The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1882-06-17

lately dead; and Ellinor Arden bad
been brought up to think that if there
were truth, honesty or friendship upon
earth, those three attributes were CEN
tered in the person of Horace Margrave,
solicitor, of Gray's Inn.
He is to-day endeavoring to explain
and to reconcile her to the conditions of
her uncle's will, which are rather pc
culiar.
g In the first place, my dear Ellinor, :"
he says, still drumming on the table,
still looking at his desk and not at her,
"you had no particular right to expect
to be your uncle, John Arden, of Ar
denis, heiress."
Il was his nearest relation" she
said.
Granted; but there was no reason
why you should be dear to him. Your
father and he, after the amiable fashion
OF brotherly love in this very Christian
country, were almost strangers to each
other for the best part of their lives
You, your uncle never saw, for your
father lived on his wife's small property
in the north of Scotland, and you were
brought up in that remote region until
you were sent to Paris, to be there edu-
Gated under the surveillance of your
aunt, and you therefore never made the
acquaintance of John Arden, of Arden,
your fathers only brother"
"My father had such a horror of
being misinterpreted; had he sought to
make his daughter known to his rich
brother it might have been thought -
THAT he wanted to-get that rich
brothers money, it might have been
thought? My dear girl, it would have
been thought! Your father acted with
the pride of the Northamptonshir Ar
dens; he acted like high-minded En-
glish gentleman; and he acted, in the
eyes of the world, like a fool. You
never, then, expected to inherit your
uncie's money!"
"Never! Nor did ever wish it. My
mothers little fortune would have been
enough for me-"
81 wish to heaven you had never had
a penny beyond itP'
As Horace Margrave said these few
words, the listless shadows on his face
swept away for a moment, and revealed
settled gloom, painful to look upon.
He so rarely spoke on any subject
that Ellinor Arden, startled by the
change in his manner, looked up at him
suddenly and searchingly. But the vail
of WEAKNESS had fallen over his face
once more, and he continued. with his
old Indifference:
"To the surprise of everyone, your
uncle bequeathed to you. and to you
alone, his entire fortune. Stranger as
you were to him, this was an act, not of
love to you, but of duty to his dead
brother. But the person he really loved
was unconnected with him by the ties
of kindred, and he no doubt considered
that it would be an injustice to disinhert
his only niece in favor of Il stranger.
This stranger, this protege of your
uncle's is the son of lady who once
was beloved,by him, but who loved
another, poor and humber than Squire
Arden, of Arden, and who told him so,
candidly, but tenderly, as a good woman
should tell q man of that which she
knows may SILVER the whole fabric of
his life. She married this poorer sutton,
George Dalton, a young surgeon in a
small country town She married him,
and three years after her marriage she
died, leaving an only child, q boy. This
boy, on the death of his father,
which happened when he was only four
years old, was adopted by your uncle.
He never married, but devoted himself
to the education of the son of the woman
who had rejected him. He did not,
however, bring up the boy to look upon
himself as his heir; but he educated
him as man ought to be educated who
has his own path to make in life. He
had him called to the bar, and Henry
Dalton had pleaded his first cause a
year before your uncle's death. He did
not leave him one farthing."
"'But'- H
| but he left his entire fortune to
| you, on condition that you should marry
! Henry Dalton within a year of your ma
| jOrity. nRfltu
4" And II l marry anyone else, or re-
fuse to marry this .apetheeary's son,
lose the fortuneP"
Every farthing of it, .y-...
A beautiful light flashed from her
eyes, as she rose hur1iedly from her
chair, and, crossing the room, laid heI
band lightly upon Horace Margrave' S
Shoulder. ...-...t ....., .....
$50 be it," she said, with a smile.
- will forfeit the fortune. | have a
hundred year from my mothers estate
enough for any woman. Twill forfeit
the fortune, and' - she paused for a
moment, sand marry the man / love. -
We have said that Horace Margrave
had pale complexion; but as Ellinor
Arden said these words, his face changed
from its ordinary dark pallor to dead
ly ashen hue, and his head sank for
ward upon his chest, while his strongly.
marked black eyebrows contracted pain
fully over his half-closed eyes. =, ~
Clio staal liLtln Lal;..l l.