The Argosy — page 208: what you’re looking at

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

196 Rupert's Chore. disappointment. What hornble blindness could have come over our boy ? what infatuation could have made him fall in love with such a girl as this ? When I went down to the drawing-room, I found Mrs. Loraine there alone. She made no remark about Miss Herries, which in itself suffr- ciently showed her disappointment. Miss Herries came down in good time, prettily, though showily, dressed in white, with black lace and red ribbons, and looking undeniably very handsome. The con- versation at dinner dragged painfully. Mrs. Loraine was chilled and depressed, and Miss Herries, though now quite at her ease, was unfor- tunate in her choice of subjects. She was evidently anxious to please, but her admiration of the place, her praises of the room assigned her, were utterly tasteless. The only sign of good taste that she showed was in abstaining from talking of Rupert—she never once mentioned him of her own accord, and barely responded to any accidental allusion to him. It was, under the circumstances, lucky, but it seemed to me unnatural. During the evening we tried every imaginable subject. She was good-natured, and very ready to talk, apparently quite unconscious of her own deficiencies. The knowledge of German, vaunted by Rupert, was the merest school- girl smattering; her music was not absolutely bad, but commonplace and meaningless. She was ready to profess interest in any subject that .Mrs. Loraine started, but before bedtime came we both knew that the other must have discovered her to be ill-educated, unrefined, and under-bred. When we went upstairs at night, Mrs. Loraine stopped at the turning which led to her own rooms: she could evidently bear no more. ‘I will say good-night here, my dear,” she said; ‘‘I am very tired, and Miss Barlow will kindly see that you have all you want in your room.” She said good-night to me, too. I knew it meant that she wished to be alone, and that for the present there was to be silegce even between her and me. I thought her wise and right—and how I pitied her ! I accompanied Miss Herries to her room, to see that all was as it should be. She set down her candle and closed the door. ‘Sit down and talk,” she said, familiarly. ‘‘ Put me up to a few things. You know her well, of course. Shall I find her easy to live with? ” “It is difficult to tell beforehand who will suit each other,” I replied, coldly ; for her easy tone displeased me. ‘‘ Mrs. Loraine is a most charming person, and kindness itself.” “ Rather odd, though, isn’t she? Well! I daresay we shall do very well together ; and with such a lot of us at home, and so little money, I am thankful to get away. It’s always a chance, but I think I have done very well for myself.” Too much disgusted to answer, as of course it would not do to speak my mind, I merely said “ Good-night,” and left her. ecomniclooolkks _ (SO eee