The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1903-04-08
CHAPTER III.
THE PRINCESS MARY.

ELMIyItSEH rig titO hSh tSoSS Ni'b
EHSY ly perfection. Her skin was
like velvet, n rich, clear, rosy snow,
with the hot young blood glowing
through 1t like the faint red tinge we
sometimes see on the inner side Of a
white rose leaf. Her hair was n very
light brown, almost golden, and fluffy,
soft and fine as a skein Of Arras silk.
She was of medium height, with a fig
ure that Venus might have envied. Her
feet and hands were small and APP
parcntly made for the sole purpose Of
driving mankind distracted. In fact,
that seemed to be the paramount OBJ
ject In her creation, for she had the
world Of men at her feet. Her great
est beauty was her glowing dark brown
eyes, which shone with an ever chang
ing luster from beneath the shade of
the longest, blacklist upcurving lashes
ever seen.
Her voice was soft and full and, ex-
cept when angry, which, uius, was not
i%nfreQuent, had a low and coaxing lit
tie note that made 1t irresistible. She
was a most adroit coaxer and knew
her power full well, although she did
not always plead, having the Tudor
temper and preferring to command
when she could. AS before limited, she
had coaxed her royal brother out Of
several proposed marriages for her
which would have been greatly to his
advantage, and IL you had only known
Henry Tudor, with his vain, bolster
Gus, stubborn violence, you could form
some idea of Mary's powers by that
achievement alone.
Such was the royal maid to whose
tender mercies, 1 now tell you frankly,
my friend Brandon vas soon to be
turned over. He, however, was a
blade of cry different temper from
any she had known, and when l first
saw signs Of n growing intimacy be-
tween them 1 felt, from what little I
had seen OF Brandon, that the tables
were very likely to be turned upon her
ladyship. Then thought I, God help
her." for In n nature like hers, charged
with latent force, strong and hot and
fiery as the suns stored rays, it need
ed but a fash to make 1t patent when
damage was sure to follow for m
body-probably Brandon.
Mary did not come home with us
| from Westminster the morning after
the joustings, as VIC had expected, but
followed some four or five days later,
and Brandon had fairly settled himself
at court before her arrival. AS neither
his duties nor mine were onerous, we
had a greIt deal Of time on u hands,
which we employed walking and riding
or sitting In our common room reading
and talking. OF course, as with most
young men, that very attractive branch
OF natural history, woman, was n favor
lite topic, and we accordingly discussed
1t a great deal-that is, to tell the exact
truth, 1 did. Although Brandon had
seen many an adventure during his life
on the continent which would not do
to write down here, he was ms little Of
a boaster as any man I ever met, and.
while 1 am in the truth telling business.
1 was as great a braggart of my inches
rs ever drew the longbow-in that line,
I mean. Gods, 1 flush up hot even now
when 1 think of it! So 1 talked a great
deal md found myself infinitely pleased
with Brandon's conversational powers,
which were rare, being no less than the
capacity for saying nothing and listen
ing politely to an Infinite deal Of the
same thing, in another form, from me.
1 remember that 1 told him I had
known the Princess Mary from q time
when she was twelve years old, and
how / had made n fool Of myself about
her. 1 fear / tried to convey the i'm
preston that 1t was her exalted rank
only which made her look unfayorably
upon my passion and suppressed the
fact that she had laughed Mt mt good
humoredly and put me off as she would
have thrust a poodle from her lap. The
truth is she had always been kind and
courteous to me and had admitted me
to n degree Of intimacy much greater
than 1 deserved. This, partly at least,
grew out of the fact that 1 helped her
along the thorny path to knowledge, a
road she travelled at an eager gallOp,
for she dearly loved to learn-from Gu
riosity perhaps.
I am sure she held me In her light,
gentle heart as q dear friend; but, while
her heart was filed with this mild
warmth for me, mine began to burn
with the flame that discolors every
thing, and / saw her friendliness in n
very distorting light. She was much
kinder to me than to most men, but I
did not see that 1t was by reason of my
absolute harmlessness, and, [ suppose,
because 1 was a vain fool I gradually
began to gather hope-which goes with
every vain mans love-and, what ia
more, actually climbed to the very apex
of idiocy and declared myself, I well
knew the infinite distance between us;
but, like every other man who came
within the circle Of this charming load
stone, I lost my head and, in short,
made a greater fool OF myself than 1
naturally was, which is saying a good
deal for that time in my life, God
knows!
knew vaguely, but did not fairly re.
alize, how utterly beyond my reach in
every way h was until I opened the
foodgates of my passion, as I thought
1t, and saw her smile and try to check
tine coming laugh. Then came q look
Of offended dignity, followed by a
quick, sOftening glance.
Leave me n friend, / pray you,
Edwin. 1 value you too highly to lose,
and esteem you too much to torment.
Do not make OF yourself one Of those
fools VIII feel, or pretend to feel, / care
not which, such preference for me. You
cannot know In what contempt q wom-
an holds n man who follows her though
n despises him. No man can beg a
woman's love; he must command It. Do
not join their ranks, but let us be good
friends. 1 will tell you the plain truth.