The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1883-06-23

oai-HdS gwen me blow. There never
was blot upon the name before"
1t was very plain it had given the old
man blow. He stopped and picked
up the note, trembling from head to
foot as Teresa did, although making a
strong fight. She crossed over to his
side as he turned to go, took his two
hands in hers, and kissed them.
They are clean hands," he said,
looking at them then in half-wonder-
ing way. They never did a thing ]
Aam ashamed of before God. And if
they have not been open hands it is be-
cause they have been busy ones. Well.
well, WE'LL" and he went stumbling
down the stairs, and Teresa left the
room to set her girls their tasks through
Miss Mahala.
How long that day seemed And
when it ended, what then? To 90 home
and keep the horrid secret burning in
her heart. How terrible thing was
life where lover failed, brother BETRAYED.
home was desert! She would have
been glad to shut her eyes upon it all
that moment in the marble sleep from
which no one wakes. And leave Laurap
Poor little Laura! No; there was one
thing left. She would live for her and
feel rewarded in the living.
The effort she had made to control
herself had called up the richest color
that the pale olive of her cheek could
wear, her eyes were full of a soft fulgent
splendor, she was erect and stately as
any young empress, when group came
Unto the drawing-room where her cos
tunes were displayed-a dowager, a
pretty, pleasant girl, and a plain little
overdressed creature, who tossed her
head flippantly, and whose sentences,
as she moved along, spoke for her al
most as plainly as if her history had
been pinned on her back. Really"
said Miss Mahala, ''this little foncee
has been here before, and she has not a
particle of intelligence"
But Teresa was acquainted with her.
She was the only child of the famous
broker Briarley, the heiress to his i'm
mense fortune. Teresa had been at
school with her and knew that if she
was not hopelessly predetermined, it was
because we do not call it 50 when they
are heiresses to immense fortunes.
And this gentleman who had paused
in the reception-room to take check
for their wraps-Great heavens! could
it be Harold Van Duysen who had come
with this fool to buy her wedding gar
ments? She had known that Harold
had been away with an exploring expe-
dition for year or two; she had said
to herself that she would do him justice
to believe that it might be his absence
that had weakened the bond between
them, rather than her assumption of
these duties. She could never have be-
lieved of him that he would sell himself
for Julia Briarley's money-not al
though she had heard that all the Van
Duysen riches had recently taken to
themselves wings and flown to the ut
termost parts of the earth. She had
thought him high-minded, brave, able
to face frowning world, if need were;
and if he We're not all that, she had
never deemed he could be ignoble.
The group had to pass her, but she
beckoned to Miss Mahala to serve them.
Julia paused on the way up the room,
however, with the mermaiden smile
that stretched her mouth like fsh's
and simpered: ''You see | am to be
married, Miss Eversley. Mrs. Van
Duysen says it isn't etiquette for Harold
to come here, but | don't go anywhere
without him. But Harold looked at
her as if she were stone by the way
side that he had never seen before, and
was never likely to see again. and
Harold!' said his mother, 81 ought
not to have let you carry all those
wraps ON it." And so they moved
away.
Miss Mahala carried on the business
during the next six weeks or so. Miss
| Eversley was hanging between life and
death. The face that blanched that
day so swiftly from its superb carmine,
the features that grew ashen and
pinched, the leaden circles about the
beautiful eyes, all told of the shock the
brain had had. 1t was fierce fire that
burned in her veins; but in its flames
there were certain things she could
well spare that were reduced to ashes.
When she recovered she found that
Miss Mahala had taken back to boxes
and shelves and lay figures that SPLEEN
did Briarley outfit, which was of no use
to the bride, who, on the day after her
marriage, awoke to hear that her
father, the great broker whose immense
possessions were thought to be as liked
as the value of the Koh-i-noor, had
failed, and had cut his throat-the poor
bride who did not know enough to care
about the loss of her fortune till
Harold's grip upon her arm and furious
look into her eyes had taught her what
it meant.
"Uncle Trevor had a shock last week,
you may regret to hear" said Trevor,
with a grin, at luncheon, when Teresa
came down for the third or fourth time
to go out to her business little while
in the middle of the day. II hope ii
won't give any of you a shock. He
passed away day before yesterday
morning, and win be buried this after
noon. suppose we must wait till then
for the will, but it comes hard to do it.
''Trevor! have you no decency left?''
said Teresa.
81 will trouble you, Miss Eversley,'
said that young man, ''to use different
method of speech toward me. Re
member that now, at any rate, am the
head of the house, and if you can not
address me with the respect that | de
mand. do not address me at all ="