Year: 1878

permits to few people; but to no one
else in the house did the 'heaven- born
maid" present attractions. Don, hard
at work all day, could go to sleep after
dinner in his armchair and Lizzie,
after her manner, could 60 out of the
room in the middle of the most charming
song. Then, when we were singing to-
gether, or when she was gentle and
gracious with the spirit of melody in
her, then was the oil thrown upon my
troubled waters. At times such as
these it flashed across me that she was
aware of it,


At length on one of these occasions I
made dash at her guarded citadel; /
will not say in what words, but with
the blundering foolishness that | sup
pose characterizes all implied aspira-
tions; albeit with sufficient plainness to
leave no chance Of being misunderstood
and then I had indeed to bite the dust
for once in my life. She had been sing
ing Ruth with the most touching pathos
and abandonment-'Where thou goest
will 60, and there will be buried"
and | could not stand it. Don was in
the room, but snoring in that comforta-
BILE undertone which denoted sound
and q uiet slumber. She stood with her
back to the piano, and the sheet of mu-
sic trembling and rustling in her hands,
watching his nodding head in the dis
tance, and turning her delicate profile to
my view. gaadea = 56


mo; will not she half whispered
with naughty rapidity. "You should
have known | would not. do not par
ticularly want to marry anybody she
added, flashing round upon me with her
crimson face but [ will never marry
you. I made up my mind to that long
ago.


Everybody knows how, in the supreme


ly solemn moments of ones life, one is
apt to be assailed with most incongru-
ously ludicrous ideas. In spite of my


bitter modification at her reply, an abb


surd rhyme that had heard somewhere,


flashed into my head:


Do not be like Nancy Baxter


| Who refused man before he'd axed her.


[ believe she saw the ghost of a smile


that might have hovered round my eyes


when | begged to know why she had


made up her mind never to marry me /;


and that made her savage.


because you think l came here to


be made love to, she retorted, with all


the concentrated contempt that her sweet


face and voice could hold. "You think


Lizzie and l have been plotting to catch


you-you think we wanted to inveigle


you into marrying me! l know what


you are going to say"-as | rose and


seized her hands, to stop her-"but it


is not the truth. heard you" lifting


her angry eyes, now wet with unshed


tears, to mine-"I heard you, with my


own ears, tell Don to warn Lizzie be-


forehand that you did not want to be


married. A
81 know you did" replied, tighten


ing my hold of her hands, while she


made feeble efforts to get away ''and
wish my tongue had been cut out before
l could have insulted you and her like
that. Forgive me, Rachel; | have beer
punished enough


II cannot" she answered, still pant
ing with her excitement. Il should b,
be ashamed of myself if could take ;
/ man who even thought of me like that.
Two tears began to trickle from he


eyes. and a little hysterical catch in he
g breath betrayed to me that her defan
a courage was failing her. I would no
4 let her go. Love and shame and re
r sentful disappointment made me a littl
l savage too.


0 81 never did think of you like that,
0 | said sternly; sand you know it.
n must hold you till | clear myself
s cannot bear it.


|
t A log tumbled in the CRATE, and DO
: woke up. She caught away her hand
: and sped out of the room /; and I wake
II through French window into the coo
# summer night, too full of wrath an
y love to speak to anybody.


:; This was how we stood when at las
n (on Saturday, the 18th of December
= the true Christmas weather came, an
1T we found ourselves in the hot afternoo
of alone on the croquet-lawn, alone for tt
L first time since my stormy wooing W;
| interrupted. Don being still busy
1t the sheep-yards and shearing-shed,
y had been playing singly against Liz
IL and her; and now Lizzie had been cal
lg ed away to the nursery to consult wit
We a needle-woman who was at work ther
50 We were both anxious Though for vel
I'd different reasons) to leave off playir
| when our chaperon had separted but
" was not easy to do SO in the middle Of
= game, especially as she had instruct'
r. her partner to play for both of the
tn until she returned. So we knocked t
n balls about for few minutes in Ell
IL barrassed silence, and then had !;
I'D alteration as to which hoop Lizzie b;