Why She Refused Him.

Free Lance, Volume III, Issue 151, 23 May 1903, Page 17

Why She Refused Him.

EGALITE did not think Miss Gair handsome , but her face had a beautiful expiession. He had come to 1 Berry Hill prepaied to see a beauty. Everywhere he had heard of Miss Gau as perfection. He expected to find a woman of brilliant personal appearance and suave deportment. She was the half-sister of his. friend, Fay Somers, and the heiress of Berry Hill. He found her a quiet, fair, and gentle •n oman, w ith a breadth of white brow , an inexpressibly soft and brilliant smile, a musical voice, and a serious manner He looked at her as she gave him half an, hour's tete-a-tete before dinner, and could not imagine her either flirting or receiving compliments. And vet Miss Gair had the reputation of breaking; hearts by the score. At. dinner, she gave him a. seat at her side. There were half-a-dozen other guests. After dinner, they went to the bil Hard room. Miss Gair did not. play but she selecteld a cue for Egalite, wished him success, and then went away to a sofa, where a group of gentlemen instantly gathered around her. The sound of her soft, occasional laugh distracted Egalite's attention. He played badly, and lost the game willingly, so that it left him at liberty to seek her side again. "Have you seen my swans, Mr. Egalite ? " sihe asked. He had not. ' Shall w e go and look at them ? " It was 1 too warm to play ait billiards The whole party went down to the pond. Miss Gair softly called the swans, w hich at first w ere not in sight.. The four came abreast, swimming round a curve. They were noble creatures. The: ladies cried out with delight. Miss Gair left to the others the nleagure of feeding them ; though, when she walked on, the birds deserted them to follow her footsteps at the edge of the pond. The guests remonstrated at this, and she laughingly came back. If Miss Gair had been any other woman, in the. world Egalite would have turned a graceful compliment. But she said, quietly — "They are accustomed to me . I have fed them so long '" * And he stood silently watching the composure of her pure face. Purity. He thought, for a moment, that that was the charm which held him The next instant, as her glance w andered across the lawns and rested on the distant hills, he believed it to be a faint tinge of sadness which was on her Whatever it was, it held him at her side for three weeks. The morning of his departure oame, and, as he stood upon the long vineshaded piazza, she came out for a few friendly words of parting. He retained her hand. Figuratively, he threw himself at her feet, and begged for hope She looked startled for a moment, then her face grew pale and constrained. "I have made a mistake." "You have." Her voice was hard, strained, and unnatural. "I beg your pardon " They stood apart,. A servant appeared at the hall door. "The carriage- is waiting for Mr. Egalite." The man departed. Egalite did not venture to touch Miss G airs hand again. She had never looked so lovely or inaccessible. He raised his hat. "Good-bye, Miss Gair." "Good-bye, Mr. Egalite. How frigid that was. , How hard and cold she had been, he thought, when he was in the carnage. After all, had she no heart ? The next year he spent on the Lonthe Alps, St. Peter's, the Seine the Louvre. He ate Naples grapes, and sent home wine from Bercy. He watched Parisian coquettes, and sketched Florence beauties, but «p never saw one Miss Gair. He came home at last To be sure, home seemed a little cmn, since there was no one to welcome him but am acrid maiden sister and .Turk, hi® horse; but one must work to live. There was news from Berry Hill. Fey Somers had been killed by being thrown from a carriage. Mass Gair had lost her property, and gone to live with an aunt in Surrey. He was vexed to feel lus cheek grow pale.

v.n.v should lie slnnik as it a iash lidu Deui iaia acio&o his lieai t ' ,i <as ne stiii so weak a* lv io\e .1 woman who had scorned, him.* -an nigut ius eyns ueie sec wide optM 111 tne uailuiess. it lie miglit see her once moie, he would try agaan. And tiiuniving this, it. came about that one (September night found him among the gieen hills ot buirey. i±e w as at a,n incommodious little 11111, but near Madge Gair. Hi& laudloid said — Miss lUehutabic Alafchews lives 211 that blown house, with honeysuckle over it, that je like the looks ol so well. Charming young lady cametheio from, Lindom last spnng — old lady 'a niece Miss Gair. Know anybody of that name ' ? Thought perhaps ye might, hailing from London." The purple twilight was growing ore 1 the landscape as he drew retin at the brown, vuieolad, hillside cottage. A graceful figure, clad in grey, vines in fche hands, and surprise in, the lovely eyes faced him. "Mr. Egalrte, this is very kind. You have not forgotten me." "Never foir a moment. And have you not relented ? " "Relented ? " she faltered. He pouied out his heart once more. She stopped him. "Do you not know 7 — have you not heard that I aim poor — a beggar?" "I have beien told- — yes. But that has nothing to do with my loving you." "Nothing'" "Nothing whatever." "Then," sparkling beautifully with joy, "I will let myself lov& you." "Madge l " he cried. He clasped her in his arms, bewildered by his sudden happiness She laughed softly, then her eyes filled with tears as she gently stroked his face. "Do you think lam not happy too?" "You ? I hope so But what is one heart to you who hare been offered so many ? I have no one — but you." "And I have no onei but you," she said. "Dearest, listen to me> Did you ever think of the snares that beset itlie path of an heiress p A woman who has wealth is courted for her money. Many men have courted me for mv riches, but no oaiei ever sought me out of my poverty but you — you whom I loved from the first, but dared not trust more 1 than others. Mv reputed poverty, I should have said, for" — smihng again — -"I am not so poor, aftei all. "The speculation which involved part of mv wealth w as not so great a success as was expected, neither was it <-o great a failure. I lost a few thousand from my hundred thousand — that was all. But report made me penniless and my visit to my good aunt in this old-fashioned neighbourhood confirmed the impression that I had lost all But my friend, when we are married I shall be proud of the master of Berry Hill " The problem of "whom Miss Gail would marry," which the fashionable world had speculated upon for several years was solved a few weeks later.