The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1885-12-26
CHAPTER V.

Better be with the dead,
Whom we, to gain our place. have sent to peace,
Than on the torture of the mind to lie
In restless ecstasy.
If lavish profusion, recklessness of cost,
and carefully planned amusements could
make any social entertainment great sue
cess, this second Christmas Day at Silver
ton Castle must certainly have put all other
events of the kind completely in the shade.
The servants and tenantry were not so
well cared for as in the past it is true, for
Grace had given orders that they should
put off their merry-making till after she
was married, when they could eat and drink,
dance and sing, to their hearts content.
All the guest-chambers in the castle
were full, and the eight bridesmaids who
were to attend the bride on the coming day
were here with their mothers or sisters or
chaperons, each one of the eight looking
forward to the time when she herself should
take the leading part in a similar ceremony.
Grace Lilburne had not been very judi
cious in the selection of her bridesmaids.
The pretty desire to triumph over her
friends and to create envy and jealousy
prompted her to invite Miriam Hindman,
a brilliant brunette, who rumor whispered
had won Victor Gayherd's heart, ard he
was only saved from marrying her by her
father losing the greater part of his fortune.
Mr. Lilburne had objected to Miriam
being invited, and had suggested a cousin
of his own in her stead; but Grace was OBJ
stinate, she had made up her mind to in
vite Miriam, and Victor could only hope
that the invitation would not be accepted.
But here again he was disappointed, and
Miriam came, looking seductive and bril-
liant as a humming- bird, gorgeous with
Jewels and costly dresses, and giving con-
frmation to the report that her father had
retrived his fortune, and was now richer
man than ever.
am afraid that Grace regretted her OBJ
stinacy when she saw how fascinatingly
beautiful Miriam was, and certainly she
was genuinely jealous when she observed
how Victor's eyes followed the girl who
had still the power to make him forget
everybody else when she was present.
Miriam knew that Grace had not invited
her out of affection, and that she had no
nobler aim than a desire to mortify and
humiliate her, and she determined that the
pain should not be all on one side.
On her arrival at the castle, Miriam per-
sistly attached herself to Mr.. Lilburne
She gave him her sympathy with such
witching tenderness, she condoled with him
at being about to lose his second daughter,
and then she began to talk of dear Kate,
who had been her most intimate friend.
II am quite sure that Kate is alive"
she said, suddenly raising her voice so that
all the others in the small tea-room could
hear her.
Grace frowned But Miriam paid no
heed to the frown as she continued:
eyes, l am quite sure she is alive. [
dreamed of her last night, and my dreams
always come true. We shall see her soon,
l have no doubt of it. :"
off you have nothing more substantial
than dream to found your assertion upon,
I think it is pity you should make ii"
said Grace with cold severity.
II don't see why; my dreams have a
strange faculty for being fulfilled. But,
by the way, isn't there some mysterious
passage or chamber in the old part Of the
castle, or was it destroyed when most of
the place was rebuilt ?"
She looked at Grace as she spoke, but it
was Mr.. Lilburne who replied:
Il never heard of anything of the kind.
Silverton is singularly free from romance
We have not even the distinction of pos
sessing family ghost.
aThere is, or there was, some mysterious
means of getting in and out of the castle,
said Miriam, shaking her pretty head like
wise bird laying down the law to its
feathered friends. II found out something
about it from an old manuscript that papa
has in his library. I wish | had brought
it with me, but I'll send for it. Did you.
never hear of the secret, Grace 2"
sNo," was the curt reply.
But Grace Lilbnrne's face became dead
" white, her head swan, and it was only
by the most supreme effort that she could
keep herself from fainting.
As soon as she could do so without be-
ing observed, the guilty woman escaped to
her own room. Here she threw off all |
restraint, and gave way to the terrible agony
of fear and remorse that consumed her.