The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1885-05-16 00:00:00

CHAPTER XIX.

L TRAP FOR BELMONT.
;
tit'aia\'l)37age was not marked by any striking incl.
4144, - but Howard had the good fortune to f_m_rd.
lk) -11 g the -
11. rderl Passengers an American gentleman, a M
41ee
r i 'who he had met n Florence, and who had
cP Nvaa-som i
formed the acquaintance of Lord Belmont.
As ' ' 4 1 11n41 a lawyer and a bachelor, of middle age, a man
IN4',lNvit and pleasantry, and, consequently, a very
01141;j2e companion.
, e'„i‘vas another American among the passengers,
1, kreaf.-',4 scarcely be called a gentleman, but who was
4412;1?„4 -I'3' 0714 7 Oa n al
I occasions, af
sastened himself like a barnacle
ions, and contrived to force
tirllB.l:ll4lfea__ls° upon the the acquaintance of Belmont.
OsY lb such was the chatterer's name—was a
tnil'cv 1,,, ain, of thirty or thereabouts, who resided in
trk:antile
and had been abroad as the agent of a
house, but who professed to have been
- 4411 chief'o
f r pleasure, though he confessed to
tl,._1•013: -11sines8Yin some of the commercial cities of
kbfa'vi: p.
ktitaottitA:Xtorted from Borden all he knew about
tllt,}leo.l,olZaiolti seemed to conceityiTeda great liking for the
cpinoratnao, Nylaiotm
home,
hard to convince of
e, and of the probability
g,lt 1 t0,,,,,ing .52.1 to him.
C 11411,441474, e's representations were correct, his
iZ in N York must have been very ex
4141i°,,qa, te' 8—q4,110
City
ye
.numbered many of the
ot i'' the,. ,oe city among his friends.
4a-11 IliaeWaS no one of whom lie spoke more often,
11, %Dicier Praise, than a certain "Colonel Mink"i:
cellitalZ sPecimen," he said, "of the whole-sou ed
I, ha. pi,c, gonerous American. He has the wealth
tt:4, aq,,tle, and he uses it like one," said Finkle..
t ly the
pNaa -.tires
Your and your people, sir,
country
l)r, Illorlf —a- —nobility!'
lAr:,,rve Clililed broadly, despite his best efforts to
tltilee trin lgttlianygitY ; but Finkle took no offence, and,
'
his listener to get away, assured him
mill4larkxlea,. ,4p,l9.sure he should take •- in making him
"4a lus friend the colonel.

iloward thanked him, and then, with a sudden
appearance of interest, inquired if he happened to
know a Mr. Walworth, of New York, a literary gentle-
man.

"Walworth? I don't think I do," said Finkle.
"Was he a—a man of substance, sir ?"
"If you mean wealth, I think not. He was an
editor of the Evening Intelligencer."
"Oh, yes, I remember the paper. It collapsed a
year or two ago—all went to smash—was a short-
lived concern; but I know nothing about Walworth.
A respectable name, though, highly; we had a
chancellor by that name before the office was
abolished."

Howard could get no clue to his friend from any
one on shipboard, but Finkle promised to aid him in
looking him up when they reached New York, and
assured him also of the great probability that Mr.
Mink knew him, "if he was a man of celebrity,which
of course he must be to have the honour of Mr. Bel-
mont's acquaintance."
When Howard, in moments of reflection, canvassed
the motives which had led him a second time to
America, he felt a consciousness that a desire to see
Eda Walworth was one of them, and by no means the
least potent. He believed, indeed, that his health,
which recent troubles had impaired, would be im-
proved by the voyage; he believed that he should
spend some months again in Western sports, and that
he should then return and enter in earnest upon the
long-deferred duties of his intended profession. Yet,
mingling with all these anticipations, there were vague
and shadowy thoughts of other contingencies, the con-
templation of which, although they seemed remote,
improbable, and romantic, made his heart leap at times
with joy.
But if Belmont was a lover, he was as yet an
eminently sober one. He could not fail to see bow
strong were the probabilities that Eda, if living, was
married or engaged, or that time had not justified the
promise of her young girlhood, by increasing or even
retaining her charms. Then he believed there was the
still greater likelihood that investigation would not
show her family to be of that spotless respectability
which he was determined should be an indispensable
requisite for his wife.
He prized rank and wealth for the privileges and
the power they conferred, but he equally despised the
flunkeyism which claimed any deference for titled or
moneyed men beyond what the same degree of moral
and intellectual worth should command. He had seen
too much of the impotency of mere rank to confer any
distinction which a rational man ought to recognise;
he had seen too much of the moral corruption and
mental insignificance of men who, from the fancied
elevation given them by some mouldy patent of
nobility, looked contemptuously down upon all that
constitutes true worth and excellence in human
nature.
When Howard arrived in New York, he was for
several days too much indisposed, from the effects of
his voyage, to leave his hotel, but he had the assurance
of his officious friend that he would bring him the
earliest intelligence that could be obtained of Mr.
Walworth. _ _

•
Finkle called on the second day to say that IVal-
worth was not to be heard of at his old residence,
which he had left the preceding spring, and that his
name was not in the city directory, but that he would
continue to prosecute his inquiries until he found
him.

On the next day he called again with his friend,
"the colonel," who was magnificently dressed, and
who, having grown stout, and adopted a slow and
measured style of speech, believed himself to have a
very dignified and imposing air.
Belmont listened wearily to his long sentences,
and; could not for some time tell what to make of
him'. _ _

" My friend Finkle 1" he said, "retains a lively sense
of the kindness and condescension of Mr. Belmont
during your recent voyage together, and he is desirous
of making some—a very slight return. Not only so,
but Mr. Finkle, who knows that I am not altogether
backward "
"But on the contrary, quite forward," said the
chatterer, impatient of his companion's slower speech.
"Forward, then—since my friend says so—to—to
manifest my regard for distinguished worth of all
lands, and especially to increase the good feeling
now so happily existing between the better classes of
England and America, which countries have unfortu-
nately been—ah--at variance, but are now no longer
so--forward happy, I may say--"
Mink having got quite lost in his mazy sentence,
1113 friend came boldly to his relief, by saying, as
he tapped the flushed colonel playfully on the
shoulder—
" In short, the colonel has called to invite you to
dine with him to-morrow, to meet several distinguished
citizens, including Mr. Borden, whose acquaintance he
haslalso formed." .

"Whose acquaintance I have also formed," echoed
Mink.

Howard accepted the invitation with due acknow-
ledgments, and was soon afterwards relieved of his
visitors, whom, despite their protests, he politely
accompanied downstairs, and even to the carriage of
the colonel, which stood in front of the hotel.
The dinner party was small, with an ill-assorted
company; but this added to its interest in Howard's
estimation, who learned something from all his fellow-
gueSts, and with whom, as well as with the family of
his host, both he and Borden were soon on the best of
terms.
All parties seemed genial, particularly after the
wine was introduced. Everybody felt himself very
much honoured by somebody else; and as to Finkle,
he Was in an ecstacy from the beginning of the affair.
But something should be said of the ladies, who
had now withdrawn. That both Mrs. and Miss Mink
were superbly "got up" for the occasion, was quite a
matter of course; and the latter was posted directly
opposite Belmont, where the full blaze of her charms
could take effect upon him. But Miranda, though
richly dressed, played the role of modesty and simpli-
citV ; and as her beauty was really striking, Howard
could not remain quite insensible to it. He conversed
with her, and found her intelligent, agreeable, and
even witty; and more than once, after her departure,
he looked forward with interest and pleasure to join-
ing-her in the drawing-room.
Belmont's susceptibility to the "tender passion"
might be said to be of recent growth, and to form
quite a new feature in his character. Or, if there
before, his wandering mode of life and his illness had
repressed any decided manifestation of it.
Whatever had produced the change, there certainly
waS one. His heart, recently bereaved, and now
unstained by any strong ties save love for his erring
brother, was putting forth the tendrils of its affections
for some object which they might encircle and cling
to, in lieu of that life-long pillar from which they had
suffered so violent a disruption. The new feeling had
first been awakened by a sight of Eda's likeness, and
by the remembrance of her charms; but he was un-
certain, now, in how great a degree his pleasant
memories of her were indebted to his own imagina•
tion. It seemed, indeed, to him scarcely probabla
that she could have been all that his fancy now
painted her, without having made a more decided im-
pression upon him when they were together.
- The hour was an auspicious one for the machinations
of Cupid, and the more so because Belmont imagined
himself cased in invulnerable armour.
He passed an hour or two of the evening in the
company of Miranda, whose attention lie almost exclu-
sively engrossed, for Mrs. Mink managed to draw off
and find occupation for everyone else, when once their
tete-a-tete begun. She played and saw, very well, at
his request. She displayed a considerable knowledge
of books; a little easy French, spoken gracefully and
correctly, mingled with her language; and that some
of the best drawings which. adorned the walls were
by her pencil, her mother did not fail to make
known. But Miranda was not forward. Real
blushes mantled her cheeks when Howard gave utter-
ance to some natural compliments, and her air was
rather that of timidity and reserve than of conceit or
assurance. _ _

It was late in the evening when Belmont made his
inquiries in relation to Mr. Walworth, the mention
of whose name seemed to have a very unpleasant
effect upon Colonel Mink, though he professed not
to know such a person. He assured his guest, how-
ever, that he would take the utmost pains to ascer-
tain the whereabouts of his friend, and that his
facilities for this purpose were such that he could
scarcely fail of hearing of him if he were any-where
in the United States. He requested that for this
purpose Howard would write Mr. Walworth's full
name and former place of residence on a card, and leave
it with him.

He did not venture to look at it until after his
visitors had departed, and then he saw, not with
entire equanimity, that the full address corresponded
with one which had already a painfully prominent
place in his memory.
Finkle had not told him, of Belmont's inquiring for
this family; for in his eagerness to introduce the dis-
tinguished foreigner to his patron he had overlooked
all minor matters.
While lie pondered upon this strange circumstance,
and was obtaining a glimpse only of the true state of
affairs, his sharper-witted wife had " iumbed " to the
right conclusion.
" Walworth ! Walworth !" slae said, in the
greatest excitement; "you remember that name,
of course?"
"Of course I do."
"And it's the very street, too!" she said, glancing
at the-card ;"I remember it well."
"So do I. That's why I asked for the address."
"Arid don't you see—don't you see that this is pro-
bably the very man who saved the children ? "
"I have thought of that, too."
"Good gracious! why don't you say so, then?"
"You haven't given me time, my dear. I was
going to say all that you have said, only you talk so
fast." _

"Isn't it strange? Can it be that he has come
over here with any romantic notions of marrying
that girl that he rescued, and he the brother of a
lord, too?"
"Quite possible. Stranger things have happened
than that."
"She was quite a common thing, wasn't she?"
"She was a perfect beauty," said Mink, who, as his
wife well knew, was a man of fastidious taste ip. suCh
matters; "she bad quite an air of refinement, to6._
I couldn't help being struck with her, and thinking
what she would be when she was a year or two
older."
"Oh, indeed ! " said the lady, with something like
an offended air.