Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1909-10-28
MY LADY OF
THE ROSES
By Richard King

WOrQ winch pest eApTesSeu Her. Dc
witching Absolutely betwitching"
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 firstrate 'coiffeur; pretty,
piQuant, somewhat indefinite, features
set in a face whose contour was a per-
feet oval; the dearest little rosebud
mouth, all pouts and infectious laugh
ter.
AS ii 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, after
ALL was Just as it should be. seeing
women never can understand these
things.
So, you see, was wise in not tell
ing Shiea anything about the lovely
creature 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 love affair
so well that in spite of the distance
between us, and huge bowl of Grim
son and white roses placed upon her
table nearly hiding her from my sight,
when she raised her glass of cham
payne to her lips she looked at me
lovingly over the brim and deliberate
ly smiled.
The note l scrubbed to my lovely
vis-a-vis was the absurdest thing in
the world. Yet now, as | look back
upon the incident, it strikes me as
being wonderfully discreet for man
whose friends imagine his whole life
to be made up of blunders.
in the dead of night" ! wrote, the
world is full of ghosts-restless be-
ings seeking happiness and repose.
Should there be hope for one of these
tonight take from the bowl of roses
in front of you 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 | saw her
read it and double il 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 supremacy quiet
way as if the most natural thing in
the world. she stretched out her hand
towards the roses in front of her. She
must have known that my eyes were
upon her devouring her every move
ment; she must have heard, too. the
beating of my heart, for she tantal-
izingly played, first with a white rose
and then with red one, until | could
have almost cried out in the agony
of suspense. At last, just as the ten
sion was becoming well-nigh unOear-
able, she suddenly broke off the red
dest among the red roses and fast
ened it carelessly to the front Of her
corsage over her heart.
Then, indeed, | was happy. Then,
indeed. felt at last that life was
worth living, and that if this world
was not exactly as happy as heaven,
1t at least had moments that all the
pleasures of paradise could not sur
pass.
In the middle of my perplexity
saw my lady of the roses and her
companion rise from their seats.
observed, too. the covert looks of
admiration that she excited among
the onlookers by all the graceful sup
pleness of her superb figure
AS she moved forward, gathering
her beautiful wraps around her, our
eyes for one brief delirious moment
met in perfect understanding. saw
the beautifullymoded arm and the
pearl-tipped fingers that so longed to
grasp, and / saw, to my utter aston.
ishmeDt and dismay, that, as she
passed my table, she unpinned the
rose fastened to her corsage AND
crumpled it up, disdainfully, scatter
ing it's crimson petals at my feet.
- had hardly recovered from my
modification when, on looking up with
the greatest effort at complete indif-
ference have ever striven after in my
life. found to my dismay, that the
lovely lady Of the roses and her COM
panion had suddenly disappeared.
The only thing that anyone was able
to tell me was that they had both
casually entered the hotel, taken din
ner in the restaurant, and disappeared
directly afterward. Beyond that, all
was enveloped in inpenetrable mys-
terry. In fact, | never saw either of
them again, though it is true that a
few days afterward, ! learned she had
returned the next day, asked some
leading questions concerning myself
from the manager of the hotel, and
had gone away again Immediately.
The only definite information they
could give me was that she had driv-
en- up in a magnificent motor car up
on which a coronet was emblazoned