Year: 1874

Alh II ne &Skeu Qer WHAT Oiu II
: matter? He did not ask her. But
! was 1t prudent to go to places where


he was sure to meet her? He must
avoid her in the future she would GO
back to the country in a few weeks,
and then he. would forget all about
her-"out of sight, out of mind"
he had made a good beginning by
defining to go to the concert.


Poor Doria must have been very faF
gone when he tried to deceive him.
self he knew well that Sybil Nugent
dlsllked classical music as much as
he, and would certainly not be there.
In truth, he had hardly admitted to
himself how far his happiness was
bound up with the love of girl. He
J was not susceptible man his affee.
tons were stronger than his passions,
and both were well under command
OF his reason. He certainly would
not have allowed himself to grow so
fond Of Sybil had he been aware of her
pecuniary position. He had met her
az dlHerent houses where he was q
haoitual guest, and from her retiring
manners and simple style of dress,
formed the conclusion that she was q
poor girl, rather patrOnized by the
frlend with whom she was staying.
He was one Of those men who never
catch floating gossip till long after it
is stale news to everybody else and
when at last he learned that she was
wealthy, and that he was rather in es-
timation as successful heiress-hunter,
he felt the wound go deeper than his
pride, and he had good, thick coat
ing OF that too. Yes, he had too much
pride, and very little vanity, and lack
of the latter quality originally con-
firmed him in his idea that Miss Nu-
gent was poor, probably dependent.


Would she listen TO him-draw to MIN
as she did, If it were otherwise-to
him, a poor little-considered artist,
with no prospects beyond his art ? As
for Sybil, she entirely reciprocated his
affection, and had made up her mind,
at comparatively early stage of their
acquaintanceship, that If she did not
marry him she would never marry
any one else. or course, in her case,
there was spice of romance about the
matter. Sne got to know aud like
him before she caught his name,
which had been slurred when she was
first introduced to him; and so the
coincidence struck her very forcibly
when she suddenly and accidentally
learned that he was the very man
whose studio she had examined in so
unceremonIous fashion, and whose
"Ariadne" she had purchased in Cous-
in Emily's name. She felt perfectly
convinced that be loved her, and
wondered why he did not say so.


Are there any limits to human per-
versity? Lovers are torn asunder by
poverty every day, but here were a
couple who positively failed to come
together simply and only because one
was rich. It was not an ordinary love
affair they had never talked OF love.
But their tastes, ideas, sympathies.
agreed so admirably that they seemed
positively made for one another and
to friends who knew them both, it
seemed more than natural, almost
necessary, that they should marry. If
of the same sex, they would have been
fast friends. Had their ages been dis
similar, or had they both passed the
age of the passions, they would still
have been drawn closely together.
These cases are very rare, but they Oc-
cur, and when two such people meet,
and marry, they attain a degree of
happiness not often vouchsafed to
mortals. And yet these two never
met again. Doria stuck to his reso-
luton, and avoided Sybil, who went
back to the country and took to ritual
ism and fantas tic embroidery.


Another May came round, and
Harry Doria had four potraits-three
ladies, one "of a gentlemann-hung
on the academy walls, besides CLASH
dal study, which sold for high price.
He excelled mostly in figure-painting,
but figures must have fairgrounds,
and he was not quite satisfied with
his landscapes. So. when the season
waned, he packed his knapsaek, and
started off on a solitary walking and
sketching tour, for the purpose of
studying English skies, streams, and
trees. A wandering life Of that kind
having great attractions for him, and
the autumn being remarkably fine,
the month which he intended to spend
out of town expanded to nearly three,
and 1t was toward the end of October
InaL ne entered pretty village, whicn
took his fancy so much that he stop
ped, though it was early in the after
noon, and he meant to have gone
some miles further. ~ must have
that church-porch and the avenue"
he said to himself, as he turned into
the old-fashiOned inn, where he left
his knapsack and ordered his dinner,
and then went out again with his
portfolio and water-color box, to uti-
lize the couple of hours remaining
daylight


"What is the name of this place ?'
he asked his landlord that evening.


"Nutting, sir, Nutting," replied the
host, astonished at the depths to
which human ignorance could sink.
NuttingI That was the name of the
village where Sybil lived. She had
often talked about it, and said what
pretty sketch could be made from the
churchyard, and how often she had
tried to take it and had failed to satis-
fy herself. What q strange coinci-
dence that he should have wandered
there. 1t looked like fatality.


"You are stranger in these parts,
maybe sir % added the landlord.


"Yes but have often heard of
Nutting, from q friend who knew it
very we'll. There is a pretty place,
Owlsnest, here, if it is the same Nut
ting mean.n


|Yes, sir, that's right. Shall you
want anything more before the bar
closes You see, we are early people
heTe.n


Doria did not sleep much that night.
He had made up his mind to avoid
the heiress altogether, and yet, now
finding himself close to her, the temp
tation to call was very strong. In the
morning IL occurred to him that the
struggle might be unnecessary. Miss
Nugent had very likely gone from the
neighborhood.


"Who is living at Owlsnest now ?"
he asked when he went down."


"Miss Needham, sir, for the pres
ent," was the reply, which acted on
him like q cold-water douche, for he
had not believed in his theory of
SybiIs probable absence one jot. AT
any rate there was no need for him to
hurry away. By-the-bye, what name
did the landlord say, Needham ?
Why, it was q Miss Needham who
bought his "Ariadne" and other pic
lures, and whose patronage seemed to
have been the turning-point in his
career, and had brought him such
lack. He would certainly call and
lubIOQuCc ulm6Cll W . AouI VI 5AOh
excellent taste and discrimination.


1t did not occur to him that Need
ham was by no means an uncommon
name he was too glad of an excuse
to enter the house which Sybil had in
habited.


He spent the morning in sketching
the scenes which she had often spoken
of with enthusiasm. In the afternoon
he called at Owlsnest, and sent in his
card.


Miss Needbam would see him pres
emily, if he did not mind waiting a
few minutes. He was shown into the
dining-room, where the first object
which met his eye was his own
"Ariadne," hung in the spot which
was most favorably lighted in the
room. Other pictures of his orna-
mented the walls.


Presently, lady dressed in deep
mourning entered the room. Doria
introduced himself, and explained
that, being by accident in her neigh
borhood, he did not like to pass on
without paying his compliments to so
Lid r,1