Helena weekly herald. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1867-1900, 1886-02-25

!. !. !. ! Il. j: st: 4: +: !:
-|L,s$53 l&flfi-atY LID Lady Lydiard
S&eS5A .WEAONg the fireside, with
E&a%prAE>- three letters lying
=. open on her lap.
Time had discoiored the paper and had
turned the ink to brownish hue. The let
ters were all addressed to the same person
'The Right Hon. Lord Lydiard'-and were
all signed in the same way our affection
ate cousin, James Tollmidge." Judged by
these specimens of his correspondence, Mr..
Tollmidge must have possessed one great
merit as q letter-writer-th merit OF brevlty.
He viii weary nobody's patience, If he IS al
lowed to have hearing. Let him, therefore,
be permitted, in his own highfiown way, to
speak for himself
First letter: My statement, as your lord
ship requests, shall be short and to the point.
/ was doing very well as portrait painter IN
the country, and / had wife and children to
consider Under these circumstances, If L
had been left to decide for myself, L should
certainly have waited until | had saved a lit
tie money before 1 ventured on the serious
expense Of taking a house and studio at the
west end Of London. Your lordship, posi-
lively declare, encouraged me to try the ex-
pertinent without waiting. And here am,
unknown and unemployed, a helpless artist,
lost in London, with a sick wife and hungry
children and bankruptcy staring me in the
face On whose shoulders does this dreadful
responsibility rest? On your lordshipsl"
Second letter: after a weeks delay you
favor me, my lord, with curt reply. can
,Y.1r1 tly-
deny that or my wife have ever presumed
to use your lordsh5p's name as a means Of
recommendation to sitters without your per-
mission Some enemy has slandered u.s. L
claim, as my right, to know the name of that
enemy"
Third land LAST letter: .'Another week
has passed and not a word of answer has
reached me from your lordship Itmatters
little. | have employed the interval in
making inquiries, and l have at last dis
covered the hostile influence which has
estranged you from me- l have been, it
seems, SO unfortunate as to offend Lady
Lydiard (how, | can not imagine); and the
all-powerful influence of this noble lady is
now used against the struggling artist who
is united to you by the sacred ties of kindred.
Be it so. | can fight my way upward, my
day may vet come when the throng of car
riages waiting at the door of the fashionable
portrait painter will include her ladyship's
vehicle, and bring me the tardy expression
of her ladyship's regret. 1 refer you, my
Lord Lydiard, to that day!'
Having read Mr.. Tollmidge's formidable
assertions relating to herself for the second
time, Lady Lydiards meditations came to
la +onl- that loft in,
both hands to tear them up, hesitated, and
threw them back into the cabinet drawer in
which she had discovered them, among other
papers that had not been arranged since
Lord Lydiard's death.
''The IDIOT" said her ladyship, thinking of
Mr.. ToIlmidge 81 never even heard of him
in my hust and's lifetime; never even knew
that he was really related to Lord Lydiard,
till I found his letters. What is to be done
nextY
She looked, as she put that question to her
self, at an open newspaper thrown on the
table, which announced the death of ''that
accomplished artist, Mr.. Tollmidge, related,
it is said, to the late well-known connoisseur,
Lord Lydiard" In the next sentence the
writer of the obitu2Iy notice deplored the
destitute condition oklIrs. Tollmidge and her
ClllQreD,
the world" Lady Lydiard stood by the table,
with her eyes on those lines, and saw but too
plainly the directly in which they pointed
the direction Of her check book.
Turning toward the fireplace she rang the
bell. II can do nothing in this matter" she
thought to herself, ''until I know whether
the report about Mrs. Tollmidge and
her family is to be depended on. Has
cba
the servant appeared at the door. ''Moody"
otherwise her ladyship's stewar6 had not
come back. Lady Lydiard dismissed the sub
ject of the artists widow from further con-
sideration until the steward returned, and
gave her mind to question OF domestic in
terest which lay nearer to her heart. Her
favorite dog had been ailing for some time
past, and no report Of him had reached her
that morning. She opened door near the
fireplace, which led, through little corridor
hung with rare prints, to her own boudoir.
"Isabell" she called out, show is Tommies"
A fresh young voice answered from behind
the curtain which closed the farther end Of
the corridor, "No better, my LADY,"
A low growl followed the fresh young
voice, and added lin dogs language), "Much
worse, my lady-nuch worsem
Lady Lydiard closed the door again, with
a compassionate sigh for Tommie, and walked
slowly to and fro in her spacious drawing
room, waiting for the stewards return.
Accurately described, Lord Lydiard's widow
was short and fat, and perilously near her
sixtieth birthday. But it may be said, with
out paying compliment, that she looked
younger than her age by ten years at least.
Her complexion was Of that delicate pink
tinge which is sometimes seen in old women
with well-preserved constitutions. Her eyes
equally well-preservedl were of that hard
light blue color which wears well, and does
not wash out when tried by the test of tears.
Add to this her short nose, her plump cheeks
that set wrinkles at defiance, her white hair
dressed in stiff little curls and, if doll could
grow DID, Lady Lydiard at sixty would have
been the living image of that doll. taking life
easily on its journey downward to the pref
tiest of tombs, in burial ground where the
myrtles aud roses grew all the year round.