Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1904-11-22


PLAYERS.
N K-EANwHILE, what of the
NH Countess Anne and Capt.
ANE Grafton? They had passed
through a week Of such
mingled emotions, such alterations Of
Joy and sorrow, Of love and jealousy,
Of remembrances and anticipation, as
could scarcely be described.
When the woman he loved left him
alone the night he recognized her, after
that rapturous exchange Of kisses,
Grafton felt himself transported to
Heaven. He forgot, in the happiness
consequent upon his discovery OF her
identity, the racial antagonism which
should lie between them; he forgot
the great gulf Of war which held them
asunder; he even forgot the engage
ment of Anne to de Vitre. But the
next morning, when the first glow Of
his passion had left him, he was
enabled to view things in clearer
light.
He carefully took account Of the diff
ferent obstacles which separated, or
might tend to separate, him from the
woman he loved. He intended to win
her, come what might, and as the
campaign was like to prove diff
cult one, in which the odds were
mainly against him, 1t behooved him
to take stock Of all opposition and
carefully look over the field. He must
think, he must plan, he must leave
no stone unturned, lose no point In the
game.
First Of all he was an American,
and that was different from an Eng
lishman. Anne, although she showed
little of 1t to a casual inspection, was
an American as well. That was a
point gained. The war, he believed,
would presently be over. That was
another point in his favor. II she
loved him-if she loved him! Who
could doubt 1t after last night? But
did she love him enough to brave the
anger and defy the opposition Of her
grandfather? Did she love him enough
to marry him In despite Of country,
nationality, public opinion? He
thought 80.
She had great pride Of race, and
from the French point Of view she
would be condescending ineffably in
marrying q mere commoner. For the
matter of that, he thought, in his -loY-
Ing humility, that no man was fit to
possess this priceless jewel Of woman
hood. He placed her upon level so
high that she would have been COM
PEELED to condescend to marry even
king, much less q simple American
gentleman. Marriage with him meant
for her the remuneration of title, rank,
station, possessions, country, family,
friends, traditions-he piled up the
catalogue Of sacrifices involved, in
gloomy, ever-deepening humility.
Still, other women had done such
things; these were not insuperable
obstacles.
The last difficulty was the greatest.
There was de Vitre-a stumbling
block, indeed. No man could have
done more for another than he had
done for the young Frenchman. He
had twice saved his life, he had es
tablished his honor, and, by singu
larly ironic trick Of fate, he feared ho
had been the means Of bestowing upon
him the hand of the woman they both
loved.
His own sense of the obligation he
had conferred upon that young
Frenchman lay heavily upon h's soul
He could not demand from him freely
or even take from him by force what
he would have wrested cheerfully from
another. A benefit conferred, however
It may be considered by the recipient
as a benefit forgot, invariably estaD-
fishes q sense of obligation on him
who confers it. Therefore, de Vitre
was an obstacle Of the most serious
moment to the future progress Of his
happiness. How to contend with him
he knew not. Certainly he could not
make the REIMBURSEMENT Of the
Frenchman's desire for Anne the price,
or the reward, Of his own past serv-
ices. A genuine man, he could not
even bear to have these services men
toned; and that they so persistently
remained in his thoughts gave him
honorable uneasiness. A very exalted
and chivalric nature had Philip Graf
ton. He was particularly nice on the
point Of honor.
That was not all either, for con-
nected with de Vitre was the honor Of
the de Rohans. Anne, in the most
public manner and of her own free
will, had betrothed herself to the
young Frenchman. She had volun-
tarily entered upon the relationship
and assumed the obligation. Her
sense of honor was not less keen than
his. She was woman, he remem-
bered, imbued with all the traditions
of that race whose proud boast it was
that while they had not been born to
the kingly degree and they would not
condeseend to the princely rank, yet
they were Rohans. Was Anne capable
of sacrificing her word for her love?
1t was doubtful.
The last consideration that arose In
his mind was an acute conjecture that
the marquis would not be much bet
ter satisfied with de Vitre for a suitor
for his granddaughter than he would
have been with Grafton. The old
man probably, nay, certainly, had
formed his own plans, and there was
without doubt third suitor OF his
personal choosing awaiting Anne in
France. This meant much. II Graf
ton could succeed in matching the
marquis determination against Anne's
will-power, between de Vitre and the
other, he might the more easily
achieve success. ss.-.,,-.-.-.,--..-..--.--....-,-.
aized all these things, weighed
fhek.' arefully, considered them ex-
fhaustively, and racked his brain in an
endcayor to solve the problem. His
resolute determination was unabated.
That. his love for her, and her feeling
L.