The Argosy — page 209: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

How it Happened. 195 it was a matter of fact that our musical professor talked more to her than I had ever known him do to anyone else. Frances and he rarely conversed together, and in his absence she never mentioned him ; but if he were suddenly spoken of before her, I noticed that she blushed and grew confused. She was always rather inclined to silence, but on our Saturday evening walks she now rarely uttered a word. Her face wore a meditative air at such times, and her gentle, wistful eyes were sometimes turned with a puzzled and questioning expression upon Louis and her sister, when Fenella, according to her wont, was trying to rouse her companion into a humour for exchanging lively badinage with her. As we all grew more and more intimate, she was often successful in these attempts, for our friend was no longer the gloomy and moody man he had been. My husband ‘and I rejoiced over the change in him. He carried himself now with a more erect carriage, and walked with a firmer, more elastic tread than before; and at this time he breathed into his voluntaries a sort of triumphal tone, very different from the pathetic sadness they had formerly expressed. “ He has given us one of Batiste’s Andantes as if it were a wedding march, or a Christmas carol,” I said to Frances, after service one Sunday, while we exchanged greetings in the church porch. She practised instrumental music diligently in those days ; and once, when Mr. Carter rewarded some modest performance of hers with an emphatic “ Well done,” I saw such a tender, happy smile brighten her fair face! It was two o’clock on Saturday when the girls arrived at the College. The boys, as usual, had all dispersed, and we tumed into the drawing- room, before going upstairs, to discuss the respective merits of two photographs Frances had just had done, and which she had brought me to choose from. One showed her full-face,—the other gave a profile view of the lovely, refined features. Both were so pretty that I found it difficult to make a selection between them. I put them back, at last, into their envelope, which I laid upon the table, and proposed that I should defer my decision until later. We were all very merry that day, and we walked up the wide, old- fashioned oak staircase three abreast, laughing and talking as we went, and having our arms linked together. We all three grew deep in discussion over a book we were reading, and this made us linger upstairs even longer than we need have done. Thus it was twenty minutes, or perhaps even half an hour, before we descended. Our surprise was therefore great at finding the drawing- room tenanted by Louis Carter. He stood up as we went in, looking, I thought, strangely flushed and confused. Louis told us that he had got a holiday from bank work on this occasion, as he had not been quite well all the morning... He had comichooks.com