The Bellefontaine Republican. [volume] (Bellefontaine, Logan County, Ohio) 1855-1905, 1903-04-03

2sVsfzss( ing into her greatest woman
tSj ly perfection Her skin was
Ike velvet. n rich. clear. rosy snow,
with the hot young blood glowing
through it like the faint red tfnge we
sometimes see on the inner side of a
white rose leaf. Her hair was very
light brown. almost golden. and fluffy.
soft and fine as skein of Arras silk.
She was OF medium height. with a fig
IRE that Venus might have envied- Her
feet and hands We're small and ap-
parently made for the sole purpose OF
driving mankind distracted In fact.
that seemed TO be the paramount OBJ
ject i'm 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 Iuster Aom beneath the shade of
ever seen
Her voice was soft and full and. ex-
cept when angry. which. alas. was not
infrequent. had a low and coaxing lit
tie rote that made ii 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 if 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. now tell you frankly.
turned over. He, however, was q
blade of very different temper from
any she had known. and when I first
saw signs OF a growing intimacy be-
| tween them l felt. from what little I
had seen of Brandon, that the tables
were very likely to be turned upon her
ladyship. Then thought l, God help
her. for in a nature like hers. charged
| with latent force. strong and hot and
fiery as the suns stored rays. IL need
ed but a flash to make it patent when
damage was sure to follow for some
body-probably Brandon
Mary did not come home with u
from Westminster the morning after
the joustings. as we 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 great deal Of time on our hands
which we employed walking and riding
or sitting in our common room reading
and talking. OF course. as with mos
young men. that very attractive branch
of natural history. woman. was favor
ite topic. and we accordingly discussed
1t a great deaEthat is. to tell the exac
truth. 1 did Although Brandon hat
seen many an adventure during his lif'
on the continent which would not d.
| to write down here, he was as little o
boaster as any man I ever met. and
while am in the truth telling business
was as great braggart OF my inche
as ever drew the longbow-in that line
mean Gods. flush up hot even nov
when think of it, So ! talked grea
deal and found myself infinitely please'
with Brandon's conversational powers
which were rare, being no less than tn
capacity for saying nothing and lister
ing politely to an infinite deal Of tn
same thing, in another form. from me.
remember that l told him / ha
known the Princess Mary from a tim
when she was twelve years old. an
how / had made a fool Of myself abou
her l fear l tried to convey the in
preston that il was her exalted ran
only which made her look unfavorabl
upon my passion and suppressed th
| fact that she had laughed at me goo
| humoredly and put me on as she woul
have thrust a poodle from her lap. Th
| truth is she had always been kind an
! | courteous to me and had admitted N
to a degree of intimacy much create
than 1 deserved This, partly at leas
grew out of the fact that l helped hs
along the thorny path to knowledge.
road she travelled at an eager gallo
for she dearly loved to Icarn-frOm Ct
riosity perhaps
/ am sure she held me In her ligh
gentle heart as a dear friend; but. whi
her heart was filed with this mil
warmth for me. mine began to bur
with the flame that discolors ever.
thing. and l saw her friendliness in
very distorting light She was niue
kinder to me than to most men. but
did not see that it was by reason Of II
absolute harmlessness. and. l suppos
because ! was a vain fool / gradual
began TO gather hope-which goes vii
every vain mans love-and, what
= more. actually climbed to the very ape
e Of idiocy and declared myself. i we
:. knew the infinite distance between u
but. like every other man who can
within the circle of this charming lOa
stone. 1 lost my head and. in shoI
Y made a greater fool Of myself than
naturally was. which is saying a goc
deal for that time in my life, GC
:. knowsi
Of knew vaguely, but did not fairly T
\ alize. how utterly beyond my reach