The Union times. [volume] (Union, S.C.) 1894-1918, July 17, 1903, Image 1
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'?* VOL. ill I. NO 21). UNION, SOUTH CAROLINA, FRIDAY, JULY 17. 1903. 8,41 nn 4 v,:"n
'1 " 1
ti??f ???fr3H0NMH8
I WHEN KNI
I WAS IN
Or, Tie Lore Story of Charles Brsndoi
i Ty Happening In the Reign of His Au,
! if > Rewritten and Rendered Into 1
. CtLjkodcrv
B* EDWIN CASKODE
Tflp Copi/rft/ht, 1898 auil 1901, l>u I
-J####**##*##*
CIIA PTE It III.
j' THE rniXCESS 1IAHV.
fljjlOW. nt tlint tlmo, A^nry. the
I 1^1 J king's sister, wns Just ripen
MMMH ins into her greatest worannViill
lj perfection. Iler skin was
like velvet, n rleli, clear, rosy snow,
with the hot young; blood glowing
through it like the faint rod tinge wo
sometimes see on the inner side of n
white rose leaf. Her hair was a very
light brown, almost golden, and fluffy,
soft nnd One as a skein of Arras silk.
Uhc was of mcdinni height, with a figore
that Venus might have envied. Her
feet and hands were small and apparently
. made for the solo purpose of
drivlug mankind distrnctcd. In fact,
that seemed to be the paramount object
In her creation, for slio had the
world of men at her feet. Iler greatest
beauty was her glowing dark brown
eyes, which shone with an ever changing
luster from beneath the shade of
the longest, blackest upcurvlng lashes
ever seen.
Her voice was soft nnd full nnd, except
when angry, which, alas, was not
i Infrequent, had a low and coaxing little
note that made it irresistible. She
was a most adroit coaxer and knew
her power full well, although she did
not always plead, having the Tudor
?vt?f|rvt auu mils IV LUIUUiUUU?
.when she could. As before hinted, she
bad coaxed, her royal brother out of
event 1 proposed mnrringes for ber
.which -ftould bnvo been greatly to his
advantage, and If you had only known
Henry Tudor, with his vnln, boisterous,
stubborn violence, you could form i
some Iden of Mary's powers by that
achievement alone.
Sueli was the roynl maid to whose
tender mercies, I now tell you frankly,
my friend Brandon was soon to be
turned over. He, however, was a 1
|blade of very different temper from
any she had known, and when I first
saw sign*'of a growing Intimacy be- 1
tween tliem I felt, from what little I ,
had seen of Brandon, that the tables .
were very likely to lie turned upon hoy j
ladyship. Then thought I, "God help |
her," for in a nature like hers, charged
with' latent force, strong nnd hot and
fiery as the sun's stored rays, it needed
but n flnHli to make It patent when
damage was sure to follow for somebody?probably
Brandon.
Mary did not come home with us
from Westminster the ' morning nfter
the joust lugs, as we had expected, but
followed some four or five days Inter,
and Brandon had fairly settled himself
at court before her arrival. As neither
bis duties nor mine were onerous, wo
bail a great ileal or time on our nanus,
which we employed walking nml l-Idhig
or sitting In our common room rending
and talking. Of course, as with most
young men, that very attractive branch
of natural history, woman, was a favorite
topic, nnil we accordingly discussed
it a great deal?that Is, to tell the e:;?et
truth, I did. Although Brandon had
seen many an adventure during his life
on the continent which would not do
to write down here, he was us little of
a boaster as any man 1 ever met, and,
while I am In the truth telling business,
I was as great a braggart of my inches
-1 ?- 4?.~ IIma
nn CVIT urr^ 1UU lUii^uu^?in III.U nur,
I menu. Oods, I flush up liot oven now
when I think of It! -So I talked a Brent
deal and found myself infinitely pleased
with Brandon's conversational powers,
which were rare, being no less than the
capacity for saying nothing and listening
tyolitely to nn infinite deal of the
same tiling. In another form, from me.
I remember tlint I told him I had
known the Princess Mary from n tlmo
when site was twelve years old, and
how I bad made a fool of inysolf about
her. I fear I tried to convoy the Impression
that it was her^exaltod rank
only which made her look unfavorably
upon my passion and suppressed the ,
fact Hint she had laughed at inc good
humorcdly and put ine off as she would
have tlirust a poodle from her lap. The
truth is she had always been kind and
courteous to tnc and had admitted mc 1
to a degree of intimacy much greater
than I deserved. This, partly at least,
grew out of the fact that I helped her
long the thorny patli to knowledge, a
road she truvcled at un eager gallop,
for she dearly loved to leprp?from curiosity
perhaps.
I am sure she held me in iter light,
, jfcutle hearl an u aonr friend; hut, wluic
~%er henrt was Qlled with this mild
^vnnnth for me, tnlfie began to burn
with the flame tl>nt discolors everything,
nnd I saw her friendliness in a
very distorting light. She was much
kinder to mc than to most men, but I
did not see that It was by reason of my
.Absolute harmlessncss, nnd, I suppose,"
dy-enuM! I was a vain fool I gradually
Began to gather hope?which goes with
IGHTHOOD ?
FLOWER |
i ?nd MtryThdor, the King's Sister, and
gust Majesty King Henry tbe Eighth
iodern Engliih From Sir Edwin j,
'a Memoir y
;N [CHARLES MAJOR] ?
he Un\ctn-2Ic)Till Comport}! S
#$##$##?*$*##
every vnln man's love?and, what Is
more, actually climbed to the very apex
of idiocy and declared myself. I well
know the luttnitc distance between us;
but, like every other man who came
within the circle of this charming loadstone,
I lost my head and, in short,
made a greater fool of myself than I
naturally was, which is saying a good
deal for that time In my life, God
knows!
I knew vaguely, but did not fairly realize,
how utterly beyond my reach in
every way she was until J opened the
floodgates of tny passion, as I thought
i, ?it.v ui-r sumo nnu try to cncek
the coming laugh. Then came n look
of offended dignity, followed by a
quick, softening glance.
"Leave mo one friend, I pray you,
Edwin. I value you too highly to lose,
and esteem you too much to torment.
Do not make of yourself one of those
fools who feel, or pretend to feel, I care
not which, such preference for me. You
cnuuot know in what contempt a wornan
holds a man who follows her though
she despises him. No man can beg a
woman's love; he must command it. Do
not join their ranks, but let us be good
friends. I will tell you the plain truth.
It would be no different were Ave both
of the same degree. Even then I could
not feel toward you as you think you
wish, but I can be your friend and will
promise to be that always if you will
promise never again to sppak of this to
me."
I liroipised solemnly and have always
kept my AA'ord, as this true, anicioua
woman, so full of faults and beauties,
virtues and fulliugs, has ever since that
day and moment kept hers. It seemed
that my love, oy what I supposed avos
love, left my heart at once, frozen in
the cold glint of her eyes as she smiled
upon my lirst uvoAval, somcAvhat as disonse
may leaAo the sickened body upon
a great shock. And in its place came
the restful flame of a friend's love,
which so softly warms without burning.
But the burning! There is nothing in
life worth having comp.T*ed with It fov
all its pains and agonies. Ik there?
"Now, if you must love somebody,"
continued the princess, "there Is Lady
Jane Bollngbroke, who is beautiful and
good and admires you and, I think,
could learn to"? But here the lady In
question ran out from behind the draperies,
where, I belic.ve, she had been
listening to it all, and put her hand over
her mistress* mouth to silence her.
"Don't believe one word she says, Sir
Edwin," cried Lady Jane. '"If you do,
T never will like you." The emphasis
on the "will" held out sueli Involuntary
promise in case I did not believe the
princess that I at once protested total
want of faith In a single syllable she
had said about "her and vowed that I
knew it could not he true; that 1 dared
not hope for such happiness.
You see, I had begun to make love to
Jane almost before I was off my knees
to Mary, and therefore I had not been
pinch hurt in Mary's case. I had suffered
merely a touch of the general epidemic,
not the lingering, chronic disease
that kills.
Then I knew that the best cure for
the sting which lies in a luckless love
is to love elsewhere, and Jane, as she
stood there, so petite, so blushing and
so fair, struck me as quite the most
pleasing antidote I could jiossibly Und,
on T <> ...in.,
self the delightful counter Irritant. It
wih u happy thought for me, one of
those which come to u itiuu now and
then nnd for which lie thanks his wit#
in every hour of his after life.
But the winning of Jane was not so
easy a matter as my vanity lind
prompted mo to think. I started with
a handicap, since Jane had heard my
declaration to Mary, and I had to undo
all that before I could do anything
else. Try the same thing yourself with
a spirited girl, naturally laughter loving
nnd coy, if you think It a simple
easy undertaking. I began to fear 1
should need another antidote long be
fore 1 hoard her sweet soul-sntlsfyinf
"yes." 1 do not believe, however, 1
could have found in the whole work
an antidote to my love for Jane.
In the course of my talk with Bran
don I had, as I have said, told him tlx
story of Mary, with some slight vnria
tions and coloring, or, rather, discolor
ing, to make it appear n little less t<
my discredit than tlic barefaced trutl
would have been. I told bim also abou
Jane, and,-I grieve and blush to say
expressed a confidence In that direc
tfon I little felt.
It had boon perhaps n year since inj
adventure with Mary, liml I had tnkei
nil that time trying to convince Jam
that I did not menu a word I had saW
to her mistress and that I was Verj
earnest In everything I said to her
" I .1
, Hut Jane's ears would bnve heard Just
' as mucli liml they, been the pair of
. . beautiful little shells they so much re- I
, acinblod. This troubled me a greut
deal, and the best I could hope was
tluit she held me on probation.
Ou the evening of the day Mary cauie
houie to Greenwich, lirnmlon asked:
"Who and what on earth Is this wonderful
Mary 1 hear so much about?
They say she Is coming home today,
-nud the court seems to have A(ne mad
about it. I hear nothing but 'Mary
, Is coming! Mary Is coming! Mary!
Mary!' from morning until night.* They
say Buckingham is heside hlmselX^for
love of her. lie has a wife at home, If
I am right, and is old enough to be her
father.. Is he not?" I nssented, and
Brandon continued: "A man who will
make such a fool of himself about "a
woman is woefully weak. The men of
the court must he poor creatures."
lie had much to learn about the
power of womanhood. There Is nothing
on earth?but you know as much
about it as I do.
"Wait until you see her," I answered,
"and you will be one of them also. I
flatter you by giving you one hour with
her to be lieels over bend in love. With
an ordinary man it takes ohe-slxtletli
of that time. So you see I pay a eoinplliuout
to your strength of mind."
"Nonsense!" broke in Brandon. "Do
you think I loft all my wits down in
Suffolk? Why. man, she is the sister
of the king and is sought by kings and
emperors. I might as well fall in love
with a twinkling star. Then, besides,
my heart is not on my sleeve. You
must think me a fool?a poor, enervated.
simpering fool like?like?well, like
one of those nobles of ICuglund. Don't |
put me down wltb them, Caskoden, If I
von twAiilil f ??i ??
??v/?i *?vuiu ciiiuiu iuj ineiiu. "
We both la nulled at this sort of tnlk,
which was a little in advance of the
time for a noble, though an Idiot to the
most of England was a noble still, CJod
created and to be adored.
Now, when Mary returned the whole
court rejoiced, and I was anxious for
Brandon to meet her and that they
should became friends. There would
be no trouble in bringing this meeting
about, since, as you know, i wn?
.ifll'Uis of intimate friendship with Mary
and was the avowed and, as I
thought, at least hoped, all but accepted
lover of l;er first i.. ... -n ,, . ? dearest
friend, Lady Jane Bolingbroke.
Brandon, it is true, was not noble, not
even an English knight, while I was
both knighted and noble, but'he was
of as old a family as England boasted
and near of kin to some of tlic best
blood of tlie land. The meeting came
about sooner than I expected and was
very near a failure. It was 011 the second
morning after Mary's arrival at
(Jrcenwicb. Brandon and I were walking
in the palace park when we met
Jane, and I took the opportunity to
make these, niy two best loved friends
acquainted.
"How do you do. Master Brandon?"
said Lady Jane, holding out her plump
little hand, so white and soft and dear
to me. "I have heard something of you
the last day or so from Sir Edwin, hut
had begun to fear lie was not going to
give me the pleasure of knowing you.*
I hope I may see you often now and
that I may present you to my- uiistress.*'
With this her eyes, bright as overgrown
dewdrops, twinkled with a mischievous
little .smile, as if to say, "Ah,
another large handsome fellow to make
a fool of himself."
Brandon acquiesced it) the wish she
bad imide. ami :ifter the tnterelinniro
of a few words Juno said her mistress
was waiting at the other side of the
grounds and that she must go. She
then ran off with a laugh and a courtesy
and was soon lost to sight behind
the shrubbery at the turning of the
walk.
In a short time we came to a summer
house near the marble boat landing,
where we found the queen and some
of her ladies awaiting the rest of their
party for a trip down the river which
had been planned the day before. Urn lido
11 was known to the queen and several
of the ladies, although he had not
been formally presented at an audience.
Many of the king's friends enJoyed
a considerable Intimacy with the
whole court without ever receiving the
public stamp of recognition socially
wldeh goes with n formal presentation.
The queen, seeing us, sent me off to
bring tiro king. After I had gone she
asked If any one had seen the Princess
Mary, and Brandon told her Lady .lane
had said she was at the other side of |
the grounds. Thereupon her-majesty
' asked Brandon to llnd the princess and
' | to say that she was wanted.
? | Brandon started off ami soon found
a bevy of girls sitting on some benches
' under a spreading oak, weaving spring
I tlowers. He had never seen the princess,
so could not positively know her,
* As a matter of fact he did know her as
soon as his eyes rested on her, for she
could not he mistaken among a thou*
sand. There was no one like licr or anyj
thing near it. Homo stubborn spirit of
opposition, however, prompted him to
? pretend ignorance. All that ho had
heard of her wonderful power over
' men and the servile manner in which
1 they fell before her hlfd aroused in
1 him a spirit of antagonism and had begotten
a kind of distaste beforehand.
Ilo w?h wroiifj In tlila, boonnse Mary
| was not n coquette in any nense of the
word and did absolutely nothlnc to at*
tract men except to l?c so beautiful,
sweet and. jrtiuiing that they could not
let her niqafctv for all of which surely
the prince of fault lliulers himself i-ould
In no way blame her.
Slie could not help that God had seen
lit to muKo her the fairest being on
earth, and" the responsibility would
have to lie where It lielongod?with
God. Mary would have none of it.
Her attractiveness was not a matter
of rolUlot) ok Intention on her part.
She was too jfhung for deliberate snare
setting, tfcmitli it often begins very
early In life, and made no efTort to attract
men. plan's love was too cheap
n thing for her to strlve./or, and I am
sure in her heart she would Infinitely
have preferred to live without It?that
is, until the jrlglit one should come.
The right one is always on his way
and, lirst or last, is sure to come to
every woman?sometimes, alas, too
late?and when he comes, be it late
or early, she Crowns him, even though
he be a long tared ass. Blessed crown,
and thrice blessed blindness?else tliere
were fewer coronations.
So Brandon (stirred this antagonism
and determine^ not to see lier manifold
perfections, which lie felt sure were
exaggerated, but to treat her as lie
would the queen, who was black and
leathery enough to frighten a satyr,
with all respect duo to her rank, but
with his own opinion of her nevertheless
safely stored away in the back of
his head.
Coining up to the group, Brandon
took off his hat mid, with a graceful ,
little bow that let the curls fall arouud I
Ills face, asked. "Have 1 the honor to
find the Prinopss Mary among these
Indies*/" v *
Mary, who r know you will at once
say was thoroughly spoiled, without
turning her faee toward him replied:
"Is the Prim-ess Mary a person of so
little consequence about the court that
she is not known to a mighty captain
of Ihc guard?"
lie wore bis guardsman's doublet,
and she knew his rank by his uniform.
She had not noticed his face.
<iui<-'k as a flash came the answer:
"I cannot say of what consequence the
Princess "STary is ul>out the court. It
is not my place *<^letcrmlne such mathem
t0cll$S** ?,ot she would lnmT
prvetr a gentler answer to a message
from the queen. I shall continue my
search." With this lie turned to leave,
and the ladles, Including Jane, who i
was there and saw it all and told nie ]
of it, nwaited tlie bolt they knew would
coino, for tliey saw the lightning gathering
in Mary's eyes.
Mary sprang to her foot with an angry
llusli in her face, exclaiming: "Insolent
fellow, I am the Princess Mary.
If you have a message, deliver It and
be gone." You may be sure this sort
of treatment was such as the cool headed,
during Brandon would repay with
usury; so, turning upon his lieel and
almost presenting his hack to Mary, he
spoke to Lady Jane:
"Will your ladyship say to her highness
that her majesty the queen awaits
her coming at the marble landing?"
"No need to repeat the message,
Jane," cried Mary. "I have ears and
can hear for myself." Then, turning to
Braudon, "If your Insolence will permit
you to receive a message from so insignificant
a person as the king's sister, I
lwg you to say to the queen that I shall
lie with her presently."
He did not turn his face toward
f\ but bowed again to Jane.
"May I ask your ladyship further to
say for me that If I have been guilty of
any discourtesy I greatly regret It. My
failure to recognise the Princess Marv
grew out of my misfortune iu never
having been allowed to bask In the
light of her countenance. I cannot believe
the fault lies at my door, and I
hope for her own sake that her highness
on second thought will realize how
ungentle and unkind some our else has
been." And with a sweeping courtesy
he walked quickly down the path.
"The insolent wretch!" cried one.
"He ought to hold papers on the pillory,"
said another.
"Nothing of the sort," broke In sensible,
fearless little Jane. "I think the
I.ady Mary was wrong. lie could not
have known her by Inspiration."
"June Is right," exclaimed Mary,
whose temper, If short, was also short
lived and whose kindly heart always
set her right if she but gave-It a little
time. Her faults were rather those of
education than of nature. "Jane Is
right. It was what I deserved. I did
not think when I spoke and did not
really mean It as It sounded. He acted
like a man and looked like one, too,
when he defended himself. I warrant
tlio pope at Koine eon Id not run over
liiiu with Impunity. For onro I have
found a ran I live man, full of manliness.
1 saw hint In tho lists at Windsor
a week ajto, hut the klnj; said his name
was a secret. and I could not learn it.
Ho seemed to know you, Jane. Who is
he? Now tell us all you know. The
queen can wait."
And her majesty waited on a rIiTb
curiosity.
I had told Jane all I knew about
Brandon, so she was prepared with
full information ami gave it. She told
the princess who he was,, of ids terrible
duel with Judsou, his bravery
and adventures in the wars, Ids Reneroua
frlft to Ids brother and sisters, and,
lastly, "Sir Kdwln says he is the best
reud man lit tbe^ourt and the bravest.
I I
truest heart in Christendom."
After Jane's account of Brandon
they nil started by n rouudahout way
for the liinrhle landing. In a few moments
whom did they see coming toward
them down the path hut Brandon,
who hud delivered his message
and continued his walk. When he
saw whom he was about to meet, lie
quickly turned in another direction.
. The Lady Mary had seen him. however,
and told Jane to run forward and
bring him to her. Site soon overtook
him and said: I
i "Master Brandon, the princes*
wishes to see you." then maliciously: i
, "You will suffer tills time. 1 assure
you she is not used to such treatment, j
It was glorious, though, to see you re- j
sent such an affront. Men usually j
smirk and smile foolishly and thank
Inr when she smites them."
Brandon was disinclined to return, j
"I am not in her highness' com- ;
ma ltd," he answered, "and do not care
to go hack for a reprimand when 1 am
In no way to blame."
"Oh, but you must come. Perhaps
she will not scold this time." And she
put her hand upon his arm and laugh- j
llfjily drew him a loin?
course 11:i< 1 to submit when 1< <1 by so
sweet a captor?anybody would. So !
fres'it and fair and lovable was Jane
that I am sure anything masculine
must have given way.
Coming up to the princess and her
ladhs, who were waiting, Jane said,
"j'.ady Mary, let me present Master
r?randon, who. It ho Uivh ufl'cmled in
any way, humltly sites for pardon."
That was the one thing Hrandon had
no notion on earth of doing, hut he let
it go as Jane had put it. and this was
his reward:
'It is not Master Hrandoit who
should sue for pardon." responded the i
princess. "It is I who was wrong. I t
hlnsh for what I did and said, l'orgive j
me. sir. and let us start anew." At this .
she stepped up to Itrandon and offered
him her hand, which he. dropping to
his knee, kissed most gallantly.
"Your highness, yon can well afford
to offend when you have jo sweet and
gracious a talent for making amends.
| 'A wrong acknowledged,'' as soitlo one
"Four hiyhncxs, you ran will afford to
othud."
has said, 'becomes an obligation."' lie
looked straight into tin- girl's eyes as
be said this, and his gaze was altogether
too strong for her, so the lashes fell.
She Unshed and said, with a smile that
brought the dimples:
"I thank you. That is a real compliment."
Then laughingly: "Much better
than extravagant comments on one's
skin and eyes and hair. We are going
to the queen at the marble landing.
Will you walk with us. sir':" And they
strolled away together, while the other
girls followed in a whispering, laughing
group.
Was there ever so glorious a calm
after sueli a storm?
"Then those mythological compliments,"
continued Mary. "Don't you
dislike them':"'
"I can't say that I have ever tevolved
tinny, none that I recall," replied Itraudon,
with a perfectly straight face, hut
with a smile trvimr its host to break
out.
"Oil. you lmvo not? Well, how would
you like to have somebody always tailing
you that Apollo was humpbacked
niul misshapen compared with you;
that Endyiuion would have covered his
face had he but seen yours, and so on?"
"I don't know, but I think I should
like it from some persons," ho replied,
looking ever so innocent.
This savored of familiarity after so
brief an acquaintance and caused the
princess to glance tip in slight surprise,
hut only for the instant, for his innocent
look disarmed her.
"I have a mind to see," she returned,
laughing and throwing her head back
as she looked up at him out of the corner
of her lustrous eyes. "Rut I will
j pay you a better compliment. I posi:
tively thank you for the rebuke. I do
many things like that, for which I am
always-sorry. Oh, you don't know how
ditlicult it Is to be a good princess!"
t And she shook her head with a gather|
ing of little trouble wrinkles in her
. i t?n in nil, 11111 * it iin iw | A. ill 11'
UO getting away from It, though." Then
' alio breathed a soft little sigh of trlbuj
lation As they walked on.
"I know it inapt be a task to be Rood
when everybo<ly tlattei"H even oue'a
shortcomings," said ltrundou and then
n I FiAH.
I
continued in n way tlmt, I am free to
confess, was something priggish: "It is
almost impossible for us to see our
own faults even when others are kind
enough to point tltem out, for they are
right ugly tilings and unpleasant to
look upon. Hut, lacking those outside
monitors, o:<> must all the more cultivate
the habit of constant inlooking
and self examination. If we are only
bravo enough to confront our Aiults
and look tliem in the face, ugly as they
arc, we shall lie sure to overcome the
worst of them. A striving toward good
will achieve at least a part of it."
"Oli!" returned the princess. "But
what is good and what is wrong? So
often we cannot tell them apart until
wo look hack at what wo have done,
and then it is all too late. I truly wish
to he good more than I desire anything
else in the world. I am so ignorant and
helpless and have such strong inclinations
to do wrong that sometimes I
seeiu to he almost all wrong. The
priests say so much, hut tell us so little.
'PI * --
11117 liiui jiuniu m. retor and St. l'ntil
and a host of other saints and lioly fathers
and what nuts, hut fail to toll us
what wo need every moment of our
lives; that is, how to know the right
when we see it, and how to do It; niul
how to l.now the wrong and how to
avoid it. Th".v ask us to holiove so
inueh and insist that faith Is the sum
of virtu - a ml the l.jok of it the sum of
sin. tlsat to faith all thdfcgs are added,
hut we might holiove every syllable of
their whole disturbing ereed and then
spoil it all through blind ignorance of
what is right and what is wrong."
"As to knowing right and wrong,"
replied llriuidon, "l think I can give
you a rule which, although It may not
cover the whole ground. Is excellent
for everyday use. It is (Ids. Whatever
makes others unhappy is wrong, whatever
makes the world happier is good.
A t-> how we are always to do this I
cant,"! tell you. One has to learn that
by trying. We can hut try, and if we
fr.il altogether there is still virtue in
every futile effort toward the right."
Mary bent her head as she walked
along in thought.
"What you have said is the only apptoach
to a rule for knowing and doing
the right 1 have ever hoard- x??*
ill.l "11* u 111 \\\f it\t in- niiu in i*? ?
1110 tod strong. If always does Itself l>eforo
1 ran apply any rule or cvon realise
wliat is coming." Ami again alio
shook her head, with a bewitching llttlo
look of trouble.
'Pardon lue, your highness, but there
is no bad in you. It has been put on
you by others and is all on the outside.
There is none of it in your heart at all.
That evil which you think conies out
of you simply falls from you. Your
heart is all right or I have greatly misjudged
you." lie was treating her almost
as if she were a child.
I fear. Master Itrandou. you are the
most adroit (latterer of all," said Mary,
shaking her head and looking up at
him with a side glance. "People have
deluged uie with all kinds of (lattery?
I have different sorts listed and labeled
?but no one has ever gone to the extravagant
length of calling me good.
Perhaps they think I do not care for
that, but I like it best. I don't like the
others at all. If I am beautiful or not,
it is as <5od made me, and I have 110th
ing to ilo with it ami desire no credit,
Init if I could only be good it might be
my own doing perhaps, and I ought to
have praise. I wonder if there is really
and truly any good in me and if you
have read me aright." Then, looking
up at him with a touch of consternation,
"Or are you laughing at me?"
Brandon wisely let the last suggestion
pass unnoticed.
"I am sure that I am right. You
have glorious capacities for good, but,
alas, corresponding possibilities for
evil. It will eventually all depend upon
the man you marry, lie can make out
of you a perfect woman or the reverse."
Again there was the surprised expression
in Mary's face, but llraiulon's sert- '
ous look disarmed her.
"1 fear you are right, as to the reverse
at any rate, and the worst of it is I
shall never be able to choose a man to
help me, but shall sooner or later be
compelled to marry the creature who
will pay the greatest price."
"(Sod forbid!" said Brandon reverently.
^
They were growing rather serious, so
Mary turned the conversation again
into the laughing mood and said, with
a half sigh: "Oh, I hope you are right
about the possibilities for good, but
you do not know. Wait until you have
seen more of me."
"I certainly hope I shall not have
j long to wait."'
The surprised eyes again glanced
quickly up to tho serious face, but the
answer on me: "That you shall not. Hut
here is the queen, and I suppose we
must have the benediction." Hrnndon
understood her hint, that the preaching
was over, and, taking it for ids dismissal.
playfully lifted Ids hands In Indta*
tion of the old bishop of Canterbury
and murmured the first line of the Ijit!n
benediction. Then they both laughed
and courtesied, and Hrnndon walked
away.
] [TO UK CONTTTtUKD.1 ]
Between a babbling friend and a
silent foe there is small choice.?As*
trim.
I ....