Theo: A Sprightly Love Story

He will not come back again until J

n the little pink-and-gold journal

rd was made, and having made it, Theodora North shut the book with a startle

ethorpe; but it had not seemed warning to a girl of scarcely seventeen years. But she understood it now; she had understood it the moment he told her in that strained, steady voice that he was going away. She had delivered his message to Lady Throckmorton, and listened quietly to her wandering comments, answering them as best she could. She had

me-me. Poor Priscilla! Ah, poor P

he would rather lose him, knowing he loved her, than win him feeling uncertain. The glow in her eyes died away in tears, but she was too young to realize despair or anything like it. The truth was that the curious ench

e it, Theodora North cried a little, hoped a little, and wondered gui

n those days, for some reason, they were not as satisfactory as they appeared once, and so being thrown on her own resources, she succumbed to the very natural girlish weakness of feeling a sort of fascination for Broome street. It was hard to resist Broome street, knowing that there must be news to be heard there, and so she gradually fell into the habit of paying visits, more to Miss Elizabeth Gower than to her nie

he inclination to do so, she had not time to indulge it. But she was even more silent than she had seemed at first, Theo thought,

Theo ever saw her display an interest in anybody, or in any

ed to mention Arthur Brunwalde, and, to her surpri

as he not?" she said, with an

Theo; "but he

illa

dding-day," she said. "Mr

in the affir

howing itself in her sorrowing voice. "She was very pretty then, and Lady Throckmorton wa

ned against the low mantel, pen in hand. She looked down on The

ter like you

one that Theo lifted her fac

"Pamela is fairer than I am, and no

dering if you were alike in disposition. I think I was w

Miss Elizabeth interposed. "

ooking straight at

Are you like your sister in that, Theodora? I reme

le, and bent to pick it up, with a

said. "I am not old

" said Priscilla. "

to give herself time, and then she looked up and fac

ny one as Pamela loved Mr. Brunwalde, I should be like

better than she had done before; at any rate, she took mor

it, told the whole story of her sister's generosity in a little burst of enthusiastic love and gratitude that fairly melted tender-hearted old Miss Elizabeth to tears, and caused her to confide afterward to Theo the fact that she herself had felt the influence of th

borhood, the people next door did not appreciate it; the gentleman of the house even going so far as to say that he was not sorry when he died, as he did a few weeks after the col

essing-table buttoning her sacque, she was somewhat puzzled by the expression on her companion's face. Priscilla had taken up her muff, an

id, at last. "He is in Vienna now; he asked if you were well

a thing for Miss Priscilla Gower to say, t

quietly, "that a message from you woul

pain or discomfort striking her. It was a feeling scarcely defined en

essage to send," she replied

rangely concerning Mr. Denis Oglethorpe, and it was Priscilla Gower who had stirred her heart. She found Lady Throckmorton waiting at hom

el ourselves. I have not been in Paris for four years, and I believe the change

emed such a great undertaking to Theodora, this voyage of a few hours; but Lady Throckmorton regarded it as the lightest of matters. To her it was only the giving of a few orders, being uncomfortably sea-sick for a while, and then landing i

have made up my mind about it. We could go next week, and I da

pe again, and here it seemed that she must see him in spite of herself, even though she was conscientious enough to wish to do what was best, not so much because it was best for herself, as because it was just to Priscilla G

re the letter reached him; she hoped he might go away in spite of it; she hoped it might never reach him at all. And yet, in spite of this, she experienced an almost passionately keen sense of disappointment when, on the day before their departure, Lady Throckmorton received a le

uld have stayed anywhere to have seen him only for a minute. He had no need to be so ready to go away." And t

carried her along so far, and she had not been to blame, because she had not comprehended her danger; but now it