The Cincinnati daily star. [volume] ([Cincinnati, Ohio]) 1875-1880, 1879-12-16

she did not to the last remember my
name. When I told it to her, she took
it up wrong, and called me Bryant and
wrote Bryant; still l knew poor Miss
Emily never troubled much to remem-
Der anything that dld not concern her.
self, and many people forget names"
/ "Of course they do. And so you got
the character you went after. and en-
gagged yourself as maid to Lady Poplett;
and in the course of few months you
travelled to Paris with your new mis-.
tress. Tell US just what occurred there =
Il was sitting one day in her ladyship's
bedroom mending some lace, when !
heard voices of people talking on the
other side oE the partition. The rooms
were divided with wood panieling, and
every word came quite as distinct to me
as if spoken in my very ear. I might
not have taken SO much notice, only it
seemed strange to heat English spoken
in France; and besides, felt az If l
knew the voice."
at seems you did, too"
"Yes; it was my old mistress voice,
Mrs. Wilkins. She said:
eve ought to leave here at once. 1t
will never do to run the risk Of meeting
her at such close quarters"
"Then the other lady answered, in the
slow sort Of drawing way Miss Emily
had of talking, and with little lisp:
You are sure you made no mistaken
DO you think / am purblind Of
dotingT asked Mrs. Wilkins. 4 saw her
going out with her mistress this morning.
Mistake! One can't mistake a face one
has lived in the house with for years. She
must not meet you again. would
rather run the gauntlet Of dozen de-
tectives than Of one lady's maid. There
are a hundred little things they notice
about one Of their own sex a man would
never see."
ut was true observation" remarked
Mr.. Ramsden, land one which did credit
to the old lady's astuteness. Well, what
did the other answef9'q
"They were interrupted, ! think-at
any rate, l heard no more; but what /
had heard excited my curiority so much,
/ asked Lady Poplett if she would kindly
ask whether Mrs. Wilkins was in the
hotel, and the number of the room. l
can't think what possessed nae, for l am
sure did not want to be mixed up with
them;. but l sent message to say /
should like to pay my duty to Mrs. Ma
son." f -. .'a- eTO ,f"."a.
"Yes; and the answer?" '..
III had leave to do so; but I did not
see Mrs. Mason then, only Mrs. Wilkins,
and she was ehatty and pleasant, to be
sure. She was 90 sorry her daughter
was out (but l knew she was not out),
and didn't think her altered? She said
poor dear Mr.. Mason had been great
trial, and there was no Disgusting the fact
his death had proved a great relief. EN-.
lily had been very i'll for a long time after
she was left widow, and all that sort OF
thing; and then she asked lots Of ques-
tions about what l was doing and how
happened to be in Paris. f98a a
II told her how I was leaving almost
Immediately, and asked if l could take
anything back for her to England; and
then she was civil. She thought she
would trouble me with small parcel
and she only wished Miss Emily was in
but she had gone to see some friends il
the outskirts, and would be away for i
few days. Before started, however,
managed to make sure Mrs. Masor
was in the hotel all the time, and, my
self unseen, to get a good look at her. r
"She is very like Miss Emily, I de
clare, even after what I had heard,
could not have said for certain it wa
not my young mistress grown older
stouter, and better looking" "e44 iaa
There was q moments pause. Mr.
Ramsden turned his eyes upon Mr.. Ma
sons anxious face; then he looked al
Mrs. Calcey, and said briskly: baa.
"We come now to the time when YOU
went out of town with Master Arthur
Montrelle. Tell me what happened al
at the lodgings then, please"
II had not a thought in my mind ther
about Mrs. Wilkins or her daughter
answered Mrs. Calcey. Il was troubled
at having the whole care Of Master Ar
thur, and yet I felt glad, too. When ht
began to get stronger ] did not stay II
his room at night; and often after h.
was in bed I went down into Che land
lady's parlor and had a chat with her, O
else into the kitchen; for the servan
was a nice respectable young woman
we'll spoken and good pfineipled M w.,
"Une night It 50 happened she hat
brought a little fancy sort Of trunk.
Kind Of miniature trunk, small enough
to carry about easily and set on tabl
-and took out some buttons she wanted
to trim a dress. ~ 'Ah <i"s. i'i7f"-
"They had got scattered about anon!
the other things, and she turned out sev
eral articles in order to find them NOR
easily. .<''s# y 'i' ~ &' \.
AT last she put funny box befor
my eyes, and said: s..'i'l'h l@'s'. u
"Did you ever see anything like tha
beforep Evidently meaning that / hev
er had 'lt.l. ''Fl 7Wi l0 '.1o'"
II looked at it, and ! looked again. I.
May take off the lid?' / asked. :.
"tAnd turn over everything there
inside, If you like, she answered.