The Evening critic., 1882-10-23
HER MOTHERS SECRET
CHAPTER 1.
THE MIsrnEss or MONDnEER.

"Mothori Oh, motherl 1t Will break my
heartP' walled Odalite, sinking at tho la1y's
feet, and dropping nor head Into her hands,
The lady gently raised her child, took her In
hor arms and tenderly carossed her, murmur-
mo, my owni hearts never break, or one
heart, know, must have broken long ago.
Besides" sho added, In flrmor tone-"H0nor
must be saved, though hearts be sacrificed"
"'Honor, mother, dear? do not undor-
stand. do not SEQ what honor has to do with
IT, or II i has, should think that honor
would be better saved by my Keeping faith
with Le than by breaking with him on,
motherl mother twill kill mel" moaned
Odalite.
"My child, my dear girl hear mo- listen to
reasonl Leonidas Force has no claim to be
remembered by you. You have never beon
engaged 10 him. You were but little girl Of
thirteen when ne went TO sea on his first voy-
age, three years ago, and you have not scen
him since. What possible claim can he have
upon you, since no betrothal exists between
your" gently questioned the lady, tenderly
running her fair fingers through the dark
tresscs OF the young head that leaned upon
her bosom.
"oh, motherl" ropiied tho girl, with heavy
sigh. 81 know that there was no formal be-
trothal between lie and myself-but-but-wc
all know, you and father and lie and I-dR
knew-and always knew, that we two belonged
to cach other and would di,odys belong to each
other all our lives. LIE and never thought OF
any other fate"
too trivial to cause you these tears. Wipe
them away, and look clearly Mt the higher des-
tiny more worthy of your birth and beauty"
murmured the lady, pressing her ripe, red
lips upon the pale brow OF her darling.
"oh, mother, do not 9cdnt higher des-
tnyl do not want any destiny apart from
LIE. And these are not childish fancies, and
not trivial to mel oh, think, mother, lie and
Iwere playmatos as far back in my life as
can remember. We loved each other better
than we loved any one else in the whole world.
You and father used to laugh at us and pre-.
tend to be Jealous; but we SdW that you were
pleased oil the time; for you both intended us
for each other, and we knew It, too, for father
used to say when he saw how inseparablewe
two we're: 80 much the better; hope their
hearts Will not be estranged when they grow
upl' And our hearts have neger become
estranged from each other!"
"Oh, yes, dearest, know that there was
some speculative talk when you were chill
dren OF uniting you and Leonidas, so that the
name OF Force might not die out from Mon
dreer. But never really approved OF marry
ing cousins, odallte, merely to keep the family
name on the family estate"
"But, mother, darling, Le and l never
never thought of tho family name and estate;
we only thought OF one another. And, besides,
fourth m or NTH, thinE~that Mat objection
could never be raised. Oh, mother dear
motherl do not compel me to break With Lei 1
can notl l can notl oh, indeed, 1 cannot"
she cried, burylng her face In the ladys
bosom.
Efrida Force caressed her daughter In
Presently odallte lifted her head, and
pleaded:
"He is coming homo so soon now, and 30
full OF hope He expects to be here by Christ
mas; and he expects-oh, yes, know by his
last letter that he expects to-to-to-." Tho
girls eyes fell under the compassionate yet
scrutinizing gaze OF her mother, and ervoice
"To marry you early in the new year, sup.
pose you mean, dear"
NYes, mother"
"He did not say So"
''No, mother, dear, he did not say so, In so
many words, but from the whole tone OF his
letter he evidently meant SO. Father thought
he did, and even tried to tease me about the
New Years weddlng-asking me how many
hundreds should need to buy my wedding
clothes"
"what was 1t he said In his letter that leads
you to suppose he has any such expectations?
! confess that saw nothing OF sucn an inten-
tion when read the letter."
"Only this, mother, but II was very signln-
cant. He wrote that now he had Inherited
Greenbushes and all his Aunt Laura's money,
he was rich enough to resign from the Navy,
and he need not 60 to sea any more, nor ever
part with me again; but thar he could stay
home, repair and refurnish the house, i'm
prove the land and farm 1t on all the new prln-
ciples, and make the place paradise for us
to live In. He wrote, mother dear, as OF certain
fixed facts"
"He was very presumptuous, my dear little
girl, for there Is nothing certain In this world
of changes" gravely commented the lady.
"But Les heart has not changed, nor has
mine"
smoothing her daughters dark hair with a
gentle hand, "my precious child II grleves
me to do 30, but must prepare you for what
seems Inevitable. You must forget all this
youthful folly, and think OF Leonldas Force
only as cousin. You do not really love him
as a betrothed maiden should love her am
anced husband. You only fancy that you do.
In reality you know nothing OF such love as
that. lie was brought up In the house with
you. You have no brother. lie has 70 sister.
You therefore love each other as brother and
sister. By and by you both may dtscover-but
not for each other-tho higher, deeper,
stronger love which unitcs the husband and
the wife In a true marrlage-such love as
could wish might crown my darling's life with
lasting joy-such q love as you might ind In a
union with Angus Anglesea, II you would but
| give him the opportunity OF winning your
heart"
''Madam!" exclaimed the girl, starting to
her feet, and gathering her black brows over
| hate Colonel Anglesea hate him and tea,
him! And would rather die this day and
never behold the face of Le again than listen to
"odalite! odalite, my child You are talk
| ing to your mother. Come to my heart again
and calm your excitement" said the lady
| holding out her arms.
And tho young girl fell weeping upon the
| bosom OF her mother
The lady allowed some time to pass, in whlcl
| the girls paroxysm OF tears exhausted itself
and then, caressing her gently, she began, In
| soothing tone;
"NIy precious child, do you doubt your
"oh, no, no, mol How could you ask such a
question OF your own child, motherr earn
| estly protested Odalite.
"Do you doubt that duty Is ID be held above
all other considerations"
"Nol oh, nor
"Well, then, have something to tell you
my darling, which Will make you forget al
selfish aims, and even also the wishes OF you
old playmate. Come with me to your owl
bedchamber, whore we shall bo most secur
from all interruption. l Will tell you OF
fatal episode In my own youth, when wa
younger even than you are now. on, that
should have TO tell such tale to my daugh
teri But, odallte, when you have heard |
you viii learn Just what you have to do Il
order to save us all, and especially to saw
ruin and disgrace. And then, Odallte, who
you have learned all, you shall do exactly n
you please. Not one word OF coercion, no
another word OF persuasion, VIII 1 utter.
Will leave our fate In your hands, and yo
shall be absolutely free to act. Come wit
me now."
She took her daughters arm and they aros
| from the sofa.
For moment they stood, quite accidentally
facing n tall mirror between two windows o
the opposite side Of the room, and that miro
for the moment reflected two beautiful formi
of which It would be dlficult to decide while
should bear or the palm for beauty.
The elder lady, Elfrida Force-wife OF Abe
Force, the owner OF Mondreer, ono of tn
finest old places on the western shore
Maryland-was tall, stately blonde, with
superbly rounded form, q rich complexion an
an afiiuence OF golden brown hair, ripplin
all over her tlne head and gathered into
mass at the nape OF her graceful neck. Sh
wore an inexpensive, closely-ntting dress {
dark-blue serge, whose very plalnness sot o
brilliancy OF her complexion, showing to tn
| best advantage that splendid beauty, which