Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1885-08-28
A Family Affair
BY HUGH CONWAY.
Autaor Of "Ca1sed Back and "Dark Days
CONTINUED from last aoeek. ].

In order that what happened may be READ
Alright, two facts must be distinctly borne in
mind. The first that Beatrice Clauson was
not then the stately and apparently emotion
less young lady, whose calm and self-con-
tanned demeanor was such a subject of con-
graduation to her uncles, and such puzzle
to Frank Carruthers. She was but a girl of
eighteen proud, if you will, but romantic,
mpulsive, and Notwithstanding the shatter-
ing of the paternal idol, trustful of man and
womankind. She was lonely; craved for
sympathy; and in spite of her position in the
world, her life, so far as she could see it,
looked void and colorless. A long stretch
without visible goal Lastly, she believed
as most young people of eighteen believe,
that her judgment as to what was best for
herself was infallible.
The second fact to be borne in mind is that
Maurice Hervey at twenty-five was not, in
appearance, the scowling, crafty-looking
felon seen by Mrs. Miller in Portland prison;
not even the malicious, mocking ruffian who
confronted her on his release. The mask
worn by the man when Beatrice first knew
him fitted to perfection, and, until the
wearer chose, showed no glimpse of the vii.
famous, sordid nature it hid He was de-
cidedly good-looking, he was well dressed,
and if he carried touch of the Bohemian
about him it was not more than was pleasant
and compatible with the profession he fol-
lowed. His hands, a matter upon which
young girls set undue store, were white and
well formed. He was attentive and respect
full in the discharge of his duties doubly so
after the first few lessons!
For by that time he had found out much
abo' r+ aood deal. He had learned that she
was baronet's daughter, and an heiress.
He could not ascertain how much money
she would come into or from whom it came.
But, so far as it went, he believed his
information to be trustworthy, and acted ac-
cordingly.
He began by awakening the girls SYM
pathy for his unworthy self. He told her,
or, it might be said, conveyed to her pro-
digious lies about his own hard lot; he
dilated on the drudgery of lesson-giving to a
man who believed he had genius. So cleverly
did he talk that Beatrice was persuaded that
she was under an obligation to him for the
very act of teaching. His lies were master
pieces, because he did not, like many self
styled neglected geniuses, believe in his own
talents The man knew that such skill as
he possessed could make him, at the outside,
fifth-rate artist, Or, it might possibly be, a
frst-rate drawing master.
DuU I'LL Gue Scllo liz ulduo DoedUI DclloVo
he was one day destined to storm the Royal
academy, and when once she believed this all
differences in station between them vanished.
Our age, as every one knows is the triumph
of art. Poor artists and struggling literary
men do not now fawn upon lords-lords ask
them to dinner and make much of them, or
such is the common belief. So, now that
Miss Clauson was convinced that Maurice
Hervey was genius no cold spectre of
social distinction rose between the man and
his desire.
The drawing lessons grew longer and more
and more conversational. Hervey was an
educated man, or at least knew how to turn
such education as was his to the best account.
The first sign of what was about to happen
was Beatrice's beginning to wonder how she
should be able to offer this man money for
his services. Then followed other symptoms
which are invariably distinctly pronounced
when the sufferer is a self-willed girl of
eighteen.
Hervey, as soon as he found himself on the
same platform as his pupil hurried matters
on. He had pressing reasons, known only to
himself, for bringing things to q conclusion.
Perhaps his audacity helped him. At any
rate, when one day he dashed the drawing
materials aside'and vowed he loved her, and