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THE PEOPLE’S HOME JOURNAL.
her hair. She had arrived the previous night,
while the pas was penning his letter she
Saunt her eyes rapidly over Anna’s fac
Jn inventory of her charms,
and Fereryty oir aan ne.
gracef
too tat ais she ae ‘from the Ruthv vens.
Splenda eyes and ma: ‘tice nt hair, when Va-
lencia has once taken it and. Co omplexion
a little too brilliant, t bat a tow reeks sipa-
thai
tion wi cure,
tolerably regular, Sart that the mouth is t
wide snd the foreh too low, which defoots
.e Humphreys. Small fe ot and
rather pretty hands, except that the hey se seem, t
pave ‘own wide since I saw hi Can
it be these - horrid people have set Mier to > milk-
ing the co
‘inose woro Mra, Morodith’s thoughts that
first evening after her arrival at the farm-house,
rially changed her mind
nt with Ann:
) a
to the Glon, for which she affected a great
fondness because she thought it was romantic
d the period when wome:
i ir Joath and its appurtenances, She had eriti-
in dress, ha had said that the
vt
a
and | more becoming than the stiff white linen
col
Bi it in the country it does not matter,” she
gdded. “Wait till I get you to New York, under
m Blank’s supervision, and then we shall
Bee ® "irensformation such as will astonish the
Hanoverians.”
This was up in Anna’s room; and when the
Glen was reached Mrs. ‘Meredith continued the
r plans for tak-
they ing to Saratoga,
Sess ste expected hor nieve tofeiga supreme,
both asa beaut nd a belle,
“ Whateve: at my death I shall leaye
to yous eho ‘paid, * Seougegueniy you will pass
1 ‘heiress expectant, and I confidently ex-
pect 5 you to make a ant match before the
winter season closes, if, indeed, you do not be-
fore we leave Saratoga.’
“Oh, aunt!” "Anne exclaimed, her eyes flash-
ing with unwonted brilliancy, and the rich color
mani reheek, “You: Surely are not tak-
ing me Pp Saratoga on such a shameful errand
a8 ”
“Shameful errand as what?” Mrs. Meredith
asked, ooxing ng quick UE while Anna replied:
“ Tryi usb cannot go if
you are, teach as I have autieipated it, Ishould
despise nd hate myself forever. No, aunt, I
cannot go.”
“Nor You don’t know what you |
are saying, Sites ero retorted, feeling in-
0
st ppon the notice of any one, that she her-
self ha: i i
mammas who push their bold daughters for
ward, but that as a goo
ultima thule of » woman "8 hopes, it was be
uatural that she, as Anna’s aunt, should wish
to see her well settled in lifo, and settled, too,
hear herself, where they could see each other
rei
‘se there is no one in Hanover whom
many times, too, when they
muc!
tages of fre Poors and he had walked iil
home with ring by the gate ae if loat
ought, ‘and e life she
6 to Hanover, and
1d out as the proper one for a
“ You i have not told me yet.
in Hanover whom you think worthy o:
Mrs, Meredith asked, just as a footstep was
heard, and the recto r Of St. Mark’s came roun
the rock where they wero sittin
@ hat ‘called at the 8 farmhouse, b ringing the
letter, and with it a book 0 f poetry, SE viien
Anna had asked the loa
Taking of her gu
Grandma Ita mphreys had gone to a neighbor's
after a receipt for making in kind of cake,
of which Mrs, Meredith Fae ery “fond d, and only | hi
Esther, the servant, *, fad Valencia, the smart
waiting-maid, whom Mrs, edith,
never traveled, were Tee in char;
“Miss Anna’s down in the Glen with Mrs.
yon be pleased to wait while I
call them?” Esther said, 3n reply to the rector’s
inguiries for Miss Ruthver
I will find them mye self,” Mr. Leighton
rojomeas Then, as het thonght how impossible
it would be to give | the letter to Anna in
resence of hi it, he slipped it into in
00k, Which nei ‘bade 2 Esther ta 6 to Miss Ruth-
ven’s room,
how honest and faithful Esther was,
Tete her’ as?
Bou
er mental comment, a 0 bowes
Leighton, and then quietly “inepected his
“There was nothing about Arthur Leighton’s
appearance with which sho enmld find fault, He
was even finer-looking than Tho:
wenty years there came
to her an episode in her life, when, on iuat ‘euch
a dav as this, sho had answered
leave alone the couple standing there before | j
e, neither too short nor | t!
Fino teeth, and features | says
do so, and she was far from hav- | ing for
n cease caring | t
no patience ,with those intriguing | h
heads, up to’ where
o.
8
Is there pny one | h
est’s absence, | her
her, and looking into each other’s eyes with a
look which she could not mistake. “But when
8] remembered that A ar Wa only @ poo!
clergyman, and thought of that house on Madi-
son Squart ati ornton ings owned,
mood was changod, ‘and Arthut
Loeighton’s chance with her was gone.
Awhile they talked fogether in'the Glen, and
thon walked bac @ farm-house, where the
rector or bade the hem ‘good, evening, after casually
an
ay FOU} at the book you spoke of while I
was here last. You will find it in yur room,
where Lasked Be thor to take it
cof
e | then upon those farther up
basquine for a thread lace mantilla, and then,
just as the bell from St. M:
leave her, if she aid snot * quii her cussed yani-
and come al
Such was ie ‘Hetherton party, and they
created quit great a sensation as Als.
Hetherton wen first upon the people
nearest, tho door, who? rented the cheaper EH
the aisle,
upon . Meredith, who, a
ling of heavy silk and the ‘perf
eyes thin ir range
of vision, and Fai anys black head nodded a
a
ok it in her hands, read the title page, and | quick nod of recognition, The Hethertons and
then opened it where the let lay. Mrs. Meredith were evidently, f friends, and in
“Miss An: na Ruthven,” sh said, “He writes | her wonder at seeing ere, in stupid
8 fair hand ;” ani 3 the ti ought, which} Hanover, the great lady ‘for oi for awhile to
at first was scurve S “though » kept fre in | read, but re At a eyes upon all, especial-
her mind, she turned it over, and found that, | ly upon the and last entioned mem!
owing to 80) ct, it had become unseale 8 party, the graceful little blonde, whose eyes
and the lid of the envelope Jay femptingly open | might have caught their hue from the deep blue
before her. ‘I would never break a seal,” she | of the summer sky, and wil i
said 1 “ but surely, ach ber] rotector, and almost
r, I may rea is minister has writ-
ten ts tay niece.”
And
80 she read what he had written, while a | look
sew of disapprobation marred the smoothness rand dro}
2
sg
z
row.
“ It isasI feared. Once let her see this, and the fin
fell in a goldei
French
ich hat. She was a beaut oung erea~
‘ure, and even Anna Ruthven leaned forward to
at her, as she shook out her airy muslin
d into her seat.
little a eoguettish head bowed revorently, but at
‘st Sound of the rector’s voice it lifted i
E
&
then | si
ton’s and a great heiress, I believe, though I
never paid much attention to the absurd storie’ *
told concerning ber wea! Mt
Mou met met in Europe ” “Mrs, Meredith said,
an
©)
“Yos, She was has been quite an invalid, and has
spent four years abroad, oT accidently
her. It was a very pleasant party, and I
induced to j join it, though i mas with them
in all not more than four mont!
He told this ‘very re idly, and an acute ob-
server would have seen that he did not care
particularly to talk of Lucy Harcourt, with Anna
for an auditor. She was walking very demurely
the circum-
at his side, Ecol in her mind
h
im Arthur and appear-
im.
was anything between
them ?”* she thought, and her heart began to
arden against the innocent Lucy, at that very
moment chatting 80 Pleaeaatly of of her and of
Arthur, too, replyiny Mrs. Hetherton, who
suggested that Mr. Leighton would be more ap-
propriate for for a clergyman
y Arthur, for he told me I might
when we wore in Rome. I could not like him
8 well if I called him Mr. Leighton. Isn’t
he splendid, though, i in his gown, and wasn’t his
sermon gran
“What was the text” asked Mr.
lied, « Simor
uick as a Bas) 1 of li ght ang the Woe ‘blood
mounted to his face, w! ast upon him
a@ searchin glance’ ai asit she would 7 d him
through. Fanny Hetherton would hav ven
much to the ans) er which Mr. Simon Bel-
Thornton Hastings me vain. it it self up quickly, an and Anna saw the bright colt om. i 28
linot be. It is my duty, as the sister ot her | which rushed into he er ephooks, and fe eager | months, It was not fair for Lucy to steal away
dead father, rte tiem et and not let her throw joy which danced ii © blue fixe a so | all Fanny’s beaux, as she 8) had doing
herself earnestly upon the red who, ae Tught of her, | ever since her feet touched the soil of the New
Perhaps 3 Nirs, Meredith really felt that she | started suddenly, and pau a instant in ‘1d, and, truth to tell, Fanny had bo: it very.
was, doit her duty. all events, she did not | reading. Who was 5) what was she to 1, uni M showed signs of
h time to reason upon the mat-| Arthur Leighton? Anna "asked herself, while, desertion. the spirit ‘of resistance was
mu
fer er, foe startled by a sli movement in the
m directly oppes ite, the door of which was
a far, sho thrust the lett er into her ocket, an
t e—Valencia a stand r back
r hair in a omnirror
a Te-
storation of the letter to the place whence it was
ia eat
er chamber,
or ‘eae Ww
rthur ar Leiel ton. raged that at night, tha eh
if it were possible, God w
ve all ens priceless cit "of a
Anna Rathyen’s love.
CHAPTER II.
SUNDAY. ,
HERE, was an unnatural flush o1
the rector's face, ‘and his lips were
white, when he came before
know the truth,
yin
jarning to
prayer book, fhs cou! ot aus
* ily rejoice,” all th ile to dark-
en his wh ole Ife, as eho Dugely would if she told
him was looking at her now, an
she met his veyon ‘at Inst, but quickly droppe:
8 t roses
was sure
burned @ a tittle brighter on her cheek, ane that
her voice trembled just enoug!
a fierce sede
cast her fro: is mind, and thin of the
solemn services in which he was en; ee ig. He
could not guess that the roud woman who had
sailed 80 majestically church, and followed
80 reverently every
the creed far lower t! le ever bow was mi
fore in Hanover, had
tho dark: shador pest
day was a trying on or Arthor, for,
salter
made be-
was beginni
to the oor, and had be pee
Fould ty ave ki
sued oat te and the ssappressed hush which
ensued that a wha hailstorm of dignity was
Mar
me wan Shao Hethertons, from Prospect Hill,
whose arrival in town had ‘been 80 long expected.
There was Mrs. Het! herton, who, more oars
ago than she cared to
i fanover, but who iad lived: most of her life e either
2 | place, and honor it with her presence for a few
weeks at least; also, Fanny Hetherton, a brill-
iant brunett te, into whose intense, ek eyes
no one could lon; right,
piercing, end seemed oo ‘thr rd afi one's
pomoat thoughts j alto, Colonel Hetherton, who
féxican war, and rofirin,
on tho gl loro ‘of having once led a forlorn hope,
now ‘spent is time ine acting a es attendant on his
fashionablo wife and daughter; also, young
Simon Bellamy, who, whi "ated dient
hing of Miss Fanny’s «black eyes, still found
stolen Opportunities for ancing at tho fifth and
last remaining mem the party, seal a
But the golden moment fled, and when, later }
‘2 | ing eyes taking in every point
"| he eft them for A
prescribed form, bowing in | a!
sed him false, and was | i
‘Pp
now
if | You must ‘ve vohad ep splendid teachers, ” and she
the fierce pang which shot through ‘her heart
as Ebe wate ned the 3 Stranger and the clergyman,
lover e rector of St.
d the tin oy he hand, which Arthur took and
iene 6 spoke words she would have given
muc!
“Wh ‘do tt core? It’s nothing to me,”
oud step she was leav-
ing the ¢ cburch, wi onbes r aunt, who was shaking
na with the Hethertons, signed for her to
join hi
The blonde was now coming d lown the aisle
with Mr. Leighton, and joined the group just as
Anne was introduced as ‘“*My niece, Miss Ann:
‘e the Anna of whom I have heard
You were at school
together in mn Ads Miss Fanny paid, d, hor search-
8 if she we
deciding how far her new act uaintance was en-
titled to the praise she had heard bestowed
upon her.
“1 knew Fulle ler—yes ;”
owed haughtily, turning next to the a2 le,
8
il their party returned to Paris, where
meri
T 80 SU: prised i in my life as I was
i was nevel
here. Why, it actually: tok m:
bri eat for a moment,” she wen! at
fon he fear “that, instead of ‘istonin to his « ser-
ave been roaming amid pine
: hard eking agaia'in # 16 soft moon-
light o Venice. I heard you singing, ough,”
he said, ‘Anna was presented to her,
“and it helped to keep up the illusion, it was
© the music from ndola + night
when Mr, Leighton and myself made a voyag
through the Strects of Venice. , Ob, 80
beantiful,” and the blue eyes
ite .
Leighton for ‘confirmation of what th the lips had
“Which was beautiful Miss Ruthven’ sing-
oonlight night in Veni
lady, who still eld A
eho of replied :
fe course, though the singing is just
emory, I liked it so much,
turned a; whose was 8
ya blus! hes as she met the rector 8 eyes, for to
his suggestions and criticisms and teachings | R
she owed much of that cultivation which had so
Pleased and gurprise anger.
h, yes, I see it wi ur. He tried to
rn in train me once, and told me | I bad a squeal in
't you remember ?—those fright-
fay ai Fainy aay sin Rome? Nin Harcourt said,
+ Hill as earl
am goi
directly Ts Bee & person, can’t I, Art)
kissing her han Mrs. Meredith, Auna, an
6 rector, too, she sprang into the carriage and
boing late
ne colonel had worked himself mpest
xcitement, tied and untied her bonuet-
str half a dozen times, changed her rich
t meno rapidl
away.
he ?” Anna asked, and Mr. Leighton
replic
Mh ‘ts an orphan niece of Colonel Hethore
” | his inmost soul
Sunda ay whol 1, tae ii
of disquiet and deprossion, Gecasioned eesene
leasure on her face as she stood watchin,
ad Lucy, and an gh to many this ‘would have
» adde i
lest his ‘uit should be denied. ‘Mo was come
at Lucy Harcourt was i
ud gorrier for her tenacious me:
been &@ gem
himself toate the an belle he had met
It_was nothing : but
was,” Tae
Sa os choose, shes aot
ven,
mas to eiiable ee both young tnd ‘old hed uid
“An
clon
neo ie is suitable, I may not
ought, as he paced up
> wondering when she
on .
‘opping from her lips so read-| tween the youre thy ereourt that be-
ty a8 i “ehey had always beon accustomed to} a gondola f rough the e retu of Veniog and th
speal ector of St. Mark's ther owas vast ~
she was a talkative, goats little lady, but | that while the for Arthur with pe
ere was something al er 80 genuine and | fect propriet: ~
gordial that Anna folt the ico thawing around |in Ah ser eee ull bo lg
her heart, and even returned ¢ ressure of 8 rector of St. 4 ar’aw
the fingers which bad ince Yesaround ofa pleasurable emotion’ one ges conscious
her, as Lucy rattled on until she wholo party lef | ealied the timo when sho hud at Nis eos,
@ church. been decided that Mrs, Mere- | first i r
dith should call at Prom i aro: Bit ella him shag Her bird. like voice hesi-
tl
coly up to him, as ae
by, which tocall a ace
am not in on ers Yet r 9 lot me be Arth
to you. Ilove ar gall me 80, and ‘you
to me shall be Tey was his +
A mutual clasp of hands had scaled the com-
was the nearest toa
m6 when he had said good by,
and wiped away the tear which came unbidden
ee ti
tt