Wilmington daily commercial., 1872-07-11
conlinued from Tuesdays conmrciaL /


birds sang among the roses, how softly the
shadows llickeled over the green turf How
lille any thing in Nature seemed to reck of
lLe destruction which had been wrought he
tween the setting and rising of the sun
'And it would be all the same If 1t had
bpcn human life instead of hOuse
thought Alice lnglesby, as she rose and stood
ni the same window where she had been
Standing when the flames broke forth the
nirht before. Her attack of unconscious
ness had been very slight--for she was not Il
woman prone to faintlng tits-and, thanks 10
"A superb constitution, had left no i'll effects
beyond II little languor and pa eness There
might have been more, however, ii she had
moi been ''kept up" just then by tue tict-
lious strength of excitement During her
vigil of the dawn, she had taken n resolve
which had been lacking in her vigil of the
night Somehow, light had come to her, a,
wrll as to the world. Things which had
been conflicting before, seemed thoroughly
harmonious now. Standing there in the
bright sunlight, her future life showed itself
in Il new aspect Every thing in her was So
changed that the whole outside world seemed
changed also. Should she ever forget the
look in kennOns eyes when she opened her
own ON his face, there ON the turf last night
II had gone straighter to her heart than ii he
had pleaded with all the passionate eloquencc
that ever stirred human tongue. And here
lei ii Ge said that, being woman of sense,
and not sentimental fool of any age, (for
sentimental folly is not limited to sixteen),
she did not for moment think of attaching
the least importance to the mere fact of hi'
having, in romantic parlance, ''sayed hel
iIr' She knew perfectly well that he
would have done the same good office quite
~ willingly for the cook or the chamber
luaid II was that look in his eyes which
haunted her-wiich seemed to bcckOn her
IN 10 the preparation of the rankest act oi
folly ever perpctratcl by It ''woman of the
world
Then the thought of Rose and of Harry
the two strangely mingled-came back to her
as they had come the night before. She
seemed To see the fair rosebud beauty of the
girl, and to feel the same pang of absolutely
painful pity VIII ch she had felt the night he
FORE when she saw her falling into the tolls
Of the advcnturer, who avOwedly wooed her
only fer her fortune Yet the night before
She had Steeled her heart and said, "Wherr
is the remedy y Now she seemed TO see the
remedy
MY life does not matter, she said aloud
81 have only myself 10 consider; and, there
I re-, why should consider at all ? Nobody
can be- injured or aggrieved if | throw my
self away while Rose-ah! it is different
with her. She has II mothers heart to be-
broken Poor, foolish child she has even
Il heart of her own to suffer and how il
ro9H suffer when she learned the truth
How little She will thank me for such con
sideraliun, she added, with short laugh
''and yet ii She only knew it-how inf il
c-mal is the hearache or two she will suffer
now, 10 the ocean of anguish | will spare
b.rt Am | I ll,.
walking to the mirror and looking at herself.
81 should certainly have said so yesterday,
but to-day feel inclined to act before sanity
come, back
Mrs. lnglesby, senior, who like all the rest
oI the household, felt singularly restless and
unsettled after the night of adventure, had
wandered into the garden, and was bankly
Surveying the smoking ruins which marked
the place where the house had so lately stood,
WHEN, TO her amazement, Alice advanced
from one of the dining-room windows to-
ward her. My dear, you up? she cried,
aghaSt.
Thanks, yes, | have quite recovered" "
Alice answered. Then, fastening on to cut
short the remOnsrance she felt to be impend
lng II saw You from my window, and
hurried down at once, because thought
could not find better opportunity for speak
nls To you-in confidence, if you have no OBJ
jwtion."
OF course Mrs. Inglesby had no objection,
ana only few words were necessary to put
matters on a confidential footing between
lhem. The mothers heart was too sOrely
anxious not TO be glad of any counsellor
much more of any helper; and Alice spoke
with the quiet composure of one certain OF
her own power, Before long Mrs. lnglesby' :
worst anxiety was relieved, and her worst
fears allayed
Find some excuse for detaining Rose this
morning from her usual walk" said Alice,
and will guarantee that Laurence Kcnnon
shall never trouble her again
'l{ut-but, my dear, how will you manage
At = Mrs. nglesby cried
Never mind how | shall manage it, the
oolier answered, 81 promise to accomplish
That is all. You will hear the result be
Tore very long" she added, as she turned
toward the house ''and hope you will be
little sorry when l say that ii will probably
iolre me 10 leave you"
'But-Mr. Dcvcreux ?" exclaimed the
elder lady, who now began TO have an ink
my OF the truth
Rose will console Mr.. DevercuX, | dare
say, Alice answered, quietly. And then
She walked away.
1t would be hard to say how deeply Rose
absolute demand for her presence that morn
ing, and when she found that, without be-
lraylng most undue anxiety for her usual
walk, she must submit to remain at home
Prudence for once, carried the day. She
submitted with II very bad grace, consoling
herself with the thought that Kennon wa'
again safely domiciled in Northorpe and
That opportunities for seeing him were many
90, although il is to be feared that Mrs. In
glesby did not have very amiable compan
ION, she still carried her point, and the tiel(
was left clear for Alice.
AT the hour when Rose was in the usua
habit of going out, Alice came down stairs
and left the house. As she descended tht
lroni steps, she met a servant ascending then
WIN letter in his hand, and, when ht
touched his cap and extended it, she saw tina
i was addressed to herself. In second, he
heart gave great leap. The writing tolC
her at once that it was from DdNereuX, an'
She must needs have been dull beyond th,
measure of ordinary dulness, ii she had no
al once OWNED the nature of its contents
FOR moment she stood still, looking at TIN
envelope as it lay in her hand-thinking, pci
maps, how hard il was TO fight against tNtG
olc had thought to put temptation aside, an'
here il met her at the very threshold of he
new determination. She had thought i
would be easier 10 ignore the rich priZ
winch chance had thrown into her life thai
10 absolutely nerve herself TO the point o
rejecting II yet here il was in her hand, am
acceptance or rejection was now IL matter o