The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1888-03-24 00:00:00

SATURDAY, MARCH 24, 1888.

_
BARRIER BETWEEN;

REPENTED UNTO DEATH.

CHAPTER XVl.—(Continued)
WREN her card was sent in, Mrs. Chard hurriedly
Whispered a caution to Rose not to mention the visit
they had that morning received ; to which she assented,
!•S she bad no desire to hear the comments of her
friend on the ridiculous incident of the day.
The widow came in brilliant and smiling; she ex-
-sairned___,, See how anxious I am to visit you, when
1; venture out with the thermometer nearly at zero; but it
IS worth while to traverse the Arctic zone to get into
such an atmosphere as this. I declare this room is the
Perfection of comfort: when I am once seated in it, I
never know when to tear myself away."
I am glad that you find it so attractive," said Rose,
With an affectionate smile. "I am sure we would
often detain you in it much longer than you are
Willing to stay!,
'Thank you, ma belle. If I consulted my own
inclination alone, I should never leave the side of so
Charming a person as I find you to be. Ah me! I
'Oust veil my diminished head since you have made
S:our debut in society. The dashing widow is no
longer the Cynthia of the minute, but the fair young
girl, who is new to life and its follies. Ah, Rose, do
You know, I almost envy you your freshness—the
zest With which you enjoy everything; while I am
almost sated with pleasure? It is a miserable con-
of existence, that satiety so soon comes to take
the fine edge off our most highly prized delights. While
l'°lll4, we should be like the immortals—impervious
to disease or sorrow."
'lf I were asked who among all my friends enjoys
1311 ell immunity, I should have named Mrs. Pierre, for
You seem to me always bright--always happy."
Mrs. Pierre half sighed, and then smiled.
'How can I be always happy, when I am plagued
to death with the worries of my friends, as well as
ITIY Own? You will be surprised to hear that I came
hither as embassadress for a despairing swain, who
has had the misfortune to offend you."
Without the slightest embarrassment, Rose re-

"I am sure I do not know to whom yon allude. 4
axil on the best terms with all my acquaintances."
" The person to whom I refer can as yet scarcely be
classed among those. You have seen him but once,
I believe, and then he had the misfortune to offend both
You and your mother. Did you not receive a singular
call this morning ?"
Mrs. Chard and her daughter exchanged surprised
glances ; the former asked—
Is Mr. Trevor a friend of yours, Mrs. Pierre ?"
By a singular chance he is; he Once stood my friend
in a fatal crisis of my destiny, and I am anxious to
return the serVice he then rendered me, by endeavour-
lug to explain and excuse his mad conduct here this
Illorning. You must have seen that Mr. Trevor is
Y a brusque sailor, to whom the conventionalities
ur life are in a great measure unknown. You must not
Judge him by the usual standard, but try to be lenient
towards a man placed in a very trying and peculiar
Position. lam the bearer of a note from him, which
I beg that you will read in a conciliatory spirit. When
You have done so, I will explain the connection between
Albert Trevor and myself, which induced me to under-
take this commission."
With an expression of reserve which Mrs. Pierre
scarcely considered favourable to the success of her
inission, Mrs. Chard took the note, and slowly pe-
tused it. She smiled faintly as she looked up and

"The tone of this is quite different from that as-
Enined by its writer this morning. I am afraid you
can say nothing to me that will induce me to forget
?Lir. Trevor's impertinence towards Rose, or the bluster-
lug tone he assumed in speaking to me. It seems
Inconceivable that any man should have dared to
attempt either."
" Ah, dear Mrs. Chard, this man is a creature of
11.14 Pulse ; he has a heart open to every good impres-
-B'?n, but with a violent and impulsive temper that
Misleads him for ever. Re really is deeply enamoured
Iny sweet Rase, whom he had seen in the street,
and followed more than once before he was aware of
her identity. When he ascertained that the Miss
Chard, whose fortune he is about to claim, is the
Sme lady he had so passionately admired, he rushed
hither in the delirium of his feelings, and was guilty
of the most mat et propos thing he could have
attempted. In his simplicity, he absurdly believed
that his proposal would be gladly listened to, as a
means of uniting conflicting interests of a very painful
nature. If you will only consider the motive that
Prompted him, you will be able to find an excuse for
him in your true woman's heart."
Mrs. Chard reflected a few moments, and then
Said—

"My dear Mrs. Pierre, I am sorry you have under-
taken the defence of this person's conduct; for much
ris I regret to say it, he is not a gentleman. If the
Pressure ef circumstances, compels me to receive him
nt all, it must be in the most formal and distant
manner."

"Thanks for even that concession," replied Mrs.
Pierre with animation. "He can make his own way
When once known to you under more favourable
auspices. Albert Trevor is not a man of forms, but
he is one who has the stamp of Nature's nobility upon
him ; therefore I venture to press his claims. Listen,
dear Mrs. Chard, to the history of my acquaintance
with him, and then see what your heart says in his
favour. I went on a bridal tour with a husband who
adored me. We spent a year of happiness in travel-
ling, and then embarked for our home. On the third
day out, my Carlos sickened with a malignant fever.
The people on board the vessel were afraid to
aPpreach him, with one exception this was the.
Young Englishman who was employed as supercargo.
/19 Caine to me and offered his services; he watched
With me beside the dying bed of my husband, held
him in his arms in his paroxysms of frenzy, and
finally received his last directions for restoring me to
Illy native land."

-Ely this time the voice of the speaker had become
tremulous with emotion, and her face was bathed in
tears; Rose tenderly clasped her hand, and Mrs. Chard
Marvelled that such apparently genuine feeling should
be displayed by this gay and brilliant butterfly of
fashion.

After an impressive pause, Mrs. Pierre went on—
" When death had set its seal upon my beloved, and
I 'was left in stupid dumb despair, Albert Trevor acted
for me. His was the hand that smoothed the tangled
hair, straightened the lifeless limbs, and wound around
them the canvas shroud that formed the only coffin of
him who had been so tendency nurtured. His arm
supported me when they had launched my husband
amid the wide waste of waters."
Again she wept so bitterly as proved the incidents
she related to have at least some foundation in truth.
She presently added in broken tones—
"His was the only voice that offered me consolation
and protection, and is it wonderful that I love as a
brother the man who did all this for me? that I make
an effort to aid him now ?"
"Oh, no," murmured Rose, "he must be true—
rnust be noble, in spite of his strange conduct towards
Us."

"He is. true, my dear Rose; true as steel. But
that is not all; he went with me to my home, where
I found my husband's family arrayed against me,
resolute to deprive me of the wealth he had willed
to me, because I had no child to inherit. I was an
orphan, without, friends to serve me, save those my
money could purchase. Albert Trevor remained be-
side me; he took my cause in hand, battled with
10y opponents with a courage that would not be
daunted, and finally brought me off victorious in the
stiuggle. To his efforts I am indebted for all I
possess. My home was dreary and oppressive to me.
Every spot about it was filled with haunted memories,
and I finally settled my affairs in such a manner that
I could travel whither I pleased. Last autumn I came
to this city, where I have sought in the bustle of
society to bury the memories of that which can never
—never return." - -

After a brief pause, Mrs. Chard inquired—
And your friend, Mr. Trevor? What became of
him in the interval? I believe he only made his
appearance in London within the past few- weeks."
"He was wedded to the sea, and after my suit
was decided, he again went out to China, from which
country he returned only a few weeks since. And
now, my friends, comes the most serious part of my
confession. I must tell you the whole truth, and I
dare hope for your pardon after doing so. I learned
the terms on which Rose holds her fortune; I knew
the true heir lived, that he was worthy of her, and I
thought that fate itself had pointed out the path these
two noble hearts should walk in. I wrote to Trevor
informing him of the belief in his death, and the
possession of his estate by one who was eminently
\ .-orthy to become his wife. I urged him to return
and woo the beautiful girl who had so deeply charmed
my own heart. My letter reached him on his return
from the East, and after some delay he came hither;
but it was only to refuse to act in the matter at all.
He declared that his wandering life suited him better
than any other; that so long a time had passed, he
should have much difficulty in proving himself his
father's son, and he would not bear the odium of
bringing forward a claim that might be regarded as
spurious."
"What changed his purpose ?' asked Mrs. Chard.
"He accidentally saw Rose in the street. He did
not know her, but by one of those strange chances
Which influence our fate without any will of our own,
Albert became desperately enamoured of her. When
he found the lady who so strongly attracted him to be
Miss Chard, he considered it best to take steps toward
claiming his inheritance. He notified yourself and
her guardian of his intention, and then, in a moment
of impulsive feeling, he came hither to set your mind
at rest by making an offer of his heart and hand to
Rose; believing, in his sailor-like simplicity, that you
would be willing to listen favourably to so easy a
method of settling the rival claims to the estate.
I have done; I leave him to your mercy, with
the certainty that you will be lenient in your
decision."
She threw herself back in her chair, as if wearied
with talking, and Mrs. Chard turned to her
daughter.
"You have related a touching story, Mrs. Pierre,
which proves the son of our old friend to be worthy
of his parentage; but before I consent to overlook his
strange conduct to me. I must ask Rose one question

—Could you, my love, under any circumstances, be
induced
_to accept Mr. Trevor as your future hus-
band?"

"Certainly not," was the prompt reply. "I re-
spect his good qualites, in spite of his rough
exterior ; I can relinquish my fortune to him, if
he establishes his right to it, but I can never marry
him."

"You hear, Mrs. Pierre. It will be more just to your
friend to decline any further acquaintance with him,
as it can only lead to annoyance to Rose, and a hope-
less pursuit to himself."
"But really, Mrs. Chard, this seems to me a pre-
cipitate decision. Young ladies often change their
minds. I only ask a fair trial for him, and that you
owe him on the score of his father's long friendship for
your late husband."
Wearied by her importunity, Mrs. Chard replied—
" While the suit progresses, if, like the silly moth,
Mr. Trevor is resolute to flutter around the flame that
may destroy him, I will not say him nay. He may
visit Rose, with the positive assurance, however, that
he is not to consider this cOncession. on my part as
encouragement to his suit. I yield this much from
respect to the memory of his father."
"You recognise.him then as the person he claims to
be ?" asked Mrs. Pierre, eagerly. "Where, then, is
the necessity for a suit at all. Would not a compro-
mise be more just to all the parties concerned ?"
Mrs. Trevor coldly answered—
" Courtesy requires that I should speak of your
friend as what he represents himself to be. As to the
rest, it is now beyond my control. I have given Mr.
Spring authority to act oa the defensive, as he has
from the first strenuously advised."
This was a great blow to Mrs. Pierre, but she care-
fully concealed its effect. She felt that Mrs. Chard
had yielded as much as she could be induced to do,
and she was compelled to rest contented with the per-
mission she had wrung from her to admit Trevor as
an occasional guest.
Mrs. Chard was summoned from the room just as
Mrs. Pierre was preparing to leave, and the widow
was thus left for a few moments alone with Rose.
"My angel," she caressingly said, "do not close
your heart to this new adorer; think, my darling, of
the alternative offered you; the heart of a noble, true
man, and undisputed possession of your fine fortune,
or obscurity and dependence on your mother. .Weigh
the two well, Rose, and do not decide too hastily. Let
my friend have a fair chance; you can mould him to
your will. He has known only hardship and in-
difference; but a beloved wife, a home of his own,
would soften him, and make him all you could wish.
Think kindly of him, my sweet one, will you not ?"
Rose blushed and smiled, as she replied—

"It is our duty to think kindly of all, and I will not
refuse to do so of your friend. Let him come to us oc-
casionally. I loved his father dearly, and I cannot
refuse consideration and kindness to his son."

"That is right; it is like your noble self, my Rose.
And now, adieu; I go to carry a gleam of hope to poor
Albert's disconsolate heart."

Rose, when left alone, sat down to reflect on all
that had that morning occurred. She tried to arrange
her thoughts, and take a dispassionate view of her true
position with reference to this new claimant on her
fortune and her sympathies. The revelations of Mrs.
Pierre, the assurance she gave of the validity of his
claims, materially changed the position of affairs. An
unknown pretender to her estate, and the accredited
son of her old friend, were very different persons.
What right had she to withhold his fortune from his
possession, if he were really the son of Mt. Trevor?
She felt, at moments, as if she almost owed him her
hand, for she stood in the way of his accession to
wealtl_, and loving her as she had been assured he did,
he generously hesitated to strip her of the property she
had been accustomed to consider her own. Then the
memory of his outré conduct that morning arose before
her, and she was bewildered by the contrast in the
man as he appeared, and as he was represented by
his late advocate.

Mrs. Chard indited the following note to Mr.
Spring:—
"Mn. Sp-Rim—Dear Sir,—Mrs. Pierre endorses the
claims of Mr. Trevor, and professes to have known
him several years ago. I leave this clue in your hands
to be followed up with your usual shrewdness.
("E. CHARD."

CHAPTER XVII.
SOCIETY GOSSIP.

AFTER their brilliant party, the calls upon the Misses
Stuckup were numerous of course; and of all the
persons present on that evening, Harold Danvers and
his foreign wife furnished the most attractive subject
of gossip.
The family of Colonel Stuckup had been in Europe
at the time of Danvers' sudden marriage, and numerous
inquiries were made of them as to who the Miss
.Seraphine was who had succeeded in entrapping so
fastidious a man into a marriage so evidently unsuited
to him.
To these queries Miss Stuckup replied with
dignity—
" That Miss Seraphine's father was said to be an
eccentric Italian general, who lived entirely upon the
continent, but not always in Paris. She knew nothing
of the family beyond the fact that they were reported
to be rich. The friends of Danvers were extremely
surprised at his sudden marriage, as his intention to
turn Benedict had not been suspected even by his
most intimate associates. The affair was a mystery
she could not pretend to solve ; but it was very certain
that, after his marriage, Danvers took extreme pains
to avoid his own countrymen. Therefore they had
not seen his wife till she made her debut at their
party."
"A very mysterious affair, truly," lisped a pale
young man, with a scanty supply of soft silky hair,
elaborately curled, and a dust-coloured moustache
curved above his effeminate lip; at the first glance
he looked like a badly-grown boy; a second one
revealed lines beneath his eyes and around his mouth,
which proved that his juvenile days had long passed
away.
"f was rather a take-in, I fancy; but these hand-
some men, who think so highly of their own good
looks, are always the fellows to do a silly thing of
this sort. Danvers had better have stuck to his own
country, and married that fascinating Mrs. Chard,
whom people used to say he was desperately in love
with. It is deuced strange, anyway, for that stately
Miss Cunningham threw herself away, too, by marry-
ing a man old enough to be her father, when he was
at his last gasp. By Jupiter! what is the world
coming to ?"
"Very good reasons can be given for Amy Cunning-
ham's marriage to General Chard, I fancy," sneered
Miss Stuckup. "She was not rich, and he was, by a
mere form, she gained a handsome dower in addition
to her own estate. For my part, I always believed
her excessive fondness for the child was half pretence.
The result proved that a deeper plan was laid than
any woman with less tact would have been capable of
forming."
"But it is said she never intends to marry again—
that she allows no suitor to approach her. That
looks as if there was some feeling deeper than interest,
Miss Stuckup, with all due deference to your
opinion."
"No—not while Mrs. Harold Danvers lives," replied
the lady, in a confidential tone. "Her heart, every-
body knows, was given to Danvers years ago, and no
one can tell why he did not marry her. Miss Cun-
ningham consoled herself for his desertion, by securing
the name and position of General Chard's widow. It
was by no means a bad speculation." -
"From which she is not likely to gain much, if all
reports prove true," broke in a gentleman who turned
from a book he was pretending to examine, while in
reality lie was giving his exclusive attention to the
two who were so congenially engaged.
"Why, la! Mr. Simpson, how is that ?"
"Have you not then heard the last on dit? Chard's
estate has long been known to be insolvent, and, now
a person claiming to be the son of old Tom Trevor has
appeared and set up a title to Rose's inheritance. It
seems very curious that, after an absence of so many
years, Albert Trevor should reappear."
"Is it really so P" inquired Miss Stuckup, with
delighted eagerness. "I declare it will be so romantic
that I almost hope that it may prove true."
"For its romance alone, Miss Stuckup ?" inquired
her informant, with sarcastic emphasis. "Trevor
has made known his claims, and they are now under-
going legal investigation. The best talent at the
bar has been engaged on either side, and it is the
current belief that he will sweep the whole estate.
The pretty Rose is likely, after all, to be no heiress."
Zounds !" exclaimed he of the moustache, "that
interferes materially with my own prospects. I had
cast a favourable eye on that fair little Rose myself,
and I had a vague idea that I could not do better than
bestow myself on the heiress; but theidol without the
trappings would be more than I could stand."
"Upon my word, Miss Chard will be in despair
when she learns that with her money she loses the
chance of buying a slave," replied Mr. Simpson, curtly.
"You had better not speak so freely, as the claimant
may not be able to establish his identity, after all."
"What ! will they refuse to relinquish the money
to the son of Mr. Trevor ?" asked Miss .Stuckup, with
an air of affected surprise. "I thought so disinterested
a person as the pattern Mrs. Chard would do what
she considered right at any sacrifice of interest."
"So she will in this instance, as in every other in
which she is concerned. It is surely right for Mrs.
Chard to protect the interests of her daughter until
she is convinced that this Trevor is really the person
he assumes to be. At first she was inclined to give
up without a contest; but her lawyer, who is a very
shrewd man, and a warm friend of Rose's, advised a
different course. There will now be a suit."
"Have you seen Mr. Trevor ?" inquired the lady.
"Yes; I met him yesterday with the charming
widow, Mrs. Pierre. They had just been calling on
his fair adversaries, and seemed in the best of spirits.
I understand that the suit is to be carried on in the
most amicable spirit."
"Oh, yes, I comprehend what that means," replied
Miss Stuckup, with her most malicious expression.
"The poor man, if the true heir, will be cajoled into
making Rose the partner of his fortunes; if de-
feated, he can be thrown over for some more eligible
match. Commend me to such disinterested ma-
nceverers as Mrs. Chard."
Mr. Simpson shugged his shoulders.
"You are incorrigible, Miss Stuckup. I had no idea
that such is your opinion of Mrs. Chard, for I have re-
marked that when you are thrown with her in society
you are uncommonly gracious in your advances to her.
I think she was one of your guests the evening of your
last. party."_,
--

,t.)

The lady had not even the grace to blush; she care-
lesslyreplied—
" Oh, that was a matter of course. To Mrs. Chard's
position in a certain set I must yield my individual
antipathies. All who are in society recognise this
necessity."
"Defend me, then, from what you call society !"
exclaimed the satirist. "If false hearts, false tongues,
and false faces compose its constituents, it is really a
most delectable compound."
"Upon my word, Mr. Simpson, you have no right
to find fault with any of its members, for you say
more hard things than anyone I know."
" Yes ; but I have the saving grace of always speak-
ing the truth. It is not often palatable, I know; but
it amuses me to make people throw aside the artificial
varnish that is used to conceal the little that is real
in them ; and with a low bow Mr. Simpson departed,
carrying with him the agreeable conviction that he
had aroused all that was evil in the temper of the
lady he had called to see. A bachelor, and a man of
large fortune, he commented with severity on the
hollowness his shrewdness detected, which from a
person differently situated would not have been
tolerated.

Mr. Simpson sauntered away, and his place was
filled by a large red-faced woman, dressed in the
extreme of fashion, who had just entered ; she ex-
claimed—

"My dear Miss Stuckup, I have just returned from
a musical matinee, where I saw Harold Danvers's wife
with the most horrid bonnet on that ever was seen. I
can't think what makes the woman make such a figure
of herself."

"What kind of a bonnet was it, Mrs. Smoot ?" asked
several eager voices.
"Oh, a horrid poke made of fur, and it actually
covered the top of her head! You can't think how
ridiculous it looked among the elegant Parisian things
worn by the other ladies."
"I only wish she could introduce so sensible a
fashion during the cold weather, at least," said a young
girl who was recently from the country; "for my ears
nearly freeze, and I am really afraid I shall get some
dreadful disease in my head from such constant
exposure."
With a contemptuous glance at the speaker, Mrs
Smoot went on—

"Everybody was at the matinee, except you and
your visitors, Miss Stuckup, and we had such exquisite
music with refreshments."

"Both together ?" asked the advocate of the fur
bonnet, with a sly smile. Mrs. Smoot did not deign
to reply, but went on—
" The preemer donna did sing most delicious, andso
did the other woman, too, but I wondered what that
man played on the planner so much for. I wished he
would let 'em sing all the time. That Dangree, as they
call her, had on a new style of robe, the most exquisite
thing I have seen this season; and I am sure she looks
as pleasant as if she never was angry in her life, in
spite of her name."
"Do you really not know who that man was, of
whose playing you speak so contemptuously ?" asked
the country girl, with an expression of comical
amazement. _ _ _

"Really, how should I know who he is. Some
person hired to fill in the time between the songs, I
suppose; but he played as if we had gone there only
to hear him."

"Ha ! ha ! So the rest of us had, madam. I was
there, and I went to hear Liszt, the most renowned
pianist of the day. Really you do not mean to say
that you attended the matinee an.d did not know he
was the attraction? It is a new version of Hamlet
with the character of Hamlet left out."
Mrs. Smoot turned redder than ever as she
replied—
"l saw his name in big letters on the bill, but I
didn't read it, and I took it for granted he was the
manager, or some such person. What should / know
of Liszt, or any other pianner player? I'm no musician
myself, and I only went to the mattinney because my
nieces told me they were all the fashion. Good morn-
ing, Miss Stuckup ; I thought yours was an exclusive
circle; but I see several here that I scarcely expected
to meet."

_
With an impertinent stare at her late antagonist,
Mrs. Smoot loftily made her exit. She was the owner
of a "palatial mansion" in a fashionable square, pur-
chased by the proceeds of her own industry. Having
been a milliner in Kensington, afterwards a fashion-
able modiste in Regent-street, lastly a millionaire by
some lucky speculations, Mrs. Smoot had assumed her
hardly-earned right to make her way into our "best
society," and was quite as aristocratic as any plebeian
of them all.

Her departure was immediately followed by the
entrance of Mrs. Pierre and Miss Chard, in elegant
walking dresses—for they, too, had attended the
concert—and with them came the new claimant on
the fortune of Miss Chard, Mr. Albert Trevor.
Miss Stuckup advanced to greet them, with the
most engaging air—
"My dear Mrs. Pierre, what an age it is since I
have seen you! and my fair Rose, looking like the en-
chanting Hebe herself. Really, so many bright young
girls have made their debut this season, that I begin to
feel almost pcmsec. Mr. Trevor, lam happy to wel-
come you to Inv father's house, for I remember yourri
as an old friend."