River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1885-10-22


should have imagined the impossible
ty of revlving the exploded chimera OF
love in a cottage, would in the eyes
of the world have been simply prepos-
ferrous. Gertrude, an orphan and en-
tirely dependent on her aunt, was des-
tanned, according to the immutable
ideas of that ambitious and scheming
matron, to recoup her by an a1vantag-
eous marriage for the cost of her main
tenance and the anxiety inseparable
from the office of chaperon
1T was therefore Mrs. Mortimer S
bounden duty to discourage by every
means in herpower the palpable absur-
dity of misplaced familiarity on the
part Of her niece with any one so motor
iously Ineligible rs detrimental.
Fortunately for her projects, matters
had not gone so far as to render her
interference Intellectual.
The lovers were still contentedly en-
ioying the present without troubling
themselves oyermuch about the future;
nor, indeed, would the question of
ways and means, if it had happened to
be discussed by them have presented
itself to either in particularly reassur-
ing light. AS far as Gertrude was con-
cerned she had literally no better ex-
pectancies than the milkmaid in the
song; while the few hundreds a year
that Torrens could call his own, an in
come barely sufficient for his bachelor
wants, could by no stretch of ingenuity
be relied upon to satisfy the require
ments of a Benedick. This he knew
perfectly well, but the temptation was
too strong for him. One glance from
the damsels bright eyes, one clasp of
her hand. put to flight in an instant all
prudential considerations, and left him
more hopelessly entangled in the tolls
than ever.
On her side Miss Trevelyan, although
fully approaching the exclusive privil-
ege of monOpolizing the attentions of
one of the handsomest men and best
walters in London, and far from disin-
clined to indulge in a personal expert
ence of cloves young dream. was not
altogether insensible to the effect pro-
duced by her beauty on the world at
large. She could not for the life of
her refrain from certain displays of
feminine coquetry which in reality
meant nothing but appeared to mean a
great deal.
This had the untold result of arousing
Eoerton jealousy and of satisfying
Mrs. Mortimer that she had still mate
rial work upon; more especially as
her arguments were backed by the adj
vent Of a powerful auxiliary in the per-
son Vi Hermann Gerestein, the head of
an Anglo-German house in the city,
and a prOfessed admirer of her niece.
no one knew exactly who he was, or
how he had made his money, but as
common report credited him with the
possession of a considerable fortune,
and his recent purchase of a mansion
in Park lane was an indisputable fact,
people in general were content to take
his solvencv for granted, and asked no
further questions about him.
That Gertrude was fattered by his
undisgused homage her aunt saw plain
ly enough, and lost the opportunity OF
protiting by it. His wealth and mani
fold advantages derivable therefrom
were continually dwelt upon by the
maneuvering lady, and the absolute
folly of throwing such a chance away
was persistently limited at. Little by
little the object of her opportunities
began involuntarily to compare the
brilliant prospect held out to her with
the undesirable position of poor man 5
wife. to whom a house in Park lane
needs be a myth, and modest home
in fashionable quarter of the town
an unavoidable necessity.
TorrenS was not slow either to per
ceive the change in her manner or to
guess its cause. The city magnate's
devotion to Miss Trevelyan had of late
been too marked to admit of any doubt
as to his intentions. BY way, there
fore. of bringing matters to crisis he
abruptly taxed her with Inconsistency,
and carried away by his feelings, urged
his prior claims to her affection in so
resentful tone that at length, stung
by his reproaches, she haughtiiy repud-
lated the idea of any engagement on
her part, and gave him clearly to I'M
derstand that she considered herself
bound to reciprocate his attachment by
no tie or promise whatsoever.
Shortly after this decisive rejection
Egerton started for the continent, and
for the next two or three months strove
to forget his disappointment by wan
dering about from place to place until
4 the day when, as we have seen, he and
/ Gertrude Unexpectedly met each other
I at Folkestone.
! His reflections, as he was whirled
away northward on the following morn
4 inc with the usual rapidity of the Fly
( ing Scotchman" were by no means OF
4 a pIeasurable character. Even the
/ allurine prospect of his favorite sport
+ on the moors failed to divert his mind
from the trying interview of the pre-
4 cedinr afternoon. 1t had revived all
/ the painful memories of the past, which
1 he had vainly imagined were forgotten,
7 Secure as he felt from any return OF
his infatuaton, he nevertheless bitterly
! regretted that chance should have again
I thrown them together and once more
/ exposed him to the perilous influence
of her beauty. Time, however, and
the co4genial society of a JOYOUS band
roughing il with true sportsmanlikt
equanimity in an anomalous structure
by courtesy called shooting box
" d as a paDacea on his
overstrung imagination. The presence
moreover. of administering angel. in
the person of his hosts sister. who
presided over the household arrange
mentS of the improvised establishment
contributed not little to distract hi:
thoughts from the one idea which hac
hitherto exclusively preoccupied them
Annie Thornton, bright-faced, fair
haired lassie, in her capacity o
general purveyor to the requirements
OF her guests, was precisely the right
girl in the right place. Without being
strictly pretty, she had a winning
charm of manner, rendered still more
attractive by a soft, low voice, IAN ex
cellent thing in a woman the sootl
ing influence of which one of her visit
ors at least was capable ofappreciating
/ No more effectual cure for q ''minC
diseased" could have been devised thar
the society of, in every respect, so sym
pathetic a hostess Before fortnigh
had elapsed since his arrival, EgertoI
began to regard a stroll on the heathe
in her company as infinitely preferable
to the best day sport, and-althougl
he would hardly have ventured to con
TESS as much-had dawning percep
| 4;n,, .ba+ tho iroa ra of (Tertrudp TrpVel