Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1877-06-23
CHAPTER II.

| Cf1AI IL.
Mr. Scrope went abroad, and after time he
returned home to begin his career.
Alice Jervis pursued her homely and monoto-
nous life. She grew quleter and graver, and
worked more diligently. She believed that she
had decided rightly as regarded Mr.. Scrope's
| happiness, and the sacrifice she had made for
| his sake made her feel that she had right TO
| be interested in him. and she lived in the ex-
citement of seeing his name in the papers and
i'll gaining every particular of him within her
grasp. She smiled when she read his name
among the presentations at court, or noted his
presence at the court balls. At such times she
looked down at the shabby dress and poor ap-
! pontments surrounding her, and wondered
! what sort of an appearance she should have
made in other circumstances.
At length she saw another announcement.
Mr.. Scrope was going to be married.
She turned pale, and put down the paper.
And yet she had expected this announce
ment- had looked for it day after day. Never
| theless she felt strange pang, which as long as
he was unmarried she had escaped.
! Down by the river, where the water-fags
hoisted their yellow standards among the reeds
and where the forget-me-nots blossomed along
| the banks, she sauntered, listening to the muir
muring waters, whose burden was "Past past,
past !" Even Rover appeared to understand it,
for he looked up mournfully into her face and
whined.
Then great gray bars of cloud spread across
the setting sun, and blotted out the sunlight
but still Alice paced up and down under the
pollard willows. until the evening was far
advanced. Night was setting in around her
the light and life were over. She had scarcely
realized until the present moment how
persistently Mr.. Scrope had been i'll her every
thought.
The morning after reading the news in the
papers, another very startling piece of informa-
ton came to her.
She was an heiress.
BY one of those strange chances in life that
are 50 common nowadays, hermother's brother,
beginning life as an artisan had amassed q
princely fortune. And he had left it between
Alice Jervis and her brother.
And Alice Jervis sat down and wept bitterly.
To her it had come as a mockery. Her lot in
life was cast, what did she want with money
! now?
In due time she read of the marriage itself !;
she cut it out of the paper and placed it in her
pocketbook. 1t was all over.
Three years slipped away. Three travellers
entered hotel in little foreign town. One,
beautiful woman little past her first youth,
whom one knew in a moment, in spite of the
! improvement that had taken place ; but her
brother was scarcely to be recognized. A tutor
and three years of foreign life had caused
marvellous transformation. The third, an
elderly lady, was not much altered, excepting
that her dress was handsome as heart could
desire.
They took their places at the table dhote.
and exactly opposite to; them sat lady and
gentleman. The latter looked wearied and his
short black mustache twitched with the curv-
ings of the relentless mouth beneath it. The
lady was fair, fashionable, and vivacious.
Alice Jervis started. She would have moved,
but William Jervis all ignorant of past events,
had exclaimed
Mr.. Scrope"
Mr. Scrope looked across, wondering at the
friendly recognition from anapparent stranger.
! Then his eye fell upon Alice, and he started I;
but quickly recovering himself, he bowed, say
ing n.u,o 49,, ;, u, -. :. Co.. :.
you."
Mrs. Scrope had turned in delight toward
| William Jervis.
''The first English voice, excepting my hus-
bands, that have heard for three weeks. lido
not understand italian, and have consequently
had no one to talk to but Mr.. Scrope. Can you
imagine anything more dreadful?"
| Then turning TO her hust and, she said
| "You must introduce me to your English
| friends"
Mrs. Scrope-Mfs. and Miss Jervis," said
| Mr.. Scrope, his look riveted on Alice.
The face that had never left his memory in
spite of his marriage had grown to a higher
beauty than even he had imagined to be posi-
Dle. anu tuOuSll uo hlleW IL not, IL ndu COME
about through her striving after an ideal that
she deemed worthy of him.
Shilling the pulses thatthrobbed SO painfully,
! Alice conversed with him as with an old ac-
quaintance and yet the remembrance of their
parting on that moonlight night was vividly
present to both of them.
Mrs. Scrope talked incessantly, the more
especially as William Jervis was lively
talker, with frank, half f-jesting, half-deferen-
tial manner that had something very winning
in it. :
Alice Jervis watched Mrs. Scrope narrowly
and wondered why Mr.. Scrope had married
her? And instinctively the answer came: Be.
cause he did not care very much about her but
found that the alliance would add luster to his
career There was something paradoxical in
the idea, but it passed with her. She had
argued that if Mr.. Scrope had really cared foi
herself, to care much for Mrs. Scrope was i'm
possible
SO they met, and SO they parted, in the little
out-of-the-way Italian town and Alice had seer
Mr., Scrope once more. Was she glad OF
sorry?
The Scropes returned to England the Jer
vises remained abroad. And they heard moth
ing more of one another.