The record-union., 1897-12-19


willing to take me. unworthy Of you as
l am. and love me just little in return
for the love I give you in such over
flowing measure, send me just line
to let me know that may come to
you
Dora waited to speak with her father
before she answered DIR. Van Auley's
letter. The answer was brief, and yet
TO any one knowing the rich, strong
nature Of this girl, it would have been
more than satisfying. 1t ended by max
ing an appointment for the following
day at o'clock.
That was the end of this brief dream
of love and happiness. Dora had noth-
ing to remember but weeks and months
of heartache and miserable suspense
DR.. Van Auley did not come either tnat
day or the day after. A week dragged
slowly by, and she heard nothing. Coulo
her letter have been lost? Mr.. Wlnforu
assured her that he had put it care1ui-
ly in his pocket with several other mn
portant papers. He had taken them All
out together and mailed them himsei1.
Sometimes, in spite of her heaVy
heart. Dora caught herself thinking
half whimsically, of the many noVeis
she had read whose plots turned on the
embarrassments caused by lost or m
tercepted letters. With sort OF grim
humor, she would view the matter as II
aloof from herself, and say that, were
she writing a novel, she would never
choose so trite and commonplace a oeN-
ice. If she were to make her heroine
suffer from either enemies or ADVERSE
circumstances. it would be by some
thing very unusual, even startling! buC
Dora was no heroine of any Iahcil ui
romance. She was simply living SUI
fering woman, perplexed ana thWarteu'
and even if what thwarted her was
common thing, her suffering was just
as hard to bear.
The trouble could not be kept from
Lillian, though Dora would gladly nave
been spared her indignant assertions
that DIR. Van Auley was the most ue
spicable of men-a flirt, who had eA-
acted this confession of love, put 10
make a jest of it or to minister to ms
vanity Dora's faith in him was not
really shaken, though the poison or her
sisters words had so far influence as
to rouse her pride and help her to re-
sist the impulse to write again But
finally even this lost it's power. Sne
yielded to the impulse, and one lonely
evening wrote DR.. Van Auley long
letter, which she sent by a trusty mes
senger The letter came back un-
opened, and with it the intelligence
that much to the surprise of his
friends, Dr. Van Auley had suddenly
left Boston and gone once more abroad.
ind
never write again. She knew she must
forget the brief alluring dream OF love
and Of happiness.
Another thing which proved Dora to
be no heroine of an ordinary romance
was that she neither went into con-
vent, nor took a long journey up the
Nile, nor spent her days in the service
Of the poor. She didn't even devote
herself to Browning or Emerson, much
as she loved them. She simply went on
in her old busy life; keeping house, rid
ing her favorite horse, paying visits,
playing bezique with her father.
| The season was drawing to close,
and a round of dinners, balls and re-
ceptions certainly helped her, though
they did not render her the service
her father had hoped they might when
he insisted on the performance Of every
social duty.
| Dora knew she could never forget the
man who had so stirred the depths of
her spirit; but she was of too strong
nature to remain forever under the
sway of a love which might possibly
have been treated with scorn. Thus
gradually she gained content in her old
life and interest in its numerous activ-
tiles. The summer at Bar Harbor and
another winter in her beloved Boston
had passed, and now they were all on
the threshold of another summer.
Dora had persuaded herself that she
had thrust out all hopes of seeing DR..
Van Auley again; but just now all the
old love seemed to sweep with impetu-
Gus force over her, while listening to the
! last sad noes of GottschalkS "Medi-
tatiOn" die away into silence. She had
never heard it since DR.. Van Auley had
played it for her, and the music had
revealed to her so much. AS if in
mockery, DR.. Van Auley's words came
back to her-'T cannot let it end where
Gottschalk did; 1 always turn back and
play the aria again, because it more
emphatically suggests the possibility
| lost happiness be restored
| AS if in mesmeric sympathy with the
passionate longing of her heart, the
old professor, by skillful transition,
glided into Heilbert's wonderful Study
| of JOY" the notes tumbing over one
another in their impetuous desire to
express the greatest amount of glad
ness, of free, untrammeled happiness
The change came SO quickly and was
| so impressive that the effect upon the
company was magical. The professor
| finished. surrounded by a score of smil-
/ ing faces.
] Amid the confusion around the pi-
ano. Dora heard voice at her elbow.
and, looking up, saw the son of her
hostess.
DO you know, Miss Winford, want
to introduce you to a fellow who seems
lonely. He's been very much absorbed
in the music; couldn't get him to look
at me, but now he is talking to an old
chap who l know can't entertain him
in the least. / know you'll like him.
We came over in the same steamer.
He's been in Boston before, but we
never had met / had hard work to get
him to consent to come tonight. He
says he's got to settle down to work
now in earnest. Let me find you a
chair, and I'll bring him up for in
spection."
The gentleman who had excited Mr..
Candles compassion seemed loath to
leave his quit corner.
I want to Introduce you to a young
! lady who will agree with ol! your on