Gulf Coast breeze. [volume] (Crawfordville, Fla.) 1897-19??, 1898-05-20
known. He had certainly taken long

time to compose the effusion and to
make it seem as real as possible; but
to whom would it have occurred, even
il she had believed such monstrous
impossibility, that she would have
gone and written off on the spur Of
the moment TO the old woman? And
she didn't seem TO care one straw.
She believed such an outrageously inn
possible thing, without the least hest
tation or distressl 1t was nothing to
her; evidently nothing at all. Good
heavensl what position; what in the
world was he to do? He scarcely dared
look again towards Mrs. Winterton as
she read the most unfortunate and ill
conceived epistle. How furious the
woman would be. He would have to
apologize. He wonld have to ex-
plain that 1t was only Joke. Only q
jokel that was pleasant explanation
to have to make. Well, he had been
in some nasty predicaments before in
his life, but this outvied them all.
As soon as the women had left the
room, the door of which he had held
open for them with the most hang-dog
air that human being ever wore, Cap
tain Forbes sought refuge in the
shrubbery, and racked his brains to
determine upon the best course of con-
duct to be pursued under the present
terrific condition OF affairs. He had
best, he speedily concluded, go aud
have it out with the old woman and
get it over. There was nothing to be
gained by waiting. IT was indeed past
praying for. Thereupon he retraced
his steps. and met Mrs. Winterton, as
luck would have it, immediately in the
hall.
"May speak to you for moment,
Mrs. Winterton?" he asked.
Mrs. Winterton acceded to the re-
quest. She was always stiff and for
NAL, and whether there was much
stiffness and formality added to what
was usual the unhappy man was too
much embarrassed to rightly deter
mine.
81 am sure am exceedingly sorry
that it should have happened" he be-
gan, as soon as he found himself in
the drawiug-room. "Had I had the
faintest idea that my cousin would
take it in that way, and that this would
have occurred, / don't know what 1
wouldn't sooner have doue than write
that letter. Mrs. Winterton made
no reply. Her pale, cold blue eyes
were fixed upon Captain Forbes agi-
tated countenance. "She gives no
help" he thought, "and certainly 1
don't deserve it. Ass that L was.
'Delirious ass, as Macgregor would
say. You see," he went hesitating
and stammering on, "my cousin, Mrs.
Brackenbury, did not understand that
it was joke, or, OF course, she
wouldn't have written to you treating
the matter seriously. No one can
more regret than I do that took Miss
Winterton's name in such way. You
must think it quite objectionable"
81 do not quite understand you,
Captain Forbes" Mrs. Winterton re-
piled, in her rigid, frozen voice. 81
do not quite understand to what you
are abiding"
II am abiding to my cousins letter
to you that she enclosed in one to me.
/ gave it to you, not for an instant
supposing that she had taken seriously
what said about my engagement to
your daughter" Captain Forbes
answered, with the it's.no-use. beat
ing-about-the-bush feeling now upper
.x,nat a., h,a l,etrn,taI Mind
Mrs. Winterton regarded him with
most whitening expressing.
"Am / to understand from you Cap
tain Forbes she inquired, ''that you
have been amusing yourself, writing
to Mrs. Brackenbury to Inform her as
joke that you were about to become
the husband of my daughter?"
81 know il was abominable OF me"
Captain Forbes said 81 see perfectly
that it was wholly unjustifable, and I
regret my most atrociously idiotic let
ter more than words can say"
"Yours, certainly, seems an ill.timed
pleasantly, Mrs. Winterton answered,
her blue eyes colder and her icy man.
ner icier than ever, "and l should have
known nothing of the nature of your
humor had You not kindly explained
it to me. There was no word referring
to your joke in Mrs. Brackenbury's
letter."
Poor Captain Forbes, "delirious
ass" twice over he told himself If
he'd held his tongue, the old woman
would have known nothing He might,
he thought, have trusted Lydia not to
have been deceived in the way that,
during the shock of his sudden dis
may, he had supposed. But it was
too bad of her. Iu the sanctuary of
his own room, he drew writing materi-
ais to him again and sent her briefer
letter this time than thes first had
been.
"You have got me into horrible
hole," he wrote, "and never felt such
fool in my life. I am going back to
London mt once"