The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1896-04-10

Ing-room at Meidrum, as we used q.
know il when the Tassingtons lived
there, than tasting Of the flesh pots of
the caravan. And Jarvis is an excel
lent cook, isn't he? Meldrum looked
the very incarnation OF placid respecta-
bility and solidity."
Philip Seccombe laughed. External
" only, Gertrude; if you had ever ex-
perienced the dullness of a country
house you would never wish for its sup
posed delights. i know what il is; you
have an overpowering feminine desire
TO hear your train sweep over marble
floors; you want space, sumptuousness,
color; you want to dress for dinner,
wear diamonds in your hair, and all
these things you cannot do until we fly
south with the swallows and change
from mere nomads into fashionable
idlers. Marry your cousin Archdale,
Gertrude; say Yes to the question he
asked you at Monte Carlo last winter;
he will give you all these things, and
more. l find six months of them more
than sufficient"
"You are partly right" Gertrude an
swered, after little thought, "but that
is not all. And what want, Archdale
could not give me. want to be abso-
lutely respectable"
Philip Seccombe roared with laugh
ter.
Il am quite serious" Gertrude went
on. gravely. eve gre quite proper, i
know; but you can't call that being re-
spectacle, can you?"
There is no word in the language
with SO many meanings, or which alters
so much in application, Seccombe said.
What does your respectable mean?"
"Please don't laugh at me, father. l
mean l should like to live always in one
place. and to have special clothes for
Sundays, and be looked up TO, and do
a great deal for the church and schools,
and never to; have read a French novel,
and-and-nll that sort of thing. You
know what mean"
Perfectly. No longings or strivings,
no late hours save at Christmas time.
only mild excitement and prosperous
stagnation?"
you describe my thoughts exactly,
daddie. 1t must be a delightful life"
Then / gather that eighteen months
in the gayest and most brilliant society
in Europe and eighteen months in the
country lanes of England have proved
too vivid contrast. But is there no
other reason for this sudden craving to
taste the placid joys of rural bour-
geois existence?"
''Pofhaps-yes. You see, three days
ago met mana young man-who
seemed to me to be the mental and
physical embodiment of the serenity
and peace that Meldrum hall suggests
architecturally--"
"Ha! / think / understand" inter.
rupted Seccombe.
HE was very kind to me-" Gertrude
went on, "and is quite different to any
one L have ever met. He interested me
because he was SO content with petty
duties"
"And you have not thought ii neces-
sary to tell me of this meeting before to-
night?" he further asked, smiling.
Gertrude did not answer the question,
but plunged straight away into her ex-
planation. I'm the lane back of Mel
drum hall the other day, father. saw
q most beautiful rose on the top of the
hedge. 1t had grown over from the hall
garden, and could not resist the temp
tation to pick it. But the only place
from which 1 could reach it was the
bottom branch of an oak that stretched
right over the hedge. 1t was quite "A
low branch" she added, quickly, as
Seccombe raised his eyebrows. II
scrambled up the tree and out to the
end of the branch. The rose was be.
tween my fingers when I slipped, my
dress caught in the top of the hedge, and
the next moment / was suspended like
fairy in n pantomime, between earth
and sky. 1t was not in the least funny
for me, SO please don't laugh. / hoped
the skirt would give way, but, of eoursc,
it did nothing of the kind, and i was
helpless-think of il, daddie, absolute.
ly helpless. / hung there, it seemed to
me, for half an hour, until heard foot.
steps in the garden behind me. OF
course, called, and charming young
man appeared. / couldn't see his face,