The Bellefontaine Republican. [volume] (Bellefontaine, Logan County, Ohio) 1855-1905, 1903-04-24
CHAPTER VII.
LOVES FIERCE SWEETNESS.

sions he was invited. with others. to
her parlor for card playing. But we
spent two evenings with only four of
US present prior to the disastrous
events which changed everything. and
of which / am soon to tell you. Dur
ing these two evenings the Sailor
Lass" was in constant demand
This pair. who should have remained
apart. met constantly in and about the
palace. and every glance added fuel to
the flame Part of the time it was the
princess with her troublesome dignity,
and part of the time 1t was Mary
simply Mary. Notwithstanding these
naughty moods. any one with half an
eye could see that the princess was
gradually succumbing to the budding
woman; that Brandon's stronger ma
ture had dominated her with that half
fear which every woman feels who
loves a strong man-stronger than her
self
One day the rumor spread through
the court that the old French king,
Louis NIL. whose wife. Anne of Brit
tany. had Just died. had asked Mary's
hand in marriage. 1t was this proba-
bly, which opened Brandon's eyes to
the fact that he had been playing with
the very worst sort of fire. and first
made him see that in spite of himself.
and almost without his knowledge. the
girl had grown Wonderfully sweet and
des. to him. He now saw his danger
aud struggled to keep himself beyond
the spell Of her perilous glances and
siren song This modern Ulysses made
masterful effort, but. alas. had no
ships to carry him away and no wax
with which to fill his ears. Wax Is a
good thing. and no one should enter
the siren country without it. Ships.
too. are good. with masts to tie oneself
to and sails and rudder and a gust of
wind to watt one quickly past the is
land. In fact. one cannot take too
many precautions when in those en-
chanted waters.
Matters began to look dark to me.
Love had dawned in Mary's breast.
that was sure. and for the first time.
with all its fierce sweetness; not that
it had reached its noon. or anything
like it In truth. it might, l hoped. die
i in the dawning. for my lady was as ca
PRECIOUS as a May day. but il was love
love as plain as the sun at rising.
She sought Brandon upon all occasions
and made opportunities to meet him
not openly. at any rate; not with Bran
don's knowledge. nor with any conniv.
ance on his part. but apparently caring
little what he or any one else might
see. Love lying in her heart had made
her little more shy than formerly in
seeking him, but her straightforward
way of taking whatever she wanted
made her transparent little attempts
at concealment very pathetic
As for Brandon, the shaft had en-
tered his heart. too, poor fellow. as
surely as love had dawned in Mary's
He knew the hopeless misery such g
lpassion would bring him. and helped
the good Lord. in so far as he could
to answer his prayer and lead him moi
into temptation. AS soon as he saw
the truth he avoided Mary as much as
possible.
AS said, we had spent several even
ings with Mary after we came home
from Windsor, at all of which her pref
erence was shown in every movement
Some women are so expressive undel
strong emotion that every gesture, &
turn of the head. glance of the eyes
the lifting of hand or the poise Of thu
body speaks with a tongue Of elo
quence, and such was Mary. Her eye
would glow with soft fire when the!
rested upon him, and her whole persoI
told all too plainly what, in truth, i
seemed she did not care to hide. WheI
others were present, she would restrain
herself somewhat. but with only Jan
and myself she could hardly maintain
a seemly reserve. During ali this tim
Brandon remained cool and reall.
seemed unconscious of his wonderful
attraction for her. 1t is hard to under
stand why he did not see 1t, but real
ly believe he did not Although b
was quite at ease in her presence. to
much so. Mary sometimes thought. AND
strangely enough. sometimes told hir
in a fit of short lived, quickly repente
anger that always set him laughing
d yet there was never a word or gestur
: that could hint of undue familiarity.
!, After these last two meetings, a
{ though the Invitations came frequent
ly, none was accepted Brandon ha
contrived to have his duties. ostensibl
T at least, occupy his evenings and di
honestly what his judgment told hil
was the one thing to do-that is. n
!. main away from a fire that could Civ
4 no genial warmth, but was sure
: burn him to the quick. l saw this onl
too plainly. but never a word Of it wa
spoken between u.s.
The more l saw of this man the mol
respected him. and this curbing OF b
affections added to my already high e
teen. The effort was doubly wise
d Brandon's case. After a time Mai
), began to suspect his attempts to avoi
her. and she grew cold and distaI
through pique- Her manner, howeve
had no effect upon Brandon. who d.