Litchfield enquirer., 1872-02-22

! exhibited little Of the airy elegance and grace said to have distinguished the girl- i hood of Elizabeth Gainsford. Her soft
 brown eyes were gentle and kind as ever, but the brilliant lights of youth no longer sparkled in their quiet depths, and tine I had not only stllinned her flowing hair l -necessitating caps-but had brushed the
 roses from her cheeks, and swept away. with , his soaring hand, the pale lilies from ths ] furtive coyerts whence they had glanced l in tremulous beauty, in Iife's sweet prime; 1 yet for all that, and a great deal more, ! Mrs. Burton, have no manner of doubt, ! looked charmingly in the bright fire-blaze ] which gleamed i'll chequered light and ; shade upon the walls, pictures. curtains ! of the room, and the green leaves and
 scarlet berries of the Christmas holly with
 which it was profusely decorated. Three i of her children-the eldest, Elizabeth, 8
 reconciliation of her own youth-were by
 her side, and opposite sat her husband,
 whose frank, hearty countenance seemed l to sparkle with careless mirth.
 "Hornby will be here presently, Eliza
 beth, " said he. "What disappointment
 awaits the rascally cu.mudgeon! His un- l cle was a prince compared to him"
 Disappointment, Henry! to receive : four hundred pounds he did not expect ?'' i ''Ay, truly, dame. Lawyer Symonds' i son Frank, fine, goOd-hearted young fel- i low as ever stepped in shoe leather-Liz-
 zy, girl, if that candle were nearer your
 face it would light without a match"-'
 ''Nonsense, fatherya --
 "yery likely. Frank Symoads, I was
 saying, believes, and so does his father.
 that Hornby would rejoice at an oppor-
 tunity of returning with interest the smart
 score marked upon his back three-and- | twenty years ago.
 ] Tt was a thoughtless, cruel act, Hen i ", rejoined his wife, ''and the less said
 of it the better. I hope the fright we
 haye had will induce you to practice bet ter ecoaesay than heretofore; so that, i'm
 stead of allowing two years interest to &C., i cumulate upon us, we may gradually re- i duce the mortage." -
 'That we will, dear, depend upon it. 1 We shall be pushed little at first: Kirk l shaw, who lent me the two hundred and fifty, can only spare it for a month; but 1 no deubt the bank will do bill for part of it by that time: Rnt sufficient for the ] day IS the evil thereof. Here is tue saen- ey for Hornby at all events: and here at
 last comes the shriyelled atomy; hear his l horse. Fanny, light the candles"
 III OuItOA 1tt4n GOuA0IuUA1Y 8E LII. consciously entertained the self -fattering
 notion that the still unwedded bachelor who had unsueesssfully wooed her nearly quarter of century before. still retain ed feeling of regretful tenderness for her, she must have been grieyously sur
 prised by the cold, unrecognizing glance which Hornby threw on her as he entered, aud curtly replied to her civil greeting. That was not the image stamped upon his heart and bEsiaI But when her eldest daughter approached the lights tp place paper and pens upon the table, the lash
 ing glance and white quiyering lip of the grave visitor revealed the tempest of emo- ton which for an instant shook him. He quickly suppressed all outward manifesto tioa of feeling, and in dry, business tone, demanded if Mir. Burton was ready to pay the interest sn the mortgage.
 ''Yes, thank God, replied Ms. Bnyton, 'I am: here is the money in notes of the Governor and Company of the Bank of England. Count themf Hornby bent oyer the notes, shading his face with his hand, as if maye accurate ly to examine them, and the glance of baffled rage which swept across his face was not observed.
 ''They are quite right" he said, rising from bis chair; "and here is your receipt. !"
 "very good! And now, Hornby, let us have glass of wine together for the sake of old times. We'll, we'll; you need not look so fierce about it. Let bygones be bygones, say. Oh, if you sciu go-go in Gods name! Good-nighti''
 ''Bafaed, foiled!' muttered Hornby as the money? Borrowed it, doubtless, but of Wal x>o%{auoa Y shall grip thee yet, Henry ,Burton!' And the possessed man turned round in his saddle. and shook his clenched hand in the direction of the house he had quilted. He then steadily pursued his way, and soon regained his hermitage.
 The month for which Burton had bor. rowed the two hundred and fifty pounds passed Fapidly--as months always do to borrowers expedient after expedient for raising the money was tried in vain. This money must be repaid, Kfrkshaw had emphatically told him, on the day stipulated. Burton applied to the bank at Leeds, with which he usually did bus mess, to discount an acceptance, guaran- teed by one or two persons whose names
 he mentioned. The answer was the asual civil refusal to accept the proffered securi- l ty for repayment-''the bank was just i then full of discounts" Burton ventured, as 6 last resource, to call on Hornby with 1 a request that, as the rapid advance in the l market-value of land consequent on the high war-prices obtained for it's produce had greatly increased the worth of Grange Farm, he would add the required sum to
 the already existing mortgage. He was
 met by a prompt refusal Mir. Hornby intended to foreclose as speedily as pos 1 sible the mortgages he already held, and invest his capital in more profitable secur-
 ities 'sWell, then, would he lend the
 amount at any interest he chose?a
 ''The usury laws, replied Hornby, with l his usual saturnine sheer, would prevent
 my acceptance of your obliging offer,
 even if had the present means, which I
 have not My spare cash happens just
 now to be temporarily locked up.
 Burton, half crazed with anxiety, went
 the following day to the Leeds bank with
 the prefer of fresh name agreed to be
 lent him by. its owner. Useless! ''They
 did not know the party" The applicant unused a few moments, and then said, ''Would you disconnt the note of Mr.
 James Hornby of Pool ?'' o@ EssE 5.l
 Certainly with great deal of pleas
 ure." Burton hurried away; had his 1 uOKSS uIbtaAtly b3uu16u, anu SaA1OpCu Ou
 to Pool. Hornby was at home. sEI q
 ''You hinted the other day, 2 said Bur- 1 ton ''that if you had not been short of
 present means you might have obliged me
 with the loan I required. "s
 'sDid I?'aa asza HIes5s I5a2T6 .-- 4 'At least so understood you. I am
 of course not ignorant, MT. Hornby, that
 there is no good blood sbetween us two ! huf I aiso kn0w that vau ara foDd o{
 money, and that you are fully aware that
 I am quite safe for 8 few hundred pounds.
 I am come, therefore, to offer you ten pounds bonus for your acceptance at one
 month for two hundred fifty pounds. -
 s'Whats" exclaimed Honby with strange
 vehemence, "What?'' fs.., 4ss;g s,s.s T,s
 Burton repeated his offer, and Hornby
 turned away towards the window without
 speaking. 9sesFr5ess
 When he again faced Burton, his coun- | tenanc0 wore ifs usy.al en1or lb1ft the ex-