Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1884-04-17

ttGHlH
al dare say" said Sir Philip, as he open
ed the doors Of the portrait-gallery, "yol
; will desire TO take mere general surye
to-day, as you will have so many oppoYtu
mites Of seeing all that is to be seen; bu
don't let me hurry you. L only want yol
to take your own time and pleasure.'
lima thanked him, and they passed il
among crusading knights and ladies il
colts aud farthingales. Even the stiff, inn
perfect Inning Of the earlier period
could not hide the marked characteristic
OF the race, dark, naughty Italian-lookinI
faces, all more or less handsome, some re
markably so; though none, lima thought
had such beauty as Sir Philip. In tn,
last representative of the house all III
graces seemed TO have reached their high
est point
elbow isit," asked lima, "that the Oar
rells have such an Italian type Of face: II
is strongest in YOU, Sir Philip; but non,
Of these faces arc English"
"The tradition, you know, is" nc rcpli
ed, "that the first Darrell was an Italian
noble, who fed his country for some politi
cal reason, OF for some crime, real vi
charged TO him; and think it must have
been so. Several times IN later ages We
have intermarried with Italians. The
mother of Sir Ingelhard of the Curse was
an Italian, and so was my sreal-grandmo-
| Their. They say am more like Sir Ingcl-
hard than any Of the Others"
care you" said lima, with sharp
pang at her heart. Was there any fate in
| this resemblance between the man who
had brought the doom on this noble house
| and the one who was 10 be its last VIC
| time
"You will Sec" replied Sir Philip, as
the girl stopped silently before stately
| dame of the reign OF Henry W.; and,
glancing around he saw that Rose and Ro-
land had loitered behind, and he heard .
laugh from Rose which echoed through the
lofty arches.
"Ilma started and her brow contracted
with look of pain.
CHOW sensitive you arc ~ said Sir Phil
lip, smiling. al suppose you think it
sounds odd to laugh here. You have not
done so once"
al don't think / could" replied lima;
sdt all seems so awesome."
Her heart beat fast as they drew near
err and nearer to Sir highlands portrait.
Presently they came to stately knight in
robes of the early Elizabethan period; by
his side was a beautiful woman with "a
face from Venitia."
"Renfric Darrell and his wife, Ginevra
della Scala" said Sir Philip quietly. Gin
gelhard was their son. They were the last
who were happy in love. Sir Renfric met
Ginevra at the Doge's court, and they
lived together for thirty years. Both
died-well for them before highlands
crime"
"Were there other children besides In-
gelhard?" asked lima.
"No; Ingelhard was I'm only child
There is his picture
He fell back a step or two, folding his
arms, but standing so that he could see
llma's face, upon which, as upon his own,
fell the mellow light of painted VIM
dow.
The girl drew a long breath, and invol-
UNFAIRLY locked her little hands together
as she looked upon the dark handsome
countenance of Sir Ingelhard of the Curse,
the recreant knight who had shown the
churps ingratitude, who had brought
shame TO the hearth that should have been
sacred to him.
The figure was halt-length, leaning on a
sword, and the head uncovered. The
countenance, like Sir Philips, was striking
ly Intellectual and of commanding beauty;
but the eyes were sinister, their depth was
all of the mind. There was an utter lack
of the tenderness that gave beauty all
their own 10 Philip Darrelps eyes; the
mouth too was cruel. One could believe
Philip Darrell ruthless for the state, re-
lentless in vengeance, like u ruler OF me-
di9yal Italy, but never cruel, never one to
trample on all rights TO gain his end. His
iron will was tempered by noble qualities.
which might be sometimes Obscured, but
never obliterated. Those qualities had no
resemblance between the two faces; but
the advantage of mere physical beau
ty, still more that OF power, depth, and
soul, rested with the famous knights de-
scendant.
Long did lima stand gazing on that
countenance, rs If she would imprint ev-
cry feature OH her memory; and two or
three times she glanced ut Sir Philip, as if
comparing the TWO. Finally, she turned
away with slight shudder shaking her
head.
"Well," said Sir Philip IN slightly
mocking tone, "what is your verdict. He
was brave man, this ancestor OF mine; he
did great deeds of derrng-do in the Span
ish wars he was "a favored squire OF danes
yet you shudderv
"Hc was back-hearted villain," replied
lima, Sand he has an evil face! could
never have loved him."
"You are keen; there is no heart in In
gelhard's face--and you can see that. But
Zarsh was an ignorant gipsy-girl. Ay,"
continued Sir Philip, grinding his heel on
the floor, Us though he was crushing some
obnoxious object, $50 black a deed desery-
ed q curse! Why, lleston flung his life
away for Ingelhard's--lcss worth u thou
sand times, though he was Darrell and
belted knight. 1t was indeed
"Foulest stain on knighthood's face,
Deadly blight on noblest race.
And have not his children, and his chill
dren's children, to the fourth and fifth
generation, suffered for 1t? But there"
he added hurriedly, for he saw how his
words affected his listcner-"all this Is fol-
ly to you, and l am u mere slave OF super
stition. DO you see the likeness they all
fndi"
ayes" answered the girl, trying to
hide the pain one part OF her hosts speech
had given her, "there Is strong like
ness"
$50 there should be-" said Sir Philip
carelessly, not wishing TO compel lima to
explain wherein lay any differences
"Now here follows the long line of Sir In
gelhard's descendants. You do not be-
iieve in the cursef Yet, whenever one OF
these loved, woe and death followed: and
we barrels, unhappily, cannot love light.
". This is highlands son. lie married
a Stanly; but he had loved Anne st. Maur,
xnd she was murdered but two days before
what should have been her wedding-day.
Marjqaie, his sister, loved her brothers
worst enemy, and they were parted; she
was imprisoned in what we still call Lady
Marjorie's tower, and died mad; and her
-. .oo CI,.lI f ,r, ouev