Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1884-01-10
mos. anpromis;ng Of Young women In

most znpromfsing Of young women In
manners and appearance, the devoted
mother would still have had no indul-
gencc too great for her-no amount OF
consideration too much. But, being
what she was-beautiful, charming for
an elderly lady as well as for a spoiled
invalid boy. & refined gentle woman in
manner, and clever and agreeable so
cially-Margaret soon found herself
more like daughter of the house than
anything else. With her Mrs. Lascelles
felt L.,ne of the discomfort she had ex-
perienced before in dealing with stiff
and rigid Miss Flint. or with morbidly
sensitive young ladies, who, if ever they
Were asked to perform some trifing
service not in the s.hoolroom routine,
thought they were being irsulted. More
than once she said to Margaret:
my dear, you are friend, indeed. /
never can feel that you are anything
else. You are my benefactress, and l
shall be forever in your debt
On such occasions Margaret had an
uncomfortable sense of being in p false
position, but she had never vet Giscov-
cred the courage necessary to ti'cate
herself from it. For one thing, .hs
found this kindness and gratitude ex-
ceedingly sweet. and the sweeter in
that there could be no question as to
whether it was paid to herself or to her
position. These people knew nothing
of her position-of her fortune. The
atmosphere of tlattery on the one hand,
and of warning and suspicion on the
other, in which she had been accus-
toned to live, seemed to melt away from
her, and leave her at liberty to breathe
a freer and purer air. She, Margaret
Darlington, had found a practical work
in this life; she was of some use, Of
some solace to those who sorely needed
help and comfort. How long could
such a state of things last if her true
condition were knownp Not day
she knew it well. If she told Mrs.
Lascelles the truth, that sensitive lady
would be constantly distressing herself
imagining that Margaret was detained
against her will-that out of pure kind
ness she was sacrificing herself and hex
pleasures to her and her boy. In every
way it suited the young lady better to
be known as Margaret Percival, COVER
ness of necessity, than as Margaret Bar.
rington, rich and independent, playing
at charity for a freak, and introducing
herself into strange houses to crafty
a whim. There was no longer any freak,
OF whim, or playfulness in the matter.
AS time went on, and Rupert grew
more and more dependent on her, she
grew more devotedly fond of him.
From out all his ''pale winter of mis-
fortune there cleaned sometimes such
sunny rays, such tender, and sweet.
and lovable traits, as to endear him &c
her daily more and more. She could
not find it in her heart to speak of leav-
ing him. He chung to her; even his
bodily health had SO revived under the
influence of her companionship that she
shrank from the idea of loosening such
bond. Yet she knew that it must
some time be loosened. Meantime, she
tried to avoid considering the question,
and remained where she was, growing
each day more fond of her surround
ings, and to them more Indispensable.
1t has been said that John Mallabarr
and Louis were constant visitors. Nal
labarr called several times after his first
visit, before leaving for town. On each
of these occasions, whether by accident,
or whether by design on his part, Mar
garet found herself alone with him. On
each occasion he spoke to her more
earnestly, less carelessly than was his
wont. On both occasions he spoke of
topics which were not quite common
place, as if he did not care to handy
trivial words with her during the few
minutes in which they were alone to-
gether.
TO BE CONTINUED.