The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1904-10-19
VII.
Romance.

eyes, his maternal great-aunt must
have been a Miss Clavering, of Logan"
| says Isabella Vansittart, with decision:
"co-heiress to the Logan estates, and a
noted beauty. The Marquis de Val.
mont was her first lover. He got killed
in a duel with the celebrated Colonel
Butler, and six months later she mar
ried Henry Vansittart, a first cousin
of our fathers. You understand me,
Theodore; you are following what 1
say? A great-aunt of this young man
Severne married our fathers cousin,
Henry Vansittart."
Notwithstanding the beauty Of the
June night, the lamps in the farm par
Tor are lit, curtains closely drawn, and
the two elder sisters are in the thick
of the backgammon contest with
which, summer and winter alike, their
eventless days come to a close. Aunt
Hosie sits at her knitting; a shade
more Of gravity than is Usual round
her lips.
"Tbere, Daphne! You hear" cries
Miss Theodore. as Daphne Chester en-
tiers. According to Isabella's chron'
ology, we may claim a kind Of kinship
with your hero. Handsome is that
handsome does" continues Theodore.
"Sir John Severne is one of the very
ugliest men it has been my luck to
meet. Still, there can be no doubt he
behaved with presence Of mind as re.
CARDS the child. Presence Of mind,
simply. AS to thinking there could
have been any danger with Paul act
ually under my own eyes, it is ridicu.
lous.'
"Uglyw exclaims Daphne, indignant
". Aunt Hosie Ginning in a deep
toned second, "Sir John Severne ug'
ly?" Is -
"To a remarkable. and unusual eX.
tent" answers Miss Theodore. II
might, indeed, say Of his face that il
has no line Of feature at all. A face
as our poor father used to remark
without a profile. When 1 saw him
at work in the bayfield, this afternoon,
I could not help feeling how well the
employment sat upon him. But, OF
course, youth, animal spirits, and a
sunburnt skin have always q certain
charm for some tastes"
:. "Sir John Severne has a great heart
Who could cavil about the profile of a
man who has been your salvation, res
cued that which is dearer to you than
YOUR own life? Sir John Severne Isl
her voice t~rembles-"is everything to
me that one human being can be to
another"
"Ahem! Sister," cries Miss Theo.
dora, not without a shade Of meaning
in her voice, sit is your turn to play.
I have thrown cinq-ace again, and do
not enter"
"Aye, aye" muses. Miss Vansittart,
holding the dice box loosely between
her well-formed, withered old hands.
"But what renders the coming OF this
young man really extraordinary is that
two nights ago I had a dream. You
hear, all Of you, a dream!
II saw him, as plainly as I see
either of you, dripping with water,
supporting Paul in his arms, and with
his right hand holding out a wedding
ring. Not altogether such q dream as
could be wished, I am aware, but we
must receive such things" says Miss
vansittart, solemnly; I'VE must re-
ceive such things for good or for evil
as they are sent to US. That dream
portends marriage"
Z "Marriage" exclaims Aunt Hos1e,
letting 60 her knitting with an abrupt
ness that causes at least a quarter of
q row Of stitches to drop from the
pins, and with an acerbity very I'M
usual in her voice. 81 wish the word
were expunged from the English Ian
guage. Marriage!. Here-at Fief-de'
'la-Reine!"
To be continued. a