Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1896-10-28

mamma. May stay momenb Will
you?"
She continued to keep her back to-
ward Andrew, and he, now beginning
to get tired of the game, had about
concluded that she must be fright
fully ugly.
'sSit down here, dear, beside me,
and Mrs. Harmon easily contrived to
place the girl just opposite the small
room and the young. man, approach
ing his eye to the crack, was struck by
the pretty face he beheld.
"Well, Rosamond, what are you do
ing nowadays? Are you going out
much?"
"No, very little. I had card for
Mrs. Laton's tea this afternoon, but ]
wrote her I was ill. You will not be.
tray me, will you2" md she laughed
merry laugh that set Andrews heart
to vibrating.
"Do you not care for such affairs"
asked Mrs. Harmon.
''Surely, Mrs. Harmon, You do moi
think it would be amusing to spend an
hour or two watching Mrs. Laton's
hirtations, with no one to talk to but
the insipid women and stupid men of
her set?"
"You are severe, my child"
"Severe? Well, with woman like
Mrs. Laton, do not think one can be
too much so."
Instinctively Mrs. Harmon raised
her eyes to the door that concealed
Andrew, and, under pretext of ar.
ranging the portiere, she crossed the
room and, as she re-arranged the dra-
perry, whispered to her nephew: sits
nearly fve-you'll be late for your
tea."
But her warning was unheeded;
Andrew did moi hudge. AS for the
girl by the fire, sha was still full oi
her idea.
"Do you know Irs. Laton, Mrs.
Harmon?" she ask
eyes, yes" the oil lady fastened
to reply and to turn conversation,
she went on: "But u are wrong to
declare that all men are stupid. There
are some who are quite sensible.
Sensible? Well, 1 do not know
them. I do not mean that they are
all stupid, but they think themselves
so superior that they are wearisome.
They are vain, insufferable bores,
with their blase airs and their idea
that they are irresistible because they
can firt with Mrs. Laton, who mas
bleached hair, and smears paint on
her face as If it were palette, and
whose brains are good for nothing but
to devise outrageous gowns.
Again Mrs. Harmon cast an uneasy
glance toward the little room, in which
Andrew was fast waxing angry. He
would have liked to strangle this girl,
whose superb health and triumphant
beauty irritated him.
"And when will you get married,
my dear?" suggested Mrs. Harmon,
again throwing herself into the breach.
'I shall never marry"
"Indeed? Why not?"
"Why not?" repeated Rosamond, q
ehadow of melancholy coming over
the face that Andrew admired in spite
of himself. "Because am little
fool who can do as the rest do. I
would wish to love my husband and
to have him love me. I would wish
to marry man whom I should single
out from among the rest for his good
ness and intelligence. would wish
to have confidence in him, and above
oil to be proud of him."
AS the girl spoke, she had become
animated with q gentle exaltation,
which was not without its effect on the
young man behind the door.
"Well, Rosamond," said Mrs. Har.
mon "why do you not realize your
dreamf"
s.Because there are no young men
nowadays who care to look for girl
who pleases them. Marriage for them
is matter of business, nothing more,
and the woman herself does not count.
They marry when they have lost their
money, and when the little heart they
possessed has been Irittered away on
some Mrs. Laton or another"
Again Mrs. Harmon arose, and, pre-
tending she had an order to give, ex-
cused herself, and hastened to her
nephew.
"Well, aunt, she has given us nice
dressing down, eh? For charming
GIRL ! would back her against the
world"
"Hurry, Andrew; it is late, and you
have almost missed your tea.
"My teal" he repeated. ''Bother
my tea? Is there nothing else in the
world but my tea? No, you must fiud
an excuse to bring me into the room,
and I'llshow that young shrew whether
oil men are fools. Oh, she need have
no fear, shall not try to marry her,
for still have oil my hair, little
money and heart still intact"
Mrs. Harmon could not restrain
smile at the young mans yexation,
and five minutes later Andrew entered
the drawing room.
But, contrary to oil expectations,
the conversation did not become war
of words; on the contrary, the girls
fresh gayety disarmed Andrews anger
at once. His preconceptions fed be-
fore her dimpled smiles and her gentle
voice, and he soon fell under her
charm, forgetting his anger in his ad-
miration for her graceful movements,
tie penetrating timbre of hor voice,
the sparkle of her wit:
The hour for the tea had long
passed, and Andrew was still there.
He had lost all desire to run after
Mrs. Laton, that faded doll whom
Rosamond-as he was forced to admit
to himself-had portrayed SO truth.
fully.
And ensconced once more in the
depths of her armchair, Mrs. Harmon
smiled O kindly smile, and silently re.
sarded the young people, who, for
their part, looked at one another with
looks that do not deceive andin which
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