Daily Republican. [volume] ([Wilmington, Del.]) 1874-1890, 1884-06-20
A HAUNTED HOUSE.
BY BERTHA BERTON.

"A haunted house. Oh, am JUS
dy ing to sos one !" and the lightheart
ed girl who had given utterance to THU
extravagant exclamation, olappsd he
small, white hands together gleefully
" Mr.. Nethcrton, won't You arrang'
little excursion to theromantic spOt|
she plead, coaxingly, and the gentleman
amused smile at the whimsical fancy o
haunted houses in general, and the on,
alluded to, especially.
The month was June, the day wal
lovely, and suggestive of pleasan
excursions and woodland rambles.
Clyta Oswald was guest at thu
country residence of Robert Netherton
his sisters dearest friend, and Elma
Netherton secretly cherished the hopt
that Clyta might some day become hel
sister-her brother Roberts wife
With this project In view, she had in
vited Clyta Oswald, with her brOther's
consent, to spend the summer at Eden
land, as Robert Netherton's beautifn
place was fancifully called.
+ A grand, old, ancestral place was
EdeDland, with associations and family
"reminiscences which rendered it dOub
ly dear To its owner.
Robert Netherton was immensely
rich. He was about thirty; talented,
highly cultured. and still single, though
not AZ most people believed, heart free,
for there was a sad passage in his life.
Incidents that had TRANSFERRED long be.
fore he came TO Edenland, had rendered
him an unhappy, hopeless man; but
even Elma had never known that her
brother was engaged to q lovely girl,
whom he had met while travelling in
Europe.
She, too, was a tourist, and with her
aunt, who was also her guardian, was
spending the summer in Germany.
Chaperoned by her aunt, she was Ell.
joying with all the intenseness Of youth
the pleasures Of sightseeing, when she
met Robert Netherton and with that
meeting came to Inez Montville the
first great passion of her life. Very
soon she found that her heart was no
longer in her own keeping, and that in
him she had found the embodiment, the
ideal of her girlish dreams.
The attraction was mutual. Inez
MOntville was of Southern patronage,
and in her dark eyes slumbered mag
ton irresistibly to her side. Her dark,
olive face, faultlessly chiseled, and
showing in her cheeks faint tint OF
carmine, her vivid lips, her raven
ringlets, her voice Of silvery sweetness,
and her slight form, that seemed the
very embodiment of grace, all served
to complete the fascination.
But Mrs Norwood, the aunt and
guardian of Inez Montville, was a true
Soutberner, and Robert Netherton, al
though Of an old and highly respectable
Northern family, failed to reach her
aristocratic standard of perfection ;
consequently, when he asked permits
sion to address her niece, he received a
decisive refusal, cold enough to chill
the ardor of a less ardent lover with
Robert Netherton, it only added fuel
to the flame already enkindled in his
heart, and Inez Montville, with herim-
periOus, tropical nature, was quite
ready to brave the ire Of her naughty
aunt.
But after the first impulsive prompt
ings were past, Robert NethertOn advis-
ed moderation. Mrs. Norwood would
soon relent until then, they must b.
patient.
Iuez knew her aunt better she had
no hope Of her ultimate consent still,
she acknowledged, finally, that it was
best to be prudent !; in the meantime
they could correspond.
And thus they parted.
Inez returned with her aunt to Flori-
do, while Robert Netherton tarried a
few months longer in the Old World.
But every week letter, full of tender
love. went like messenger bird across
the deep, blue sea, to Ike intercept.
ed before it ever reached the eyes of
Inez MOntville, while her own letters
written to her lover never left the house,
for Mrs. Norwood was as crafty as a
fox, and by bribing Eugene, her niece's
maid, the letters came readily into her
possession.
For time Mrs. Norwood's plan an.
swered her purpose but at last 1nez
began to suspect treachery then she
set herself to work to unravel the mys-
terry but her efforts were baffled, and
full Of indignation at plot which was
likely to blight her whole future, she
secretly left her Southern home and fed
to the North.
At the same time Robert Netherton,
having returned to his native land, was
seeking in the sunny South to gain
some clew of his atfianced love.
At her own home he had braved
the wrath Of Mrs Norwood by demand
ing an interview with her niece; but
with the consummate art of an actress,
she declared that Inez had left home in
a state of mental alteration, and had,
she feared, taken her own life for
with protestations of the deepest grief
she told him that she had made the
most strenuous exertions to gain It'd
ings of her, but In vain and at last her
apparent frankness and her deep emo.
tion made the desired impression, and
Robert Netherton was compelled to be-
lieve that Inez Montville was lost to
him forever.
And all the time Mrs. Norwood had
emissaries employed to hold her niece
in confinement as q maniac.
She W as still at the North, for the
plotting woman could not endure the
torture Of having her confined at home.
and she had a cottage, for which Inez
had expressed a liking, fitted hp for her
reception, and a trusty woman was
found for an attendant.
Mrs. Norwood was resolved to subduf
her wi1lful niece, Us well as to keep her
securely hidden, but the deception she
had begun proved tangled web that
kept her in state of constant perplex.
|ity; while Inez MOntville, in the seclu
sion of her cottage home, patiently bided
her time.
She knew that she was confined as a
lunatic for though she had the liberty
of the youss and yard, thu watchful
eyes of Mrs. Atworth were ever upon
her, and the purpose she also knew
WINS to hide her forever from her absent
lover.
She seldom spoke, but would sit TO.
hours wrapped in her ownsad reveries,
and the trusty attendant believed truly
that she was afflicted witt mild form
| of insanity.