Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Benton County, Or.) 1900-1909, 1903-05-26
MRS. FORRESZER.

! his instigation, Madame de Montolieu had
mentioned Winifred to Sir Howard. An
angry flush darkened his brow as he
said, sternly:
/ Madame, / feel no interest in hearing
of Miss Eyre and | beg in future you will
spare me- all allusion to the issue Of a
disgraceful connection"
! The gentle old Frenchwoman had con-
veyed the result of her attempt to MIR.
Eyre with characteristic delicacy, but he
felt the insult Of the refusal keeniy. 1t
was his only hope for Winifred, for his
own relations were not in position to be
of use to her. Always in the evening
she sang, played or read to him; and
sometimes, when he had watched her
with proud delight busted with some re-
fined accomplishment, he would sigh and
! say:
''Ah! my child, you were born for some
! thing better than poor farmers daugh-
ter
| But if Winifred at times chafed be-
cause she was the unnoticed daughter OF
poor farmer, she Dever looked down on
or blamed her father. She had no wish
to be elevated from her present position
without him; she sought no advantage
from which he was excluded. She even
strove to conceal her regrets from him;
but the eyes of love are discerning, and
although Mr.. Eyre never allowed her to
see that her longings were known to him,
he was painfully alive to them.
Miss Eyre left the town one day and
walked on for about half mile, until
she came to a small white cottage stand
ing back from the road in a pleasant gar
den, well shaded by old-fashioned fruit
trees. Winifred did not stand on the
ceremony of knocking, but raised the
latch and entered the drawing room.
where Madame de Montolieu was sitting
before her embroidery frame. She looked
up with a glad smile, and, rising, kissed
the young girl on both cheeks.
.'Ah! my rosebud" she exclaimed, ''you
have come at last"
Eyes, dear madame" Winifred replied,
''but l have not been wholly successful
in executing your commissions. See!"
she added. "this green wool is shade
lighter than the pattern, but l thought it
would scarcely matter, as your other
greens are so much deeper. The red is
the right color, but it seems to me
little faded lying in the shop. 1t is inn
possible to get exactly what you want
in these little country towns"
Both will do excellently well, my
child I thank you," returned Madame
de Montolieu, putting ON her spectacles.
Then she looked fondly at Winifred's
face; but something she saw there
brought an increased gravity over her
placid features.
"My lover she said, gently, "has any
thing happened to distress you?'
The quick tears sprang to Winifred's
eyes, but for a moment she was silent.
Then she essayed to smile, answering:
''It is my pride, for which you so often
chide me, that has been hurt, dear NAM
ma. l shall make you laugh when I tell
how small a thing has provoked men
But the kind old lady did not laugh
she was full of pitiful tenderness for
the feelings of youth, and sympathized
keenly with the wounds of sensitive
nature like Winifred's. She heard how
Winifred's cousin, Miss Champion, had
passed her on the road that morning, ig-
noring her.
Madame" said Winifred, suddenly,
after a pause, "who do you think the
gentleman with Miss Champion could
be?"
Il cannot tell, my love; probably Wis
itor at the Manor. Stay, my love, may
it not have been Mr.. Hastings? | hear
he has just returned from abroad, and
you know his father and Sir Howard
were great friends. Perhaps he at last
feels a desire to see the beautiful home
of his fathers, which he has neglected so
long. Can you describe him at all?"
81 only saw him moment" returned
Winifred, blushing, ''but his face SEEM
ed rather bronzed with travel; from what
L
eyes and fair hair"
81 think, then,' remarked Madame de
Montolieu, ''that my surmise is correct,
for dark blue eyes and golden hair are
the family characteristics.
Winifred turned homeward with
lighter heart. She had almost forgotten
the affront that had been put upon her;
but she could not forget the eager look
of admiration that had crossed the hand
some strangers face as he turned to
look at@her. Without doubt he was Mr..
Hastings, the owner of all the property
about-of the very wood through which
she was even then passing on her way
to the farm. And a very bright smile
came on her lips as she thought how near
he lived, and that she might perhaps see
him sometimes in her walks. 1t would
be some relief to, the monotony of her
life, only to be able now and then to gaze
on handsome face like his.
One evening Winifred went out for
stroll in the woods with her little Scotch
terrier as her only companion, and, choos-
ing a picturesque spot, sat down to rest
and to dream Of the many women no fair
er than she, who had become famous.
Her speculations were suddenly cut
short by a yap from her terrier, and
turning sharply round, she beheld her
little companion rolling over and over
down the bank under the sudden aud
unprovoked assault of a huge mastiff.
She uttered a little cry of fright, and
sprang to the rescue, when she heard
crashing of the branches at her side,
a sharp, ''To heel, Rollov' from a mans
voice. A sudden recognition, a hasty
apology, and he stood looking at her, hat
in hand, with the same expression of ad-
miration in his eyes that she had seen
there before. There was a pause, dur
ing which the startled Winifred blushed,
and felt painfully confused.
Il fear my dog has alarmed you," said
thn stranper at Ia ast. ssho ia rather wont