Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1884-06-13
OUT OF PITY.

- wa JStIo SSNSl1pCCAs VIC t0It
youngest little bride that any one re-
membered ever coming to reign at Arm
wood Towers; the sweetest, daintiest
little Lady Fielding that the county had
" welcomed.
To herself it was all like a dream, it
had come so fast; it seemed as if all her
life had lived itself in those six months;
the leaving her English school, and 60
ing out to her fathers plantation in
Ceylon, so proud to be his housekeeper
and companion; the strange, brief life
on the %up-country coffee estate. Then
the young English stranger who passed
through Lindoola, in his rather vague
wanderings for adventures sake, and
who was received and entertained at
Holme Harcourt with the delightful
~open-handed hospitality of the colonies.
And then the awful night when the
sudden terrible stroke Of cholera left
her fatherless, and life seemed one
great black void; and the Chaplain's
wife had been good to her, and kept
her from dying in despair; and Sir
Harry Fielding had been still more
good; and then-and then.-she was
resting her poor little orphaned head
on a heart that was kind and true as
her own fathers, and a strong arm was
close round her slender waist, and the
voice she liked alone to hear of all the
voices around her, was telling her she
should never know another sorrow he
could guard her from. He seemed the
only real thing in all that dream-time;
the sad past, and the present that wal so
happy, but just as unlike reality. Was
it really herself, simple little Nesta
Harcourt, that people were fuasing over
and petting and welcoming homo ~ if
she had been a royal princess?
Perhaps it was well she could not re-
alize it, OF her head might have been
turned. Why, had not the whole week
Harry and she were spending with his
sister, Mrs. Mostyn, to present Nesta to
the countryside. been one round of fes-
Invites, of which she was the queen?
This evening they had all driven to a
grand concert in the county town, to
hear a famous singer; and Nesta, in her
wonderful golden satin gown, rich with
embroidery and lace, with her eyes out
shining the diamonds on her white neck,
and her cheek flushed with its pretty
shy pink, had been an attraction only
second to the queen of song herself.
She felt q little weary with the excite
ment and the happiness, now that they
had reached home and were having sup
per in the great hall, for the concert had
forced them to dine rather earlier than
usual.
The house was crowded with guests
and they were all vehemently declaring
that the night vas hardly begun yet,
and they meant to finish it with a few
games. The furniture in the blue draw
ing room was being hastily moved, and
Nes!a's heart sank at the thought of
further exertion; her head ached and she
was worn out. She would slip away
quietly to bed and leave Harry to make
her excuses to Eleanor. Where was
Harry, by the way? She had not seer
him since they sat down to supper. and
he and that beautiful Miss Tratford were
talking in the doorway. A hasty search
through the nearest rooms had no Q
suit, and Nesta stopped by an open door
to glance at the ha~lf-cleared drawing
room.
Two portly dowagers were deep in
conversation, their heads bent together
ooHiL1O tilClI ldllS' UuG Gucli VOICES IOSc
above the music Eleanor was playing,
and Nesta could not help hearing what
they said.
'.Gladys Trafford; yes, indeed!' cried
the black velvet gown to the purple
brocade. GA very, very old love affair,
that, my dear. He and she were in
%separable, and a most suitable match it
would have been. The two oldest
families in the county; his equal in
position and fortune: Lord Stour-
bridges estates are next his you know,
and Gladys is heiress to a great part"
What made Nesta's heart give such a
leap, and her feet feel spell-bound to the
spe! where she stood? Arnwood Towers
was the only place near the Traffords.
1t was as ii her whole being were
strained to hear the rest: she never
thought OF eaves-dropping, poor child;
and it was life and death work to her.
land why didn't it co,ue about?"
asked the purple brocadc.
'~Ilcavcn knows! A lovers tiff, l
suppose, or some such rubbish. It's a
thou and pr. es! A Lady Fielding has
always been a,,ta,e head nf the county
society, aud Gladys Tratlord is just