Page 4 Advertisements Column 1

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVII, Issue 7737, 13 February 1905, Page 4

lie Heart of Ma. (A Complete Story.) cc d( * LucilNa had fallen madly in lo v <s « 'with him at tirßt sight. She fancied m iwith fluttering hope, that ho also is attracted by her. She had had , any admirers, but hitherto not one cl them bad stirred her hc a it. Xow d) i the weeks passed she begun to ex- i c jrienco the joy of being wooed | wben a lover is also beloved. ' a i She knew so certainly that she had' w ihim that she toiublcd in doubt wbc- . a »-ther he loved her. She waited for' m v*tbe declaration she longed to hearl ''before revealing herself. ! w 1 She was now cool, now tender to r. ; him as. her hoi« and fear alternated al in her heart, and he, man-like, was i r ;, equally cast down by her rebuffs and s .\ {*■ dated by her favours. w One evening he brought her a cut--1 ting of verbena, and thoy went to- L gether into the garden to plant it. t , '. 'J%e surroundings inclined to senti- s] ment, and ho broke off a flower, a ' J red lose, with a golden heart, kissed t '„ it, and asked her to wear it for his "* ; sake. ' c , -" Her hands trembled as she fastened r it lata her low-cut bodice, and he '< caught them in his. She did not l ,. .*■ withdraw them. * A moment more and the eager ques- ~ '' tion might have sprung to his lips, s but they were interrupted. Hal and c * "Edgar, Lucilla's brothers, made a ; noisy appearance on the scene, and , '/ Cttnied off her lover to the billiardroom. , -/■■' Seeing there was no help for it, he ' yielded with a good grace, and Lucil- ( " _ la chafed. She wished now she had s ' mtnt Ist hint h.ilH hor hsinrio H.. ' could remember that sign of yielding i »n her part, and she had nothing to ' . console herself with. Yes , the rose! •* It nestled warm against her breast. She would put it in water that it •might last the longer. So thinking, she made her way up' . to her room. But after all the flow-; ec was still quite fresh, and it seem-, eu a pity to disturb it from where " his hand had helped to place it. Now that Hal and Edgar had him' • at their mercy, there was little hope' she cared to join in their game, and '■'" for that she was not inclined. She sat down' by the open window '- and watched the dusk gather. The wallflowers and the rows threw up ', an intoxicating perfume, and u thought came to her. She would watch for a glimpse of him as he - left the house. Yes, it was worth ' -- the long wait! The moon rose : a silver eresent in •»-*B -unclouded sky ; and presently in a ] ;' distant tree a nightingale began to -' sing its song of love. The liquid, 1 notes thrilled her ; her heart went out to the night. Out time sped on,' it was growing late - her exultation ' , died down ; the nightingale ceased ; j ,• the rose had begun to droop at her ~> breast. " Flowers fade on flirts ! " She smiled at the thought. Her own heart waa true and stcad.tast enough, she knew. Nevertheless, . she took the flower now and stood 1 if in water. As she withdrew into r" the warm room she shivered slightly , .and wrapped a light shawl round nor bare neck and arms th a t her evening dress left exposed, ere she seated her- :. __ self again at the window. «__ ~" Then came the sound of the ballv" door banging, ~ and her lover's swift tread crunched over the gravel. '. leant from the casement. ; Right past her window he i and suddenly stopped. Was it love's '* prescience that he stopped and looked I up at ber window ; certainly with | even less thought of seeing her there than she had of such an unexpected , ' move on his part. She w a s not warned in time to retreat. r' " Love ! Love ! " he whispered, ~ ' But she drew hastily into the shadow with burning cheeks. Did he guess she had waited three, perhaps four hours, watching for a sight of him, who had never yet so f - much as told her he loved her ? She would die of shame ! ile assumed, at any rate, that she cherished his flower. He took too much for grant- , * ed. And he dared stop under her window and beg a love token as if—as if she had given him her heart without the asking ! Lucilla's pride was up in arms. "... She/pulled down her window with an anger that was manifest. And he, ignorant of the intricacies of the feminine heart, with a sudden hopelessness upon him, went sadly >me. How small a misunderstanding can create a barrier-between two lovers -- whose love is as yet unsigned, unsealed, and. undelivered. That night made a. breach between i Lucilla and Vincent that was not| T long in the widening. " Pride proj>- ".' eriy telongs to a woman," Lucilla . told herself, " and not to a man." And, Vincent, conscious only of her ._r rebuff, waited vainly for the encourS.agmiM.iit she had n D t grudged him bcfiP" fare, S; . And one day when the young m o on ;' * "*•» on just such another summer » .evening „s had seen the little rift s < within the lute, when the nightingale ;u sang-over again his pleading raptures, n<>w passionate, now pleading, and Lucilla, with falling tears, bent hen bead over the withered leaves ofa faded rose, Vincent sailed to ■esk a better fortune, a Kinder fete in other lands. And Lucilla waited to see him again, counting the hours »' while time sped into years. " ••••••• " You really must come to the theatre to-night with us," declared Lucilla's great friend, Elsie Southwood. "Felix has got such a nice box, and is going to bring Mr. Glcn- £ • roy- v °y know Lcilla yon alwavs wanted to meet him." Lucilla roused herself ; she was _ , nearly always absorbed in. a reverie now. M <* The man, do you mean, who h«s 7 the gift of reading in people's faces ST their fate?" t " Yes. I wonder if he will toll us \' ours. Of cfurse I know mine; I'm r, always going td be as happy as the i day is long with my precious Felix, 'C i regular Darby and Joan couple. }»" But arn't you longing to have y o urs j-- told, to know whether you'll marrv :. for love or for money, and wander far K o r live and die <at home, and all that ' T land of thing? Felix says he is Wonderful when he can be persuaded to do it for anyone, but he won't tell some people ut all—if he c a n sec death or misery in their faces, or £ anything hke that." Inadvertently Lucilla said : " Oh, \ then be won't tell mine !"- ' : Elsie stared, vflut you, you're not going to die, Lucilla, y o u're far too young. You'ro a year younger than I am, and people don't die at twenty- . four unless they're ill. And you're _,J>ot miserable, you've everything tol make you happy. It's other people! you make miserable. When are you going to marry my brother Fred ? Everyone knows he's dying for l o vc I of you." "Perhaps some day, perhaps nev- *) This is not a Bad Way Vk m m a m I 11 m WOLFE'S SCHNAPPS Hot #fft Lemon at MDTIME nh «»tate Prevenfive •■dCoit for MwauEiizA.