The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1899-04-08
WEDDING.

H*UVLULlS WLUDllNVo
II. i ,y3' z.
New York Post: They had settled
down, five or six years ago. ut the upper
end Of the Rue Lafontalne. at Auteull,
having come from no one knew where.
They were named, Walter-one OF those
cosmopolitan names that do not betray
the origin OF those who bear them-and
they lived in this peaceful neighbour
hood, where a!certain amount OF gossip
ing goes on, as in all country places.
Twice q day, at II o'clock and at s,
NJ. Walter was seen to start on his con-
stitutional. very straight. and with n
nimble step, In spite OF his seventy-five
years; his face the color OF an artificial
apple; his tight, precise coat, with
foreign order at the buttonhole. On
rainy days he cut his walk short, went
Into q cafe, ran over the newspapers,
and exchanged few words with the
regular guests. He had curt tone,
and an accent as discreet as his name,
discovering, to a scarce perceptible de-
gree, slightly cultural sounds that
might have been German. diphthonus
that might have been English, and as
plrations that perhaps came from the
Russian. Where on earth can he come
from" people asked behind his back.
And guesses were rife: surely. he was
German concealjng his natIonnlity-or
rather. an.Englishman, who did not tell
his nationality because It was "nobody's
business; or yet, perhaps, q Russian,
who was mysterious for the sake Of
mystery.
AS. for Madame Walter, she never
went out except to do her shopping, and
never forgot herself 30 FAR as to tattle
with the shopkeepers. Younger, by
some years. than her husband, she was
more broken down; her hair was white,
her complexion gone; her figure was
Dent, her eyes were dim, and In her
gestures and movements was that
painful something which one sees In
creatures who have grown old suffer-
Ing.
She was assisted In her housekeeping
by u woman named Marianne. the wife
OF an upholsterer. who came In the
morning and left at noon, when n. Wal
ter returned from his constitutional to
dinner. Marianne concerned herself
only with the rooms and the rough
work. For Madame Walter attended to
the cooking herself-an unpretentious,.
but well-prepared fare, into which ex-
otlc dishes entered; Milanese '.rlsottos,"
with fowls liver, cock's-combs, and
white trudles: curry; little bits OF
mutton on skewers. as they eat them In
Constantlnople under the name OF
"cheps-kebas"; fried anchovles and
white cheese, called sphinx" in Sicily
In short. cosmopolitan dishes which,
no more than the rest. betrayed the orl-
gin OF the mysterious couple.
OF their life. Marianne saw nothing;
once, when she had gone upstairs again
for something forgotten. she had heard
the angry voice of NJ. Walter resound-
Ing in the dining-room Two or three
days later, she tried to renew her pre-
tence at departure under some preteXt
or other, and again heard the scoiding
voice. But Madame Walter having no.
tilted her that X she ever entered the
apartment "out of hours" she would
be dismissed. she suppressed her curios-
ity. From the little she had seen she
concluded, however. that NJ. Walter
was fond OF eating and very particular.
and that his wife condemned herself to
be alone with him, in order TO keep their.
household quarrels from strangers. So
that she was much astonished when
Madame Walter said one day:
Can you stay, all day tomorrow.
Marianne? have dinner, and shall
want YOU"
Marianne knew that her questions al
ways remained unanswered: she never
theless asked In n paroXyism OF inquis-
itiveness:
Then Madame has guests?"
Instead OF crushing her with look
that commanded silence, Madame Wal
ter explained:
"No, but Tomorrow we are. to cele-
brate our golden wedding, and we are
giving ourselves a little celebration.
That day.1 would like to dine without
getting up from tnble-you under
stand?"
Marianne understood: the vulgar per-
epicacity which instinctvely unravels
the complicated problems Of a neigh
boris conduct at once told her here was
mystery, and that this golden we'd
ding would be original.
II.
The golden wedding idea. of course.
proceeded from NJ. Walter. One day. af-
ter some unpleasant remarks upon the
"gulasch." which he found lnsufiicently
sp!ced, ne had said TO his wife:
Big the way. do you know that 1t will
soon be the 14th ofOctober?"
For long time she had been keeping
no more anniversaries, and hardly die
the great festivals OF Easter. Christmas
and New Years stand out from the
Elonotony Of her days.
"Wcll?" she said. not understanding.
do Won tnnon 'typllto D0as tbat
date tell you nothing? I recognize you
thoroughly there-as little heart as
head The 18th OF October Is the ami
versary OF our marriage-the f1ftieth,
my dear. The golden wedding: we
must celebrate Il, mustn't we now, eh?
| a nice little dinner, as you know how
| to do them on your good days, with a
bottle of champagne at dessert. Ha!
ha! That will make us young again."
A nice little dinner with champagne
at dessert was all that VI. Walter cav
IN that date which his gluttonv sud-
| denly recalled to him. AS he never paid
any attention to his wife. he did not OBJ
serve that she grew pale, and stopped
eating. And he TRANQUILITY awaited the
| great day."
AS for Madame Walter. she was over
come. Fifty years! Was II possible.
| good heavens? For fifty years. half q
century. the span of two generations.
she had been dragging out this slow
sacrifice of life; for fifty years she had
been aging. expecting from the morrow
n spark OF happiness or affection that
never came; for Nifty years rebellious
notions had been darkly brewing with
In her. and then mlscarrylns Fifty
years ago, Eoung, fair, pretty, her mind
SO alert, her heart SO open, she put her
hand into the hand OF this man. That
happened far away, no matter where,
| In southern cline, on 4 sunny day, on