NOV. 23 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
754 
And he fancied the warm blush that came over 
her face was the result ot his compliment 
“ Lonsdale I Is not that the name of the law¬ 
yer who forged a will, or something of that 
klml7’’ asked Sir Owen. 
She looked up at him, horrltlod by the words. 
“ You are making a grave mistake, Sir Owen,” 
she said. “ Mr. Lonsdale was falsely accused of 
having influenced one ot his clients to leave him 
money bub It was not true.” 
“ True or not, I wish that I were In bis place,” 
Bald Sir Owen. 
“ Why 7 ” she asked in wonder. 
“ Because you defend him. I wonder, If you 
heard evil spoken of me whether you would de¬ 
fend me 7" 
“ Do people speak evil of you?” she asked. 
“ 1 suppose so,” was the careless reply; “ not 
that I care. Why should I caro? Nothing of that 
klnd.matters to me. But I know they tell queer 
stories about me, They say I drink and gam¬ 
ble—they say that I—But I forget—I must not 
repeat scandal to-you. Now It you heard these 
things said of me, would you defend me ?” 
“How can! answer you? You forget that I 
have never seen you before.” 
“ Yet you defend this Lonsdale. Do you know 
him?” 
“TheMr. Lonsdale who has suffered so un¬ 
justly Is the father of the gentleman to whom 
you saw me speaking,” Bhe replied, “and Is one 
of the oldest friends I have In LUford." 
“Isuppose," said the Baronet, “that Lons¬ 
dale’s son imagines himself a very handsome 
man. That kind of man always thinks a great 
deal of himself." 
“Do you not think him handsome?’’ asked 
Violet, who knew well that her lovor had tho 
statuesque beauty of a Greek god. 
“I never waste one thought on a man's face,” 
he replied. 
But violet’s quick instinct told her the awk¬ 
ward Baronet was Jealous of the young lawyer. 
Then the quadrille was over, but he would not 
leave her. She must go with him to have some 
refreshments—he was sur8 she felt tired, if he 
had only known, he would have sent all kinds of 
choice fruits over for the Jete, but how could he 
foresee that the queen of society herself was to 
be preB3nt ? 
it was all Mattery, but very pleasant flatter}', 
when offered by a man worth forty thousand 
per annum. It was pleasant too to know that 
every one was looking at her, every one was 
thinking and talking about her. She could not 
help concrastlDg her present position with that 
she had occupied half an hour previously. 
Felix Lonsdale had beeu but coldly received. 
No one seemed to forget that ho was the son ot 
a man whose fair fame was darkened by a cloud. 
The elite had not removed him very kindly. 
Lady Roire had passed him with a bow; .Mrs. 
Brownson had held out two Angel's tor him to 
Shake, and had drawn them back very quickly; 
Mrs. Boulders had shakeu hands with him and 
then looked round very quickly to see If any one 
had observed her. He had not beeu “cut;” 
no one had boon pointedly uncivil, out he had 
been coldly received, and violet had observed 
It even more keenly thau he had himself, when 
she stood talking to him. She had a strange 
feeling as though she were i n some manner shar¬ 
ing his digrace—aa though she, too, were under 
a cloud. 
Now It was so different. Sir Owen’s glory 
seemed to be reflected on her; peopie who hid 
never troubled themselves to speak to her before, 
now wore fulsomely polite to her. It was but 
rtfleoted glory, she knew; but still It was very 
pleasant. 
Sir Owen Insisted on her taking some refresh¬ 
ment ; ho waited upon her as though she had been 
a princess; she could not tell how It was, but she 
seemed suddenly to have left far behind her the 
world of sorrow, pain, and disgrace In which, 
through sympathy with Fullx, she had been 
living so long. 
“ Here Is your friend,” said Sir Owen; and, look¬ 
ing up suddenly, she saw Fullx at the entrance 
of the tent looking wistfully at her. 
At first something like Linpallenco vexed her. 
It was such a magnificent triumph for her, ho 
might let her enjoy It—ho might have waited a 
few minutes, it was not every day that she was 
waited upon by a rich barouot and envied by 
other women; she might never see Sir Owen 
again, while all her life was to be spent with 
Felix. Surely he might have waited a row min¬ 
utes longer; but no, he was coming to her, and 
her triumph was coded; she had no Idea of re¬ 
sisting his will, and rose from her seat. Sir Owen 
looked at her In amazement. 
" Are you going ? ” ho usked. “ I was just about 
to presume to ask if you would go with me to see 
the flowers; they have some very line ones here, 
I am told.” 
She looked holplessiy from one to the other. 
She did not know how to refuse such a tempting 
offer from sir Owen; It would bo an unequaled 
triumph for all tho guests to see her—to see how 
proud and pleased he was to escort her through 
the grounds; but It, seemed equally Impossible to 
leave Felix, who bad looked forward with such 
delight to this holiday with her. So thebeautl- 
ful eyes glanced tirstat the one and then at tho 
other, while the whlto fingers toyed with the 
pretty flowers she hold up uutll their scented 
leaves fell on the ground. FelLx cut the Gordian 
knot tor her. 
“Pardon me for tho interruption,” he said. 
“ Miss Uaye was kind enough to promise me that 
honor.” 
Ho took Violet’s hand, placed It on bla arm, and 
led her rrorn tho tent. 
Tho Baronet stood looking after them with 
more than amazement In his face. 
“ What unequulcd Impertinence!" he said. 
“Tho father of 3uch a man as that would be 
capable of forging half a dozen wills.” 
“Oh, Felix,” said Violet, “ I am afraid you have 
offended him I” 
“ I do not care if I have, violet. You are mine. 
What, right has he to monopolize you ? I know 
we are not married; hut it Is almost the same 
thing. You are my promised wife, and no one 
shall take you away from me even for one hour. 
Come away from all these people—I want to talk 
to you. Como down this avenue of chestnuts.” 
ne mastered her by his stronger will; she went 
without one word. They walked Btowly down 
the avenue of ohestnuta, the sunlight glancing 
on her golden hair and white dress. 
“ Let mo look at you, Violet,” he cried, with the 
passionate impatience of a young lover. “It 
seems to me that that man’s presence near you 
must have dimmed your beauty a3 polBonous air 
kills a delicate flower. Let me look at you, my 
darllcg.” 
He held her hand and stood looking at her, 
watching the radiant face with such love In bis 
eyes that, a woman must have had a marble heart 
to resist him. 
“No," he said; “you are Just the same. You 
must humor my fancies, violet. Does not some 
one say that ‘ great love 13 semi-madness ?’ it Is 
true. You must humor my fancies, sweet. Stand 
here; let this cool breeze blow over you—It will 
purify you from even tho very breath and echo 
of his words.” 
She laughed a low, tremulous laugh, but the 
words touched her. She stood quite still, and the 
western wind kissed her face, played with her 
golden hair, showered the chestnut-blossoms 
over her. 
“ You shall not even have the echo of another 
man’s words hanging over you, sweet," he said. 
“Now the breeze has taken It all away.” 
“ Oh, Felix, how much you love me! It makes 
me tremble to think or It.” 
“You do not understand It even yet,” he re¬ 
plied. 
As she walked by her lover’s side she could not 
help feeling tho contrast. Who would ever—who 
could over love her as this man did ? Who la the 
whole wide world, she thought, had ever been so 
loved except herself ? The memory of his wordB 
thrilled her; they stirred the Inmost depths of 
her soul. How he loved her, this handsome, 
noble-hearted man I Hts very heart, his soul and 
life, seemed wrapped lu her. 
Even as she felt these thlnga she could not help 
noticing the difference. When she had crossed 
the lawn with sir Owen she had met nothing but 
bows, smiles, glances ot admiration, ill-concealed 
envy and wonder. Now that she waa once again 
with Felix no one noticed her, no one spoke to 
her. It was like being In a different world. 
Sir Oweubad been a?ked to play croquet, and 
had refused. He had taken a bird’s-eye view- of 
the party—four old mulds and a hopeless school¬ 
girl. If was not In his line, he assured Sirs. Hun¬ 
ter. ne would not engage himself in any particu¬ 
lar way; he would only linger and wait,, watch¬ 
ing for tho next glimpse of the beautiful face that 
had set Ida heart and brain on lire. 
He saw her at last, standing with FelLx watch¬ 
ing the players at lawn-tennis, and the next mo¬ 
ment he was by her side. Lady ltolfe, eyeing 
him, wtil3pered to Mrs, nunter— 
“Sir Owen seem3 to be Infatuated with violet 
Haye. Some one ahould toll him she Is engaged. 
Dear Mrs. Hunter, would you mind saying that 1 
should like to speak to him ?” And Bhe smiled a 
well-satisfied smile w'heu she saw tho Vicar’s 
wife deliver her message. 
“ You wished to apeak to me,” said Sir Owen, 
approaching Lady Rolfe with an air of Ill-con¬ 
cealed impatience. 
Sho saw t, ,at he looked annoyed, and had re¬ 
course to her favorite weapon—flattery. 
“lilt, bo to an elderly lady like myself to fool 
Jealous, l certainly am Jealous. We are old 
friends ot nearly two months’ standing, yet you 
have not spent five minutes with me. Sit down 
here, andgivo me your views about thc/efe." 
Ungraciously enough he took a seat, by her side. 
She saw him look with angry eyes at Felix and 
violet; but Lady Rolfc was a woman with a pur¬ 
pose. it took much to daunt her, 
“ i have no views,” ho declared angrily. “ 1 am 
quite tired oi people with views.” 
“ Clover men are all alike,” remarked her lady¬ 
ship, and bis face softened a little at tho words. 
"At least we have had a beautiful day,” she said, 
“and beautiful music.” 
He could not deny It, or he would have done so. 
She continued— 
"Thl3 Is the tirst time that you have mot your 
new friends and neighbors together. Do you like 
them?” 
“They a.re very much like other people,” he 
sneered.—LTo be continued. 
- -■♦♦♦- 
THE AFTER-DINNER SPEECH OF THE 
BARONESS CONTALETTO. 
LOUISE STOCKTOK. 
In one of tho most salubrious sections of Alaska 
there exists—or did exist tn December, 187«—a 
society named “ The Irreparabies.” It was com¬ 
posed of women only. For this there were sev¬ 
eral reasous. Tho subjects discussed were not 
supposed to Interest men, but this might have 
been remedied had not the men, already tn a 
minority in the village, absolutely refused to 
have anything to do with a society In which they 
were sure to be voted down without any very 
premising power of appeal, it waa at one time 
suggested that they could become associate mem¬ 
bers, but the notary, upon examining their pros¬ 
pective position In the club, declared t hat their 
taxes would be ho many and their rights so few 
that It was an offer not to be considered. So the 
matter was dropped, and an “ irreparable ” was 
always a creature of the gentjer sex. 
The most Important event in the year to this 
society was Its annual meeting and festive cele¬ 
bration In December. Upon this occasion the 
meiobeiw reviewed their accounts, perhaps voted 
In a now member, acted upon delinquents, and, 
In a word, settled up the business of the year. 
The festivities sometimes took the shape of a 
mothers’ meeting, a qulltlng-party or a cozy little 
tea. In 1876 they were, however, affected by the 
excitement that prevailed throughout the whole 
United States, and which fairly reached them In 
December. Alaska. It was true, was not one of 
the thirteen colonies, but neither was Ohio nor 
Colorado. It was much larger than Rhode Isl¬ 
and or Delaware. It had great possibilities, and 
It had coat money, which was more than could be 
said of tho original thirteen, leaving out Pennsyl¬ 
vania, which even then could not be counted as a 
very expensive investment on the part ot Mr. 
Penn. These patriotic reasons tired the hearts 
of the “ Irreparabies,” and they determined that 
Alaska ahould celebrate the Centennial of their 
country, and that the celebration should be 
theirs. 
Then the question arose of what nature this 
celebration should he. An exposition was clearly 
out of the question, and even a school-fair was 
voted troublesome. Some of the younger mem¬ 
bers favored a dance, but this was objected tc» 
because of the absurdity of a roomful of women 
waltzing and treacling the light, fantastic Ger¬ 
man by themselves. It would seem, said the 
Baroness Contaletto, like a burlesque of merri¬ 
ment ; and so the dance feu through. A service 
of song, a tea-drum, a cream-comet, and a pound- 
party met the same fate; and Anally all minds 
gently but firmly centered upon a dinner-party; 
and so It was a dinner with courses. 
Naturally enough, It was not at flrst easy to ar¬ 
range, but the admirable spirit of organization 
pervading the society soon brought everything 
mto shape. There was a committee upon the blU- 
of-fare, upon the toasts, upon Invitations, upon 
the room and upon the general arrangements. 
It waa true that the only room In the village that 
waa suitable was the little hall back of the tavern, 
and the invitations were verbally given at the 
meeting when the matter was decided upon; but 
as one never knows what emergencies may arise, 
it is always well to have a committee ready to 
act. 
The chairwoman or moat of the committees 
was the Baroness Contaletto. This was not be¬ 
cause of her rank, as, lu fact, she had no claim to 
her title either from birthright or marriage. Her 
claim rested upon the tine sense the village had 
of the fltness ot things. She looked Uke a baron¬ 
ess; she always made It a point to behave like 
one. In the course of time they called her so, 
and when she added the name of Contaletto, the 
village acknowledged the fitness of that, and very 
soon the Baroness Contaletto was universally ac¬ 
cepted, and Tblsba Lenowskt forgotten. The rea¬ 
son ot her being so many cnalrwomen also rested 
on her lit npss. She was a woman of Ideas and of 
deeds. The minister’s plana might come to 
naught, the editor’s predictions be falsified, and 
the schoolmaster’s reforms die out; but the en¬ 
terprises undertaken by the baroness went 
through to a swift success. Her Ideas were both 
contagious and epidemic, and she was always a 
known quantity In the place. 
And so when she pooh-poohed the dance, 
laughed at the tea-drum and shivered at the Idea 
of the cream-cornet, declaring for the dinner, the 
matter was settled, and each of the younger 
members promptly decided whom she would ask 
to escort her and deliberated as to what she 
should wear. 
Then the baroness arose. She glanced around. 
She read the thoughts of tho members. She 
looked at two women. One was t he sister of tho 
county clerk: she was a woman of the most ap¬ 
preciative character, tho clearest sense, and— 
sho was the talthtul echo ot the baroness. The 
second was a pretty girl. She represented the 
other pretty glrla, Then the baroness spoke. 
She said It was of the first Importance to do this 
thing decorously and lu order. When the men 
had suppers they never invited women. They 
w anted to have a good time, and women spoiled It . 
She was Dot In favor cf an “ invitation entertain¬ 
ment.” She supposed that what they wanted 
was a society, an “ Irreparable ” dinner. There¬ 
fore, she did not propose to Invite men. 
“But,” said the pretty girl, with a rosy color 
mounting to her cheeks and an ominous flash In 
her eyes, “when I was in New Moscow I was In¬ 
vited to the Hercules dluner.” 
“ To the table? ’ asked the baroness. 
“ Weil—no,” replied the prettj girl. 
“Did you get anything to eat?” pursued the 
baroness. 
“ Ob, no,” anssvered tho victim, as If this was 
something preposterous— 11 ot course I didn’t. We 
did not expect anything. But I had a splendid 
3 eat, and I heard all the toasts and everything.” 
“That very nice," answered the baroness, 
grimly; “but I think we can do quite as well. 
We will Invite the gentlemen to tho gallery—for¬ 
tunately, there Is one—we will have toasts, and 
we wilt be very entertaining.” 
Of course the baroness had her way. Here, at 
once, was an advantage In tho absence of asso¬ 
ciate members. Rosy cheeks and pretty eyes 
now counted In the society for nothing, and when 
the slater of the county clerk promptly moved 
tUat no gentleman be Invited to the floor, the 
sextou’s wife seconded the motion. It was car¬ 
ried, and on tho night appointed the •* Irrepara¬ 
bies'’ had their dinner, and up lathe gallery sat 
the minister, the sheriff, the county clerk, the 
editor or the Snow-Drift, the head-teacher and a 
dozen other gentlemen all In strict evening—If 
still Alaskan—toilettes. At flrst It wa3 funny. 
Then It wasn’t funny. It became tiresome, and 
the sheriff went away. His boots creaked, the 
ladles looked up, and thon not a married man 
but smiled delightedly and settled himself in his 
seat. 
They paid much attention to tho wine. It hod 
been bought lu New Moscow of the Hercules 
Club, and was of course all right. Yet It waa 
over the wine that the county clerk grew rest¬ 
less. It was not that ho wished for It particular¬ 
ly, but when tho “Irreparabies” drank cham¬ 
pagne with their soup, sauterne with the meat, 
ate their nuts and made their toasts with sherry, 
his patience waa put to a severe test. It was 
something to Bee that most of the glasses went 
away almost untasted, but the head-teacher 
round it best to keep a steady eye upon him and 
save him from doing more than mutter his opin¬ 
ions. 
But when tho toasts came the gallery visibly 
brightened up. The “ Irreparabies ” toasted the 
country and Its resources, the United States, Mrs. 
Seward, the Centennial, Mrs. Grant, and the 
widow the chief alderman was to marry. They 
drank to Queen Victoria, and. with a remem¬ 
brance of past loyalty, to the czarina. To each 
, cast a member responded In terms fitting and 
witty, and when the pretty girl arose and, with a 
glance at the gallery, gave “ The gentlemen— 
God bless them t” the baroness stood up and 
made reply. She thanked tho company in the 
name of tho gentlemen. She spoke of them in 
high and eloquent terms. She alluded to their 
usefulness, their courage, their good looks. She 
did them full Justice as resources In times of 
trouble, of war and of midnight burglaries. 
The county clerk ran his Angers through his 
hair, the color came Into the cheeks of the clergy¬ 
man, and a subdued murmur as of pleasure ran 
through the little group tn the gallery. 
Then the baroness continued. She said she 
waa not a woman-3UffragIst—at least she wasn ’l 
sure that she was. She had, she thanked her 
stars, her own opinion upon moat matters, but 
while she had no positive objection to right- 
minded women having any real or fancied wrongs 
redressed, and in their own way, she had not yet 
thought clearly enough upon the subject to be 
sure that the ballot was the remedy. She know 
there was a great deal of nonsense talked about 
the moral Influence women would exert in poli¬ 
tics : perhaps they would, but to her it seemed 
1 very much like watering potato-blossoms to get 
rid of the worms at the root. 
Here the county clerk half rose, hut the head¬ 
teacher held him with his disciplining eye, and 
he sat down again. 
What was needed, said the baroness, was not 
mending, regenerating, giving freedom or doing 
justice. These things were all very good, but 
more was necessary. “ There Is no remedy,” she 
said, with rising Inflections and with emphasis— 
“ no remedy but a total change. What we want 
la not an extension of the suffrage, but a limita¬ 
tion /’’ 
She wished It, however, distinctly understood 
that she In no way meant to affirm that woman 
waB man’s superior; she did not think so. In his 
own place man could not be surpassed. The sci¬ 
ences, the arts, the industrial pursuits, religion, 
civilization, all owed a deep debt to a man, and it 
could not be Ignored. She was the last person in 
the world to wish to Ignore It. Properly govern¬ 
ed, disciplined and educated, hla development 
might outrun hope, defy prophecy. Out or his 
place he was a comet without an orbit. Drawn 
hither and Ihtthor by sinister stars, he was an 
eccentricity beyond calculation and full of barm. 
For this reason the Interests or humanity de¬ 
manded that the place ot man In the conduct of 
affairs should be well defined and limited, it was 
well to look this matter in the face. 
“ Now,” proceeded the baroneas, “I leave It to 
any class of men, to any one man, to declare 
whether the world Is, or ever has been, well gov¬ 
erned. Is .there any age, any country upoa re¬ 
cord, where Justice has reigned, where the inter¬ 
ests of every class have been consulted, and 
where the people have lived together In mutual 
esteem, in unity and lu prosperity ? If we look 
through the world to-day, we And but ouo coun¬ 
try that Is governed In anything like a satisfac¬ 
tory manner. It Is loved by 3ome classes of its 
people, and admired by very many foreigners. 
When we reflect that It is governed by a queen, 
and that history tells us that Its most prosperous 
period In the past was under Queen Elizabeth, It 
Is certainly safe to assume—No, no, my friends,* 
she said, hastily, “do not applaud. That is net 
my point. It Is possible that women may govern 
better than men, but that Is yet to be tested. 
This ’.Illustration (proves that one* thing— that a 
country is better /or not. being governed, by a 
man." 
Her point was this: she did not appear as an 
advocate of suffrage for women, but as an earn¬ 
est petitioner against Ua being any longer held 
by men. The one thing a man could not do was 
—to govern 1 This was no assertion, it was a 
fact proved by all history, since the beginning 
of the world men had the governing power lu 
their hands, and what a mess they had always 
made of It.! There had never been a decent gov¬ 
ernment. Oppression, rebellion, anarchy, war, 
bloodshed, slavery and tyranny,—this was their 
record. 
If women could do anything better, she was In 
favor of ^giving them the opportunity of proving 
It, but It waa not her purpose to propose the after 
treatment. She was not a physician In charge, 
but the surgeon for the moment. 
Bhe had made suggestions: she freely confessed 
It. She had, for Instance, proposed to their tal¬ 
ented townsman, tho editor of the Snow-Drift, a 
series ot articles upon the existing Presidential 
oontest. -Vs far as she could learn, there was a 
great lack ot unanimity regarding the vote, and 
It waa not clear to the Hayes party that Tllden 
W..3 elected. Now, she had suggested that there 
were certain classes concerned but not consulted 
In the election, and to t hem she proposed leaving 
the decision. The legal voters had blundered 
horribly In some way, and she would have been 
In favor of allowing tho Indians, tho Cblnese, the 
convicts, the Idiots and the women to decide the 
matter. It could not be made worse, and It 
might be made better. 
But leaving all these questions of a past hour, 
sho would put the axe where George Washington 
aid not put It—at the root of the tree—near 
enough also, she would remark, to leave no 
stump, and so at once place polttlcB upon a new 
basis by taking the governing power away frem 
the gentlemen, God bless them!— LiP tncotl’s 
Magazine. 
