Evening star., 1901-11-02
CHAPTER I.
The Lady,s Dilemma.

sign of which, a silver quill, argent IN
gules dangled from the front of the house
and creaked in the wind The front room
where she sat and lived commanded fine
view of the street; the back room In which
she slept overlooked the churchyard of st.
PauTs, where funerals all day long inclined
the heart to wholesome meditation. Both
in the front and at the back there was ap-
parent to the senses the neighborhood Of
the market; since the time was late June
and the season was warm and fine one
perceived in the mingled waves of fra
GRANGE the crushed strawberry of yesterday;
the decayed cherry of last week; the tram
pied peas and broken lettuce leaves; the
pungent spring onion; last years russets,
the cabbage stalks which lay in heaps and
all the things which are offered for sale
in that great market. II Is not, taken alto
gether an exhilarating fragrance; but the
residents of King street are accustomed to
It; they have it with them all the year
round, at every season; they no more COM
plain of it than the people near BillingsSate
complain of the smell of fish which langs
forever in the air.
The lady was a widow; quite young
widow; not more than four and twenty;
the weeds which spoke of her condition
were modified, so to speak, as to pe-
token a widOwhood of two years, at east,
they signiied by their shape, by the man.
ner of wearing them by some feminine
cunning which would be difficult to explain
yet it was to be discerned-by an artful
touch invisible yet perceptible-by the hand
which pats the bow and smoothS the
strings and introduces some small change
into the form; a confession OF Christian
resignation; perhaps, also, though this, De
sure, the widow would never allow-she
was herself unconscious of 1.-THE thing
was due to her dreSsmaker- the fact that
she was at least inclined the mind some
times works unconsciously and like
watch is only shown to be at work by
the breathing which in the engine of time
is a ticking-to consider dispassionately,
and critically, yet with a certain sympathy,
any Overtures which might be made
should such present themseives-of entering
again upon the married state, which is con-
secrated by Holy Church, yet denounced by
poet and satirist as Offering fewer prizes
than the state lottery.
This morning. however her face beled
her dress. There was no look of Venus
In it; there was no SOftneSS of possible
love. Her face comely and attractive of
the soft kind; her cheek like a peach; her
eyes large, Hmpid and full of soft sunshine
was now disturbed and tangled. like harp
sichOrd out OF tune, with anxiety and
doubt.
1t was full of care and care had no busi-
ness with such face; it was full of trouble.
and trouble was an emotion for which that
face was not intended by nature; her lips
trembled, and they ought to have smiled;
her cheek, which should have remained
soft and touched with the tender hue of
the wild rose in June, changed color as her
IlOUS0IS went wandering mere anu Ilere,
and always came back to the same point.
Whatever that was, the tears gushed out
and rolled down her cheek. Had there been
any young man present of reasonable feel
ing for the sex he would have cast himself
at her feet crying aloud that her face was
made for happiness, and that he would
himself, at any cost, take upon himself,
with no other hope of reward than to
her once more freed from trouble, all her
cares, her anxieties and the consequences,
if any, of her follies. if there had been fol-
lies; or her misfortunes, if there had been
misfortunes.
= on her table lay two or three open let
ters. she glanced at them from time to
time, not as IL 10 derive consolation or hope
from their utterances, but as II to hear
their reproaches; as II she could not choose
but look on them The letters were, In
truth. accusing voices: they accused the
lady. yet not in words, of follies of extray-
agances; they warned her. too late, of what
may happen to a woman left early In life
without a guide and COUNSELLOR a woman
who understands nothing-it is a common
falling with women-of the simple rules of
compound addition and subtraction and
therefore goes on spending without COM
prehension Of what her expenditure meant
until the day came when she finds herself
at the end of her fortune, and with no
means apparent Of paying for her food and
dress and lodging. These letters showed
her that she was that most unfortunate
persona woman In debt. who cannot pay
her debts Or IL she pays Is left destitute
and has no friends who will pay for her.
The end OF such woman Is clear: she must
take shelter In prison, where in a short
time, the manner. the language. the dress,
the thoughts OF the polite world drop OFF
from the residents and they all become
plunged together IN the ruck OF physical
wants. physical suffering. and the sacrifice
OF all those scruples which. outside, raise
men and women on a higher level.
IL bitterness and self-reproach and humil-
iation are wholesome eorrectives for the
soul, even though they come too late to
nd leo ahaI
Heyland this morning was taking a sover-
eign remedy against / know not how MANY
plaguey disorders and diseases of the soul.
such as vanity, self-conceit, complacency
pride OF family, pride of rank the self
respect which is akin TO arrogance and the
whole innumerable tribe Of cognate all
ments
The street below was crowded with
people: all day long and most of the night
there Is a full and flowing tide of human
ne moving Up and down the street, which
is not, however, one OF the most fashion
able resorts Of London. In the morning
from O'Clock tlH noon there are the
people OF the market. the porters who carry
Baskets o. their hssJs. the barrow filled
with fruit and vage.a a.hiss which are car
ried away 10 be haUkNi about the streets
OF the city and suburbs; after noon there
are the people who walk on the piazza a
crowd OF weiidressed people yet not like
the beaux Of the park: they are country
people. members Of parliament, LAWYERS
actors OF Drury Lane and Covent Garden
poets and wits; in the evening there are
the people who frequent the coffee houses
the taverns and the gaming tables: later On
they are the people who take supper after
the play and drink in the night houses
among the ribald company of the place
No sooner have the rakes gone away to
bed than the market people begin again
so that the whole four and twenty hours
there IS in King street continual fockins
OF people to Covent Garden and a contin-
ued noise Of footsteps. voices, barrows
draws and carts, with the frequent fights
or hackney coachmen, ehairmen and the
Porters OF the market
The lady looked out upon the street
The beaux walked delicateiy their cIoudeJ
canes hanging from their rufied wrists
the porters carried baskets of fruit upor
their heads. rudely pushing their way With
In the posts; the street criers, In never.
ending procession, bawied their wares
1ruit from the market, fish from Billings
gate; herbs for medicines: Iaces, ginger
bread. needles and pins. matches, rabbits
poultry, baskets. knives to grind and ket
ties to mend: and the hackney coach rat
Tied over the stones: the brewers dray
with its casks OF beer. dragged heavily anC
Sruntlng and groaning: ladies' with dinSie
oonp hoops. fans hanging from their arm.
ana little caps tied u,odestly under theil
cnlns. % slowly walked along the piazza