Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1919-07-25
CHAPTER II.

Another citizen said an eloquent
thing about Miss Isabel Amberson's
looks. This was Mrs. Henry Franklin
Foster, the foremost literary authority
and intellectual leader of the COM
munity-foT both the daily newspa-
perS thus described Mrs. Foster when
she founded the Women's Tennyson
club; and her word upon art, letters
and the drama was accepted more as
law than as opinion. Naturally when
'Hazel Kirke" finally reached town,
after its long triumph in larger places,
many people waited to hear what
Mrs. Henry Franklin Foster thought
Of 1t before they felt warranted in ex-
pressing any estimate Of the play. In
fact, some Of them waited in the lobby
Of the theater as they came out and
formed an inquiring group about her.
II didn't see the play" she in
formed them.
What! Why, we saw you, right In
the middle of the fourth row.
eyes" she said, smiling, "but I was
sitting just behind Isabel Anderson.
I couldn't look at anything except her
wavy brown hair and the wonderful
back of her neck
The ineligible young men of the
town (they were all ineligible) were
unable to content themselves with the
view that had so charmed Mrs. Henry
Franklin Foster; they spent their time
struggling to keep Miss AmbersOn's
face turned toward them. She turned
it most often, observers said toward
two one eXcelling in the general
struggle by his sparkle, and the other
by that winning if not winsOme old
trait, persistence. The sparkling gen.
tleman ''led germans" with her, and
sent sonnets to her with his bou-
quets-sOnnetS lacking neither music
nor wit. He was generous, poor, we'll
dressed, and his amazing persuasive
ness was one reason why he was al
ways in debt. No one doubted that
he would be able to persuade Isabel,
but he unfortunately joined too merry
a party one night and during a noon
light serenade upon the lawn before
the Anderson mansion, was easily
identified from the windows as the
person who stepped through the bass
VOL and had to be assisted to a wait
ing carriage. One of Miss AmbersOn's
brothers was among the serenaders,
and when the party had dispersed re-
NAMED prOpped against the front
door in a state Of helpless liveliness {;
the Major going down in dressing
gown and slippers to bring him in, and
scolding mildly, while imperfectly con-
cealing strong impulses to laughter.
Miss ANDERSON also laughed at this
brother the next day, but for the
sutton it was a different matter: she
refused to see him when he called to
apologize. you seem to care a great
deal about bass viOls!" he wrote her.
Il promise never to break another"
She made no response TO the note, I'M
less 1t was an answer, two weeks
later, when her engagement was an
nOunced. She took the persistent one,
Wilbur Minafer, 40 breaker Of bass
viols or of hearts, no serenader at all.
A few people, who always fOresaw
everything, claimed that they were not
surprised, because though Wilbur Min
afer might not be an Apollo, as it
were" he was "a steady young bust
ness man and a good church gOer,"
and Isabel Anderson was pretty SEN
slble-for such a snowy girl" But
the engagement astOunded the young
people, and most Of their fathers and
mothers too; and as a topic it sup
planted literature at the next meet
ing of the "Women's Tennyson club"
"Wilbu- Minafer!' a member cried,
her infection seeming to imply that
Wlbur's crime was explained by his
surname. wilbur Minafer! It's the
queerest thing I ever heard! To think
of her taking Wilbur Minafer, just
because a man any woman would like
a thousand times better waS a little
wild one night at q serenadew
mo, that wasn't her reason" said
wise Mrs. Henry Franklin Foster. "If
men only knew lt-and It's a good
thing they don't-a woman doesn't
really care much about whether a
mans wild or not, II It doesn't affect
herself, and Isabel Anderson doesn't
care a thingp
Mrs. Fosterw
mo, she doesn't. What she minds
Is his making a clown of himself in
her front yard 1t made her think he
didn't care much about her. She's
probably mistaken, but that's what
she thinks, and it's too late for her
to think anything else now, because
she's going to be married right away