The Press., 1884-08-14
Issued Every Thursday Evening.

lSSupQ EVGry TlQrSQdy EVGlllg.
 the discovery that his daughter and young Balbernie had come together again was now great relief to him, instead of a source of anger and indignation. Now that the young man was wealthy, even compared with himself though, to be sure, he still had the satisfaction of feel
 that he could "buy up" his future son-in-
 law if he choose-he saw no possible ob-
 jection to the marriage. He had no par
 ticular prejudices against young Balbernie
 personally. but rather the reverse, and i,
 was satisfactory to find that he could ,lafter
 all, honestly approve of his daughters
 choice.
 Having got what particulars his brother
 magistrate could furnish of young Balber-
 nie's good fortune, MT. Paradise returned
 home in the best possible spirits, in joyful
 anticipation of his agreeable task of with drawing his opposition to his child's wishes, l and bringing about the marriage without lay. But he was shrewd old gentleman,
 and during the drive home it occurred to him that upon the whole it might be wiser, under the circumstances, not to volunteer.
 his consent. He had not much delicacy
 of feeling, but he could not ignore the fact l
 attributed to it's true motive. Moreover.
 it was possible that his future son-in- law,
 being now rich and independent, might re-
 fuse to be married under his auspices, and
 it would be awkward if the young man
 should publicly display his resentment.
 Upon consideration, therefore, he resolved
 to allow the conspiracy which he had dis
 covered to take its course There was
 something in the notion which tickled his
 sense of humor and the prospect of qui-
 etly looking on while his wife and daugh-
 ter imagined he was ignorant of their pro-
 ceedings promised to afford him amuse-
 ment. When the marriage had taken
 place he would be able to play the part of
 a magnanimous and forgiving parent,
 while his neighbors would not be able to
 accuse him of having brought about the
 marriage i'll consequence of his son-in- law 8
 altered circumstances. ...
 Old MT. Paradise thought himself very clever indeed when he had arrived at this determination, and chuckled good deal at his own acuteness He first posted his daughters letter, which he had fortunate ly opened in such 8 manner that he was able to seal it up again without leaving any suspicious trace of it's having been l tempered with. He also took the precal1- tign to bribe his daughters maid, and had the satisfaction of learning that she had not mentioned that he had intercepted the } letter. These preliminaries being -arrang- I ed, there was nothing further for him tc do but quietly to await the issue of the conspiracy. He went up to town, how ever, and having looked up at his club the Scotch paper which his neighbor had re- ferred to- he paid visit to his lawyer 3 With this exception he never stirred from 5 home during the next ten days, but was 3 highly amused by observing the nervous ness and agitation of his wife and daugh 3 ter. He often felt strongly tempted tt t mention young BalbeEnie's name, for sths !. lpurpose of enjoying their consternation t but he refrained from doing so from hi e anxiety not to give the slightest ground d for suspicion that he guessed what was il T the wind. Besides, he was sufficiently ali i. verted by watching the secret preparation
 which were going forward. He derived y grim satisfaction, in the midst of his hu
 mor, from his poor wife's tremulous eager d ness to appear calm and unconcerned. t was evident that her conscience smote he s severely for her disloyalty, and that sh' :. was thoroughly cowed at the prospect O d mourning his anger and indignation. Hi l. daughter, on the other hand, had an air o T quiet determination, in spite of her nat r ural trepidation, which impressed MT g Paradise with the conviction that perhap . after all his poor wife, in giving her ccun :, tenance and support to the conspiracy : was only acting as she thought for tn, l. best in @ desperate situation.
 U When the day fixed for the wedding ar C rived, MT. Paradise started off. early in thu |, morning for a, neighboring town, iron U whence he proposed, though he gave n' o hint of his intention, to travel to London Il Il He had learned from the daughters lette t the name of the church where the ceremo ' ny was to take place, and he intended t' : be present as a spectator if he could cree] >: in unobserved. His wife had mentione' U U that she was going to take Ethel to Lon U U don for a days shopping, and he hat 5 gravely accepted the announcement, whit u u secretly laughing in his sleeve, It is pos s ss sible, had he known nothing, his suspi y cions might have been aroused by tn 's s manner in which his daughter clung t $ him when she kissed him hefore he lelt e Indeed, he almost broke down himself a .- that critical moment, and found it neces ' sary to assume an aspect of boisterous hilar 5 5 ity in order to hide his emotion,
 'l MT. Paradise managed to be present at hi e daughter's wedding. It took place in larg s and gloomy church at the west end of Lon s don, and he contrived to mlngle With tn }, small crowd of passers-by, who had been at s tracted by the signs of the quiet wedding s Had Mrs. Paradise been aware that her hus t band was present as an approving spectator e she would have been spared great deal o V the distress which she plainly manifested > MT. Paradise was quite touched by her emo a ton, of which he guessed the chief cause, ,an : felt half inclined to come forward. He di
 not do so, however, but waited quietly unti
 the ceremony had been performed, when h It slipped away, and after short interview wit e his lawyers, caught an early train home.
 e When Mrs. Paradise arrived back later i of the evening she was greeted by her husband d who met her in the haii, and at once inquired Il in perfectly natural manner, what had be 70 come of Ethel. B. ...,....E ... ,r 'sI will te you, John, Come into the dir F. groom" she said, leading the way with IF faltering step and face white as marble. Old MT. Paradise followed, secretly gra sn 1,s ,o1ro Q,