King Midas

, dass du so

froh er

dir's an d

du hast

er mind, had it not been for the fact that her presence was discovered by Elizabeth, the servant, who came in to c

"I do not feel very well. And d

" exclaimed the woman; "d

poor Helen was made aw

ts last night," answered th

ed the girl

to take the place of a friend who was ill, and had left Oakdale for a week. Hel

ed, "How unfortunate! I don

her self-possession. "Mr. Harrison couldn't expect to visit me if I were alone," she thought. "But th

en standing and watching her anxiously, "y

only I want to rest. Leave m

?" the other asked; "I

said Helen. "There'

u had lu

want any; just le

did not. She turned away, and the girl sank b

shall die of despair; I don't want to be here all alone with

hen she heard a step in the hall and saw the faithful servant in the doorway with a tray of luncheon. Elizabeth asked no questions about matters that did not concern her,

her in the meantime; but Helen was so wrapped up in her own thoughts that she scarcely h

. "Hear about him?" she s

said Elizabeth. H

she g

ght you must know; Mr. Davis w

s the m

s out in the storm and caught a cold; and he's been in a very ba

t. "Tell me, Elizabeth," she cried, scarcely abl

or said, or else Mr. Davis would never have left; but he's

she was trembling all over as she heard those words. She had forgotten Arthur almost entirely dur

go and see him," went on the s

" said Helen fai

im find out about it was something of which she simply could not think. She felt dread enough at having to tell her father of

ut it until after you had had your lunch;

ake it now, please, Elizabeth, and please do not tr

chair, staring blankly before her; there was a mirror just across the room,

ve helped him in the beginning. It's every bit of it his own fault, and I don't see why I should let it make me ill. And it's the same with t

once more paci

y life," she cried with increasin

nergy that she needed she had none, and not even a thought of it. She tried only to forget her troubles in some of her old pleasures, and when she found that she could not read, and that the music she tried to play sounded hollow and meaningless, she could only fling herself down up

r, and sprang up in alarm, with the thought that it might be Mr. Harrison. But as she stood trembling in the middle of the room she heard a voice inquiring f

appened!" And then as she read her niece's state of mind in her countenanc

her to her own tormenting fancies, she had driven over the moment she had finished her lunch. "I received your

e back!" e

ere all alone by yourself, do you? And especially at s

rotested Helen, "I d

hy, my dear girl, you hav

tay at the hotel in the village; you won't find it the same as being in the house with

t Mr. Howard, too!" pro

do anything else you choose. And Mr. Harrison will probably take you driving every day." Then seeing how agitated Helen was, her aunt put her ar

moaned the girl. "

e way when I was in your place. But you'll find that wears off very quickly; you'll get used to see

y little room, after having seen that magnificent place of his! Do you know, Helen, dear, that I really envy you; and it seems qui

beautiful things and all; but, Aunt Polly, I can

ruin your peace of mind in this way; for you could see if you chose that all your troubles are of your

e girl, faintly; "perhaps I

me you won't be able to do that way; and I tell you you'll find there's nothing like having social duties and an appearance

think of to stir Helen to a sense of the fact that she had suddenly become a person of consequence; and whether it was these hints or merely the reaction natural to Helen, it is certain that she was much calmer when she went down to the carriage, and much more disposed to resign

where she can find the comfort that she loves," she refle

h which the rest of her life would be, and of the vast preparations which she was to make for it. The trousseau soon came in for mention then; and what woman could have been indifferent to a trousseau, even for a marriage which she dreaded? After that the conversa

ut it seemed to her that perhaps it might have been his right to embrace her after she had promised to marry him; the thought made her shudder, yet she felt sure that if she had asked her aunt she would have learned that she was very much in the wrong indeed. H

ave, business-like person, who treated her with indifference, and therefore inspired her with awe; it was not a little stirring to her vanity to find that she was now a person of sufficient consequence to reverse the r

ly dazed. Afterwards, when she and Mr. Harrison were left alone, Helen fascinated her companion as completely as ever, and was radiant herself, and rejoicing. As if to cap the climax, Mr. Harrison broached

l a nurse came silently out of one of the rooms, and through the half open doorway Helen fancied that she heard a low moan. She shuddered and darted into her own room and locked the door; yet that did not exclude the image of the sufferer, or keep it from suggesting a train of thought that plunged the girl into misery. It made her think of Arthur, and o

tation, striving in vain to find some gleam of light to guide her out of the mazes in which she was lost. The gray dawn found her tossing feveri

n she had at least possessed a resolution, while this time she was only helpless and despairing. Thus

then by urging the necessity of seeing people and of hiding her weakness, she managed to obtain at last a semblance of cheerfulness. In the meantime Mrs. Roberts was helping he

in the si

their gr

he morn

rts were

cause her natural happiness was not all crushed, and because playing a part was not easy to the girl, she was very soon interested in

be extracted from the little word "ennui" by those who know; but Helen was not of the knowing. She believed that when she was tired of the horses she could delight herself with her beautiful house, and that when she was tired of the house she could have a new one. All her life she had been deriving ecstasy from beautiful things, from dresses, and flowers, and books, and music, and pict

because of his cleverness, and that when she had come to the infinite happiness towards which she was traveling so fast, she would have inspiration enough for two. She had enough for the present to keep them both happy throughout the drive, and when she returned she found that some of the neighb

citement swept Helen on until the bedtime hour arrived. Then she went up

and revel all she pleased in the thought of Mr. Harrison's wealth; but when the excitement was over, and she came to be all alone, she could think only of the one dreadful f

between the phantom she was pursuing and the place, where she stood. Finally there came one day, nearly a week after her engagement, when Helen was so exhausted and so wretched that she had made up her mind to remain in her room, and had withstood all her aunt's attempts to dissuade her. She had passed the morning in bed, between equal

ly, and Helen turned paler than ever, and cl

it?" sh

r father wrote me to go and see him whenever I c

how i

-day, and he was sitting by the window when

ou have not been to see

faintly, "I-" an

izabeth inqui

he?" asked the girl, scarc

u know, everybody told me you

with a cry. "Elizabeth!" sh

for fully half a minute without uttering a word; and then the woman went on, slowly, "It was very dreadful, Miss Helen;

heard the last question. "I-I can't tell you," she said, when it

the matter; he loves you, and you must know it, too. And it will certainly kill him; weak as he was,

r mind was too full of its own thoughts. It was several minutes more before she even noticed that the woman was still insisting that she must go to see Artheur. "Please leave me now!" she cried wildly; "ple

she groaned to herself; "

cht hold die