Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1884-09-25


little BOYS, whom she stated 10 be the
children Of Mary Seymour mo one
would call Mary by her foreign name.
the villagers), there were MANY re-
marks made. Unfortunately the
children took after their foreign faith
er and not their English mother. Mr..
Seymour himself could find scarcely a
trace of his lost daughter IN their
faces. Mrs. Seymour refused to be-
lieve that they were Mary's at all.
But they were taken IN, probably be-
cause no other course could be pur-
sued, and inquiries were set on foot
to discover their father, or to ascer.
tain the fact of his death.
|, All this affected the children verv
little. They had the open air, and
their playroom, aid the garden and
the fields. Above all they had Mad
dalena-their Maddalena-who PLAYED
with them, and petted them, and told
them stories; and what did they want
besides?
For Maddalena, also-it makes me
glad to remember this-a new life be-
gan. With her two little lovers-that
was what she always called us-beside
her, she held her head high, and went
about joyfully. While her Lucius
and her Ambrose adored her. she
could never be q creature apart.
[ come now to the time when our
troubles began. Our grandfather died
suddenly. He left everything he pos
sessed to his wife, with reversion to
his daughter. If his daughter
died without children the property
was to GO to a distant relative, in
whom both he and his wife were in
terested. In the body of the will no
mention was made of Maddalena; but
in codicil, signed but unwitnessed,
it was entreated that Mrs. Seymour
would provide suitably for their
adopted daughter.
Our grandfather's death brought
many changes to me- Mrs. Seymour,
who had never professed to believe
that we were her daughters children,
now showed her feelings openly. We
were banlshed from the sitting room,
and our play room was taken away
from us. But for Maddalena, who
clung to her little lovers courageous
ly, we should have been banished al
together to the kitchen and stables
Worse, however, was to come. The
relative mentioned in Mr.. Seymour's
will, who was to have been the heir
had Mary died childless, paid us visit
and gained strong influence over our
grandmother's mind. He confirmed
her in her suspicion that we were no
kin of hers, and advised that we be
sent to Cur country and brought upin
the position to which, he was pleased
to say, we undoubtedly belonged.
[ remember poor Lena's agony
when she heard of the mischief that
was being Matched against us, and
saw how powerless she was to prevent
1t; for the ground upon which our
enemy went was her inability to think
and act as a reasonable being. She had
not meant, he said, 10 deceive Mr. and
Mrs. Seymour; but she herself had
been deceived. It was not Macy
who had sent the summons to Lena
it was one of her own Italian relatives
who having heard of her good pros
poets, had wished to make provision,
through her, for other members of
the family. She had gone to Italy in
an excited frame of mind, and she
had believed everything that was tolG
her.
This, at least, was the conclusion
arrived at by Mrs. Seymour. whs
now sent for Maddalena and sternly
babe her make her choice. The Ital-
ian boys being no kin to the Sey-
nours, were to 60 back to their coun-
try; she might remain where she was
and enjoy the provisions promised
to her by her late benefactor. In
such case, however, she must promise
to have nothing further do with the
little aliens.
It did not take long for Maddalena
to decide. Desert her little lovers?
Not for the world; not for a hundred
worlds. If they went she would 60
too.
On that very day we left England
together on our way to Florence.
Lena had little ready money, and
so had we, and we lived O9 that fer
time. Acting on the advice of her
only friend in the world, the Floren-
tine doctor who had attended our
mother IN her last illness, Lena wrote
to an English solicitor for advice
about u.s. She was told that we had
no rights whatever against Mr.. Sey-
mour. After her death, if we could
establish our identity with the per-
sons we protested to be, our claims to
the property might be put forward.
Nothing daunted, Lena set herself to
work. She kissed her little lovers,
wh9 were not in the least uneasy
either about the future or the present.
told them to be Of good heart for
though all the world might desert
them she never would, and began to
consider how she could make money
for them.
Lena had inherited her mothers
beautiful voice, and Mr.. Seymour,
who loved music, had procured some
good instruction for her. With lit
tie more training, given to her freely
by an Italian master who admired her
for her independence, she became a
finished concert singer, and managed