The Argosy — page 80: what you’re looking at

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

The Oleander. 65 and tossed it from her. “ Are you superstitious, Theresa?”’ she cried sharply ; “then here is food for it; make what you can of my anonymous gift. Its message is as melodramatic as one could desire : Beware and trust. Of whom shallI beware, and whom shall I trust P Read me the riddle, Theresa.” “Beware, is the meaning of the oleander, according to flower language,” I replied, prosaically. ‘‘I suppose you are to beware of its charms and trust the sender.” ‘You are very silly,” she answered pettishly, and turned from me shortly ; but I noticed later on that the box was empty, and the flower with its message had disappeared. My recollections of that winter are not very pleasant ones, in spite of the charm and grace of the Eternal City,—a charm and a grace be- stowed by centuries of religion united to art in every form and made glorious by the grand legacies of time. Lady Diana was the pivot upon which all our actions turned, and upon her moods rested our happiness or discomfort. .At best this was a frail foundation, and we tottered and trembled, and were in daily danger of earthquakes owing to that little lady’s uncertain temper. Very soon after our establishment in a large, echoing palace, full of ghostly memories and traditions, she made her appearance at a grand embassy ball, and as usual her beauty, her wealth, her air of grande dame, won for her many admirers, and Diana, I am sorry to say, encouraged them all. I shudder to think how many sprigs and flowerets of the Roman nobility she wilfully enticed by her Lurelei-witchery and then scornfully rejected. Lady Paragon and Camilla called the winter a great success, and so I suppose it was. I only know that my life grew broader and calmer under that blue Italian sky, and when I—Protestant though I was— knelt within St. Peter’s, I was never lonely. Something of peace and rest came to me then that has never left me since. As Easter came on, Diana’s pale cheeks and bright eyes attracted Lady Paragon’s attention, and it was decided in solemn conclave, Lord Welford being of the number, that a summer at one of the German Spas would be better for Diana than areturn to England. When Lady Paragon told her their decision, she looked up startled and made a movement forward. “I thought we were to go home,” she said. “Indeed, Aunt Parry, there is nothing the matter, and I must go home; I want to be at Heron’s Court.” Lord Welford, who was present, laughed a littlecold laugh. “Is it Heron’s Court you most desire to see, or do the oleander trees call out across the Channel for you to come and behold their miraculous blossoms ? ” Diana sat silent. She never spoke to Welford unless forced to do so, and soon she left the room. When nextI met her she had been crying, and she held a letter in her hand which she begged me to post for her. The letter was addressed to Millicent Denman, VOL, XXXVIII, F Gomichoo (E(@) m