Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1879-11-15
THE MYSTERY OF DR.. HARDY's MARRIAGE

" Itll II Il4SSp0. or TO point the
moral OF the general uncertainty OF human
actions.
There was no such terrible disparity between
the worldly circumstances of the couple. Both
belonged TO respectable Dinnent families. Per-
hapS the Hardys had been the more respected,
but the Rays were held TO be the better OIL, a
belief which Miss Lydia Rays astonishing mar
rage had tended to confirm. Old Mr.. Ray was
thought to be miSer, perhaps on the theory
that nobody but rich man could look poor 50
frankly. The Rays had mixed little In Dlnnent
society only giving stiff tea-party now and
then. Mrs. Ray had been long dead, and the
family consisted OF the old gentleman and three
daughters, the youngest of whom, Lydia, be-
came the fortunate Mrs Hardy. The Rays house
was called Briar Cottage: and there were no
flowers in its garden and very few ornaments In
its rooms. The Misses Ray had always dressed
with an artificial ana elaborate primness and
the two elder sisters were dry and Stiir In mau-
ner. as IL the over-forward advances Of the
world needed much repelling.
The Hardy family had been OF quite another
stamp. They lived In the Red House, and every
little urchin in Dinnent knew the Red iioi'Se aud
its ways and its abundant Jams AMI sw,ctitS
There had been rather "harl lines thufo In pr
Hardys boyhood, Tor his father had dl5i sad
denly and left his widow NrlS lNnriN prov tilI
for. But she gut through somehow, and WAS
still seated IA The clitnuF,s -t~Taog,I toliS old
lady who rtNVtVed her tAtesSte.y-ir-laW without
winc,aS, ana mtto, i SITE S,ttsvi psnarnt'S woa
der at the n&tvth se'ef allowed n,nacnt 10
know It.
Dr, Hart hlzassest na,a eeat, a popular eharac
ter ITVin tts NvyS cfttbe. tse MAS thoroughly
certain weaknesses Aua l0IoltS which got him
into ScraprS, and SAVED htIe igV3u the spite which
is too often the lot " strong ami militant viz
tue.
He was a curious mixture OF activity and In
doIenee. Perhaps he may be described as physi-
cally active and mentally lazy. 1t was easy for
him to perform featS of strength and endurance
to ride twenty miles at midnight to see sick
child: to spend night after night beside sick,
beds instead of in his own. But 1t had never
been easy for Edward Hardy to make up his
mind and then Stick To IL
Perhaps some OF DR.. Hardy's popularity was
due to the fact that il was by no means easy for
him TO run counter to anybody while he was in
that persons presence. Silence was his utmost
dissent, and rare, indeed. was that unacoom-
panied by a smile or dubious gesture.
But these trifieS We're not likely to detract
from his Importance, when he turned his back
on colleges and hospital, and settled down in
Dinnent, a clever young medical man, bright in
face. and kindly in manner. with pleasant fam
lily traditions behind him and good financial
prospects before.
Whom would he marry? had then been Din
nents question regarding him; Laura Devine
the Mayors daughter, had been suggested
Lauras beauty had conSumptive cast, and the
young doctor was often at the Mayors house.
Some people said a doctor would be too wise to
marry a sickly woman. but others remarked that
IT was proverb that nobody went so ill-Shod as
the shOe-maker'S wife. Others, again, suggested
one OF the daughters OF Mrs. Rowe, the widow of
the last vicar. The doctor went there often, tOo
and that must be quite non-profeSSiOnally, for
Rose and Sarah Rowe We're as sturdy az the
hawthorn trees, and their mother was constantly
DoaSting that nobody who had good cOnStitu-
ton and common sense needed to trouble doc
tor at all. In fact, Rose and Sarah sometimes
wished that their mother would not be so loud
in these proclamations. They feared they might
hurt DR.. Hardy'S feelings. and could scarcely
believe in the sincerity with which he Endorsed
them.
Though these three young ladies carried off
the palm of probability, almost every other
girl in Dinnent was casually contemplated in
the same light. Even the poor orphan. Lucy
Craven, who served in the Dinnent book-sel-
ler's shop, was suspected OF having .'upSetting
IDEAS" and of being just the girl (well, her gown
was very black and her face was very whitley ito
bewitch fine young fellow With more chivalry
than knowledge OF the wOrldn
But nobody-no, not deep old Mrs. Simeon, at
the Gate House, nor sharp Miss Rutter, of the
Grange, ever thought OF Lydia Ray.
The oversight was not wonderful Dinnent
had seen the three sisters coming in and going
out for nearly forty years. always dressed alike,
always prim, precise, and proper. II anybody
had Thoughts of Lydia, they must have also
thought OF Miss Eliza and Miss Jane. Only
quite elderly people knew exactly which Were
the elder OF the three, for between thirty-twO
and forty there is not always very striking
difference of appearance But one must draw
a line somewhere, and considering that DIR.
Hardy was not much more than seven-and-
twenty, the Dinnent ladies thought they drew
the line among themselves wide enough when
they drew it from sixteen to thirty. II you
were to draw a line wider than that where were
NOBODY felt any suspicion, even when Lydia
Ray sickened, and DR.. Hardy was summoned to
attend her. 1t was not his first introduction to
Briar Cottage for Lydia'S sickness grew out OF a
dangerous illness OF her father. The Rays did
not call in doctor for slight occasions They
made no such boast as Mrs. Rowe, and, indeed,
that valiant matron would probably have said
that there was not a good constitution or a
grain OF common sense among the lot. But
they had their little dietings and d0sings, and
never dreamed of doctor until the vision OF an
undertaken doomed not very far behind him.
Old Mr.. Ray really had "a very bad turn" as
the old ladies called it. He lost the use of his
limbs and he wandered in his mind, and TO.
long time ii was very doubtful whether strength
or consciousness would ever return. Dinnent
pressed all sorts OF help on Br1ar Cottage, for
Dinnent was not an unkindly place though 1t
loved 10 serve with Its right hand that its left
hand might know what il had done. But the
pale ladies of Briar Cottage put aside all prof
fers Of succor. In those days inqnirers always
saw Miss Eliza or Miss Jane. They said that
Miss Lydia was the nurse, and Miss Jane was
apt to add, rather sarcastically, that Lydia
thought nobody was any use but herself"
'.And ii shes any use at all, she's right in
her opinion OF the Others" said candid Mrs
Rowe.
But old Mr. Ray rallied. though slowly, and
proved a very troublesome convaleScent. Briar
Cottage returned to its accustomed ways except
that Miss Eliza and Miss Jane took their walks
alone, and had their meals together in the faded
dining ROOM sending portions up stairs for the
invalid and the nurse. They felt that Lydia had
put them aside when there was really some
thing TO be DONE" and it never occurred to their
all danger was past. So. worn out with anxiety
and watching. Lydia spent day after day in a
close and heated atmosphere, driven to her wits
end by the celSelesS worrying OF narrow AMI
embittesl nature, and panied and chilled by
the coolfesS and implied diSapprobation OF her
sisters
All this while she and the young doctor Ind
scarcely exchanged twenty unnecessary words.
Lydia herself had a friendly heart, but il had
lived among unfriendly natures. She thought
that Eliza and Jane felt as she nd and she be-
lieved it was right, and indeed necessary, that
she should act as they did. and draw back and
keep aloof from any kindly contact with ones
fellow creatures. Not that she could ever do IL
from the same motives Tor Eliza and Jane did
IL nom an innate sense OF superiority, while
She was deeply impressed with her own IN
worthinesS. Though a casual observer might
have found it hard to distinguish one OF the
!.three old maids from the others, Lydia
Ray was quite of a different nature from Eliza
and Jane. She must have reSembled their
mother, who had been dead SO long that
none OF her daughters remembered
her. But this difference only made her the
more subject to the family will and tradition.
Eliza and Jane differed, wrangied and were far
more independent OF each other than was Lydia
OF either OF them. They were at bottom in SYM
patty; they made their own atmosphere and
fhroye in it. to the limited extent of the thrlv-
ing power which was in them Lydia was SIM
ply repressed Like whitening plant In a dark
closet. her real life was shut up within herself.
while externally she reflected as mirror the