Poor Alice.

Evening Post, Volume LXVII, Issue 150, 25 June 1904, Page 10

Poor Alice.

Mrs. Montgomery's house, Tho Cedars, whoro Uio lived with her only daughter, stood on tho outskirts of Southampton — "so convenient for running over to Paris," ns Mrs. Montgomery said — and was of lire stylo of villu which is officially known ns being "desirable." Its mime, moreover, wns nmply justified by the presence of two rather stunted fir-trees which stood ono on each sido of the gate, and ought much of tho dust from tho high road. Indeed, not only tho fir trees but tho villa itself, tho garden, and in particular Alico, tho daughter, wore a slightly faded and emaciated appearance ns if tho vitality of them all had contributed to feed Mis. Montgomery horself, who at fifty years .of age wns quit« extraordinarily prosperous and woll preserved in appearance. Neighbours and friends, in fact, who were accustomed to refer to tho daughter aa "poor," never thought for a moment of applying tho •wamo epithet of pity to tho mother. It womd inueed havo boun an sensible to cull a strong sleek horuo or a locomotive eu£ino "poor" as to refer in. suuh. terms to Mrs. Montgomery, At this particular" moment Mrs. Montgomery was onjoying a strategic drive in a lured Jnnunn, the strategy thereof consisting in tho lace that Alice would be alouo ut homo all the aUeinoon. Accordiugiy sho was now &euttd on the lawn at Uie O.iek ol 'iho Cedars, on which it wat) possible to p.ay attenuated croquet, with a book iii her lap uhieii sho was not reading, hay eyes being eiupio>6d n» unfocused lvveite, except tn»u <jv<jiy now and then sho cart neivous, apprehensive giancos tow aids the house, whenever tho sound of wheels approached it. For whe was awaiting the coining vt Hurold Allson, a young man who some live years ago hail bec-n a rather hcioic hgme at the lawn tennis pnilies of suburban Southampton, anil as such, without any bank bnlunca in particular or rcimineiativo employment lo back up ins teinliu overhand (services, which olten went into tho next gaideu but one, had proposed to nnd been accepted by Alico Montgomery. It followed, thereloro, as a coioilary that Mis, Montgomery, without violence or flurry of any kind— she wa« a perfect lady— pronounced the attachment to bo a mere boy nnd girl nlfair, and ejected ' Haioid from the hou.se, with penoctly clear ond unmistalcablo injunctions to return there if he chose when he was pusleased of suitjiblo provision to suppoit a wife. On thnt day, aipposing Alice had nob married beforo, he waa. at liberty to renew lus addresses ; till then, the world was wide. Tiio world, in fact, ho Jind thereupon taken nt its widest, nnd after five years in India, and much industry and considerable good fortuno on tho Oolnr goldfields, he had only a week ago returned to JEngl.md with what Mrß._ Montgomery eloquently termed "quite a competence. * Certainly if poor Alice was approhensivo, so also whs tho owner and occupant of a moderately-paced bub rather opulent motor c»r which nb this moment was approaching Tho Cedars from tho direction of Winchester. For to Harold Alice was the Alico he had left five years ago, a girl of littlo more than twenty, rather pale and delicate-looking, not, oven to a lover's eye, very pretty, bub somehow powewed of extraordinarily fie.«h nnd youthful charm. Sho had nlways been short-sighted (his terrific services hid been invmiblo to her from the moment they left his racquet uutil they crashed into tho biuihoti), but hnd the prettveeb wny of w-rinkling up hor eves when sho smiled, or wheu she could distinguish something she wished to sue, so (hut toft littlo crow's feet gathered at their outer corner*. Every feature of her faco ha 4 tho chnrm of plight irregularity ; her mouth was set just a little sido\va<a, no tluib tho mnito camo on ono side of it; her chin pointed mutinously upwards ; iier uose, rather long, had tho least little hook at tho end. But the rather accentuated length of her face wns discounted by its aeVmious Toundncs»; from check-bone to chin was one smooth curve of enchanting fulness, like tho Hunw&rd aide of a peach. And never wns thero 'a photograph that reproduced all this ncciaenc-fil charm to well no the ono she hud sent him, unknown to her mother, jusb before he left England iivo years ago. It was somewhat faded* now, but ho had had it copied and enlarged, and ib had been before him every day during the years of separation, keeping her perpetually alive before him. She was waiting for him now. Ib was from this that his apprehensions had birth. Though he was scarcely over thirty himwM, he knew well that tho years kad nob dealt tenderly with him. That feature,, for instanco, which Alice hnd secretly co much admired, his liigu, intellectual forehead, had become so high thnt the intellectuality of it reached right un to the top of his head and beyond. Moro than once lie hnd had bnd attacks of fever, .rhioh had thinned and y*n*wed his f«c« nnd whitened hi« hair, and he remembered how, even before he left England, sho .had onco laughingly upbraided him for one gi«y hair that sho professed to havo found above his oar ; now ib would bo nn industrious task for her to find a dozen black ones to compliment him on. Indeed, he was afraid tkat, hud she kept the binootJi, boyish photograph of himself that he had given her, sho would find some difficulty in accepting him as tho original. As a matter of fact, *>ho too had cnuwd it to bo enlarged, Yet, as ho said to himself, for his own comfort, it was tho samo ho who wns still in love with that dear girl who wrinkled up her eyes so divinely and wanted so much to bo able to take the very swiftest of his services. Alico had an excellent memory, nnd since at their parting he had said, "And whep I come back, dearest — rich, oh, ever so fich-— meet mo ns you are now, in thnt blue hat, thnt bluo dross, that — that everything, and lot us go on just whore, we leavo off to-day. It will bo such s littlo time." Sho had therefore obeyed him aa literally as it wns possible. The hat she had at onco religiously put away, wrapping it carefully up, and putting it in tho recess of her cupboard, so thnt tho blue should not /bo faded; and the dross, with a little alteration, for she had grown in various diicctions, was ns near to the original article as certain physical exigencies permitted. In one thing, however, sh« was forced to disobey him, for her eyesight was now bo short thnt spectacles wero necessary. But the wrinkling of the eyes was still hers, her*, too, were tho delicious crow's feet at tho outer corners of them. Indeed, the crow's feet might be said to hnvo improved, for they were more permanent thnn before The spectacles, howover, wero to her nt any rate, a distinct ndvnntngc, for they enabled her to see farther, being of high power, thnn she hnd ever seen, beforo it was necessary for her io wear them. Ib win a still summer afternoon, very hot, nnd she had twice moved her chair out of the yellow creeping sunlight into tho tthad-e, beforo Iho arrival which sha longed for nnd feared took place. She heard tho hoot of nn npproncning motor, tho click of the green dusty gate, tho crunching of the grnvel on the twentyfoot "drive," the ring of tko door-bell, nnd tho throbbing of the engine. Thon, preceded by a pnrlourmnid, n figure stepped out on to the Inwn, and «he roso. Now. according to his request nnd her promise, they had got to go on where they left olf, but each stood there, looking nt the oltaei in a moment of silence. TluJll tJmv jJinhk luuuls

"I'm very glad to sec you, Ha — Harold," said she. "It wns charming of you to lot me come down at such short notice," lie fcaid. Tlk'U he nddod "Alice." "You must havo had a very dusty drive." "Thcio was a good denl of dust. But a motor always leaves behind more than it iimls. That is a slight consolation for those inside it." Sho smiled ; tho crow's feet, ho saw, hardly stirred. She still smiled rather more on ono sido of the mouth, than Iho other ; ho found tie had forgotten how marked this was. Her chin still pointed a little upwards, .her nose a littlo downwards. This boo was slightly accentuated. Then in a moment of honosby ho removed his hab, and saw her cyo travelling up, up. . . Then eho shifted her gaze a little, nnd looked at tho Jinir nbovo his cnr. But however much "pool" Alico had changed, sho had still her adorable candour nnd her lovo of candour. "Do you know, I can't make polite conversation any longer," sho said, "and ask you if you will have tea now, or wait till mother comes in, or tnlk about India. Let us faco things. You have gob older ; 1 have got older, too. Do you remember my finding one grey hair above your car? I can't sco anything else now. And 1? Please say what you find. I really mean ib. It will be bettor so." He looked again. He saw all. There was tho samo hat, however,' and the saino dross, but ho thought that the Southampton dressmaker could not have been, a very clevor woman. Tho motor still throbbed at tho door, the sun was again beginning to steal lo poor Alice's face. Yet still ho said nothing. Then poor Alice spoke agnin. "I can quite understand your feelings, Hnrold," she said. "Wo two havo had bad luck, haven't we? I think I should havo been so happy to havo married you then, and gono out with you, nnd lived anyhow. I think I might have made you happy, too. But I don't reproach you in any way at nil. Plenso believe thnt I mean that. Indeed, it is stupid of mo to say it ; how could there bo any conceivable reason why I should reproach j'ou? Anyhow, it is nice of you to hiivo come down to see me. And now hnd you not better go away? I think I should bo sorry if you were here when mother comes back. I enn do it all much better alone." Still he did nob apenk. Alice, tho essential Sho, wns beforo him, nnd ho was this-— this early-6ld, yellow man. f "So, good-bye," said poor Alice. Then ho spoke. "Do you send mo nwny?" he said. * "No ; I ask you to go." "For what reason?"' he asked. 'To make- it .easier for you to do so, Good-byr." Though her voico show-ed no agitntion, fhe- gob »p rather nervoivly from her chair. At the moment the parlourmaid came out of the long window of the din-ing-room, bringing the folding tex-tiible. "In thnt nil your reason?" ho nsked. "Y<ni. It i«. enough," sho »nid. "Then for the second timp I ask yon to be my wifo," «iid he. "And T will wait till your mother comes in." — K. F. Benson, in tho Westminster Budget.