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252 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.
+ -A^ Ghaptek V. It Lias "Been Affirmed ...
Cleveland , took up one after another of the smaller objects which layon the table , and pretended to examine them minutely , but his
embarrassment could not be disguised , and I knew he scarcely saw those the things clouds he that held interpose in his hand at times . How between strange two , yet _j ) ersons how real without , are
any apparent cause , and how difficult it is to dispel them when once thereWhshould I not have spoken openly and freely to Mr .
Cleveland . and y why should he have been so confused and embarrassed if he , had nothing to conceal or be ashamed of ?
There I satand there close beside me stood Mr . Cleveland , liftingfrom the table , one small article after anotherand putting them
of up again a museum in their and places the with table as a much cabinet care of as precious . if he had , curiosities been the . curator
At length , as if starting from a reverie , he abruptly asked when I had seen Mrs . Bethune . Thankful that the awkward silence was
at last brokenI answered " Not since I left London , a year ago . " " Indeed ! " was , the sole comment , madeand again he began to
handle small vases and cracked jars . How , I longed to upset the table and scatter its contents on the floor . I could not endure the
tantalizing scene an instant longer , so I resolved to put an end to it . I cleared my throat , and managed to say , " Mr . Cleveland , I
regret that I had not the pleasure of seeing you before I left Paris , as I owed you perhaps an explanation . "
"Do not speak of the past , " said Cleveland , hurriedly interrupting me " Forget the astand tell me how your drawing gets on . "
compressed He . spoke in . a I forced felt p angry , hard , and tone annoyed , and his that lips he were thus waived again firml aside y
all allusion to our life in Paris . I called in the aid of pride , and made an attempt to speak of indifferent matters . Cleveland seemed
absent ; he either made no answer to what I said , or , when he did , it was far from the point .
He still lingered at the table , and still his altered manner conlame tinued attempts . Mr . Mart at yn keep rej ing oined up us a , conversation and I was enabled in which to I abandon had all my to
do myself . I glided out of my corner and mingled with the crowd ; shortlafterwards I saw Cleveland leave the roomwithout even
y , coming to wish me good night . And this was the interview so ai * deiitly wished for !
in . nine Every cases one who out has of ten had the any rending experience 1 of friendl of social y ties life is knows caused that by
some trivial circumstance in the first instance ; and misunderstanding following upon misunderstanding , the feelings become wounded
and embittered by supposed injuries , till resentment takes possession of the mindand reconcilement becomes difficult . So it was
with me . Pondering , over the conduct of Mr . Cleveland during the darksilent hours of nihtI came to the conclusion that his
embarrassment , _aroise from g a , desire to cancel the past , which _,
having still perhaps , some feelings left for me , he found rather
252 The Portrait.
252 THE PORTRAIT .
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Citation
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English Woman’s Journal (1858-1864), June 1, 1861, page 252, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ewj/issues/ewj_01061861/page/36/
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