The Red Cloud chief., 1884-12-05

thc considered ~ carried u We'll. en-
able her 10 pm; an end 90 the match -hc
50 hated. II was 10 bc worked ~
means Of a forged ole. She would
write a letter purTor;ing To- H. from
A-. tOning-by 20 some Lads IL ,ic bal
let. aud direct j: to the Dowa-r-. J.
the morning IL would. # posted altar
the last mail u the previous night. ar
TISc To- IN" sam" post - HI letter.
She, through wE0-c hand all me let
;crs b. Ia" carly posts uas<ci Ucfprc
reaching th" tDuBtr--. could retain
the real letter and a!!o" Ga" FORGE, one
10 70 10 her mother instead. The lat
ter, II the note was ing-uisu-.. writ
len. would ~ one" conclude that Mr..
toningSly, when he was writing -
her. had also written 10 an humber
love. and. - mistake. had iac!D ed the
wrong note ~ the c]uyclop" addressed
to her. II ~" could bu; DO tEi- with
out discovery. Lady Mar wa- certain
the match would DO AZ III cud. She
knew how jealous her mother W..
how easily her vanity wa hunt. T."
rage and Indignation she would feel a
his supposed duPiirify and contempt
for her would soon pat an end 20 her
love. Tn" only objection wa- that j.
was an extremely dany"rou. un6crtak-
ing. Ii II were discovered there would
be an incurablc breach between her
! mother and herself 4; the same tim.
If the letter were addressed 20 'ID''lc'
o. 'LO,iie." or some such common
name. it would be- difficult for NJ.
tOning~by "a show that !: was Il
forgery b. anything save b.. Own A.
~~ert.on, which Lady Sicily WAS scarce
Is likely 10 believe. i: any rate. il
was the only chance. and. let the
danger be- what il wou:d, Lady Mary
determined 20 try IL.
Next day she spent several hours
writing 4 letter which might pas, for
one of Mr.. CUning>by's. Sh" had =
pretty turn for initiating other peoples
handwriting. and before She p~racticci
very long she had written some lines
which il would have taken Il very
clever expert to have said was not his
WORK. She then composed the following
note:
DEAREST ToTTIE: I an sorry | shall not lie
aide Ia cal! na YOU tomorrow night. Ia / hSy"
Ia pay my respects 10 the old guid-bIg a:G
going - marry. She il getting ratIcr DIS
cOn~pla'" OF late ~ my negligence. and 50
| have 10 cou~u!c the poor old thing. After
marriage 1t wil h" different. II l. late. | avn
extremely tired. and / hay. - write To her. SO
goodbye, my Little fairy. Your own
As She knew that Mr.. Coniu@,by was
To sup with them the following evening.
She took the opportunity thatn:ght when
returning from Il ball 10 pos, her Own
production.
Next morning while the Countess.
who since their quarrel seldom came
down for breakfast WAS still in her bed
room. the forged letter and u" from
Mr.. C~onin@>by arrived. Lady Mary
received them with Il score Of others.
but 50 well had she initiated Mr.. Con-
ing>by's writing that for q moment She
was placed in som" difficulty: she could
scarcely distinguish her own A~kkct-dOlyr
from his. In a moment. however. she
remembered that the envelope she used
had 4 peculiar watcr-mark, and hold
ing rp the one letter between her and
the light. she noted tins pccnllarity. and
thus settled any doubt she had. Re
tanning. therefore. the other letter, she
gave the forged one to Lady ScillyS
maid. Lady Mary then hurricdly
locked up the ]purloined note. She was
glad the handwritingS were so idrrii-
cal. Ii she herself found some diff
Guilty in distinguishing them. surely her
mother would never suspect forgery.
She had hardlv got the letter secrrted.
when Lady Scilly'S maid returned TO.
her. pale and fri~ht"ned-looking.
.'Oh. NV lady she cried, ''her lady
ship has taken i'll. | think she's in
Mysteries. Will your ladyship please
see herr
Has she sent for mc?' asked Lady
Mary, very much scared.
Then ask her if | may ONE. | don't
like to intrude on her without her per-
mission
The fact was, Lady Mary was not at
all anxious 10 see her mother. Her
guilty conscience had already begun To
! trouble her: and she was afraid that if
she went just then into her mothers
presence her crime would in some way
or other come out. She waited I'm
easily until the maid returned. which
she did not do for a considerable time:
and then. bv the Countess direction.
she Informed Lady Mary that her lady
ship was much better. and did not wish
to see her Just IL pre>cnt-newS which
eaSed Lady Mary's mind not n little.
In about m hour. Lady Scilly'S maid
again came to her To tell her that her
ladvShip would not b. down that day TO
lunch: and. in reply To inquiries. said
| that the invalid was much better and
engaged in writing. Lady Mary had
little difficulty in guessing what she
$500, ,,-,;,,,-, ,b>,t 81, f,lt -, ,n,nr,
Portable that she could no longer re-
main in the house. So. after lunch. on
the plea of having some purchases to
make. she spent 4 considerable time
driving about rather almles>ly.
When she returned-it was about six
o'clock-she noticed that the household
was in an excited state. and she soOn
learned the cause. The Countess. after
writing and sending to the post two let
ters Zone for Mr.. Coning>by and the
other for Mrs. Bluntl. had become so
i'll that the butler had felt it his duty to
send for the family physician. DIR.
Killen. That gentleman was now with
her. and they were waiting TO hear his
report.
Lady Mary was Mortified by this in
telligcnce. Her mother was, it seemed,
seriously. it might be dangerously. i'll.
and that illness was caused by her act
an act. as she had now to confess to
herself. done not for her mothers but
her own interests. What would she do
if the Countess died? Would she not
be her murdereSs? The thought was !
terrible beyond expression. How she
bewailed her stupid anger. How she
wished she had never written that let
ter. Torn with regret and fear. too