Untitled

Otago Witness, Issue 1341, 11 August 1877, Page 20

A Blue Silk Dress.

"Stuff and nonsense," said old. Mr Rossitur. . ■ • •:•■!: "But, papa,'? then pleaded. Louisa,. " you used to go to parties,- , I am sure,i when you were younp." . ' . . ■,< ■>■,'.} Mr Rossitur was fifty, bald pated, [and near-sighted, with a taste • for political; economy, metaphysics, and , the natural

sciences,

Louisa was nineteen, -blonde and buxom, with bright hazel eyes,; a, good; .complexion, and teeth like pearls.. ; '•■ :\:i They were not alike, , neither do .they, think alike. ■ . :-" < ~"' r yl "Very possibly,'' said Mr Rossitur;;* *' I was a fool in more respects than .one! when I was a yo,u'ng •maia."-. ■> ■* ■sv< *J

"But, papa,.you never* seem, '.to think: how stupid it is for me staying afe fhqme< for ever, and taking care of ; the children." "It's a woman's 'proper (place to i stay, at home and take, care of ■ the children J' said Mr.Rossitur, taking "a pinch/ of. snuff.*

Louisa pouted' and tossed ;her head. >v .-. '•'Papa; L do so > want to. accept- Clara Bentley's invitation. " /■;.- •■ f '>;/• ,,- ■! , <,

' ' Accept it, then, if you're so set upon/ the. matter," 'very ungraciously assented! her father. ".But 1 1 want it distinctlyunderstood that I've no money to spend' on lace flounces, feathers} or other ball frippery.".:. ;••.•' -i - ':>. [-•: i; "I have got five pounds . that Aunt: Myrtilla sent me." :• ••>... ,>•■• >i' > .-i^m . ."Five pounds won't buya baU-dress/N chuckled ■■ -Mr > Rossitur. ■* h Afc> i least, >it * ■wouldn't' when J (was a t young -man. "rr : <■--. • h ; Louisa, said nothing/- but about, her daily -.duties, with^a: secrete 'resolve maturing' itself in her mmdi c 'nWn

And later in-*the~dayjr"Bhe-*told her ■cousin, Mrs Staples, what it -was. : "I know of such- a -bargain," said she. "Second-hand, you know. Kate "Marvin s told me of it. : A pale blue "silk; 1 ' with'%' Npannier and- train,- and 1 real; 'Spanish' blonde trimmings. There's a little- shoji l down in 'M -"street, where they '* dealT' altogether in dresses once worn: '-They' 1 want eight pounds for it, but I' am almost^ certain that I can buy it 'for !five, ! ;cash? down.' And it is the sweetest thing;'-' *'•'*- [^ Mrs Staples shook her head. " ' '' ' " ■"* •'"•I don't believe in. ''second —hand 3 clotheg," said she., rj ' ■-■.■•.:-' r "But Kate Marvin says a great many" 1 ladie3 buy their ball dresses in that way."'

'" Then they must belong to the se'dond^; hand gentility," said Mrs Staples', laughing. 1 "And if I were you.; -Lou', "I'd stay <'afc f home sooner than go in'sucH/a toilette"as ? 'that." ' ' '' ''' ; '•■-"• ' ' : ; "Nobody is to know but' that it 'was* made up expressly for ' me,"' 1 argued 1 Louisa. ' "'.'*' ' *'•■■"'* "You will know it yourself." ' •< •'•»""• «

"And Mrs Hyde-Appleton is" to be' : there, and I want to make a' good imprest sion in her eyes, so as' to get cards for the ; Thurday evening parties." > ' ' '/' '''•''*; , "Well, of bourse,' you' will do aB-'you* like," said .Mrs' Staples "But I, for'injr part, would, sooner' go in calico, and' have 5 it all my own, than-satin and- velvets thai/ 1 are second-hand."' ■ '" ' " ■' ' "' Jii ' ".'' •V>

But all ■ her arguments ■ were "thrown' away on Louisa Rbssitur, who proceeded; directly to M street, and- bought the f blue silk dress for five pounds.'

" It's altogether too cheap," said the Jewess, behind the counter, " but I have a large stock on hand 'to .dispose ' of, and I never stand, with a real, lady, 'about' a shilling or two." '_ ' : . < *,' ,So Miss Koasitur went.. to, the ball "in pale, blue silk, Spanish blonde trimmings^ and a train a yard long. ' ' '" '; She expected to enjoy herself very' much, but" our expectations are not always^ realized. ' , V" The train was torn down by some' ''old, gentleman's ruthless boot ; the' blonds' ripped to tatters, and she' had the .satisfaction of. hearing Mrs , Hyde-App'leton remark, sotto ' voce, to her companion, I'as1 'as she surveyed her' through a ponderous eye-glass — ' . ' ' '[ '' , ■""' v " Why, that's Emily Lourle's blue' sillf dress ; i would know the pattern of that blonde anywhere. And how in the world comes Miss Rosaitur to be wearing it?" ' 7. Poor Louisa. | She would have cried with vexation; ' and disappointment, if tears would have] j done any good. \l ' And Hubert Dalton, to meet whom she 1 ' ' had specially mad, 6 the effort, never looked.'

her way all the evening, but flirted to his heart's content with Mrs Hyde-Appleton's cousin, pretty Cecilia.

, ** Well," said Mr Rossitur, when his daughter came home, at two in the morning — he was smoking and reading in the little room called his study — " have you had a pleasant time?" "Not very," Louisa responded, spiritlessly. '^Was it worth the five pounds that would have bought a nice warm sacque for Leila, Instead of the shabby thin thing she will wear now, all the winter ?" asked her father.

» " I never want to go to another ball," said she. "And I'll cut this blue silk tip into dresses for Leila and Fan. There is a spot on the side breadth where that clumsy old Brewster spilled a glass of wine, that ruins it for me !" Mr Rossitur kindly patted her drooping head.

"My dear," said he, "you thought the old father very cross, and unsympathetic the other day, but I think you will' come the conclusion that he knew best, after all. Don't fret any more, but let- this teach you to be wiser' another time."

But alas ! this was not destined to be the end of the chapter. Louisa went' to M^ — street the next day,: to get a sash which had not been sent" with the, other belongings' of the blue" silk dress, but to her surprise the shop was shut up. " Haven'fe. you heard, miss ?." ,said a policeman . strolling up and down the street, of whom, in her perplexity, Louisa made inquiry. " They are all down with thft terrible scourge,, .the small-pox. Brought in one of their second-hand packages, and the stock-in-trade was carted away this morning to be destroyed. "

Louisa stood pale and petrified, while her/ thoughts travelled -. with lightning speed^tb the blue silk dress at home. Oh, that she had been wise enough to follow Mrs Staple's advice, let the cheap second-hand shop alone.

.'She went home, with a heart a3 heavy as lead in her bosom.

<•" It is too late to confess my indiscretion," said she to herself. "If — if any harm should come of it, I can only endure i£ in silence."

-Bat the next day, when little Fan drooped and complained of headache and pains in her back, Louisa's reticence gave way, and she confessed all' to the kind family doctor. „ , *'4.bad business— a bad business," aaidfhe, shaking his head. " But I am. not going to scold- you, my dear young lady. I can see by your looka that you have suffered enough already." • The blue silk dress was taken away and buried three feet deep, at the end of the garden, and poor Louisa,, keeping at the siiieof one of her sick 'sisters, regretted that .she had ever set eyes on it. Last of all, she. herself sank beneath theifelLdisease, and after weeks of pain and. suffering, awoke, to the bitter consciousness that her- coveted beauty was gone.' • . . " •iScarred, seamed, hideous to look upon, , with not -a vestige of the rose and the lilies .which had bloomed of old upon her cheeks'and lips. - Alas ! was life worth having upon these forms? „,'", '"I may as well go into a nunnery now," Bhe said, half jestingly, the first day she sat up. "My mission in active life.fleems to be. ended."

" How do you mean?" said Dr Gresham, who was measuring out drops into a tumbler of water. ''?' Nobody will ever marry such a fright asl am." 1 "Do you think sol" "I am certain of it." "Then what would you say if I were to ask you_to marry me ?" . MI should aay you were in jest." '"Nothing of the sort," said Dr Gresham, composedly. "I never regarded myself as a marrying man ; but I believe your sweetness and patience in this wearying illness have fairly conquered me. More than once have I said to myself, *I should like sUch a wife as this.' No^donlt cry ; I shall not urge you against your^will." "But I don't heed any urging," said LqtUß/tjiwith .the tears sparkling in her eyea. "If you reaUty .think me worthy, to, be your wife, 1 I shall believe that my miaaionia yet to be fulfilled." ' That was %he way they, became engaged. No one ever reproached Louisa Rossitur for the episode of the second-hand dress ; but she laid it- to heart, nevertheless. "I will neyer. inß^f, against the judgment of others, on having my own way again/ she thought. But though the dress brought sickness and misery, it brought also enjoyment and happiness. ' .