Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1896-01-02
CHAPTER vi.
Under a cloud.

b his garden party The way m Wplcn
\ he had been received CALLED him to the
/ quick. There was'an odd story about
! him and about his wife; no one knew it
better than himself; but he had count
ed, on his return from India, upon Ats
being forgotten. Lancelot's ignorance
Of it had encouraged him. II his old
acquaintance retained the memory of
( those old unhappy days, they would
have limited at it in Lancelot's pres
ence, surely If they had held their
tongues so long they must have forgot
ten and forgiven. For IL was story
which did not add to his credit, as
told in the county version. 1t was a
story which he would have given his
I life TO be able to deny. But ne had
no opportunity Of either denying or
affirming: and in the meantime, people
talked it over and We're shy of him.
They would have got over their shy
( ness before long, nc doubt, for Lancelot
was general favorite and was growing
up into an eligible young man whom
every mother would have gladly well
coined to her house, had not Col. Van
brugh, instead of conciliating, become
angry and desperate and rushed madly
on to his fate He did not wait for the
gossip about his past to die out before
he issued invitations for this garden
party, thereby forcing people TO declare
Z themselves either on his side or against
+ him. And the consequence was that
\ half his guests declined his invitation
4 or having accepted 1t, chose to stay
4 away
/ Constance Esler was one of the few
people who did not find the party dull
as Frances had feared that she would
/ do. But she felt herself vastly superior
to Frances. She was walking with a
man whom she thought decidedly
agreeable and handsome and she was
NEARLY certain that he had asked to be
! introduced to her. 1t was quite easy
to read his admiration of her beauty in
4 his eyes.
I Rene de Marsac was not as handsome
I man as she thought him, but he was
\ decidedly picturesque. At distance
/ he looked young; very much younger
/ than Col. Vanbrugh for instance; but
he must have been nearly the same
age. He was slight and rather short
for man, for he was little taller than
Miss Esl@ herself; and he was dark
in complexion with a waxed mustache,
small aquiline features and fine dark
I eyes. He wore more ornament than
an ordinary Englishrnan wears, but
Constance rather admired the three
rings that adorned his fingers and the
golden trifles that hung from his mas
stye watch-chain His necktie famed
and his hat was not of an English
shape he looked little bizarre and
peculiar in the midst of a number Of
Englishmen, correctly dressed and well
"groomed" His hair was curly and
stood out from under his hat brim
like the locks of a medieval Florentine.
Constance was charmed by his atten-
tions, she had understood from Col.
Vanbrugh that his friend was a count,
and she felt that her beauty was re-
ceiving the homage too often denied
to il. For Constance had very high
opinion of her own attractiveness.
You will not be fatigued with walk
ing?p said the Count de Marsac
/ He spoke with a slight French ac-
cent. but his voice was agreeable and
his smile exceedingly pleasant,
"Oh, no. not at ALL What pretty
path. where does it lead, | wonder?"
They had been walking across the
lawn, but Constance now turned aside
to shady sidealey, which seemed to
lose itself among great bushes of rho
dodendron and rare foreign trees.
4 think ii leads to the lake-the
pond as they call it, said the count,
He looked al his fair companion with
some curiosity as he spoke. These Eng
fish girls. as he sometimes said to him
self, We're not as the girls OF any other
nation under the sun. Did she wish
him to conduct hei to the pond. in the
very face of the watching company up
on the lawn? NJ. de Marsac was not
a scrupalous man, but he would not for
the world act openly against the con-
ventions of good society. He knew that
he could not pace retired garden paths
with a French girl Was il possible
that ne might do so with an English
mees' without exciting remark? He
decided that he must leave her to settle
that point
1T looks charming" said Constance,
who TO do her justice, had no concep-
ton Of De Marsac's ideas. and spoke
in the perfect innocence of her English
heart Shall we go down to the pond2''
With the greatest pleasure in the
world. said Rene. a little less respect
fully than he had spoken before. who
would not follow where mademoiselle
leaas9"
Constance laughed softly.
Il must not lead you into mischief
then, she said
.Ah mademoiselle, as II that were
possible.
Ills eyes cleaned with new light,
he turned toward her with an eager