New Ulm weekly review. [volume] (New Ulm, Minn.) 1878-1892, 1881-05-18
"Have you lived long in Spain,

/ ~
emo. was there long enough to
form child's impression of a land
splendid with flowers and sunlight.
have vivid recollection of the colors
of the flowers and the blue of the sky.
When dream of Spain it is always q
vista of flowers and light. l came with
my mother to England when my father
died. l was only ten years old; and for
the last eight years we lived here SO
happily, my mother and T.
..Then you are eighteen, Leam,' he
said. gently. How sad to be mother
less 50 young!''
II never think myself motherless."
she replied. Perhaps you will say
am superstitious; people in the South
are far more so than you colder, calm
or Northerners. / am superstitious; for
my mother, though dead, still lives fof
mo. She is never out of my mind; and,
whatever do, my first thought is
whether it will please her. If it be all
an illusion should not like it broken"
Al cannot tell whether it is or not, :"
said Ross; II have never thought
much about such things, Lean.
should say-and I really do not know
whether am right or wrong--that any
belief that made life purer and better
was right; should not You?''
"That is too wide a question to dis
cuss idly just now,' replied Lean,
Lady Viola Carlienp''
"She is the beauty of this neighbour
hood,'' he said, and she deserves her
position. am sure you will like her,
Lean. She is the very type of a bright,
clever, earnest English girl
| The eyes that reminded him of the
deep waters of the Black Tarn were
raised, with some slight trouble in their
depths, to his. Did he love her, that h
spoke so warmly in her praise?
81 see that she Is beautiful; and
something tells me she is good. But
who is shep" asked Lean.
"She is the daughter of the late Earl
OF Carlien, and she was left an orphan
when she was quite child. Her aunt,
Mrs. Pitt, of Withdean Grange, adopted
her, and she has brought her up. Lady
Viola has some small fortune, but not
much; the late Earl's estates were all
entailed."
Where is Withdean GrangeP' asked
Lean, half hoping knew not why
that it was at some great distance.
"Only two orthree miles from here"
replied Ross; ''the lands adjoin. And,
now that the carol-singers have finish
ed, shall take you back? And will you
dance with meP It will be our first
dance, Leam.' Already Lean was
something quite apart from the rest of
the world to him.
LEAN Dynevor danced with Ross. and
drifted nearer and nearer to the shore
from which there is no return. Lady
Viola watched the two, wondering If
the place that had been hers was taken
from her.
There had never been any mention of
love between the young heir of Larch-
ton Mere and Lady Viola Carlien.
Every one said it would be an excellent
match, and the girl loved him with all
her warm, happy heart. She had loved
him as long as she could remember,
and he had always felt the truest, most
kindly affection for her. For the last
ten years they had been like brother
and sister. They had played, studied,
ridden, walked, sung and danced to-
gether. So that it was rather trial
tor Lady Viola when she saw his beau
tiful young kinswoman installed in what
had been her place.
1t had always been customary for
Mrs. Pitt and Lady Viola to be invited
to Larchton Mere for tho Christmas
week. Both Lady Viola and Ross had
enjoyed it with frank, simple enjoy
ment; but this year there was another
element introduced; things were no
longer the same. Perhaps Lady Viola
had never understood her own heart
until she saw that a rival had been
placed in the very heart of her king
dom. She understood it now by the
chill that suddenly came over her and
the dull pain that made her heart
ache. 1t was natural that Ross should
be attentive to his kinswoman, who
was at the same time his guest and a
stranger. It was fitting and right
that he should dance with her and talk
to her. But was it needful that her
face should reflect the happiness of hisP
Need they both look as though they
had foated away into some brighter
sphere, and had left the colder world
behind themp Need Ross watch her
in that lingering way. looking glad
when she was glad and vexed if she
looked sad? Beautiful Lady Viola bit
her lip in vain irritation; she played
with her fan until the fragile ivory
broke; she toyed with her bouquet until
the flowers were destroyed, and their
white petals lay on the ground.
Ross came to Lady Viola for the Sec
ond dance. Her first instinct was to
turn away, to refuse to dance, to tease
and irritate him, to punish him for
having deserted her even for half an
hour; but her better sense and judy
ment came to her aid. Bad temper
would never help her; she would only
punish him by being doubly charming;
and so charming was she that Lean
wondered whether he loved her.
CHAPTER ".
The next morning Sir Austen, his
wife, son and guests all walked through
the snow to the beautiful church at
Larchton; and, after service, the party
returned to Larchton Mere to spend the
day. But underneath all the smiles,
the courteous greetings, and the kindly
words ran current of tragedy. Lady
Cumnor already hated Ross. She was
jealous of him; and she determined not
only to resist his authority, but to drive
him from home. Lean loved him; there
had been no hesitation about that; she
loved him almost as soon as she saw
him, while Lady Viola suffered a torture
of jealous pain.
Lady Gunner was essentially selfish.
She would not have been satisfied even
had there been a fair division between
the two sons. Hers must have all. She
had formed for herself plan of action,
and it seemed to her an excellent one
for attaining her end. TWAS this. She
would on every occasion contradict,