The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1903-04-08

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ing and coy, if you think 1t a simple,
easy undertaking. l began to fear I
should need another antldote long be-
fore i heard her sweet soul-satisfying
Eyes" L do not believe, however, 1
could have found In the whole world
an antidote to my love for Jane.
In the course of my talk with Bran
don 1 had, as 1 have said, told him the
story of Mary, with some slight vnria-
lions and coloring, or, rather, discolor-
ing, to make 1t appear a little less to
my discredit than the barefaced truth
would have been. 1 told him also about
Jane, and, 1 grievc and blush to say,
expressed a confidence in that direc-
ton / little felt.
1t had been perhaps a year since my
adventure with Mary, and 1 had taken
all that time trying to convince Jane
that l did not mean a word I had said
to her mistress and that / was very
earnest In everything 1 said to her.
But James ears would have heard Just
as much had they been the pair Of
beautiful little shells they 80 much re-
sembled. This troubled me n great
deal, and the best I could hope was
that she held me OH probation.
On the evening of the day Mary came
home to Greenwich, Brandon asked:
"Who and what ON earth is this won
dcrful Mary / hear so much about2
They say she is coming home today,
and the court seems to have gone mad
about 1t, / hear nothing but Mary
is coming! Mary is comingI Maryl
Mary! from morning until night. They
say buckingham is beside himself for
love of her. He has n wife at home, If
I am right, and is old enough to be her
father. Is he not?" 1 assented, and
Brandon continued: "a man who will
make such n fool of himself about q
woman Is woefully weak. The men Of
the court must be poor creatures"
He had much to learn about the
power of womanhood. There js moth
ing on earth-but you know as much
about 1t as / do.
"Wait until you see her." I { answered,
land you will be one of them also. I
iatter you by giving you IL hour with
her to be heels over head in love. With
an ordinary man 1t takes one-sixtieth
of that time. So you see I pay a COM
pliment to your strength of mind"
"Nonsense" broke i'm Brandon. do
you think / left all my wits down in
Suffolk Why, man, she is the sister
Of the king and Is sought by kings and
emperors. / might rs well fall In love
with a twinkling star. Then, besides,
my heart Is not ON my sleeve. You
must think me a fool-a poor, enervat-
cd dfnannrfnn fool lilo lilo -unlI 1lixo
one of those mobiles cf England. Don't
put me down with them, Caskoden, IL
yon would remain my friend"
We both laughed at this sort Of talk,
which was n little In advance of the
time for a noble, though an idiot to the
most of England was q noble still, God
created and to be adored.
Now, when Mary returned the whole
court rejoiced, and I was anxious for
Brandon to meet her and that they
should become friends. There would
be no trouble I'm bringing this meeting
about, since, as you know, I was upon
terms OF intimate friendship with Ma
ry and was the avowed and, as I
thought, at least hoped, all but accept
ed lover OF her first lady in waiting and
dearest friend, Lady Jane Bolingbroke.
Brandon, 1t is true, was not noble, not
ever an English knight, while 1 was
both knighted and noble. but he was
of as old a family as England boosted
and near of kin to some OF the best
blood OF the land. The meeting came
about sooner than I expected and was
very near a failure. 1t was on the sec.
ond morning after Mary's arrival at
Greenwich. Brandon and I were walk.
ing In the palace park when we met
Jane, and I took ithe opportunity to