Spirit of Jefferson. [volume] (Charles Town, Va. [W. Va.]) 1844-1948, 1899-01-10
AT THE PLAY.


said she.
He started. The phrase Jared him.
It was at once inapplioabIe and undig-
nified. He turned to her with panied
expression. Delightful, perfect, :"
entertaining could have condon-
ed expressions such as these, common
place as they would undoubtedly have
been. A man may be tender toward a
woman's rhapsodies about her lover
when that lover is himself. But
''funnyp'
"Oh, oh, ohp' She olutohed his arm.
"What funny peoplel" The fatal ad
jective again! This time he WINGED,
WINGED twice deliberately, lest she
should mistake the first signal of dis.
tress as mere physical infirmity.
She continued quickly:
''That reminds mel don't know
why it reminds me, but it does; force
of habit perhaps, because he hates bad
ly turned out women so-Don is up in
town tonight. Did you know? Iwonder
if we shall come across him:"
"You mean Lord Ililmore's younger
son?"
"You remember DonT''
Her glance, meeting his full, showed
some surprise at his obvious i'll temper.
She put her hand out hurriedly, with a
pretty, unaffected gesture of sympathy.
'Dear! You're not ill?''
Nothing irritates a nan whose liver
is out of order so much as being re-
minded of the fact. The deepening
curves at ChinroclI's mouth grew posi-
lively rigid with irritation.
"Of course not. Is anything ever the
matter with me? How your imagination
runs away with you-dearest !" The
dearest" was a dutiful concession to
the situation but, somehow, she shrank
from it, her ardor chilled, the keenness
of her enjoyment marred already.
eve have still ten minutes to wait
before the curtain rises, he said. He
regretted his customary after dinner
coffee. "What if took the onpnrtuni-
ty of explaining to you the motif of the
play? It is trifle complex"
"I would be kind of you,'' she said,
with little smile, but, notwithstand-
ing, her eyes showed some disappoint-
ment as she scanned the house She
was longing to speak the sweet banali-
ties to which most lovers find it pleasant
to listen; 80 make her bright little
comments and butterfly criticisms; to
sip to its full the evenings cup of eva
nescent enjoyment; to be, in a word,
herself-the creature of the moment,
and his own.
She had looked forward to tonight
the first of her emanoipation-with
rapturous excitement. cit will be al
most as good as being his wife, she bad
confided to the married sister under
whose chaperonage she was spending
the "a hours in town, which broke her
journey between her Gloucestershire Wis
it and her travels farther north "To
have him all to myself for whole even
ingI To feel that 1 really belong to him
as he belongs to me! Can you imagine
anything more perfect?"
Lady Guthrie could, easily, but she
did not say SO. She had only met Chin
mock once, and he impressed her as a
prig and bore, and Margot's angry
disclaimers could not alter her sister s
opinion.
"You have to marry him, not II"
she said comfortably. "What does it
matter what 1 think? He's we'll off,
which is something. At least you can
congratulate yourself SO far. No one
can patronize you. Your women friends
won't be able to pass you on their un-
becoming last years clothing nor their
husbands stale tobacco"
"You re prejudiced, - Margot replied.
"All sisters are" Which in a sense
was true, for Lady Guthrie's sympathy
was openly enlisted on behalf of the
scapegrace of the Kilmore family, young
Don Garrick, who had adored Margot
since she trespassed barefacedly and
barefoot in the Kilmore deer forest as a
little child. But Margot, having sys-
tematically dominated him for 8 years.
already felt the pleasure might pail if
long continued. "He has been so much
to me all my life. 1t would be boring
for him to become more still during the
rest of it. / know him SO well-too
well, - she said, in excuse for her cold
heartedness. But at objections such as
these Lady Guthrie shook her head in
stern disclaimer.
Wait" " she said sagely, wait. -
And Margot waited
Tonight for the first time she saw
something of the reverse side of her
new picture, the canvas back. Was it
disloyal to wish that Mr.. Chinook be-
haved more as one expects lover to
behave even in public, that he should
show some sort of open pride of posses
sion, of glad proprietorship? In the row
Immediately in front of them there was
a gay, absorbed young couple, chatting,
laughing, looking, smiling, reading
their own tender meanings into the
most trivial incidents of the evening.
Margot watched them, fascinated in
spite of herself How differently they
behaved from herself and her loverl The
man leaned slightly forward-he chad
got it badly Don would have said.
Every now and then his coat sleeve
touched the little imnovable white