Little Falls transcript. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1876-1894, 1884-04-25
|. OUT or PITY.
DY L1LL1As I CAMPBELL DAVIDSON.

q Youngest little BRIDE that any one re-
lnenbered ever coming to reign at
Hamwood Towers; the sweetest daint
lest little Lady Fielding Chat the coun-
ty had ever welcomed.
70 herself it was ali like dream, it
had come so ast; it seemed as if all
her life Ind Lived itself in those six
months; che leaving her English school
and going out to her fathers planta
ton III Caylon, SO proud to be his
housekeeper and companion; the
strange brief life on the up-country.
coffee estate. Then the young Eng
ish stranger who passed through Lin
doola, in his rather vague wanderings
for adventures sake, and who was re-
ceiyed and entertained at Holme Har-
court with the delightful open hand
ed hospitality of the colonies. 4~..
And then the awful night when the
sudden terrible stroke of cholera left
her fatherless, and life seemed one
great black void; and the ohaplain's
wife had been good to her, and kept her
from dying in despair; and Sir Harry
Fielding had been still more good and
then-and then--she was resting her
poor little orphaned head on heart that
was kind anil true as her own fathers
and a strong arm was close around her
slender waist. and the voice she liked
alone to hear of all the voices around
her was telling her she should never
know another sorrow he could guard her
from. He seemed the only real thing
in all that dream time; the sad past,
and the present that was so happy, but
just as unlike reality. Was it rea~y
herself, simple little Nesta Harcourt,
that people were fussing over and pet
ting and welcoming home as if she had
been a royal princess?
Perhaps it WAS IS well she could not
realize it, or her head might have been
turned. Why, had not the whole
week Harry and she were spending with
his sister, Mrs. Mostyn, to present Mes
ia to the country side, been one round
offestivi ties, OF which she was the queen?
This evening they had all driven to a
grand concert in the country town, to
hear q famous singer; and Nesta, in her
wonderful golden satin gown, rich with
embroidery and lace, with her eyes out
shining the diamonds On her white neck,
and her cheek flushed with its pretty
shy pink, had been an attraction only
second to the queen Of song herself.
She felt o little weary with the excite
ment and the happiness, now that they
had reached home and were having sup
per in the great hall, for the concert
had forced them to dine rather earlier
than usual.
The house was crowded with guests,
and they were all yehemently declaring
that the night was. hardly begun yet,
and they meant to finish it with few
games. The furniture in the blue draw
ing room was being hastily moved, and
Nesta's heart sank at the thought Of
further exertion; her head ached and
she was worn out, She would slip away
quietly TO bed, and leave Harry to make
her excuse to Eleanor. Where was
Harry, by the way? She had not seen
him since they sat down to supper, and
he and that beautiful Miss Traf'ord
were talking in the doorway. A hasty
search through the nearest rooms had
no result, and Nesfa stopped by an open
door to glance III at the lalf-cleared
drawing room.
Two portly dowagors were deep in
conversation, their heads bent together
behind their fans; but their voices rose
above the music Eleanor was playing,
and Nesta could not help hearing what
they said.
"Gladys Trafford; yes, indeed!" cried
the black velvet gown to the purple bro
1,ade. "A very, very old love affair
that, my dear. He and she were per-
fectly inseperable, and most suitable
match it would have been. The. two
oldest families in the country his equal
in position and fortune. Lord Stour-
bridges estates are next his, you know,
and Gladys is heiress to "a great part"
Whit made Nestas heart give such
leap, and her feet feel spell bound to
The spot where she stood? Arnwood
Towers was the only place near the
Traffolls. It was as if her whole being
were strained to hear the rest. She
never thought of caves dropping, poor
child; it was lite and-death work to her.
"And why didn't it come about"
asked the purple brocade. Heaven
knowsl A lovers, tiff, L suppose, or
some such rubbish It's thousand
pities' q lady Fielding has always been
ut the head of the country society, and
Gladys Trafford is just made for the
position, with her beauty and cleverness
and talents. She has always been i'm
menseiy popular.
81 And who is the girl he has married?
She seems a nice little thing enough"
sob, o harmless sort of a creature;
pink and white prettiness, nothing
more. She was a planters daughter in
Ceylon, or somewhere land he WAS stay
ing with them when the father died.
She was left quite friendless and des-
titute, and he married her out OF pity.
He was alwayssa qlnSotic goose, Harry
Fielding" q &.sl. H. glS h
@ The spell was off now, and Nesta,
white as death, was hurrying up the
stairs to her room There was little
sofa in q sheltered nook in the corridor,
and there sat Harry missing Hair
ry--and the woman he should have mar.
ried. .ya& ~ ..l I,s
+ N NesGa Sped past, Dut as she Hed, she
saw Harry bend his head to kiss the
beautiful hand he was holding, and she
heard his low murmrlr, IF had only
known years ago, things might have
been so different!' On, on, till her
own door closed behind her, and she
gazed wildly round at the pretty orna-
ments that strewed her bower, as if she
had never seen them before. She flung
the diamonds from her throat and
wrists rs if they hurt her. and sank into
q chair beside the quaint old ebony la
BILE, leaning her head, with its tangle Of
f,r;sD brown hg;r Down IN heY fnldni