The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1879-03-09

| htiVe huahy LUNGS " tAlk 8bout on our tlrst
| evening together. I'll leave you for n while
/ ] shall only be In the way" SO he spoke It
| was In vain that bis wife and assure ed him
he was not In the way at all. He kissed his
han Il, ana smiled PLEASANTLY, and left us.
| here, inthcTP says Felicia. "For the
| last ten days he has gone out like that, and
| left me alone for the whole evening When we
first returned from Switzerland he left me in
the same mysterious way, only It was after
breakfast then. Now he stays Mt home In the
| daytime and goes out ut night"
Inquired II she had not summoned him to
| give her some explanation.
| 81 don't know what to make of his OK nlnnn-
tion, says Felicia. "When no went away In
| the daytime he told me he had business In the
| city. Since he TOOK to going out ut night he
| says he goes to his club
| Have you asked where his club is, my
| dearl'
| Gle says It's In Pail Mall There are dozens
| Of clubs In that street. and he never told ms
| the name Of his" club. am completely shut
out OF his confidence. Would you believe 1t,
| father He has not introduced ono Of his
| friends to me since we came home. ! doubt
II they know whore he lives since he took this
| house"
What could | say2 said nothing, and
| looked round tho room. 1t was fitted up
| with perfectly palatial magnlticencc. | am
| IN ignorant man in matters Of this sort, and
partly 10 satisfy my curiosity, partly to
| change the subject, i asked to see tho house
| Mercy preserve us, the same grandeur every
whcre ] wondered II even such an income
| as eight hundred year could suffice for IL all.
| In tho moment when | was considering this,
| q truly frghtful suspicion crossed my mind.
| Did these mysterious absences taken In con
| nectlon with the unhridled luxury that sur
| rounded us, mean that my son-n-law was q
| gampster2 IL shameless shufller Of carCa, or %
| debauched better on hOrsesp While ] was
still completely overcome by my own pre-
visions Of evil, my daughter put her arm in
| mine to take me to the top Of the house. For
| the first time | observed u bracelet Of daZ-
cling gems on her wrist Not dlamonds2" /
| said. She answered with as much cOmposure
| Hs II she had been the wife Of n nObleman
Eyes, diamonds-a present from Marina
| duke" This was too much for me; my pre-
visions, SO to speak, forced their way into
| words. "Oh, my poor childV ! burst out
| I'm in mortal fear that your husbands u
| ganesterP'
| She showed none of the horror had antlcl-
| pated; she only shook her bend and began TO
| cry. Worse than that, I'm afraid" She said,
| ! was petriliel; my tongue refused its Office.
when would fain have asked her what she
meant. Her bosettinR sin, poor soul, rs
proud spirit. She dried her eyes on n sud
| den and spoke out freely, in these words II
am not going to cry about it. The other day,
father, We were out walking In the park A
| horfld, bold, yelloW-haired woman passed us
| in an open carriage. She kissed her hand to
| Marmaduke, and called out to him, How are
| you, Marmy 7" ! was 50 Indignant that
| pushed him away from me- and told him to
| 40 anu LHRs ~ uElEf Win MS IHIy. lie burst
| out laughing. "NOnsensep' he said; "she
| has known me for years-yOu don't under
| stand our easy LOndcn maDnPrs.' We have
| made 1t up since then; but have my own
| opinion Of the creature In the open carriage.
| Morally speaking, this WAS worse than all.
| But logically viewed, IT completely failed rs
| u means Of accounting for the diamond brace
| let and the spendor Of the furniture
We went On to the uppermo9t story. 1t
was cut off from the rest Of the house by u
| stout partition of wood, and a. door covered
with green baize When / tried the door it
was locked. Hal" said Felicia, Il wanted
you to see 1t for yourself" More Of Marina
| duke. He kept The door constantly locked,
and the key in his pocket. When his wife
asked him what he meant he answered.: "My
study is up there, and like to keep it entirely
to myself" After such reply as that, the
| preservation of my daughters dignity per-
| mitted but one answer: "Oh, keep il to your
| self, by all means"
| little before II o'clock Marmaduke re-
| turned. He looked pale and weary. But
more Champagne and this time something 10
| eat with it, seemed to set him to rights again
no doubt by relieving him from the re-
proaches of guilty conscience.
| had then been warned by Felicia to keep
| what had passed between US u secret from
| her husband for the present; so we had
| (SuperiicalIy speaking) a merry end to the
evening. My sOn-in-law was nearly as good
company as ever, and wonderfully fertile in
suggestions and expedients when he saw
they were wanted. Hearing from his wife, TO
whom had mentioned il, that purpOsed re-
presenting the deeayed condition of the kirk
and mafSe to the owner Of Cauldkirk and the
country round about, he strongly urged me
to draw up a list Of repairs that were most
needful before | waited on my lord This adj
vice. vicious aud degraded as the man who
offered 1t may be, was sound advice neverthc-
less. / shall asSuredly take IL.
SO far | had written in my diary in the
forenoon. Returning to my daily record
after II lapse of some hours, havea new mys-
terry Of iniquity to chronicle. My abomnahIe
son-in-law now appears Il blush to write
III to be nothing less than an associate OF
thieves!
After the meal they call luncheon,
thought it well, before recreating myself
with the sights OF London, to attend first TO
the crying necessities OF the kirk and the
manse Furnished with my written list,
presented myself at his lordshp's residence.
| was Immediately informed that he was
otherwise engaged, and could not possibly
receive me. II | wished to see my lords
secretary, Mr.. Hemsley could do 50. Con-
sentlng to this, rather than fall entirely in
my errand. was shown into the Secretarys
room.
Mr.. Helmsly heard what had to say civ
lily enough, expressing, however, grave
doubts whether his lordship would do any
thing for me, the demands on his purse being
unexpectedly numerou already. However,
he undertook to place my list before his
employer, and to let me know the result. |
Where are you staying in London?" he
asked; | answered, with my son-in-law, |
Mr. Marmaduke Darleigh." Before | could
add the address the secretary started To his
feet, and tossed the list back to me across the |
table IN the most uncivil manner.
Upon my word, said he, "your assurance |
exceeds anything ever heard Of. Your SON
in-law Is concerned in the robbery Of her |
ladyship's diamond bracelet-the discovery |
was made not all hour ago. Leave the house, |
sir and consider yourself lucky that have |
no instructions to give you in charge to the |
police" protested against this outrage /
with violence OF language which would |
rather not recall. AS a minister / ought, |
under every provocation, to have preserved |
my self-control.
drove back to my unhappy daughter. Her |
guilty husband was with her. | was too an |
CRY to wait for fit opportunity of speaking. |
The Christian humility which | have all my |
life cultivated as the first of virtues sank as |
it were, from under me- In terms of burning |
indignation l told them what had happened |
The result was too distressing to be described. |
T. ended Oi h..r Eoo