Helena weekly herald. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1867-1900, 1886-04-15
MY LADY'N MONEY
Py WILKIE COLLINS.
~ EPISODE IN THE LIFE OF A YOUNG GIRL
FART THE SECOND
THE Dissolve RY.
TcHAPTER IXI.-CONCLUDED.l

II had hoped for reasons which it is need
te~, to mention here to interest Mr. Hardy
man himself in aiding our inquiry. But
yOur aunt's wishes, as expressed in her letter
10 me. close my lips ! will only ask you, at
some convenient time to let me mention the
last discoveries that We have made, leaving
il to your discretion, when Mr.. Hardyman
has become your husband, to ask him the
questions which, under other circumstances,
! should have put TO him myself.
at is. of course possible that the view ]
take of Mr. Hardymans capacity 10 help us
NAV be q mistaken one. In this case, if you
still wish the investigation to be privately
carried on, beg of you to let me continue
to direct it, as the greatest favor you can
confer on your devoted old friend.
You need 10 under no apprehension
about the expense to which you are likely to
put me | have Unexpectedly inherited what
Is to me handsome fortune.
The same post which brought your aunt's
letter brought line from a lawyer, asking
me to see him on the subject of my late
fathers affairs | waited d day or two be-
fore | ,Guld summon heart enough to see
him, or to see anybody, and then | went to
his office You have heard that my fathers
bank STOPPED payment, at time of COM
mercial panic His failure was mainly at
tributed to the treachery of friend to whom
he had lent large sum of money, and who
paid him the yearly interest without ac-
knowledging that every farthing of it had
been lost in unsuccessful speculationS. The
son Of this man has prospered i'll business,
and be has hOnorably devoted a part of his
wealth to the payment of his fathers credit
ors. Half the sum due mn father has thus
passed into my hands as his next of kin, and
the other half to follow i'll course of time. If
my hopes had been fulfilled how gladly |
should have shared my prosperity with you!
As it is, | have far more than enough for my
wants as lonely man, and plenty left to
spend in your service.
God bless aud prosper you. my dear. |
shall ask You to accept little present from
ne, among the other offerings that are
~ '>''-7 @R. NJ
The studiouSly conSderate and delicate
tone IN which these lines were written had
an effect on Isabel which was exactly the
opposite of the effect intended by the writer
She burst into passionate fit Of tears, and in
the safe solitude of her own room the despair
ing words escaped her, al wish l had died
before met with Alfred HardvmanIo
As the days wore on, disappointments and
difficulties seemed, 10y kind Of fatality. ia
heset the contemplated announcement Of tho
marriage.
Miss Pink'S asthma, developed by the un-
favorable weather, set the doctors art at
defiance, and threatened To keep that un-
fortunate lady a prisoner in her room on
the day of the party. Hardyman's invita-
tiOns were in some cases refused, and i'll
Others accepted by husbands, with excuses
for the absence of their wives. His elder
brother made an apology for himself well
rs for his wife Felix Sweetsir wrote,
with pleasure, dear Alfred, if my health
permits me to leave the house" Lady
Lydiard invited at Miss Pinks special re-
quest sent no reply. The one encouraging
CircumSt ance was the silence of Lady
Rothertield. SO long as her son received no
lntimation to the contrary, it was sign
that Lord Rotherfeld permitted his wife TO
sanction the marriage by her presence.
Hardyman wrote to his imperial CORE
spondent, engaging TO leave England on the
earliest possible day. and asking to be par
doned if he failed 70 express himself more
definitely, in consideration of domestic at
fairs which it was necessary to settle before
he started for the continent If there should
not be time enough TO write again. he prom
lsed to send a telegraphic announcement of
his departure. Long afterward Hardyman
remembered the misgivlngs that had troubled
him when he wrote that letter. In the rough
draft of it he had mentioned as his excuse
for not being yet certain of his own move
ments, that he expected to be Immediately
married. In the fair copy the vague fore
boding of some accident to come was so
painfully present to his mind that he struck
out the words which referred to his mar
riage and substituted the designedly in
definite phrase, domestic affairs"