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182 THE PORTRAIT.
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
Chapter Iii. A Few Days After The Imluck...
looked sprightly ; every one seemed conscious that the sun shone ,, shone for his especial leasure . That walk was one of the plea- *
p sant notches in my time stick . The joyousness of spring * was in the air , the delicate hue of the tender leaves _, as seen between us
and the clear blue sky , refreshed the eye and filled the heart with hopeful leams of light . The _sjDarkling waters of the fountains ,
the ornamental g statuesthe voices of the childrenand the animated countenances , of the merry passers-byall conspired to , make up
, a charming- picture , which fixed itself in my memory perhaps the more indelibly from the fact that Mr . Cleveland inhaled the same
air , looked on the same young heralds of spring * , heard the same ringing laugh of childhood , and , I _doiibted not , was equally happy .
The two ladies who accompanied him were an aunt and cousin , and I soon found that the younger of the two had no admiration of ,.
or faith in , the doctrine of reserve . She was a talkative little lady with blue eyes and flaxen hair , and gave me her whole history up to
that particular moment in a miraculously brief space of time . ine When that of she her had " darling finished cousin with her " as own she biograj called ) hy Mr , she . Cleveland began to g and ive
ended by telling me in a whisper , , that she was sure he was in , love with me " for he speaks of you "without seeming to know it . "
, "Ah then ! " I answered carelessly , " be assured he is not ; for we never speak of those we love , we only think of them . " The large
blue eyes looked up at me with a bewildered stare ; their owner laughedand said I was talking nonsense . Miss Cleveland , it
was evident , , if not a de Stael in matter , yet might have vied with that femme celebre in rapidity of speech . Her life moved at
railway speed , and on her line there were apparently no stations to stop at .
On our way home , Mrs . Bethune , who had quite recovered her serenity ( when she had ascertained that the ladies to whom Mr .
Clevelan , d had been so attentive were relatives and not strangers , ) began to speak of her portrait . "I find I was wrong , Emily , in
supposing that Cleveland did injustice to your picture . We have had a long talk about it , and he assured me , that if you persevered
in your study of art you might one day become a first rate artist /' " And share the fate of Properzia" I added with a smile .
, "In love or in art ? " asked Mrs . Bethune playfully . " Perhaps in both" I repliedin the same mirthful tone . I felt
my face glow beneath , the penetrating , gaze of Mrs . Bethune , who seemed as if she wished to read my thoughts .
"I have fine news for you , Sarah , " were my first words when on reaching home I met our dragon .
" Indeed ! " said Sarah , with a significant shrug , and look of distrust .
given "We by are our all Ambassador going on Thursday / 1 I continued week to , the not ball heedin which g is Sarah to be . ' s-
exclamation .
182 The Portrait.
182 THE PORTRAIT .
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Citation
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English Woman’s Journal (1858-1864), May 1, 1861, page 182, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ewj/issues/ewj_01051861/page/38/
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