The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1898-09-21
TALE OF \ TIARA.

TALE OF \ TIARA.
"My dearest llermione" looked up
from her morning correspondence Her
mir was one of profound abstraction.
and sho commenced to sugar my coffee
with quito uncnllod for generosity.
1T is altogether too bad, -" she eN
claimed, us | rescued the cup with the
fifth lump suspended above it. She took
Ito nctlco even when the sugar Topped
into the marmalade. and her forehead
was puekerod into frown
What is it" said. sitting down
and settling my paper atresh.
"oh, hero Ia n letter from May We're.
She has Just had II present from her IA
ther=in-law, IA diamond tiara, and she
says this rather douhtfully--"th that it
is quito the best of the whole lot She
will wear it first ut tho duchess recep-
ton. That makes tho sixth tiara in the
family, doesn't it, (Nlrs. Mark We're
Is my wifo's cousinl,
II suppose ,o--il You say SO. "
was frankly moro Interested for tho
moment i'll tho money market column
than i'll May Nere's latest present
There followed II longish pause. Her
miene ratified the teaspoons and made
much of the cat. Then her voice cnme
to mo ucruss tho tabln decorations with
just u touch of iretiulnesB:
1.lacll -
"UHmi"
81 should look 20 nica IN Il tiara
lack =
| tossed the paper au To AN armchair.
Although We have been mnrricd three
years that particular infection III my
wifo'a tones mover fuila tn arouse my
curiosity, nnd-well, something else.
II were only rich enough ~ / BIZ.
gan rocldeSsly. You see, know wasn't
"oh, Jack, didn' { mean that am
not So mean as tn ruproaeh you We
have really everything thai IS ncccssary.
y tiara can luz done without. | couldn' t
bear to have anything hui very eXpon-
aiYo one, and MAY won't look anything
but plain in hers however beautiful ii
is. But stll-wrll whit | meant was
TINT il seems almost misfortune that
| should Tool, So nice in one-ns having
ono il out of tho question. -
- don't soo that, - said. II would
rather have you as You are .
May is generally acknowledged rs
plain -
II wasn't comparing you with her
IL would be- absurd -
Would it, fmilcd lIcrmionc And
am not yet proof against Hermione Il
smiles. 20 in sport | suggested sonie-
thing 90 her which had occurred to me-
juat AZ II joke. and nothing more That
she 1.e.ld act on it never dreamed of
for IL moment. Hot Hcrmiuno still de-.
Glarea all that followed was entirely my
fault, and that but for me she would
not hayo to suffer the prolonged igno
miny of bning tho only girl out Of seven
married cousins unable Ia bunst u dia-
mund tiara among her possessions
Wa had several engagements tho
week of the duchess reception, but that
was tho first and WAS very generally
considered the most important | also
happened to be- very busy just then |
rather expected Il bad quarter Of an
hour when | told llermione how abSO-
lutoly impossible il would bo for me to
do moro thnu just look III at quito late
hour, but. rs IL often tho case where
She IL concerned, my aniieipations were
not fulfilled
She smiled at me very swectly, said
she could find plenty Of people To go
with and that / need not worry on her
account and | fauciod detected signs
Of relief IN her expression, which may
have been tho reason why | made my
way to the reception rather earlier than
] originally intended.
Tho duchess who was giving il had
scattered her invitations broadcast, as
is within tho rights Of II duchess The
spacious rooms were extremely crowd
ed. 1t was some time before | caught
sight Of my wife. but not long before /
heard Of her, for Mrs. Jack Voycc-
Noyco Is my namc--appoarcd to he ere.
atlng quito an unusual sensation even
for hor. And hnvo you seen pretty Mrs.
VoycoH' And have you heard her talo
Of the TIARA What fun she is, isn't
she:" seemed the principal topic of con-
yersatl0n.
More than ono man pattcd mo on the
back and congratulated me anew | felt
myself, generally speaking, quito AS
lucky as they thought me, for admire
her. too, but | could not help wonder
ing how they would have liked partici-
pating in my present anxiety on her be
half.
''IiGrmiOnG Just dUesn / mind what
ehe does, u candid girl friend had said
to me before our marriage and once or
twice / have been forced to agree with
her, Tor if my suspicious were correct
and this talo apparently 50 widespread
were tn reach the ears Of my most un-
necessarily particular uncle, Lord Cur
ran, who 1 knew 10 he present, having
seen him, what would be the unfortu-
nate result failed to imagine
Lord GurrHu is best described AS one
Of the old school His ideas about wo-
men Hermiune calls peculiar to say
the least Of it. =" They certainly are not
Of tho present day, but date back to the
times when women occupied themselves
1ith barbarous triumphs i'll WOODWORK
and doing as they were told, and es-,
peoially in avoiding anything approach
ing to notoriety. Just as | went over
this afresh in my mind my venerable
unclo approached me with that peculiar
~ boaming smile Of his which always
foretell5 disaster.
Pretty woman, your wife, Master
John, +" said he y little lacking in
reticence eh--eh;' And just then Her
mione came along, and had to run the
risk Of distorting my features for life
iii my efforts TO signal to her not to
join lis. Fortunately my uncle's sight
is not as good as it used to be. But