parents, Mr.. and Mrs.
| Dysart seemed TO regard their daughter
/ as little more than a child. They scarcely
realized that others viewed her different
ly.
"Of course. like other girls. Rose must
go into society" they said. but we hope
# may be years and years before we have
/ to part with her"
And they weare quite delighted that she
/ should refuse her first hree effers Of mar
riage.
1t was in the spring and Just before her
| eighteenth birthday that the Dysarts left
/ their pretty Sussex home for a furnished
house at Elton place. which they had hir-
/ ed for the season at a somewhat eXorbi-
tant rent.
To the great Joy Of Rose. Colonel Gil
/ theroe was one of the first callers. He
was also i'm town for two or three months.
having, during the previous year. buried
his old uncle and inherited the property.
My dear fellow" said Mir. Dysart to
him. with the familiarity of friend Of
long standing, you really ought not TO
remain unmarried. Try to remember that
you are depriving some woman of an ex-
I cellent home and still more excellent
husband. A man in the prime Of life
we'll off. good looking. retired from the
army-where lies the hlndrance?'
Simply I'm this" replied the colonel Il
have never been I'm love. and I should be
afraid TO marry. now that I am past the
I tender passion. You see there is no three
years sysctom' i'm maTimony. 1t has to
be to death do us part"
Mr.. Dyaart laughed.
you must not be allowed to rerein
bachelor. my dear Clitheroe. ] shall look
around for some nice woman of about
! fve-and-thirty. and try my prentice hand
at match making"
NO don't YOU get married, colonel"
| exclaimed Rose. who was in the room.
! Il like you best as you are. Indeed, I
think changes are almost always disagdee-
/ able. It is pleasanter for things to go on
pretty much the same. I.mean to remain
single all my life so as never to have to
leave father and mother"
You viii Doe reconciled to leave us
when the right man and right moment
arrive, said Mrs. Dysart. "You may not
think so now; girls never do until they
are really in love. But in all probability
the time will come when, Of your own wish
and will, you will go away from US
Rose shook her head.
Il can't think so. mother. However, let
us talk of some more interesting subject
of my being presented. for instance. Can
you picture me- colonel, making my courte-
sy and kissing the hand OF royalty?
hope l shant turn awkward and shy at
the last moment. I ought not. for as a
little girl. with a counterpart in place of
train. / have practiced my manner over
and over again"
They all laughed.
mo, 1 scarcely think YOU will be shy
said Colonel Clitheroe. Besides. the mo-
ment makes the man. they say-so, of