The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1883-09-20

in his power to lavish II upon her But
he implored in vain. Prejudiced against
him from the very first, she had only
trusted him for brief period, to doubt
him more completely than ever at the
first suspicion that suggested itself
Wounded in her affection for another
an affection whose strength, perhaps,
she scarcely dared to whisper to her own
soul-her feeling for Henry Dalton be-
came one almost bordering on aversion.
His simple, practical good sense; his
plain, unpublished manners; his persever-
ing, energetic and untiring pursuit of q
vocation for which she had no SYM
pathy-all these Jared upon her ro-
and blinded her to his actual merits.
The world. which always eontrives to
know everything, very soon made itself
completely acquainted with the eccen-
trio conditions of Mr.. Arden's will. and
the circumstances of Henry Dalton's
marriage. sft a
1t was known to be marriage of CON
yenience, and not of affection. He was
a very lucky fellow, and she was very
much to be pitied This was the gener-
al opinion, which Ellinor's palpable in
difference to her husband went strongly
to confirm. e1
Mr.. and Mrs Dalton had been stay
ing for a week at Baldwin Court. when
the young barrister was compelled, by
his professional pursuits, to leave his
wife for few days under theprotection
of his old friends, Sir Lionel and Lady
Baldwin.
You will be very happy here, dear
Eihnor," he said, 'the house isfull of
pleasant people, and You know how
great a favorite you are with our host
and hostess. You will not miss me, +"
he added. With sigh, as he looked at
her Indifferent face.
Miss you! Oh, pray do not alarm
yourself, Mr.. Dalton! am not so used
to usurp your time or attention 1
know, where your professional duties
are concerned, how small a considera-
ton am to you y
q ] should not work hard were not
compelled to do so, Eilinor," he said,
with shade of reproach visible in his
voice.
MY dear Mr.. Dalton. she answered,
coldly. II have no taste for mysteries.
You are perfectly free to pursue your
own course
So they parted. She babe him adieu
with as much well-bred indifference as
if he had been her jeweler or her haber-
dasher. AS the light little phaeton
drove him off to the railway station, he
looked up at the chintz -curtained win
dows of his wife's apartments, and said
to himself: s'How long is this to endure,
l wonderful unmerited wretched-
ness, this most cruel miseonceptioni"
The morning after Henry Dalton $
departure, as Sir Lionel Baldwin, seat
ed at breakfast, opened the letter-bag,
he exclaimed with tone of mingled
surprise and pleasure: $50 the wander
er has returned! At the very bottom of
the bag | can see Horace Margrave's
dashing superScription. He has re-
turned to England theni''
He handed his visitors their letters.
and then opened his own, reserving the
| lawyers epistle till the last
This is delightful! Horace will be
down here tonight.
Ellinor Dalton's cheeks grew pale at
the announcement; for the mysterious
feud between her guardian and her hus-
band flashed upon her mind She
would meet him here, then, alone.
Now, or never, might she learn this Sc
cret-this secret which, no doubt, in
volved some nieanness on the part of
Henry Dalton, the apothecary's son.
:" Margrave win be an immense seeui-
sition to our party-wifl he not, gentle
menP' asked Sir Lionel
IAN acquisition Well, really now,
| don't know about that drawled a
young Government clerk from White
| hall. do you know, SLioner' Gall
| the Young men under Government called
the old Baronet s. Lionel, any other pro-
nunciation of his name and title involy-
ing a degree of exertion beyond their
physical poWers,) lido you know, it's
my opinion, S'Honel, that Horace Mar
grave is used up. | met him at-Eat
what-you-may-cal it = Rousseau and
Gibbon, Child, Harold and the Nou-
velle Heloise You know the place, V
hessid, vaguely ssome1here in Swift
erland, ia short, last July, and l never
saw man so altered in my life"
Altered" exclaimed the Baronet.
Ellinor Dalton's face grew paler still,
gtfYes, pom my honor, s. Lionel Very
mach altered, indeed. You don't think
he ever committed murder, or any
thing of that kind do you?' said the
young man, reAectively, as he drew
over a basin and deliberately dropped
four or five Jumps of sugar into his cot
| fee; . because, upon my honor, he
looked like that sort of thing"
My dear Fred, don't be a fool.
Looked like what sort of thing?n
.'You know; guilty conscience,
Lara, Manfred You understand. Upon
my word - added the youthful official,
looking round with languid laugh,
"he had such Wandering Jewish and
/ tiltra-B yronie appearance when | met
him suddenly among some very uncofn-
Portable kind. of acknowledgement
mountain scenery, that | asked him il
he had an appointment with the Witch
of the Alps, or any of those sort of PEG
plep" ~ ~
One ortwo country visitors tried tc
laugh but couldn't; and the guests
from town only stared. as the young
man looked round the table. Ellinol
Dalton never took her eyes from his
face, but seemed to wait anxiously fol-
any thing he might say next
Perhaps Margraye has been i'll, y
said the old Baronet; g he told me
| wien hewent to Switzerland, that hi
was leaving England because he re
quired change of air and scenes
Hlr' said the Government clerk.
All, to be sure; / never thought Of
that. He might have been Ill. 1t-sdif.
ficult, sometimes, to draw the line be.
tween guilty conscience and the livel
complaint. Perhaps 1t was only hi:
liver, after all. But yon don't think, 81
he said, appealingly, returning to hi:
original idea, ''you don't think he ha:
committed a murder, and buried the
body in Verulam Buildings do you'll
That would account for his going tt
Switzerland, you know; for he eon1dn'i
| possibly stop with the body could
hep
You'd better ask him the question