Charlotte messenger. [volume] (Charlotte, Mecklenburg Co., N.C.) 1882-18??, 1882-09-16
THAT DAY IN HIS BOAT


It was wild night. The wind blew,
the rain drove, the waves roared in the
near distance. 1t had been q fateful
day to me.
Grandfather Delmar, with whom I
had lived ever since could remember,
had been carried to his final home that
afternoon, and now l was the last rep
resentative of our ancient name. The
wide acres of the Delmar plantation,
originally one of the estates on the
eastern shore of Maryland, had come
down to me as sole heiress. To me had
also descended the Delmar diamonds,
which for two centuries had blazed on
the persons of the Delmar ladies. say
descended, but am hardly correct, for
these broad lands and these priceless
Jewels were mine only under the will of
my grandfather, and that will contained
proviso which I had just learned for
the first time. was to marry Randolph
Heath, the ward and adopted son of my
grandfather, or else the entire prop
erty was to go to this self same Ran
dolph.
The will had Just been resd. The
funeral guests, or, at least, the most
important of them, had listened to it in
the great draw room below, the walls
of which were hung with portraits of my
Delmar ancestors, handsome men and
lovely golden. haired women,
Charlotte" said my aunt, when the
reading of the will was ended, "Char-
lotte, my dear, you must invite our
friends for the night You are mistress
now"
"I shall never be mistress of Delmar
Hall, Aunt Mordaunt," said, firmly.
She clutched my arm, her eyes wide
with wonder.
''And Why not, pray"
"Because of the proviso; will never
wed Randolph Heath.
Her face whitened to the hue of
death. She was a lone widow, and l
was her idol; and she coveted all those
Jewels and rich acres for my heritage.
For a moment we stood breathless.
''But Randolph Heath's in Australia"
suggested friend, "and. you are mis-
tress at least till he returns"
''Poor Aunty caught at this last hope
with q gasp of relief.
$50 you are, my DEAR" she put in;
"we'll leave all these disagreeable
things to be settled in the future. To-
night, my friends, we will shut the
doors against the storms and be COM
Portable"
She swept off toward the glowing
parlor. followed by all her guests,
while fed away to my chamber.
The afternoon, as ! have said, had
turned into rain and the huge waves
l. 1t Ii ko~-
close by with hoarse cry, like hu-
man heart in pain. ! paced my room
restlessly. l could not marry this Ran
dolph Heath, whose face had never
looked upon since the days of nv early
childhood. l could not do it, for an
other face rose before me-the face of
the man loved. poor man, landiess
and unknown, yet who had grown SO
dear to me in the few brief months of
our summer acquaintance that to give
him up were worse than death. Yet l
was a Delmar and it was a sore trial to
lose my heritaee-to lose the Delmar
Jewels, All the Delmar women before
me had worn those matchless old dis-
monds; and must /, alone Of them, be-
come disinherited and dowerless?
eyes, cheeriully," said; since to
keep them ! must give up the choice of
my beart Dear, dear summer days"
For it had been during visit to
school friend, who lived in one of the
loveliest counties Of Pennsylvania, that
1 had met, the preceding June, Herbert
Stanley. For the first time in my life
l had found in him perfectly congen-
ial soul. We liked the same poetry,
preferred the same music, admired the
same scenery. Ahl what delicious days
those we're. We rode. we walked, we
sailed, we read together. Our acquaint-