The daily Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1878-1???, 1881-04-24

| In silence before her aunt. She knew well
the storm 1t would bring down upon her
head.
.,Good Heaven, Florence, do you mean
to tell me that you have voluntarily re-
leased Lord Iarcourt, that you have act
ed 50 blndly, so wickedly, So" Words
failed her ladyship. "Girl you must be
mad"
But Florence was at least outwardly APP.
athletic.
"possiby, aunt; nevertheless it is too
evident to me that, had | withheld his
lordship's release, he would have soon
sent me mine. | preferred the more dig.
nifed coursc'of the two, and acted upon
IT,"
"But we had u hold upon his lordShip,
Florence. We could have forced him To
fulfil his voluntary engagement"
Here Miss Worthington laughed for the
first timc-and it Was not pleasant laugh
to near,
"Aud you can imagine me a willing
bride to a bridegroom forced to marry me !!
Good heaven, surely have not sunk so
low as that |" she said bitterly.
~ repeat YOU are mad, Florence! You,
without penny in the world or home TO
turn tO-hOw dare you take the law into
your own hands and dismiss Lord llar-
court" Lady Raven demanded furiously.
1--WE, had, | tell YOU, "a hold upon hnl---at
least, he might have given you compensa-
tion in some way. You don't know what
arrangements might have been possible
lie might have offered some sort OF COM
promise You have acted like wllul
foolish child, and thrown away your last
chance"
Miss Worthngton's cheeks were ablaze.
Sand lat least yet--cannOt realise
your right to insult me so grossly, aunt
Raven. would beg my bread from door
TO door before | would touch penny of
Lord IIurcourt's money" she said eX-
citcdly.
al am not accustomed to deal with girls
Of your headstrong temperament, Florence,
and own they do not please me. Girls in
freedom may well assert their indcpen-
dcnce, il they choose; but those bound
hand and foot by poverty and diSgrace-ay,
disgrace" her lady>hip repeated coarscIy-
"would do we'll to learn submission to their
tatc--to abide by the advice given them by
their friends
"Such little time, and how | have fall
len" poor Florence thought, with bitter
pain; but she sat mollonlesS, not show
ing that she felt in the least her aunrs
abuse.
Her silence only increased her aunts tu-
ry.
"Pray what am to do with YOU, Flor
cncc! Perhaps you can solve that Difficult
ty for me-"
ii did not know that there was a qucS-
ton OF your doing anything with me. |
suppose my misiortuncs will scarcely have
deprived me Of the right OF free actiOn'
Florence answered calmly; but she felt
little calmne>s,
What was She to do? What should she
do: She asked herself these questions con-
tnually; and they were yet Unsettled
Her accomplishments, She felt, possessed
only the most ordinary merit. Dependence
of any kind, she said truly enough, was ut
tcrly mtOlcrablc TO her. The home she
was in now she occupied simply on suffer
ance, and must leave in u few weeks at
most. Her lir>t thought had been that her
aunt would offer her home with her for
time; and, with her fathers only sister,
VINO had spent half her life in their house,
she had felt that the obligation would not
he too oycrwhelming-it would soften her
Dependence. Had she been a little more
submissive and tractablc, shade more
humble, she might have discovered Il little
soitne,S in her ladyshlp's granite heart;
but it required more patient seeking for |
than Florvncc's proud nature was likely 10
,toop to, 50 she suffered.
Lady Raven had not thought Of leaving !
her niece unprotected in the world but
she had strong idea of making her feel
her dependence until she had become quite
The time however happened
to be most incOmycnicnt for her lady>llip. |
She was engaged to pay months visit to
an old friend at the seaside; and th,
change, she felt, was absolutely necessary |
to her after the fatigucs of London sea-
son, and still more after all the trials She
had just passed through Her niece, II |
course, had not been included in this ln- |
Nltatlon. Lady Raven, never too plentiful |
ly supplied with money, felt but little ill.,
clincd to resign her pleasant visit to Star
'"''' ~ NllN HNNl llNN NV B''"''' ~
health, she told hcrsclf--in order TO chape- |
ron her ntractable niece in her present |
and sccusion, which at the best |
could only bury them both in some duil |
watering place TO do her ladyship JUS |
ticc, this plan had entered her head as
possibility; but Miss Worthingon's last |
had entirely removed from |
her aunt> mind the idea Of making such
sacrifice. Lady Ravens own London house |
in Charges street, was let for some months, |
and her ladyship was further engaged to |
winter in Nice with her married daughter,
with whom Miss WOrthingtOn had never |
thought lit to be On friendly terms. They |
had been rival bcautie, for one or two Lon-
don seasons, and Florence Worthington |
had, perhaps with too insolcnt triumph, |
carried of the palm; SO it seemed impONSi-
bic that She could be her cousins guest
She must be safely housed somewhere, for
a time AZ least, until her mourning should |
be passed through and the double scandal |
attached to her name forgotten. But |
whcrci To Lady Raven the question W.,
the most difficult TO answer.
Poor Florence had indeed fallen from
her high pedestal. The girl scarcely real
iscd or cared what was before her; she on
ly told herself that She was utterly wretch |
ed. But her aunt was trying her best to |
cnlightcn her as to her position and its |
difficulties. Florcncc's defiance had arous-
ed her ladyship'S temper, which was none
of the best, and for the time she was toler- |
ably INSCRIPTIONS AS to sparing her niccc's |
feelings.