The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1888-03-17 00:00:00

CHAPTER XV.

TRYING TO ?JAZZ AMENDS,
Wintiq Trevor left the house of Mrs. Chard, he walked
With hurried steps towards West *Kensington, and
turned into a 'Fide, quiet street, in which were several
fashionable houses. At the door of the most impos-
ing of these he rang, and inquired for Mrs. Pierre.
He was usht red into a private parlour elegantly furl
nished, and Ih3 numerous costly trifles which orna-
,lllented the room revealed the luxurious habits of
'ts fair occupant. Seated air kept the atmosphere at
a tropical temperature, and superb flowering plants,
which claimed their origin from those glowing regions
bloomed in the pale gleams of northern sunshine that
struggled through the rose-coloured curtains.
The walls were nearly lined with mirrors, in which
the only work of art Mrs. Pierre cared to see, her own
Charming self, could meet multiplied reflections where-
ever she turned.
The visitor waited but a few moments, when the
.door which communicated with an inner temple of
14xury, even more elegant than the reception room,
softly unclosed, and the fair widow floated into the
tnom with an airy grace that would have been
extremely captivating to any other beholder; but
Trevor was just then too deeply absorbed in his oWn

thoughts to note the fascinating appearance of the
lovely Circe.
She wore a mourning- dress of scarlet cashmere,
confined to the waist with a cord and tassel, beneath
which was seen an exquisitely embroidered robe. A
net of crimson chenille, with gold fringes pendent on
either side, covered her black hair, and by contrast
brightened the soft olive of her complexion.
Trevor sat drumming his fingers upon a table
quite unconscious of her presence, until she placed
her fair hand on his shoulder, and inquired—
" Well, how did the 'coup de main' succeed ?"
"Just as you predicted, badly," he moodily
answered. "It was a false move in the game, which,
lam afraid, it would be difficult to retrieve. I wish
I had taken your advice, Lonore."
"I must say that is just like your self-sufficient
sex," replied Mrs. Pierre, in a tone of annoyance.
"You refuse to profit by a woman's superior finessc,
and then get brutally angry because you had not the
foresight to take the advice your pride rejected. I
knew that your blunt sailor way of acting would
offend Mrs. Chard, and disgust her daughter; but you
would persist in spite of my warning."
Trevor placed his hands over his ears as he ex-
claimed—

There—there—that will do. There is no use in
pouring forth a torrent of words. I've no patience to
listen to them. The trick failed, and that is all—so
another dodge must be tried. The girl shall be mine
by fair means or foul, and I never yet swore to do a
thing that I did not find a way to accomplish it."

"With ordinary prudence success was in your own
hands, but you have thrown your best chances away,"
retorted the widow contemptuously. "If you had
approached Miss Chard in a regular manner, you
might have succeeded in making her feel that it will
be better to secure her inheritance by accepting
you, than to surrender it, together with the prestige
of her present position. But you would not listen to
me; tell me all that occurred in the interview, that I
may know how to advise you, for I see you have come
to me for that after all."

"Good gracious! what a tongue! Will it never
cease taunting me ?" exclaimed Trevor, with passion.
"Yes, I have come to you for advice; but you give
me no chance to tell you why I wish it."
"Have I not asked you already? There—there
—begin; I am mute."
She sat down on the sofa, rested her chin upon her
hand, and assumed a listening air. As Trevor des-
cribed the scene which had so lately occurred between
Mrs. Chard and himself, an expression of bitter disdain
gradually settled over her lovely face.
When he finished, she coldly asked—
" And you were really so impolitic as to threaten a
woman so self-possessed and well-bred as Mrs. Chard?
What must she think of you? Are you not aware that
she has a clear head and reasoning mind? And now
neither her pride nor the interests of her step-daughter
will permit her to yield the field without a struggle.
Bah! you have ruined all."
He listened anxiously and then asked—
"Do you really think so, Lonore ? Yeti forgot my
proofs; they are convincing."
"To you and I they seem so; but perhaps they will
not be so to the rest of the world. Besides, the other
party has possession, which is greatly in their favour.
If. the legality of your claim is contested, a lawsuit
may drag slowly along for years, keeping you out of
the enjoyment of the estate, with the chance that at
its close you may be stripped of all."
"But I defy them to set the proofs aside. I have
in my possession the letters that passed between
Thomas Trevor and his wife before their marriage,
Mrs. Trevor's wedding-ring, the certificate of Albert
Trevor's birth and baptism. and the seal ring of the
family, bearing the hero's crest. How should I
have come by these, unless I am the heir ?"
"That question an astute lawyer will ask you, and
you must be prepared to prove that they were
honestly obtained," she significantly replied. "After
so many years of absence, it will be very diffcult to
establish your identity. Miss Chard's friends are
fully aware of the advantage this gives her, and it is
only by appealing to her sense of justice—to her
generous impulses—that you have much chance of
success. But you saw the lawyers—what was the
result of the interview ?" _ _

"Exactly what you predicted. I could manage old
Chard, I think, but Mr. Spring is too much for me.
The occurrences of this morning have only brought
matters to a crisis. The fortune, or a large slice of
it, I must secure pretty soon, for I am greatly in need
of it, as no one knows better than yourself. Let your
fertile wit devise some means of getting me out of
this scrape, Lonore, and your own interests shall not
suffer thereby."
Mrs. Pierre smiled significantly.
"I find that my interests are always thought of
when your own are in jeopardy; at other times they
sink into complete insignificance. However, I have
undertaken to aid you in this, and I will not shrink back
now. You must write a note of apology to Mrs.
Clird, and entreat that she will forget the scene that
passed this morning. Appeal to the memory of your
father, ask that his son shall not be repudiated as an
acquaintance by those who are known to have been
his nearest friends."
"But I was mad enough to utter threats to Mrs.
Chard," he moodily replied. "The evil one must have
been at my elbow, instigating me to act as I did thic
morning."
"It is safe to believe so, when he is never long
absent from you," was the sarcastic rejoinder. "Some
people find his Satanic majesty a convenient ally, on
whom they can lay the burden of all their evil doings.
When they go to him at last, I hope he pays them well
for such treatment."
"I believe in my soul, Lonore, that you are one of
his most provoking emissaries, 'was the angry response;
04 for you taunt and worry me sometimes until I could
almost destroy you."
" Ah, truly, that would be acting like the verdant
owner of the goose that produced the golden eggs.
Without me, you would be a poor, miserable failure,
for when you act against my advice you are sure to be
going wrong, as was proved this morning."
" There, there ? will you never have done talking of
that? I've said I was wrong, and what more do you
expect ?"
"I expect nothing but wilfulness and stupidity
from you to the end of the chapter; but such as you
are, our fortunes are embarkedin the same boat, and I
must do the best I can to sustain your cause. There,
write the note to Mrs. Chard, and I will deliver it: my-
self. She admits me without ceremony, and I
will try and smooth over this unlucky bravado on your
part."
She pushed note paper toward him. Trevor dipped
the pen in the ink, and sat in a kind of bewildered
silence, as if his ideas had all deserted him.
"Why don't you begin ?" impatiently asked Mrs.
Pierre.
"Because I don't know what to say," he sulkily re-
replied. "I am no woman's lacky, and what would
be likely to please such a stilted one as Mrs. Chard, I
am sure I shall never express."
" Ha ! ha! the dignified, elegant Amy described as
stilted! Why, she is called the gracetul and charm-
ing widow. lam sometimes half jealous of her my-
self."
"She may be all that to those she likes. To me she
was only the offended woman, who commanded me to
leave bar Muse as quietly as if she was saying the
most wr,reeable thing in the world.'
"But if I ask her to receive you again, she will do
eo, provided you apologise as I shall dictate. I knew
you would be forced to use my brains at last, so put
down w hat I tell you, and dismiss the affair as settled,
for I shall bring you back permission to call with me
this very evening.'
" Go on, then; I will write."
In spite of this promise, Trevor paused several
times, and demurred at the abject tone of the
apology; but Mrs. Pierre was despotic, and he was
finally compelled to put down the exact words with
which she furnished him.
"Now direct and seal that with the Trevor crest,
while I get ready to call on Mrs. Chard and her
daughter."
She retired to the inner room a few moments, and
then appeared clad in a dark walking dress and
wrapped in furs. A thick veil concealed her piquant
features, and she laughingly said:
"My fashionable friends would be surprised that
so dashing a person as I am could ride in an
omnibus, but I intend to do so now. It is too far to
walk this cold morning, and I do not care to have
my carriage seen before Mrs. Chard's door to-day."
"Why not to-day as well as any other ?" be
naturally asked.
"Oh, that is my affair, not yours ;" and she laughed
with an affectation of mystery that annoyed him.
"To hear you speak thus, one would think your
movements are as important as those of a crowned
queen."
"To some people in my world they are certainly
of more consequence than those of any royalty I am
aware of. A queen of fashion is more noticed and
commented on than the Queen of England. Will you
go out with me, or would you prefer to remain here
till my return? There is the morning paper, and on
the etagere you will find the last new novel."
"I will stop and look over the paper ; but you need
not expect to find me here on your return."
"You will not wait to learn the result of my
mission ?"
"You have already assured me that it shall be pro-
pitious, and I trust implicitly to your word."
"Ah ! if you only had as much faith in what is
good!" she laughingly exclaimed, as she closed the
door upon her bewitching face.
Trevor waited until he saw Mrs. Pierre trip past the
windows. Then he slowly arose, and locked the door
opening into the hall. Having again seated himself,
he called, in an authoritative tone, on the name of
" Toinette."
An elderly negress came from an inner room in
answer to the summons. She was very black, and
wore immense gold earrings in her ears, a brilliant
turban made of a gay plaid handkerchief upon her
head, and a calico robe of most gorgeous colours.
With a low curtsey she spoke in Spanish, and in-
puired :
"What is your will with me, Senor Alfred ?"
"Albert—remember Albert is my name, you old
stupid," he angrily exclaimed.
" Ah ! den sho"nuff I done forgot you change him,"
was the response in imperfect English. "But I no
do so no mo'—l try to tink 'bout you' fancy for de
oder name."
"Very well—see that you do remember, or I shall
not be likely to think of your pleasure again. Your
mistress has gone out to pay a brief call. I shall
remain here, and if you wish to go out for half an

hour, 1 will take care of her apartments till you re.
turn."

"Oh, t'ank you, Senor Al—Albert; dat is what I
very much wish alway, for Miss Lonore keeps me
'bout, her room so much in fear dat some one take her
jewels, dat I don't hardly get out at all."
"Go along with you, then, and I will keep watch
over the jewels. Half an hour you may stay, but
mind that you come back to the minute."
"Si, Senor, I be sure to remembair ; I go out de
area door, and take de key wi' me."
"Very well," and he took up the newspaper
and appeared to become deeply absorbed in its
contents, while he eagerly listened for the woman's
departure. After the door closed, he sat still several
moments, to be quite sure that she would not return;
then, with light steps, he entered the ch3.mber beyond.

CHAPTER XVI.
THE EMISSARY.

TEE fitting up of the room to which we alluded to in
our last, was an exquisite taste; but the intruder
did not pause to note the hangings of lace and bro-
cade ; the velvet carpet, which looked as if the
pressure of the foot might crush the flowers that
glowed upon its surface, or the many articles with
which a woman of elegant taste and lavish expendi-
ture surrounds herself.
With reckless tread he advanced at once to the
wardrobe in which he knew the jewel case of Mrs.
Pierre was kept. Taking a key from his pocket, he
nervously unlocked the door, and found the casket
standing half open, as Toinette had left it when he
called to her, for she had evidently been engaged in
removing some of them from the dress her mistress
had worn on the previous evening. Trevor eagerly
turned over the shining baubles, and extricated from
them a cross of great beauty; beside the glittering
splendour of this the others looked mean and value-
less, and his eyes sparkled as he drew the heavy
curtains aside, and suffered the light of day to flash
upon the gems.
He took from his pocket a case containing an exact
counterpart of it, and compared them together. The
setting was precisely the same, and no eye save that
of an experienced lapidary could have distinguished
the true from the counterfeit. A triumphant ex-
pression came upon the face of the gazer, as he
muttered—

"She will never find out the cheat, any more than
she did with the others. By Jupiter! Jacobs has
excelled himself, and these Cape sparklers will answer
Lonore's turn as well as the others. She will never
discover the exchange, and this beauty will bring me
a cool five thousand. The stones are immensely
valuable, but it's the last throw on the dice till I get
the heiress and her fortune; or the money without
the girl— -it's all the same to me. Whatfolly ! to keep
Sc) much money locked up in bits of glittering finery
that can be so easily counterfeited. Lonore thinks
her diamonds:worth £lO,OOO, and so they were once.
The sham sparklers I have given her In exchange for
the true, are quite as ornamental, while I have lived
a jolly life on the precious little bijoux. I really am
sorry this is the last haul from the dear unsuspicious
creature.

He removed the cross from the chain that held it
and substituted the one he had brought with him
Then, replacing the casket exactly as be had found it,
Trevor calmly locked the door of the wardrobe, and
returned to the outer apartment. There the reading
of the paper was resumed, and he quietly awaited the
return of the negress. She came back at the end of the
stipulated time, and with the assurance that all was
safe, the robber bade her a friendly good morning, and
walked away with his prize.
In the meantime, the person whom Trevor, had thus
despoiled was using all the tact, all the arts with
which Nature had lavishly gifted her, in endeavours to
serve him. Mrs. Pierre was at once admitted to the
snuggery, for she had cast the glamour of her fas-
cinations over Rose, until she had been successful in
establishing an intimacy with her step-daughter,
which Mrs. Chard scarcely approved. But there was
nothing that could be alleged against the attractive
widow. She was cordially received in a most
exclusive circle, into which she had been introduced
by lett( rs from several influential families in America,
and her own conduct since her residence in London
had been unimpeachable. Still there was a vague
fear in the mind of Mrs. Chard, that her influence
over the darling of her heart might not be for the
benefit of her future happiness; but Rose loved and
trusted Mrs. Pierre, and her mother could not bear to
sever a friendship which afforded her so much happi-
ness.

It seemed singular that a worldly wise and sarcastic
woman of society should become the chosen friend of
so young and inexperienced a girl as Rose Chard, but
their very dissimilarity rendered them more attractive
to each other. The true secret of Mrs. Pierre's
advances to Rose was found in the fact that the suc-
cess of her own schemes rendered it necessary that the
young heiress should fall under her influence, and she
spared no flattery that was likely to accomplish her
ends. Rose was but human, and the incense adriotly
offered had its natural effect. She gave her confi-
dence, and a great deal of her heart, to her insinuating
• friend, and she excused her sarcasms in the belief
that Mrs. Pierre was too honest to repress her opinions,
however severe they might seem to a person so new to
society as herself.
(To be continued)
4
AN INTERESTING FIND.

The Record Committee of the Stratford-on-Avon Cor-
poration has held a meeting at Shakespeare's birthplace,
with reference to the recent discovery of old documents
and manuscripts in a disused room in the Guildhall,
and passed the following resolution: "That Mr. Savage,
librarian of Shakespeare's House, be requested to
examine and arrange the various documents dis-
covered in the Guildhall, and now deposited in the
Record Room, and make a report thereon at the next
meeting of the committee, to be held on the 21st
Inst., and that no access to the documents be per-
mitted pending the librarian's report." Owing to the
librarian's illness, no regular examination of the
papers has yet been made, but already a document
dated 1560, and another dated 1609, have been found.
The latter was written exactly seven years before
Shakespeare's death, and while he was living at
New-place, Stratford-on-Avon. The number of
documents appears to be upwards of 3000,
and they are in every imaginable stage of
ruin by dirt and decay. The larger pro-
portion cannot possibly throw any light upon
Shakespeare's life, his family connections, or his labours
as an author. Still, there are possibilities of the dis-
covery of a letter, a diary, or fragments of either or
both, referring to him. In removing the documents
from their hiding place to where they now lie in a room
at the Birthplace, a cursory glance enabled the
librarian to estimate the years over which they
ranged, and the matters to which thy referred.
Several hundreds do relate to the years when Shake-
speare resided in Stratford, and cover also the period
of his absence in London, and names have already
been seen of those who knew him. But the vast
majority are the accounts of oveerseers, indentures of
apprentices, scraps relating to demands for accounts
from the local authority. The manner of the discovery
of these papers was very singular. Owing to the
volunteers leaving the room they used as an armoury,
in order to give increased accommodation to the
Grammar School, the master (Mr. Laffan) about a
fortnight ago opened the door leading out of their
room on to a disused staircase, and ascended the
steps. He came to a door, and for the first time
looking through the keyhole saw a small room, the
floor of which was strewn with papers and bundles. A
smart push with the hand sufficed to open the door,
and then he and his house-master, Mr. Trees, to their
intense astonishment, found themselves in a chamber
full of romantic interest. The room stands like a
nest in a corner of the building. The walls were
pierced to the air in many places between the timber
posts, and the holes filled up with loose bricks. Cob-
webs thickly covered the walls; the floor was inches
deep in onion skins. Papers lay about the floor, and
in one corner they were heaped up in bundles like a
miniature hay rick. Picking up one or two of the
papers, the head-master perceived their value, because
they bore the date of Elizabeth. Then, realising the
possible importance of the discovery, he communicated
with the town clerk, Mr. Hunt, into whose official
custody the documents were given, and under his
direction they were soon afterwards removed to their
present resting place in the Museum and Birthplace.