Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1900-01-25

summer ALIKE, old Lady Kynaston holds
her weekly receptions, and thither Aock
| the wit and talent and the fashion Of
London.
Her married life had been neither very
| long nor very happy. She had never
| learned to love her husbands country
home. At his death she had turned her
| back thankfully upon Kynaston, and had
| never seen it again. Or her two sons,
| she stood in some awe Of the elder, whose
| cold and unresponsiye character resem-
bled her dead husbands, while she ador-
| ed Maurice, who was warm hearted and
! affectionate in manner, like herself
There were ten years between them, and
in her secret heart Lady Kynaston hoped
and believed that John would remain UNI
married, so that the estates and the
money might in time become Maurice's.
! 1t is the second Thursday in December,
| and Lady Kynaston is "at home" to the
world. Her drawing rooms are filed. rs
| usual, with mixed and brilliant crowd.
| Conspicuous among the crowd of we'll
! dressed and handsome women is Helen
| Romer. She sits on an ottoman at the
! further end of the room, where she holds
d
| Kynaston, moving slowly among her
| guests comes near her, and presses her
! hand as she passes.
| Mrs. Romer is favorite of hers, she is
pretty, and she is piquant in manner and
conversation; two very good things,
| which she thinks highly of in any young
! woman. Besides that, she knows that
Helen loves her younger son; and, al
| though she hardly understands how
| things are between them. she believes
| that Helen will eventually inherit her
grandfathers money, and, liking her per-
| sonally, she has seen no harm in en-
couraging her too plainly displayed af-
| lection.
| AS the old lady stoops over her. Hell
ems upturned, wistful eyes say as plainly
as words can say it:
us he coming tonight"
Maurice will be here presently,
hope" says his mother. Helen's face
! became radiant, and Lady Kynaston
| passed on.
He comes at last. Helen catches sight
of his handsome head and his broad
shoulders through an opening in the
crowd. In another minute he is in the
room. Presently he comes up to her and
takes the seat by her side just vacated
by an attache.
A little pout and little toss of the
head.
''You have been as long coming to
speak to me as you possibly could be-"
''Do you think it would look we'll if
had come rushing up to you the instant
came in ~
You need not, at all events, have
stood talking for ten minutes to that
great, blackeyed Lady Anderleigh. OF
course, if you like her better than me,
you can go back to her."
"Of course can, if choose you silly
little woman; but seeing that / am by
you, and not by her, l suppose it is
proof that l prefer your society, is
not?"
Very polite. but not strictly true Cap
tain Maurice! At his heart he preferred
talking to Lady Anderleigh, or to any
other woman in the room. The admis-
sion, however. was quite enough for
Helen.
Dear Maurice" she whispered, "for-
give me; I am a jealous, bad-tempered
wretch, but" lower still, sit is only be-
cause love you so much
Captain Kynaston took the favorable
opportunity of escaping across the hall.
where he spent the remainder of the
evening, dividing his attention between
the music and supper rooms, and Helen
saw him no more that night.
She saw, however, someone she had
not reckoned upon seeing. CHANGING care
lessly across the end of the room, she per-
ceived, talking to Lady Kynaston, lit
tie French gentleman, with a smooth,
black head, neat, pointed, little black
beard, and the red ribbon of the Legion
d Honneur in his button hole
What there was in the sight of so
harmless and inoffensive parsonage to
upset her it may be difficult to say; but
the fact is that when Mrs. Romer per-
ceived this polite little Frenchman talk
ing to her hostess she turned suddenly so
sick and white that a lady sitting near
her asked her if she was going to faint.
81 feel it little hot" she murmured;
II think l will go into the next room"
She rose and attempted to escape
whether from the heat or the observation
of the little Frenchman was best known
to herself.
CTo be continued.)