Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1909-07-23
MY LADY OF THE ROSES.


Waving masses of nut brown hair held
together Grecian fashion in bands of gold
and arranged becomingly with all that
apparent carelessness which bespoke a
first eoiffeur; pretty, piquant, some
what indefinite, features set in a face
whose contour was a perfect oval; the
dearest little rosebud mouth, all pouts
and infectious laughter; large, beauti-
fully-shaped gray green eyes fringed with
heavy lashes, from beneath whose shadow
seemed to tantalizingly Turk the eternal
question; and with a perfectly moulded
figure, easy and graceful. Oh, there was
no doubt about it whatsoever, she was
witching-absolutely bewitching.
As it so happened, the table where she
and her companion were seated stood in
close proximity to our own, though from
where / was sitting | had an absolutely
uninterrupted view of them both, while
Shiela, who was with me, was placed
with her back turned towards them
which, aft er all. was Just as it should
be, seeing women never can understand
these things
So, you see, | was wise in not telling
Shiela anything about the lovely erea
ture sitting opposite me. For one thing,
because she would not have understood,
and for another thing, the fair stranger
and myself had carried on our language
of-the-eye love affair so well that in
spite of the distance between us. and a
huge bowl of crimson and white roses
placed upon her table nearly hiding her
from my sight, when she raised her glass
of champagne to her lips she looked at
me lovingly over the brim and delib-
erately smiled
The note I scrubbed to my lovely Wis
avis was the absurdest thing in the
world Yet now, as | look back upon
the incident, it strikes me as being won
derfully discreet for man whose friends
imagine his whole life to be made up of
blunders. 1t had, think, certain old
world flavor and a cautiousness too, that
would not have disgraeed diplomat.
''In the dead of night" / wrote, ''the
world is full of ghosts-restless beings
seeking happiness and repose. Should
there be hope for one of these tonight,
take from the bowl of roses in front OF
you a crimson rose; if, however, there is
no hope, then take a white one"
/ saw the waiter slip the note into her
lap. | saw her unfold it under shadow
of the table, and l saw her read it and
double it up, slipping it quickly into the
jeweled satchel at her side; and then,
all on the tiptoe of excitement, / waited
impatiently for her to act as | desired.
Yet, for long time, she did absolutely
nothing at all but look about her, and
/ was in despair lest some wording of
my letter should have given offense.
Then, suddenly, in a supremacy quiet
way, as if the most natural thing in the
world she stretched out her hand to-
wards the roses in front of her. She
must have known that my eyes were up
on her, devouring her every movement;
she must have heard, too, the beating of
my heart, for she tantalizingly played,
first with white rose and then with
red one. until | could have almost cried
out in the agony of suspense. At last,
just as the tension was becoming we'll
nigh unbearable, she suddenly broke off
the reddest among the red roses and
fastened it carelessly to the front of her
corsage over her heart.
Then. indeed. was happy. Then. in
deed, | felt at last that life was worth
living, and that if this world was not
exactly as happy as heaven. it at least
had moments that all the pleasures of
paradise could not surpass.
In the middle of my perplexity | saw
my lady of the roses and her compan-
ion rise from their seats l observed.
too, the covert looks of admiration that
she excited among the onlookers by all
the graceful suppleness of her superb
figure. Manlike, was elated by the 10Y
of my secret conquest. and longed to
cry out in jubilation, ''She is mine! She
is mine! She is mine!"
As she moved forward, gathering her
beautiful wraps around her. our ewes
for one brief delirious moment met in
perfect understanding. l heard the silk
en- rustic OF her dress. | saw the avert
ed head turned in apparent oblivion to
myself. | saw the beautifully moulded
arm and the pearl-tipped fingers that l
so longed to grasp, and / saw, to my ut
ter establishment and dismay that. as
she passed my table, she unpinned the
rose fastened to her corsage and crum-
pied it up, disdainfully, scattering its
crimson petals at my feet.
| had hardly recovered from my NOR
tiication when, ON looking up with the
greatest effort at complete indifference
have ever striven after in my life. /
found to my dismay, that the lovely
lady of the roses and her companion had
suddenly disappeared,
The only thing that anyone was able
to tell me was that they had both casu-
ally entered the hotel taken dinner in
the restaurant, and disappeared direct
ly afterward. Beyond that, all was en-
veloped in impenetrable mystery. In
fact, l never saw either OF them again.
though it is true that a few DAYS after
ward, l learned she had returned the
next day. asked some leading questions
myself from the manager of
the hotel, and had gone away again i'm
mediately. The only definite informa-
ton they could give me was that she
had driven up in a magnificent motor
car upon which a coronet was emblaz-
oned; that she had every appearance of
being a lady of the greatest fashion,
and that her evident embarrassment
had caused certain amount of curiosity
as to the object of her visit among the
Darsounel of the hotel And This cir