The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1887-03-26 00:00:00

SATURDAY, MARCH 26, 1887.

ADRIENNE

THE SHADOW OF THE PAST.

[ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 4

CHAPTER XV.
Arr Ell the conference with her step-son recorded in a
previous chapter, Madame Crozat re-entered her
house, and proceeded toward her own apartment.
tAround the table sat four young negro girls, under
Ile direction of a woman of their own race, and the
five were occup;ed in picking the seed from a quail-
of cotton that lay heaped up before them.
Madame Crozat paused beside the woman, and
watched her nimble fingers approvingly as they dis-
engaged the black, unctuous-looking seed from the
snowy wool, and she fillipped one of the young girls,
Who was half asleep, on the side of the head, as she
said—
" Dullard, see how rapidly Desiree works, while
you sleep away half your time. Her cotton shall go to
New Orloans to be inspected by the factor, and yours
shall be used at home to weave clothing and knitl
stockings."
"Ri ! I reckon dat's what's gwine to be done wi' al
on it any how," rerponded the girl, with a broad grin
" an' taint much differ ef it's spun up here, or in de
big town down de riber."

"Only that the one who performs her task best, will
got a red calico dress at Christmas."
At this announcement the young girls giggled,
straightened themselves up, and one of them re-

"I reckon wo don' state no chance wid Desiree
anyhow."

The door leading into the hall suddenly unclosed,
and a lady of twenty-five, or more, wearing an ex-
pression of angry excitement upon her features,
entered the room. The contrast between her ap-
Pearance and that of Madame Crozat was striking.
Robes of the richest texture and most brilliant colours
adorned her petite person. Her dark, abundant hair
Was knotted low at the back of the neck, and a few
curls fel from the coil. A scarlet bandeau encircled
the head, ending with tassels that hung over the left
ear. Her complexion was dark as that of a gipsy,
ant the flash of her black eyes, the haughty curve of
her red lips, showed that an imperious nature dwelt
within that small frame. She was evidently in a state
of intense excitement, and she rapidly said—
" Madame mere, I wish to speak with you im-
rnedhtely."
" Speak on, then, Pauline," was the tranquil reply.
'I am quite ready to listen to you."
"Not here, madame—not here. What I have to say
must be said without witnesses. Conie to my room,
if you please."
Madame Crozat shrugged her shoulders, and said—
"I witl follow you immediately."
After giving a few directions to one of her sable
satellites, Madame Crozat slowly crossed a wide hall,
and after lightly tapping upon the door, entered the
apartment of her step-daughter.
Here was found every appliance which a luxurious
taste could command in those times. Parisian furni-
ture glittered in its finest polish, the windows were
draped with hangings of damask, and leunging chairs
of various shapes invited to repose, while their owner
stoud in the centre of the floor, the living incarnation
of restlessness.

;--
Come in, madame; I enly wish to ask you a ques-
tion that is important to me."
"Very well, my daughter, what is it lam ready
to reply to Rs many questions as you may choose to
ask."

" Madailie, your coldness freezes, me, but I see it
is assumed for a purpose. You call yourself my
mother, and to your care my father bequeathed me,
yet you are plotting against me—circumventing me
in the dearest wishes of my heart. Who is the girl
who came up the river with you? and why should
Adolphe listen for a moment to the proposal to
make her his wife? His wife ha! ha! Madame, I
thought that honourable position was reserved for
me—me, the daughter of your house, as be is the
son."
"You both stand in the same relation to me Pauline;
you are my adopted children; but why you should
consider Adolphe as pledged to you, I am at a loss to
Understand."
"Is he not the only eligible match in the circle of
my acquaintance? and I have set my heart on suc-
ceeding."
"Your heart, mademoiselle—pray leave that out of •
the question; for it seems to me that the idea of a
serious attempt on your part to win M. Mendon is
quite new to me. If Adolphe had been duly impressed
by your charms, he would not have been so easily at-
tracted by this young stranger."
The black eyes flashed more disdainfully than ever,
and Pauline said—
" Madame mere, you sneer habitually at me and my
eccentricit,es, and I have borne with it heretofore, be-
cause I thought you really had some regard for me. I
know you have read my intentions with reference to
M. Mendon, and until your late visit to New Orleans I
had every reason to believe that you would not
attempt to thwart me in their accomplishment. Now
your policy is changed; I demand the reason as my
right, and I insist on a candid reply. You know that
a tacit und-rstanding has existed for some time that,
when my law-suit is settled, I shall bestow myself and
the fortune I expect to win upon Adolphe."
Madame Crozat made a slight movement of im-
patience, but she replied, with calmness—
"But, Pauline, the last accounts from your lawyer
are most discouraging. There is littio hope that you
will win your cause; and without means on either
Side, it is simply impossible that Adolphe shall take so
expensive a luxury as you would be, in the shape of a
Wife."
The listener clenched her small hands, beat her feet
Impatiently upon the floor, and asked in a tone half-
stifled with rage—
" And what fortune has this stranger? Who is she ?
What is she, that she should be thought fit to sup-
plant me?"

"She is the grandchild of M. Lecour, and his pre-
sumptive heiress."
" Ah, bah ! stuff! nonsense! That old heathen had
no children that I ever heard of."

"Not by his last wife, but he wasmarried in ?ranee
many years before he emigrated to Louisiana; he had
an only daughter, and this girl is her child."
" Ah ! and what guarantee have you, or M. Menden,
a
she will inherit a penny of his fortune? He may
bequeath it to some stranger."
" Pei haps we have a remedy for that," replied
Madame Crozet, with a mysterious smile. "1 think
it is certain that Adrienne Durand will ultimately
Possess his estate, in spite of all M. Lecour may do to
disinherit her."
"Then she must have some claim superior to that
of relationship to him. You deal in mysteries, madame;
Pray unravel this tangled skein, if you please; for I
am impatient to understand the true position of this
.) 01113 g stranger:,
'Excuse me, Pauline; I will leave that for your
OWn ingenuity to accomplish. I have listened patiently
to your complaint, and I hope you will have self-re-
s_Poet enough to conceal from Adolphe that you had
designs upon his hand which he has not sanctioned by
any avowal of love on his part."
_ "Madame mere, you know that M. Mendon has
devoted himself to me since the death of his wife.
Be has not spoken of love, because etiquette forbade
his doing so till after a certain time had elapsed. If
eort had permitted affairs to take their natural course,
I should have been settled in life before the year is
out. I warn you that I will yet circumvent your
plan,. I will spare no efforts to unravel the mystery
at wh;ch you have hinted, and I will use the know-
ledge I may obtain for my own purposes!'
"Forewarned is forearmed,' you know, ma-
demoiselle," coldly replied Madame Crozet, as she
arose from her seat, and prepared to leave the apart-
ment. "I trust that you will do nothing to com-
promise the delicacy of your sex with my son. He
has P l'egaro for you as a sister, but it will be some-
thing quite new to him to suspect that you wish him
to stand in a dearer relation to yourself."
Mademoiselle Crozet grew pale with anger as she
rep'ied -
"The rel Alen would cost him dear, as you have
already intimated; but that I hold him dear is a rats-
apeeeliensien on your part. I only condescended to
think o! him at all because there is no one else to
atteeef. Ne heart will be broken—no hopes crushed
by his devotion to another."
..80 iholght from the beginning'," was the dry
responw. " You might have spared me this cane,
mademoiselle. for it has led to nothing."
"Wait till, the end," said Pauline, with a frown,
has
her step-mother left the room. "Yes, wait till t
end madame, and then see if it is safe to
trifle with me. Leonie was my nurse ; I can wind her
around ;my finger; and I will see if I, too, cannot
f this mystery, which seems so important to you
and your darling Adolphe. I will see L6.onie at °neer
ad judge for myself of her actual condition."
Pauline threw a shawl over her head, and, without
pausing, went directly to the cottage inhabited by
the quadroon. The door stood open, for the evening
was bright and warm, and the soft air was pleasant to
the sick woman within. The young lady entered and
approached the bed. on which lay a tall woman,whose
complexion was scarcely darker than licr own, in spite
of the dash of coloured blood in her veins. Like those
Of nearly all her caste, her form was remarkable for
eyeemetry, and her wasted features had once
possessed =common beauty.
Paulae looked down upon her, and seeing tnat she
made no motion, she spoke shortly, using the term
of endearment to which her childish lips had been
accustomed.
" Niatunfr, how is it with you? I trust you are not
SO very id."
The woman started, threw out her hand, and
mut te‘ri-d—
-•
" 11l ? ill? who says lam ?. I shall be up to-
1110T r() w. You won't have me sent away, my darling?
I can't die away from you; you're all I have now;
and I loved you, my pet."
"Who spoke of sending you away, poor Leonia?
No one would be so creel. I have coma to alt with
You awhile. Let me (Ave you some drink."
:hs held a cup to her parched lips, and the woman
eageley swallowed the orange leaf tea with which it
was fitted. She sunk back, and said—
"it.. was only a wretched dream, then. I thought
Mademoi.,elle Louise came in here, and told me that I
Should be cast into the road for my treachery to her.
1 it was long, long ago, but its memory is with MO