The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1883-09-20
THE LiWYER'S SECRET
BY B. L. Farjeon. Author of Bread
Cheese and Kisses"
CHAPTER fIL-eoNr1nrrp.

~
T" Mr.. Dalton, what, in Heavens name,
does this mean?"
Nothing that ia the least can affect
you, Elinor. A business disagreement
between myself and Mr. Margrave;
nothing more
His wife looks away from him. scorn-
fully, and turning to Horace Margrave,
rests her hand on the scroll-work at
the back OF the chair in which he is
seated.
tits SO small an action in itself; but
it says, as plainly as words could ever
speak ~" II il he whom | trust in spite
of yon, in spite of the world"
1t is not lost On Henry Dalton, who
looks grave. reproachfm glance, and
says;
"Under these circumstances, then,
Mr.. Margrave"-
II had no right, to come here.
Granted and / should not have come,
but -
He hesitated moment, and Ellinor
interrupted him -
" l wrote to my guardian, requesting
him to call on me. Mr. Dalton, what
is the meaning of this? What mystery
does all this conceal? Am / to see my
best and oldest friend insulted in my
own house?'
"A married woman has no friend but
her husband; and may not choose to
receive Mr.. Margrave as a visitor in our
house" Henry Dalton says, coldlyI and
Egravely. # "a
i" You shall not be troubled any
longer with Horace Margrave $ society,
Mr.. Dalton" The lawyer rises as he
speaks, and walks slowly to the door.
Good-morning.n He has his hand
upon the lock. when he turns, and,
with tone of Suppressed emotion in
bis voice. says toMrs. Dalton; g Ellinor,
shake hands with me" She extended
both her hands to him. He catches
them in his, bends his dark head over
them for moment, as he holds them in
his grasp, and then says: Forgive me,
Ellinor, and farewelli''
He is gone. She rushes out on the
landing place, and cries after him:
Nh. Margrsve, guardian; Horace,
come baek-if only for one moment,
come backr'
Her husband follows her, and catch
ing her slender wrist in his strong hand
leads her into the drawing room
Ellinor Dalton, choose between that
man and me. Seek to renew your 40
quaintance with him, or hold any COM
mHnication whatever with him, that
does not pass through my hands, and
we part forever!''
She falls sobbing into her chair.
My only friend she cries; - my
| only, only friend. and to be parted from
him thns!T 4 k&4,
Her husband stands at little distance
from her, earnestly, sadly watching her,
as she gives passionate vent to her wild
outburst of emotion.
! What wretchednessl what utter
wretchednessr' he saws aloud. And
no hope of termination to it, no chance
OF an end to oarsniseryr'
IA N0HAPTER ".
HORACE MARGRAvE AT BALDWIN COURT.
Henry Dalton proSpefed in his beloved
profession. GrayTheaded old Judges
talked over their after dinner port of the
wonderful acumen displayed by the
| young barrister in the most important
and difficult cases. One, two, three
years passed away, and the name of
Dalton began to be one of mark upon
the Northern circuit. The dawn often
found him working in his chambers in
Paper Buildings, while his handsome
wife was dancing at some brilliant as
sembly, or listening to the vapid plati-
tndes of one OF her numerous admirers
and silent adorers With Ellinor Dal-
ton, to be unhappy was to be reckless
Hers was that impulsiye and emotional
nature which cannot brood upon its
griefs in the quiet circle OF solitary
home. She considered herself wronged
by her husbands parsimony, still more
deeply wronged by his cold reserve,
and she sought in the gagest circles OF
fashionable London for the peace which
had never dwelt at her cold and deserted
hearth
His profession is all in all to him, :"
she said 'but there is at least the world
left for me; and, if / cannot be loved, |
viii prove 70 him that, at any rate, |
can be admired"
At many of the houses in which she
was constant visitor, Horace Margrave
was also familiar guest. The fashion
able and wealthy bachelor lawyer was
sure of welcome wherever mamma
had daughters to marry or papa money
to invest or mortgages toeffect. To her
| old guardian Ellinor's manner never
underwent the slightest shade of c
| change.
You may refuse to admit him here;
! you may forbid my correspondence with
him. / acknowledge the right you eX-
ercise so harshly," she would say to her
husband, 'tbut You cannot shake my
| faith in my dead fathers friend Yon
cannot control my sentiments toward
the guardian of my childhood.
But by degrees she found that Horace
Margrave was to be seen less frequently
every day at those houses in which he
visited; it was growing rare thing now
for her to seethe dark, handsome head
! proudly overlapping the crowd in which
the lawyer mingled; and even when she
did meet him, though his voice had still
its old gentleness, there was tacit
avoidance of her in his manner, which
effectually checked any confidence be-
tween them. This was for the first two
years after her marriage; in the third
she heard accidentally that Horace
Margrave was travelling in Switzerland,
and had left the entire management Of
his very extensive business to bis junior
partner.