The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1910-09-22
The Cleaning Girl.
lBy lola E'OrreSter.)
.'Sne'S doing ii q pain mn m m

she would rest for an hour before din
ner, and that's the way she rests
Hush, Marcie,' said Mrs. Devereaux
gently, never gossip, sweetheart
Marcella, serene in her fifteen years
of knowledge of her mothers charac-
ter, smiled wickedly over at Fanchon,
and went on.
t'She's got on that old rose gown,
the traily one, and she's in there on
the big settee in front of the fire, with
heaps of leather cushions piled around
her, just waiting for him to come.''
shes got the glee songs on the pi-
ano rack, all waiting to tempt him.
Fanchon added, meditatively IT think
she's perfect cat. Every boy here
under twenty is crazy over her. Tom
my Allison"
"F'anchon, shall send you to your
room.'' This time Mrs. Devereaux's
tones were ominous and the twins sub
sided with a happy giggle. And just
at this point there came the first ten
der prelude to Tommy's favorite, an
cient. but potent still to stir the pulse
of youth:
"In the cleaning, oh. my darling,
When the lights are dim and low,
And the shadows, softly falling.
Gently come, and gently co.
"It's inane, it really is, my dear"
Mrs. st. Charles of Montreal leaned
over to say to Mrs. Devereux. Jean
sang Grieg to these male humans last
evening, and emptied the room in three
minutes, and that girl simply lures
them singing those old songs
81 know it, Mrs. Devereux shrug-
ged her shoulders negatively. "And it
is my fault. She is such a superior
sort of a girl. / advertised for a tray
cling companion for the twins when
we were leaving Lakewood. instead of
a governess, and that's what makes
the difference. There are lot of col
1Nr~- ~sn1- g. 10 &oI-
tions as travelling companions with the
best families for the sake of the sum-
mer outing. She is one of the Della
ware Leonards, my dear, second cous-
in, or something to j. Madison Leon
ard of Leonard Manor. oh, dear yesi
But, of course, we never speak of it,
as they might not like it known-the
Madison Leonards, I mean. She has
such a sweet influence over the twins
except for this one habit 1 think I
may call 1t habit of singing these,
these glee songs in the cleaning. And
as long as the twins have no grown
up brothers.
Mrs. Devereux's shoulders lifted the
and expressively, and conveyed just the
correct shade of meaning without
giving any offense to the Madison
Leonards.
But they have a grown-up uncle"
Mrs. Devereux made no comment.
The living room opened on two We
randas, separate from each other, on
different sides of the broad, rustic
bungalow shaped hotel. And at that
precise moment, on the other veranda,
quite as nonchalantly as one of the
boys under twenty might have done,
smoking a cigarette. and listening to
the soft, contralto voice within the
darkened room.
Slowly his cigarette went out, 1eav-
ing a long white ash at which Mr..
Carr stared retrospectively, and when
the music died away, he dropped the
cigarette over the rail and went quiet
ly into the living room, to meet his
destiny like a man.
He had loved Leonie Leonard from
the first time he had seen her, 1t
seemed to him. She had come up the
narrow path in Glen Rossmore with
laden with great fern fronds, fresh
broken in the green depths below
where the sound of running water
broke the stiffness of the place. 1t had
girlishness that had won him, nor the
charm of her blond hair and dark
eyes. 1t was something more than
these, some heavenly gift of grace
that seemed to rest upon her. He had
hardly talked a dozen times to her in
as many weeks, yet every night he
had sat out there in the twilight and
listened while she sang the tender, rare
OLD songs IndI all the IlGIOuy VI Tic
new schools cannot quite still. And
he knew that she was aware of his
presence there. Even while the boys,
as the twins called them, f1ocked 10y
ally, eagerly around her, something in
her voice made him know that it car
ried a message to him alone.
Mrs. Devereux made one sole COM
ment.
"You know you have a duty to full
fill to the twins, Bertrand. I am your
only sister, and I think it would be
positively vicious in you at forty-two.
to marry, and take away the twins
chances
At that particular moment the
twins chances on the Carr millions
would have brought about fifteen be-
low par. The long, low ceiled room
was empty, save for the two figures
at the piano, and suddenly one of these
rose and crossed to the fire. Ber-
trand followed eagerly, his face set
with a determination that had stood
him in good stead in other battles.
"Oh, it isn't you I am thinking
about Leonie exclaimed, her head
uplifted, as she leaned back against
the high rock fireplace. TITS Mrs.
Devereux and the twins. The girls
have been splendid chums of mine,
not just girls I was paid to talk to
and travel with. And they told me all
about you before YOU came up here. |
told me just what it meant to them
having such an uncle, and such pros
poets. It gave them grip on society
that would carry them straight ahead
to sure success as debutants. I just