The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1899-08-26
...T7IIS WIDOWS.


They were OF an age. forty-Hve. and
they had been housewives for the last
ten years. They were known to be
rich, md supposed to be eccentric. 1t
Is wen To- have that reputation in
neIghborhoods like D.. implying COM
plete liberty OF action. combined with
perfect social consideration. The toll
let and domestic appointments OF Miss
Varney and Miss Leven left nothing for
censorlous world to desire, while their
actions were sufficiently unconvention-
al to inspire interest and amusement
They were, Of course, open to the Inn
putatlon of being unmarried women Of
certain age, but there was not the
slightest hint of anything old fashioned
or old maidish in their appearance or
their surroundings. There were no
tatted or crochet chair covers. no paint
cd handscreens, no stamp snakes in
their drawing room; their clothes were
exquIsItely fashionable. and came down
from. London. ana perhaps Paris. But
the material of these clothes was invar-
iably black, and they both wore what
looked very like widows caps of the
came identical pattern. There their
ecentrlcity came In.
Once fortnight they paid a visit.
bearing t%o similar punches of white
flowers, to a cemetery on the other side
OF the town Of D.. but no one ever
discovered whose grave It was they
they took an Interest in, though some
curious otherwise .unoGcupled persons
had thought it worth while to play hide
fand. seek. with, the two women among
the tumbs-without success, so cleverly
did the 'mourners dodge them.
They had not many friends in the
town, Of D., nor did they seem to care
10 make any; but after while a young
girl called Lucy Gray.who had but re-
Gently left school. succeeded in ingrut-
Eating herself where more important
people had failed She was sweet and
simple, yet shrewd. and soon she knew
more Of the inner life OF Miss Vnrney
and Miss Leven than any one. She
thought them romantic, and said so
openly, and the women did not in her
case dlsdain the tribute Of this subtle
and seductive form of hnttery.
She used to find 1t delightful to so
and sit with them In the long winter
evenings over the fire, and to conade
her little doings and little troubles to
thelr sympathetic ears. She sat on
low stool exactly between the two, and
talked and turned her eager face first
to one and then to the other without
any particular discrimination; for,
though they differed from each other
as much as two unrelated human be-
ings are likely to do. they seemed, by
;skIIful modification and adaptation OF
habits and idlosyncracies, to have
made themselves one. To Lucy, In point
81 sympathy, they were as parts OF the
same person.
But they differed good deal In ap-
.pearance. Miss varney was dark and
eager looking, and little imperious In
manner. shs laughed more than Miss
I,eyen. and betrayed fuller and at
times more cynical humor. She read
all the modern magazines. and kept
herself up to date. Miss Leven was
softer, perhaps silIier. certainly more
sentimental. She was little inclined
to be- stout, her complexion was still
wonderful: she took life more easily
than Miss Varney,
had taken 1t, for surely during these
last ten years that they had lived in
D.. life had stood stllI for both OF
them.
The life of little Lucy Gray was just
beginning, In a mild, idyllic way. She
told the women all her innocent affairs,
and they gre her the promptest in
terest and sympathy: but she came to
notice, when she looked up into the face
Of either, that their gaze was seldom,
II ever, bent on her who was confid-
ing in them. No. their eyes were gen
orally raised and hxed. severally, on
two large, framed cabinet photographs
hanging over the bellpull on either side
of the chimney piece.
There was nothing very odd In this,
except that the two photographs were
in every respect, Identical.
It was the likeness OF a man in full
Observation-Disclosures, logged look
ing. with heavy. self;suBeIent Jaws and
gentle eyes and an elusive mouth. I'm
der the print was written, in a bold,
decided handwriting. the name Robert
+. Mussrave. and date Of 60.
Later on, when she came to know the
women better. Lucy Gray was taken
into their bedrooms. and shown things
afghan trophies, Indian worries, Bur-
mese shawls. two OF each. invariably,
but what Interested the girl most was
that, though there were two separate
rooms, the same likeness, enlarged and
colored in this instance. hung over the
5ed Of each. Lucy Gray was loving
and curious. She put the story OF her
two frIends-onc story. OF two women
together as well as she could. and
Eioated over It. She realized that
these two women had loved the same
man, and that this was HIS likeness.
They had lost him. how she could not
guess. But. at any rate. he was not
here, nor had been there Tor ten years.
They mourned him. therefore. but what
she could not understand was that they