The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1904-09-21

NAV be sure, in Aunt Hosie's heart
the fine old heart wherein love, crushed
as regarded self, had but opened into
fuller and more perfect blossom for
others. They rose early, and, before
the elder sisters had b~reakfastel,
were on their way, hand in hand,
through the crisp morning air to the
fields. Whatever Henrietta Vansit-
tart's business, whatever the season of
the year, the little figure, faithful as
shadow to substance, followed close
upon her footsteps; father, mother,
playmate-she was all these, and some
thing more besides, to the child's in
stnct. She was Aunt Hosie! .
So, in sunshine and shower, life
went on until Daphne was eighteen
years old. Then, in a dark hour, it
was resolved, owing to the fact Of
Theodore Vansittart's possessing a
dove-colored satin with Honiton
founces, that the girl must be kept a
child no longer-must "come out"
"We middle-aged people are apt to
grow selfish, Henrietta" said Miss
Theodora-her mind fixed, as she
spoke, on those poor. obsolete fneries,
last worn, alas! at Cheltenham dinner
parties, but which deXterous manipula-
ton and close study of the Petit Cour-
Ter des Danes might bring approx
mately close to the fashion Of the day.
The prospects of the potato harvest,
the fortunes Of a handful Of common
laborers, may be vital enough interests
for you and me. Daphne is eighteen
years old, and 7 call it a positive duty,
a duty that we 1--WE to her grandfath-
er's memory and to the girl, not to let
such an opportunity as the present slip
through our fingers"
The opportunity was a big Govern
ment House ball, given in honor OF the
| arrival Of a new regiment always in
| little outlying military stations an
event Of magnitude and to which the
Miss vansittarts were hidden.
Theodora's early representations
had proved correct. Colonel Vansit-
tart's position was not forgotten in
the Channel Islands, and, on all occa-
sions of. state official gayety, cards
| Of invitation were dispatched, as a
matter of received usage, to the lonely
farmhouse at Quernec. Up to the pres
ent hour'even Theodore had been able
to extract no pleasure from these invi-
tations, beyond arranging them, in
company with the time-yellowed cards
of Cheltenham notabilities, in a china
dish upon the parlor table. What
maiden lady, with her half-century OF
existence well struck, could have the
valor to enter concert or ballroom
save in tie character Of a chaperone!
| But now that Daphne was eighteen
now that inclination could robe itself
in Honiton-founced satin, and call that
garb duty-Miss Theodore felt that
her whole moral attitude toward the
| outside world had shifted.
LET her Judge for herself-let the
| child Judge for herself" she cried, in
| terpreting, by her own lights, q certain
! wistful irresolution on Aunt Hosie's
honest face. Daphne, you are invited
| with ourselves to a ball at Government
| House On the twenty-irst ("to so into
society again under our altered cir
| cumstances," said Miss Theodore, in
| parenthetic minor-"to follow where in
brighter days one used to lead, re-
quires an ehort! Still. I I'm ready to
| sacrifice personal feeling at the call OF
Duty. Are we to refuse or accept"
Need I record Daphne's answer? Did
tile lips of a girl of eighteen ever say
nay to the first ~bewildering temptation
Of white shoes, gossamer skirts, mill
tary music, and a fresh scarlet-jack-
| eted partner for every dance? The in
vitation was accepted; and during the
next three weeks ribbons and gauzes
were canvassed as surely no millinery
details were ever caryaSsed before
within the sober walls OF Fief-de-la-
RENE. Daphne should be dressed in
blue, in green. in pink. No-in this, at
| least, Aunt Hosie's finer sense OF fit.
ness carried the day-Daphne should
be dressed in white, only q degree less
simple than she wore at Confirmation,
and with a natural flower in her hair
or waist-belt for adornment.
And then arose the question Of quad
rifles and lancers.
Daphne had frequented the Christ
mas farmhouse parties round Quer-
nee ever since she was seven years old,
and understood what dancing in its
severer sense meant. In such exercises
as "J'allais chez la ~Boulangere," or
"Grande Maman. que voulez vous:'
she was proficient.
Exercises carried on, without haste,
without rest. solemnly as religious GER
emonies, and to the Stentorian mono
tone Of the performers w voices,
straight through the hours Of a Win
ter's night. Neither of her round dances
was she afraid. Such of the island
children as had been to school in
France were always furious walters.
aud in some room apart would whirl
round at these festivities like so many
small dervishes. while their elders car
ried on the legitimate Christmas rites,
of which I have spoken, in the best
kitchen. But Quadrilles and lancers.
1t came to a matter of necessity that
the three poor old ladies-yes, even
deaf Aunt Isabella-muSt form them
selves into a set. and. with Theodora's
weak treble indicating the once-famil-
lar score. go through the figures, pc
ony-hued Margot. her apron over her
mouth, Jean at her elbow, doing au-
dience.
Thus Daphne, serious as though she