Year: 1878

whom she had ever come in contact 80 supe.
rior to all the hatterers and admirers to whom
Posy had turned an Indifferent or disdainful
ear, that she had suffered her judgment to be
overborne by her fancy, and by the desire she
felt to see Posy established in a position in
life more suitable to her deserts than the one
she now filled. Besides, Allan's sincerity
had been real, not assumed. He had truly
meant, at the time, every word he had spoken
and in this fact lay the real reason of his
success in winning her confidence and favor.
She had not been sufficiently far.sighted to
read his wavering, unsteady nature, the vac
illation of purpose and lack of 6rmness
which caused him to be so easily swayed by
the pressure of present influences and sur
roundings. She had not known of the young
heiress, beautiful, intelligent and charming,
constantly held up as a. golden bait before his
eyes, or. of the worldly-minded, avaricious
mother, so persevering in her endeavors to
mould him into accordance with her will.
She had, in fact, believed him to be what he
seemed; truthful, honorable man, who had
permitted his strong affection to outweigh So
cial prejudces, being sufficiently convinced
of Posy's intrinsic worth to regard the line of
life in which she had been bred as no barrier
between them. She could not, in her igno.
rance, Judge of the strength Of these social
preiudices which she supposed could be SO
easily thrust aside. She did not know with
what scorn, or, at the best, with what half
contemptuous pity, that class of performers
to which Posy belonged, was looked down up
on by those moving in the upper circles of
society or what moral courage would be re-
quired for any gentleman to run the gauntlet
of wonder, disdain, ridicule and reproach he
would be forced to encounter from his asso-
ciates, in perpetratiug the enormity of uni
ting himself to ballet girl, no matter how
beautiful and amiable she might be. To her,
who knew Posy thoroughly, it appeared mon
strous that any one should have doubt of
her moral purity and worth. But many a
fine lady, and, doubtless, Mrs. Dash~ood
among the rest, would have elevated their
heads in scorn, and swept aside their rich
dresses from coming in contact with the poor
little DANGERS satin shoes and scanty gauze
skirts, as though there we're contagion in the
touch.


The truth was, Allan no sooner found him
selfdeprived of the influence of Posy's charms,
than all these considerations had begun to op
crate upon his mind, with ever increasing
power. He felt that he had acted rasbly and
absurdly, and the worst of it was, he saw no
means of extricating himself from the scrape.
He had not bad or callous heart. He ab-
horred the idea of breaking faith with Posy,
and rendering her unhappy, to say nothing
of the pang he would, himself suffer, in doing
80. But still, how on earth was he ever to
marry her? What would people say and
think? Such mssalhance would drag him
down from his present status. He could not
expect the ladies of his acquaintance to visit
his wife and if she was Stunned and scorned
by them all, he, having identified himself
with her, must come in for his share of social
ostracism. 1t was true, there was certain
set of men, jolly fellows, whom he met at his
club end elsewhere, gentlemen by birth,
though a little reckless and independent Of
the moral code, who would never withdraw
the right hand of fellowship from him. There
we're also, perhaps, certain fast ladies, who
would be willing to overlook Posy's doubtful
origin and odous profession, in consideration
of gaining an entree into his house. But with
none of these would he have chosen to see
her intimate, or indeed, have permitted her
to associate at all. In his heart, he knew
her to be good, pure, and worthy of universal
esteem but it was not sufficient for his happi-
ness, or her welfare, that he should know this,
unless the rest of the world could be brought
to acknowledge it, too.


In short, the more he pondered over the af
fair the more unhappy and perplexed he
grew and his unhappiness took the form Of
somewhat morose demeanor to his family,
and continued neglect of those courteous at
tentions, for time, which he had SO willingly
shown Helen. His mother became more than
ever convinced that he was aboring under a
secret ENHANCEMENT, and her shrewd mind led
her to form conjectures not very far removed
from the truth. She did not, indeed, think
of Posy, whom she had never even seen, in
connection with his short comings. Still, as
she declared to herself and to her husband
she felt perfectly sure that Allan had got
caught in some miserable, low love-afair, and
she went to work with a will to try and ferret
the secret out. Easy Mr.. Dashwood was not
disposed to trouble himself about the matter.
He said that "meu would be men," and he
chad no doubt everything would come round
right in little while" But this somewhat
vague consolation failed in satisfying his wife,
and only tended to raise storm of wrath
and indignation in her breast "If he was
yo,tr son you wouldn't take his behavior so
easily" she exclaimed. "But as you say,
men will be men, and man means nothing
more nor less that a selfish monster, who never
gives himself more trouble about anything
than he can hel p"


"Perhaps am monster, my dear" an
swered her husband, who in his old days was
learning to take her violent speeches more
calmly than formerly. "But l know enough
of human nature to be sure that whatever
your sons difficulty may be, you won't be
able to convince him Of his wrong.doings by
opposing and contending with him so perse'
veringly as you do. Let him alone, and il