Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1897-06-17

They reached the station all too
five minutes. Jeff put Hatty into
carriage, and fingered for more last
words until the whistle sounded. He
saw the tears in her eyes as she was
borne away.
1t was not a long journey and Hatty
tried to stop crying before it came to
an end. A prime woman Of 40 in
severe bonnet was waiting on the
platform with an anxious face, which
frightened as she caught sight Of her
young mistress, and then suddenly
clouded Hatty's eyes were family red
and her cheeks pale.
| You are not looking so well as l
expected, miss" said Ann, greeting
her at the carriage door.
Hatty was irritated. For Jhree
delicious weeks she had been the spoil
ed child~Of the house at Wildwood and
no one had dared to criticise her APP
pearance She took no notice of AIMS
+ remark, and stepped out on the plat
form with a little air of haughtiness
quite new in her. Ann was astonished
and silenced.
WOburn Square is not a lively place
on an October day, and to Hatty it
seemed unspeakabIy depressing with
the misty sunlight shining on its
melancholy trees. Things were
scarcely more cheerful indoors. Mr..
Warner received her with his usual
reserve, and they sat down silently to
| luncheon. He asked no questions
about the Marchesters, but for once
she did not resent his lack of interest
in her doings. 1t would have been
very difficult to chat unconcernedly
about life at Wildwood. Hatty was a
girl who took everything in deadly
earnest; she could not assume an in
difference which she did not feel.
/ She did not know that her father
had been longing for her to come back
to him. At 81 Mr.. Warner was not
likely to display those emotions which
had been carefully concealed from his
! youth. He was a stiff lawyer of the
old school, a depository of other Deo-
! pies secrets; a man with still tongue
and wise head. OF the world in gen
eral he had such bad opinion that
he had wished to shut his girl out of
/ it altogether. But she would not be
shut out; gentle as she was, she had
asserted her claim to see and judge for
herself
So these two sat facing each other
i without getting even a glimpse of
each others hearts. If MIR. Warner
had asked more questions he would
have learnt that Jeff had be N included
| in the Manchester house party. But
! he did know that Jeff was there, and
certain facts which Hatty might have
! learnt from her father were withheld
! from her. Silence is not golden Hat
! ~ rose from the table more than ever
! disposed to love and dream alone, and
went away to her room TO sentimental
lie over some late roses which jeff
had gathered for her that very day.
Then She sat down at her desk and
wrote to him in the dim light of the
London afternoon. She told him that
she felt desOlate in the gloomy house,
where no one loved her-n0t even her
father.
He was not III the least glad to see
me" she wrote. Il don't think he
would care if | went away for years.
My life is dreary; | am looking out
upon the dismal garden in the square
and longing for the woods at Wildwood.
! 10 you remember our last walk upon
the terrace, when the sun was going
down behind the hills?"
The next day did nothing to raise
her spirits. She missed the petting
and admiration and sighed for the big
rooms and lavish luxuries of the Mar
chester household. The mere thought
OF jeff thrilled her nerves and paled
her delicate cheeks. How completely
! he had changed her whole exls-anca!
His first letter filled her with painful
delight, and an interview very soon
followed the letter.
A fortnight later Mr.. Warner went
! into the country to spend day and
night at the house of an old client,
and Hatty was freed from the spell of
his cold watchful eyes. All the plans
were made. Jeff's strong will had
swept her along like a leaf on a
stream. She was going to say good
by to her colorless life and enter an
enchanted land where the sun never
ceased to shine, and the flowers were
always in bloom. Yet, as she stepped
cut into the mist at half past on a
certain Monday afternoon, she was
! conscious Il a chilly little doubt living
curled up at the back Of her mind
She had left a letter for her father
on his study table, and had slipped
out with a travelling bag in her hand.
jeff was waiting somewhere not far
from the door, and she had not walked
many PAGES when he came to her side.
How are you, darling?" he said.
Give me the bag. Well get into a
hanson at once; I'm afraid there's
going to be a beastly fog
They drove away together into the
thickest yellow gloom, but although
Hatty's hand was lying in his warm
clasp, her heart was sinking fast. OF
course there could be no turning back
she must go right on; and there was
no reason why she should doubt the
happy future that awaited her. But if
she could have been married in the
usual Old-tashiOnsd style. with orange
blossoms and bridesmaids, it would
have seemed less romantic and more
comfortable. The ceremony was TO
take place abroad and would be duly
IN ho