The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1870-12-24

CetVeu my intleFB summons 10 CONT
home. He has recalled me after five year'
of absence. l know tho wish that lie:
nearest his heart He wants me to return
land marry Blanche | shrink from the
proposed marriage. dread going home
And dread offending my dear father
whom I love better than any woman. II
isllard Jasper, To revolt aglinst the hope:
. land plans Of kind and generous father
whose very love for mo causes him "a
urge on this marriage r. .....
I Is itY said Lowder, uryly, and with a
strange smile full Of sneerlng bitterness
l''My experience Inns been widely differ
ent from yours, Tressilian. Did / ever
tell you Of my fatherY
mo. Etook it for granted that he is
dead.r .gr -gi7gl .e "ul
perhaps he Is. / don't know" said
LOwder, with reckless laugh. Don't
start, Tressilian, at y'unfilill speech.
I Waittilly you hear my story. I am In a
desperate mood tonight This storm
stirs up all tho bad within me As nearly
rs can discover, my father was the
younger son Of . proud old county
family"
"You do not know. thent' asked Tres.
silinn, pressing his companions hand.
II have no proofs Of it. All positive-
" know Is this. My mother was Of hum
bic station. pretty, with blue eyes and au
Iapplc.blossOrn face, and tender, appealing
ways. She was the daughter ofa widow,
residing at Brighton, Tho widow, my
grandmother, kept clearinghouse, and
my father, a gay, dashing young fellow,
came to lodge with her As might have
been expected, he fell In love with his
laudlady's daughter. lie offered the
young girl marriage, on condition that
tthe union should be kept secret until his
affairs frightened and he chose 70 dlVulge
it The young girl loved him. Her moth
er was ambitious and penurious The re-
sultwas the lover had his way, and mar
ried the daughter Of his landl6dy quietly,
almost secretly. Then he took his bride
to London, to cheap and obscure lodgings,
where, a year Inter, I was BORN
I Tue wind Tor moment drowned his
voice. As 1t presently lulled, he resumed
reckleSsly, and with passionate bitterness.
For years my mother md l lived In
those stuffy, obscure lodgings until her
bloom had fnded, and she had grown thin
and wan and nervous My father visited
us at stated seasons, once or twice week,
but he never brought any Of his family to
call upon us. doubt II his aristocratic
relatives ever suspected the existence Of
the faded wife and son of whom be was
secretly ashamed. I have good reasons
to believe that he had fine lodgings Mt the
West End, where he WIS supposed 10 be
q bachelor and that he went into fashion,
able society, while my poor mother and l
lived obscurely. lie was q proiligate and
roue, but he had an air Of fashion that
awakened my boyish admiration, and
aroused my mothers adectiOnate pride in
him. She was always pleading to be in.
troduced 10 his relatives, and to have her
son publicly acknowledged. But my
father always put her off, saying that he
was not yet ready. Worn out and de-
spairing, my mother died when / was ten
years old" ..,,. Esd. BIZ a.aI .
Again the wind shrieked past, and the
little vessel lurched, the sea sweeping her
deck. F fIaafaUI .a 'E..I
The captain screamed his orders to his
men, and for few minutes disorder
reigned. .'
"A nasty bit Of weather" satd Lowder
"And bad sky" I .y-
f".Yes, but I've seen as bad" returned
Tressilian. "Wo hall make port all
right, never fear We must be well on to-
ward the Cape di Gallo. And It Is only
seven miles from the Cape TO Palermo"
"But the seven miles in this storm are
worse than seventy in good weather.
These coasts are dangerous, Tressilian."
LOwder shudderCd rs he surveyed sea
and sky. .-----.,,.-
"BuC about you father Jasper?' said
Tressilian, who had become deeply in
terested in his companions story. "What
did he do after your mothers leathI" 10
~ remained at the old lodgings with
our single old servant q month or more,
my father visiting me several times, and
expressing anxiety as to what he should
do with me. A week after my mothers
death, lie told me that his brother was
deId. A month later, lis father was kill
cd by being thrown from his horse. My
father came into riches and honors by
these deaths. At last, deciding TO rid him.
self Of me, he took me down to Brighton,
to my old grandmother. Her sons were
dead, and she had given up keeping lodg-
ers, and was grown misery. Hc prOmis.
ed her five hundred pounds q year TO keep
me, and to keep also the secret of my pa
ternily, sOlGmnly promising to acknOwl-
edge Inc some day rs his son and heir.
The old woman agreed to carry out his
wishes. She would have done ANYTHING
for money. l never saw my father again.
went to school, grew up, and at the age
OF twCntY-One came into my grandmoth-
er's money, the fruits of years Of saving,
she dying at that time. My father had
deliberately abandoned me. l did not
know where to seek him, If had wished
to. ItoOk my money and came abroad.
had been two years on the Continent,
and had spent my little fortune when l
met You. The rest you know"
IAN odd, romantic story. But why did
your father abandon your" aaS
"That he might be freed OF encumbrance
to make q grand marriage. From what
my grandfather said at different times, l
conclude that my father was in love with
a titled lady before my mothers death.
No doubt ho married this Indy. If he
lives, this lady's son may be his acknowl-
edged heir. My father has utterly dis.
owned the son OF his first hasty, ili.sLar-
red marriage. IhaVe fancy that shall
meet him some day" and Jasper's brow
darkened to deeper blackness. "However,
l stand no chance Of ever receiving JUS
tiCe Mt his hands,"
What is your fathers name, Jasper ?"
asked Tressilian. 1
Lowder's face darkened. Hebit his lip
savngely. ~
"What l have told you about myself l
learned from my own observation, or from
chance words Of my parents and grand
mother. My mothers maidcd name was
Jeanette Lowder At our London lodg.
ingsr my father bore the name Of Lowder,