Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1880-08-15
PART /.
PRINCES GATE.

respectable burdens at the door of the
large house in Prince Gate, and people
standing in little groups about hall and
dining-room, were beginning to grow
quite conversational, and to forget, in the
light from the freshly lnshuttered win
dows, what cause had brought them to-
gether.
When man gets beyond the portion
of life allotted to him by public opinion
and the Bible, he must not expect to be
very deeply mourned when he does die;
and Mr.. Pierrepoint, at whose last rites
his friends had just assisted, had outlived
by two years those "three-score and ten
years" of Scripture. Under the oircum-
stances immoderate grief at his loss was
not to be expected; it was reserved for
disappointed legatees to mourn. as wag-
gish cousin, "briefess barrlster,' whis-
pered to his neighbor.
Upstairs the newly-made widow was
sitting with clasped hands and pensive
eyes, alone in her dainty boudoir. The
sunlight, falling upon her, called up
points Of gold in the rich brown of her
thick, cooled hair, and put to severe test
the delicate pureness of her skin. There
was a tap at the door, and in answer to
her subdued "come in" a tall gentleman
entered, whose stout proportions and
sleek gray head seemed thoroughly in
keeping with his clerical coat and CATERS.
Mrs. Plerrepoint rose and stood gravely
before him. "Do you want me, uncle?"
she said.
"You had better go down stairs, my
DEAR" he answered; "Mr. Wormit is
about to read the will
ssDo you think it better that / should
be presents'
eyes do" said the Dean deliberately;
s'it was your husbands special wish.
Now my dear Minnie, if you are ready.
we will 20 at onee;" and, taking her by
the arm he led his niece to the drawing
room, where the people, including Law
yer Wormit, had assembled. There was
a little hush as the widow came into the
room; naturally enough she was the sub
ect of the small amount OF speculation
and curiosity. Where man dies poss-
essed of something like 100000 year,
his possible inheritors acquire an import
ance which they have never had before.
All eyes turned openly or furt1vely toward
the young figure sitting near the Dean,
looking very pale and pathetic in the
heavy Grape dress.
The first tones of the lawyers voice
directed every ones thoughts to the mat
ter on hands. -..
It was not long will; In spite of the
legal intricacies and repetitions, it took
hardly ten minutes to read. There were
iegacies to relatives, few to servants,
but the testator had Internationally be-
queathed the bulk OF his huge property
TO his Mrs. Minnie Pierrepoint,
There was hush, pause; if the wild
ow had been an object of interest before,
she was one of something like awe now,
and all eyes were turned upon her. Her
face was very pale; her full red lips
pressed tightly together; her bosom rose
and tell; for moment she closed her
eyes-that was all. She turned to the
Dean and spoke in a low tremulous voice.
''Pleasc uncle, will you see to all these
people2 I ordered dinner for them at
six; I should like to go up stairs
Certainly, my DEAR" said the clergy
man, offering her his arm, and looking
st her with no little respect-he had had
no expectations from the dead man, and
consequently could rejoice the more thor
oughly in his niece's good fortnue. "Cer-
tainly, I suppose you will dine IN your
own rooms''
"No, thank you, uncle. Jenklnson
will bring me up some tea presently.
am not hungry
Mrs. Plerrepoint went back into her
boudoir, which led into the great empty
bedroom. She would stay there alone that
evening and would not dine. Not that
as a rule, she was Indifferent to delicate
cookery-on the contrary, there was q
good deal of the epicure in her nature,
1t was this very epicureanism which kept
her fasting tonight. See had subtler,
more exquisite feast in store for herself;
she would not spoil the effect of either
banquet by indulging in both at the
same time. There was a soft, golden
light in the little room. a soft breath of
summer blowing IN through the open
window; beyond the roofs OF the houses
she could see the tops of the tree IN Ken
ingston Gardens, standing outside against
sky bright with all glory of the declin-
ing day. Mrs. Pierrepoint drew low
chair to the open window, and lay back
with closed eyes. She could not believe
it, could not realize it; that for which
she had given up so much was hers at
last, her very own, not held at the caprice
of s1ckly old man. Only six months
and she was free; long, dreary months of
self depression they had been; but they
were over, and her reward was greater
than she had ever dared to hope, Though
to do her justice she had never much &C.
cupied herself with unworthy specula-
tion). She clasped her hands tightly to-
gether, and the fingers of her ri ght hand
came In contact with her wedding ring.
Poor Mr.. Plerrepoint! He must have loved
her very much to have made such will.
She really did feel very sorry for him,
that he had died so suddenly. No one
should ever be able to say that she had
not respected his memory. she rose, and
taking key from her watch-chain, went
toward an escritoire standing in a fal
corner of the room. On the way she
paused before tall mirror let into the
wall, and stood pensively observing her
own reflection.
Minnie Pierrepoint was not a tall wo-
man, but the exquisiteness of her pro-
portions made up for any deficiency in
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