The Farmville herald. [volume] (Farmville, Va.) 1890-1934, 1899-06-23
FARMVILLE VA. FRIDAY. JUNE 23. 1899

Jumped down and gave a knock Tn
brought the rest Of the Row 10 its par
Tor windows in time 10 see the most
obvious d0wager duchess disappear
through the doorway What could il
mean? Had some dame of high estate
heard Of their sufTerings. and called to
play the part of Lady 3ountiful? Then
/ remembered that from Bessie's attic
could be obtained capital view of the
new tenants first floor front. and
caught suddenly by frenzy of curios-
+ ity, binding me TO all sense of decencv
l scampered up the stairs and arrived
at the attic window at the moment
when the strange visitor was crossing
the threshold of the room where
guessed the invalid lay. From where |
stood | saw the poor little white figure
spring up on her couch, eyes wide, pale
lips parted as though she beheld a
vision; then fall back on the instant
among her pillows. hiding her face in
her hands. Another moment. and the
visitor was by the bedside. bending
over her, and what followed came TO
me as a blurred tangle Of caressrs and
emotion, in which the men standing on
the other side of the bed was also in
cluded. Then / turned away. startled
suddenly into propriety by the con-
sciousness of tears running down my
face
a week later the great yellow car
riage drove up for the last time before
the door at No. 10, where its daily ap-
pearance in the interval had gone far
TO compensate the Row for what IL had |
undergone at the hands of the new
tenants. The dowager sailed in in her
usual rustling state, and returned SUD- |
porting a bundle of shaws, out of
which peeped familiar, pathetic little
face. The husband followed behind.
and the faces all three shone like sun
shine after rain as they entered the
coach and clattered out of High Row.
Neither Of the pair gave us so much as
a backward look. but the little maid-of-
all-work, experimenting the ading of
a fly with portmanteaus belonging to
her master, cried miseraby on the
doorstep.
And that was the end of II, and we of
the Row were decidedly out of conceit
with ourselves and with one another.
Il had been a variation on the theme of
Alfred and the Oakes, and we had dis
inguished ourselves in the part of the
leatherd's wife, when little more dis
.ernment might have placed us in per-
nanent touch with the British arstoc-
'acy. For although we were never able
% learn the whole of the story, the fact
If the intimate connection of the couple
With that august body was established !
'eyond a doubt. But by tacit consent
Mention was rarely made of them in
ur neighborly talk. They had been
he means of dispelling our illusions as
o the unerring character of our in :
tincts and perceptions, and the subject :
painful one. ,
/ once saw the girl again, but only for d,
moment. ! had gone to stay with !
'NA4A III A-'AAbllf anu We ldQ walked
ne afternoon to the park to watch the q
arriages returning from the drawing :
oom. She was in one Of them, stately =
ut radiant, in nodding feathers and =
ashing jewels. a princess, every inch :,
herl How could we have misread ,
he signs? Our eyes met, a look of .,
'cognition crept into hers. then she :,
lrned away with a flush and a little Z,
'ss of the head. They had understood o,
), then, and our attitude of hostility, 6,
nd had resented it and been panied by o.
while appearing to ignore it! l r
ished she could have known how near
had once been to holding out my hand,
I'd my eyes filled with tears, which
we'd none of their bitterness to the 7,
ct that ii was a noble lady who had
st given me the cut direct. For at
c moment | could think of nothing
It the lost opportunity of human
ye.-Good Words. tr,