Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1906-03-08
BLOOMFIELD

my message, reSrettlnS my Suuueh
departure, hoping for my speedy re-
turn, and permitting me to retain her
hand In mine longer than Is custom.
ary in the farewells of mere friends.
She also suggested that / might write
10 her If did not return In two days;
a suggestion which I assured her l
would most certainly adopt, at the
same moment resolving to do so un.
der any circumstances. I would have
given the world If only l might have
kissed her. but did not dare to do SO.
Utterlng a final farewell, I regarded
her with great earnestness for few
moments, then released her hand and
hurriedly left the house.
The course of my life seemed to
have changed entirely in fourteen
days. Never before had my mind been
filled by so many or such conflicting
ideas. Before my uncle came to Hol
denhurst l had been idle and careless;
now my head ached from considera.
ton of affairs of which l could con-
ceive no satisfactory issue. One thing,
however was clear to me. In only a
few days I had grown to love Miss
Marsh with a devotion more intense
than L had supposed my nature Der
mitted; and short as our acquaintance
had been l would have asked that
lady, before obeying my fathers urg
ent call, to become my wife but for
that formidable barrier between us
her wealth. Her eyes speeches. mes
sages, an occasional phrase or word
from her lips, or, rarer still, her gentle
would accord with the dictates of her
own heart. But my pride was rs great
as my love, and felt strongly that l
could never ask woman Of enormous
wealth to become the wife of the por.
tionless son of an impoverished squire.
Without commercial training, and with
no natural aptitude for business, there
vas absolutely no hope for me to raise
myself to her social plane by any eff.
fort in my power to make, and In bit
terness of spirit / alternately cursed
her wealth and my poverty. Visions
of the perfect happiness which might
be mine were either Of these Difficult
ties removed served only to increase
my depression. AS my uncle's car
riage sped toward ST. Pancras, Brown
ing's remarkable line,
"Money buys women"
kept ringing in my ears, tormentlng
me like an evil sprite. Then there
was that smart young cleric, the Rev.
Evan Price. With the Rev. Evan
Price I had very little to do, and our
communications had always been Of
the most friendly character possible,
but heaven, how hated him now! and
with what nendish delight was con.
templating his extreme poverty when
the thought that he was probably at
the point Of greatly increasing his In.
come and of residing permanently In
London promptly punished me for my
uncharitableness, and I WINGED. In
the chaos of my ideas did not forget
Annie Wolsey. the unfortunate play
fellow of my childhood, whose youth
fulness had always prevented me re-
garding her as an aunt; nor did for
get my grandfather, anxious and
alone, as far from home as could be:
nor my indulgent father. now expect
ing my return, but I do not much
doubt that these considerations were
of a minor sort, and that the central
figure In my mind which occasioned
my cerebral disturbance was Con-,
stance Marsh, and no other.
My uncle's horses were good ones,
and soon conveyed me to the Midland
terminus, but had no time to spare.
Having bought my ticket, I sought for
an empty compartment, for felt
averse to staring at strangers. after.
the manner of English travellers, for
three hours; while to listen to conver-
sation in which I was not Interested
would have been simply uncomfortable.
There being no compartment without
passengers I selected the one which
contained the fewest-an old lady, at
tended by a young maid. In my alb
straction I left my Gladstone bag on
the platform, where, after the train
was we'll in motion 1t was noticed by
my uncle's groom, who contrived to
thrust it through the window 80 that
1t fell on the floor at Iie feet Of the old
lady, causing her to shrek appallingly.
apologized for the clumsiness OF
.he servant. and for my own forgetful-
ness, which had caused the incident,
but despite oil l could say, and the
careful ministrations of her maid, the
old lady continued to roll her eyes, to
pant, and to utter strange sounds, un-
til at last I thought she had suffered
some serious injury. When she per-
ceived that I was really alarmed the
old lady recovered herself with sur!
prising suddenness, and remarked
that the bag had not touched her, but
that 1t nearly fell OH her feet, In which
case 1t would have been impossible to
tell what might have happened. She
then requested her maid to hand her
certain flask. This command was
more easily given than obeyed. for the
flask. 1t appeared, was at the bottom
of a closely-packed portmanteau,
which had to be emptied before the
article wanted could be got at. The
lady scolded Eer maid terribly because
of the delay, and when the maid tim:
idly ventured to observe that the flask
Ind haan the first thinn To be nlac cad In