SHORT STORY

Alexandra Herald and Central Otago Gazette, Issue 401, 14 January 1904, Page 7

SHORT STORY

liar Ms Wanex looked at his watch. 'That's tha went of a tall,' he gram- * What is f* Hxb Wartoninquired, from ttaothorsidoofthottbb. * Yoafo ali~alive half the night, and half dead all the day after/ - ' Didn't yew sleep well P' , . * Oh, I tlepc wall enough, but not long x .' enough And look now i Downfar breakfast over fHree houra lat*£ and 11 ium' t get to the City wash bef o«i rtfr tine fo come noma,- Ifs scarcely"? worth whih. TOtng to-day at all.' - -** •Don't go* ihen/ said Mn Warton, hiecup 'Send a telegnun. i daresay they'll mansge without yoa somehow for onoe in a way.* * Wcojd they"! If yon knew what an effiea was like without it* head ' •Well, ife no nee grumbling, James. We dWt give a ball every night' 'Good graoioaeV nof Onr dancing . weald pretty soon end in a breakdown if wdja.;.' . Where's Bertha f' . 'Hot up yet' •■•",, .. •I guessed that much. I niean. why Ua't ihej it'a kteeßOUfb,ia all conscience.* "'-""* —£ 'She is having her breakfast in bad;' She is nit very well this morning.' •Thereyonase again! That's all the good th* ball's done far her. What's the matter'* i. *l| I # t ? I s •Nothing much. She is a little upset* •Oaf What'* unset her F MrWarton. frowned, and' rubbed hie bald head irritably. 'Seem* to me we've thrown ear money away, and the ball'B bean a failure all round, Yob had quite enough ot it, and it's upset Bertha. She had too much of it I suppose?' he chuckled. • Don't be vulvar, James'-' Mm Warton admonished him with some 3everifcy. •You hart a very bad habit ' 'lf it's the only one, .Jenny, you can't complain; most men have several. And it's enough to aggravate a saint—we gave tha ball entiariy an Bertha's account, and this is all the good it does her! What's she unset about f* • Well—if a young Lord Granby.' •Ah! Ithoughtio.' ' Yes, but you are quite wrong ' •Why.youjuatßaiditwaa * •I know. What I mean is this: you. would have it I was mistaken in supposing lie eared for Bertha or she eared for him, and when I said the ball would > be such a good opportunity ——-* 'And I said I didn't like these match- . making games.. Herar mind all that Yob tnought he was pretty sure to propose to Bertha last night, and the fact is that he didn't ah?* •But he did P "Then, whsfa Bertha upsetabout? 1 'Bertharejected him.' 'taite right too, if she didn't care for him. I don't see why that should upset her. Unless you've been bullying her, Jenny f 'Bullying her! What do you mean, 'Wall, I know yoa were dead set on making a match of it, fast as I've said all along. I won't have my girl forced into marriage with the biggest peer in the rralnr She shall - just nhnono for herselt I'm a plain man. and I don't want her to marry a title for my Bake. Lather marry the man she likes, sad as far as money goes I can giva her as much of that as she ia ever likely to need. If she doesn't care for Lord Granby, she was quite right to tend him about hie business.' •But you are ezsitißg yourself and getting very hot for nb reason at all. She does oate for Lord Granny.' •Sue does!. What en earth made her reject him, then r* " That's what has upset her so.' •Idontseewhyitneed. Yob rejected me,youknc% * fc'Tnat was a very different thing.J . •■: •How was itP 'Oh, in many ways.' !«• as 'You changed your mind though, Jenny, and apparently Bertha takes after her mothet-Jtf a exactly the same in that **»•* ■■-, ■ ■ '„ ■ -■ ; • Anyhow, I think Lord Granby was to blame.' * i -' • For being rejected ? Is the* soldier to blame for getting shot V

* I blame tim lor not choosing ft more t avouraole opportunity than ' - *I tfcwJM j«u couaidered the ball would rurnieghiiji with *r»ost teTOur•Bo it would have done, but for an • 'Baally What accident was thatF - 'Of courEa you aaw nothing of it. You were bo taken up with Mr Brent and that hotnd Major that 70a neglected ererythmg and everybody else.* 'lon know 1 can't dance, my dear. I wee merely leaving as nine hj epaoe as poesjtifc to thoee who could. But thisacciceni? Ho^ießOMOße,liißftgmeP* •V«y trivial, in one sense, no doubt. It happened while Bertha was dancing the second waltz witn Lord 60007; Snettir conpie bumped into them very clumsily, ana so violently, that he Btumbktt and trod on her dress, and tore it right down.* Mr Walton's doable chin creased, and : "Ida large figure quivered with internal 'Chuckling*. , _ _ •Ik's nothing to laogh. at. James. 1 -ijmpathUewkii the poor child.* }VSodoI, entirely.' I «You conceal your feelings very elave»ly, then/ f\t 'Sea's be nasty, Jenny. Fin quite serious. Tell me about it.' i. 'Well, eke had to aop away upstairs and change into one of her old drestxs. Altogether, she was greatly put out.* gu'Qaite natural.' •Ot course it waa extremely annoying, and in the heat of the moment she was dieadiuUy angry and offended with Lord eranby. Which was very unjust.' • Bus quite natural, too.* •Ihe accident was no more his fault than it wae Bertha's, and she was irritated an? Seasonable. He felt she, wee annoyed with him, no doubt, andj?roJS? her coTdneea and his maJre hie peace with her made him rather pwdpitaw. . , mood just then for anything of that sortshe - *_*— 'Mua6 natural otaU. v .And there's, an end of it. ——. ■ „_ ——-

.4£ the Wjfcrea&ii

'£££&& v And B«tha knows it.' ! 3§#? * hmkß *** **°** it J- hot you Ho^whenyou 2 re, |j J^A%^d^^ l .YoUarenotlike ' F*W*r»* P"*b»af Bat ■"*"&*"■?*>"■ '**• »'««*. bloodied, Jenny, JMfemay.taiemj word for that.' " r Stai. there is a/ difference, James——' thejleast.. When a nun's in loye fghlther he's golf ». big handle to his §§???' °! a S3B? 0J1 e» or none at all And 'jK&2* , S?£2r *- I- ° 8 " d I is in love with her.'

*lf he is, there's no harm done. He'll come back'again-' ' Ba / jw woa.% James. Hia pride is wounded. It isn't only that. He thinks sbereallydoeanot care for him, and he » too proud to trouble her with unwelcome attention*.' v y~ >\ ■ | ' And did he tell you ail teas P' *'k : m «Certainly not But I know it. When he c»me to wiah mo good-bje, I knew at pßca from hie manner that something had gone wrong. He was pile aed agitated. .-■*'i***d I hoped we ahonld see him again soon, but he said he was afraid not. Ha was going yachting, and did not expect tocorae . back for some time. He shook hands with me twice, and seemed as if he wanted to say more, but could not, and . so.- WpU. he's gone.' "* Gone yachting P' • Sailed this morning.' -, ' ' He intended to V \' And I've no doabfe he haa4 4 '5 gave you credit for understanding human'nature better than that,' Jenny. Now, if ic had been me ' •Only it was not you. It was Lard Gasßby, and that as I. keep telling you, makes all the difference.'- • 'lf it had been me* repeated Mr Warren, • Til tell ycu what I should have done.' Mrs Warton sighed resigned. *I should have gone home frantic, I mighti have talked to you about going off yachting, or something equally harmless, out of politeness, but my -real ilea would have been drowning or hanging. * I should have been desperate,' declared Mr Warton. « All tfie same, I shouldn't have drowned myself or hanged myself.' •What you would have done, James, and what Lord:—f * /Hear me out. Let me finish. I should simply have gone to bed and lain awake all night in the most outrageous despair. But by morning I should have thought things over and quieted down a bit; I should have thought: Well, I was a young ass to have spoken to her immrdiately after that accident 1 ought to have had the sense to wait till to-morrow, when she'll have had time to get over her annoyance and perhaps to laugh at it. Having arrived at that do you know what I should have done next ?' - • It doesn't matter what you would have done, James. You were not born to the position and pride—* • Don't matter a bit. When a man's in > love he's got no position and pride, he's just a natural ass, I tell you.' 'You may haxe been, James, but—' ' 'Tois is whapL should have done next I should have got myself up in my very best style, and, at twelve o'clock precisely —eo as not to be early enough for breakfast or too late for lunoh—l should have called at tha house to inquire after the old people, and make sure they were all right after the fatigue of the night before. I should have oontrived to see the old gentleman. I should have asked particularly after his daughter, and if he didn't see through it and invite me to stay to lunch, I should have taken him 'into my confidence, and if he approved of me, I'd have got him to help me to an opportunity of mending my mistake, and so it would all have ended happy ever after.' 'You appear to be wholly unable to appreciate, James,' said Mrs Warton, inexorably, 'the inborn difference of thought and feeling between persons brought up in our sphere of life and in Lord Granby V 'Because I tell you——'• ' Please don't tell me any more about it' 'lf Granby doaan't * /Lord Granby has gone yachtine. and' s *

She wsa interrupted by a knock at the door, and a servant tutored with a oard/ on a tray. Waiton glanced at it and passed it to her husband. '• Say I will ba with him iro mediately/ he said, and the servant withdrew. * I will go and see if Bettba is getting up,* remarked Mis Warton, rising. ' Jou will ask him to stay for lunch, James f' ' Certainly.' Mr Warton laughed, and his eyes twinkled wickedly, 'He's soon got back from that yachtinV cruise!' ♦ Oh, yea, it will be all • What did I tell you P' now, I doubt/ cried Mrs Wsrton, tetchily. 'You are right, and I was altogether wrong, of course.* ' Not altogether, my dear—not by any means. On the contrary, yon were absolutely iignt, and there is a difference between hia lordship and me.' She eyed him dubiously. Mi's twenty past twelve, yon see, and 1 said twelve precisely.' Her glance followed hja to the clock on the mantle piece, and came sharply back to bis face. ' Don't waste time talking nons ansa, James. What difference ? What do youmean f A diff <uenue of——' 'Of twenty minutes, my dear/ he said, meekly.—A St. John Adcock.