The weekly Floridian. [volume] (Tallahassee, Fla.) 1867-19??, 1884-06-03
OUT OF RsETY.


She was just seventeen, the very Young
est little bride that any one ever rrm+m-
bered coming to reign at Arnwnod
Towers; the sweetest, dainticst little
Lady Fielding that the country had ever
Welcomed
To herself it was all like dream. il
had come SO fast; it seemed as if all her
life had lived itself in those six months ::
the leaving her English school and goin"
ont to her fathers plantation in Cevlpm,
so proud to be his housckcepcr and com
panion; the strange bIci lie on the up
country coffee estate Then the Young
English stranger who passed Through
Lindoola, in his rather vague wnnderinsS
for adventures sake, and who was re-
ceived and entertained ut lE"mr IIar-
court with the delightful oppn-han,!",i
hospitality of the colonies
And then the awful night when the
sudden, terrible stroke of cholera left hcr
tatherless, and life seemed one great blank
void; and the chaplain'S wife had been
good to her, and kept her from DIVING in
despair and Sir Harry Fielding had been
still more good and then she was rest
ing her poor little orphaned head on a
heart that was kind and true rs her own
fathers, and strong arm was close
around 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 i'll all that tlream-time; the
sad past and the present that was so
happy, but just as unlike reality. Was
it really herself, simple little Nc>ta IIar-
court, that people were iussing over and
petting and welcoming home as if she
had been royal princess?
Perhaps it was as well she could irot
realize ii, or her head might have been
turned. Why, had the whole week
Harry and she were spending with his
sister, Mrs Mostyn, to present Ncsta to
the country side, been one round Of fes-
tIvities of which she was the queen ::
This evening they had all driven 10 II
grand concert in the county town to hear
a famous singer, and Nesta, in her won
deriul golden satin gown, rich with en-
broidery 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 attrat tion only second
to the queen OF song herself. She felt II
little weary with the excitement and the
happiness, now that they had reached
home, and were having supper 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 vchementy declaring
fhof hf Inc L
they meant TO finish it with Il few games
The furniture in the blue drawing room
was being hastily removed and Ncsta's
heart sank at the thought of further cxcr-
ton; her head ached and She was worn
out. She would slip away quietly to bed
and leave Harry to make her excuse to
Eleanor. Where was Harry, by the way !:
She had not seen him since they went to
supper, and he and that beautiful Miss
Trafford were talking together in the
doorway. A hasty search through the
nearest rooms had no result, and n sta
stopped by an open door to glance in at
the half-cleared drawing room.
Two portly dowagers were deep in
conversation, their heads bent together
behind their FANS but their voices arose
above the music Eleanor was playing, and
Nesta could not help hearing what they
said
"Gladys Tratiord; yes, indeed ~ cried
the black velvet gown to the purple bro
cade. "A very, very old love affair, that,
my dear. He and she were perfectly in-
separable, and most suitable match it
would have been. The two oldest tami-
lies in the country; his equal in position
and fortune. Lord Stourbridge's estates
are next to his, you know, and Gladys is
heiress to great part
What made Nesta's heart give such a
leap, and her feet feel spell-bound to the
spot where she stood? Arnwood Towers
was the only place near the Tratfords. 1t
was as il her whole being were strained
to hear the rest. She never thought of
eavesdropping, poor child; it was life
and death work to her.
"And why didn't it come about ?"
asked the purple brocade.
"Heaven knows A lovers tiff, sup
pose, or some rubbish. It's thousand
pities A Lady Fielding has always
been at the head of the county society,
and Gladys Tratford is just made for the
position. with her beauty and cleverness
and talents. She has always been i'm
mensely popular" :,
"And who is the girl he has married
She seems a nice little thing enough"
! "Oh, harmless sort of creature; pink
and white prettiness, nothing more. She
was a planters daughter in 'Ceylon, ol
somewhere, and he was staying with
them when the father died. She was left
quite friendless and destitute, and he
married her out of pity. He was always
q quixotic goose, Harry Fielding"
The spell was now off, and Nesta, white
% death, was hurrying up the stairs to