The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1882-06-30

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puts it down on chair, and oily then
| looks listiessly up at her and says:
! "Anxious to see me, my dear Ellinor;
why anxious?"
because there are two or three
questions which must ask-which you
must answer"
That peculiar expression in Horace
Margrave's eyes, which was as it were
a SILVER of the eyelids, passed over them
now: but it was too brief to be perceived
by Ellinor Dalton. He sank lazily into a
chair; near her own. but not opposite to
it. He paused to place this chair with
its back to the light, and then said:
"Aly dear Ellinor. my dear Mrs.
Dalton, what questions can you have to
ask me. but questions of purely bust
ness character: and even those, l i'm
agine. your husband, who is quite as
practical man as myself, could answer
as well as I?''
sMr. Dalton is the very last person
to whom l can apply for an answer to
the questions which have to askr'
'And why the last persona"
because those questions relate to
himself"'
80. I see! My dear Mrs. Dalton, is
not this rather bad beginning? You
appeal from your husband to your
solicitor"
"No. Mr.. Margrave. Iappeal to my
GUARDIAN
Pardon me. my dear Ellinor, there
is no such person. He is defunct; he is
extinct. From the moment l placed
your hand in that of your husband on
the altar steps of st. Georges. Hanover
Square, my duties. my right to advise
you, and your right to consult me, ex-
pired. Henceforth you have but one
guardian, one adviser, one friend, and
his name is Henry Dalton
| A sad shade fell over Ellinor Dalton s
handsome face, and her eyes half filled
with tears as she said:
''Mr. Margrave, Heaven forbid that 1
should say word which could be con-
strued into a reproach to you. Your
duties of guardianship, undertaken at
the prayer of my dying father, have
been as truly and conscientiously dis
charged as such duties should be dis
charged by man of your high position
and unblemished character; but l will
own that sometimes, with a woman
folly, have wished that, for the men,
DRY of my dead father, who loved and
trusted you. for the memory of the de-
parted childhood, in which we were
companions and friends, some feeling a
little warmer, a little kinder, little
more affectionate, something of the ten
derness of an elder brother, might have
mingled with your punctilious fulfill
ment of the duties of guardian. would
not for the world reproach you-still
less reprOach you for an act for which l
only am responsible-yet l cannot but
remember that, if it had been so, this
marriage might never have taken
place"
ut is not happy marriage then?'
1T is most unhappy one.''
Horace Margrave is silent for few
moments, and then says, gravely, al
most sadly:
"My dear Mrs. HSary Dalton" he is
especially scrupulous in calling her Mrs.
Dalton. as if he were anxious to remind
her every moment how much their rela-
tons have changed when you accuse
me of want OF tenderness in my con-
duct toward yourself, of an absence of
warm regard for the memory of your
dead father, my kind and excellent
friend, you accuse me of that for which
l am no more responsible than for the
color of my hair. or the outline of my
face. You accuse me d that which is,
perhaps, the curse of my existence; a
heart incapable of cherishing strong
affection, or sincere friendship for any
living being. Behold me, at five-and-
thirty years of age, unloved and unlov-
inc, without one tie which cannot as
easily break as can pay my hotel bill
or pack my portmanteau. My life. at
its brightest, is dreary one. A dreary
present, which can neither look back to
fairer past. nor forward to happier
future!"
His deep, musical voice falls into q
sadder cadence as he says these last
words, and he looks down gloomily at
the point of the cane he carries, with
which he absently traces pattern upon
the carpet. After a short silence he
looks up and says:
but YOU wished to make some in
quiries of me?''
Il did. l do. When / married Mr..
Dalton, what settlements were made?
You told me nothing at the time; and l,
so utterly unused to business matters,
asked you no questions. Besides, had
then reason to think him the most hon.
orable of men,
"What settlements were made?'' He
repeats her question. as if it were the
last of all others which he expected to
hear. =.
"Yes. my fortune! How much of it
was settled on myself?'
"Not one pennyr' She gives start
of surprise, which he answers in his
most nOnchalant manner. ''Not one
penny of it! There was no mention
whatever of anything like settlement
in your uncle's will. He left his money
to you; but he left it to you only on con-
dition that you shared it with his adopted
and beloved son, Henry Dalton. This
implies not only a strong affection for,
but an implicit faith in. the young man.
To tie up your money, or to settle it on
yourself. would be to nullify your uncle's
will. The man that could be trusted by
him, oould he fy1,Stad nv Won This Is