The Lee County journal. (Leesburg, Ga.) 1904-19??, 1907-03-01
My Lady Lettuce


She was always called My Lady Let
tice for the moment Of her birth-the
birth which cost her gentle, fragile
mother her life; and as the years roll
led on the title was none the less hers'
The Earl of Cranston, her tather,
took very little notice Of her-he never
quite forgaye her for being the uncon-
scious factor in her mothers early
death-and she grew from childhood to
girlhood a solitary, yet by no means
unhappy person, dimly conscious thaI
there was a latent feeling of animoslty
toward her small and wholly sweet sen
on the part of the being who ought to
have loved her more than the Whole
wide world put together but utterly I'M
able to account for It's presence
She understood that Lord Cranston
preferred to see her at a distance-thaI
he just tolerated her at the head OF ms
table, when her long skirts and turaed-
up hair precluded once and for an her
retention in the schooroom.
But the cause was not borne in upon
her until one certain hot summers day
when in the light of others, eyes she
saw what she had hitherto been d
mystery to her
A pure accident put it into her pref
~ auburn head, and when once she
knew there was no longer any peace
for My Lady Lettice.
She had been out in the cornhelds
that surrounded her country home
gathering in her brown arms, barred TO
the elbow, great handfus of regal Grim
son poppies. A very glorious picture
she made as she stood "breast-hlgh
holding her spoils against her nut
brown cheek
Had My Lady Lettice's mother been
alive that same cheek had been care
fully shielded from the too eager kisses
of the summer sun; but having no one
to take care of her the girl had
wandered at her own sweet will in her
own fashion once she was emancipated
from goveRnesses and such like impedl-
menta that surround the ordinary bud
ding young lady. and her face was a
sure index of the use to which she had
put her time and her liberty!
The Earl never inquired for her; II
she was late for meals he made no com
ment; he utterly refused to secure a
chaperon for his pretty young daugh-
ter, averring that while he lived his
daughter had no use for one,
He did not intend to present her at
court or give her season in town
such as behtted one Of her rank and
beauty-and in the country espionage
was necessary for My Lady Lettice.
And his would-be councillors withdrew,
and the Earl went on in his own obsti-
nate way, until suddenly pulled up
short
And his awakening happened in this
wise:
The day that saw My Lady Lettice
breast high among the corn" brought
two ladies to the court on a visit to
my lord
One was Madame Ronteuil, fasci-
mating little Frenehwoman, who loved
Ga belle Angleterre" and had made it
her home; and the other was a friend
who had come to stay with her
Now, My Lady Lettuce was on the We
randa arranging the poppies she had
that morning gathered, and the win
dow being open on to the balcony every
word the two good ladies uttered while
waiting the arrival of their host car
ried to the girls ears as she stood idly
caressing her beautiful flowers.
She had no intention Of eavesdrop-
ping, but she also had no intention Of
making her presence known in case
her father should object, and it was
with a sudden start that she heard his
name mentioned by Madame
The visitors were evidently discussing
the absent gentleman, and Madame
was enhghtening her friend with q
vivid description.
And" she wound up, the sad part
is that he hates his only daughter-his
only child, in fact, because her mother
died at her birth Inhuman. l call it,
but the girl doesn't seem to mind
don't think she quite understands"
Visiting the sins Of the father upon
the children, | call it, purred The
other lady, mildly How very shock
ing-quite case for the Society fol
the Prevention"
He sentence was cut short by The
arrival of her host But My Lady Let
tice had heard, and her cheeks famed
So that was the reason-her father
hated her! Oh! she was glad, evel
so glad, that at last she had found out
What a fool she had been not to guess
it! Many things became clear to her
viewed in the new light
Her mind was instantly made up