The times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1882-1897, 1886-08-20
FIVE MILLION POUNDS
BY T. wEMYss REID.

The principal scenes are laid at Celebrated
watering place
I had heard of the house as ono of the
finest relics of domestic architecture left in
Yorkshire, which is rich in such remains;
but had not even the faintest conception of
its whereabouts in @the broad county"
And SO our talk ran on until all at once the
band ceased to play, and to our amazement
we discovered that the luncheon hour had
arrived, and that the stream of loungers
was already pouring toward the gates.
offered Mr.. Mauleverer my arm, for he
looked very worn and frail He accepted IL
with thanks that were out of proportion to
the favor But II he had been even more
.exuberant In his expressions OF gratitude l
should have counted them as nothing com
pared with the look Of pleasure l detected
on the face of his niece. Never, surely, was
a simple act of every day courtesy more
richly repaid.
This is not, alasl love story 1t deals
with other things besides love, and so shall
not dwell upon the happy days that followed
by far the happiest have ever known in
my placid, uneventful life. Day after day
found me by Daisy's side, and / was the
recognized attendant of her and the million
afro whenever they appeared in the saloon
grounds Once or twice accompanied them
on drives to neighboring places of interest,
and by and by, when Mr.. Mauleverer's health
improved, we went for long walks together.
Inever saw Daisy during the whole of this
time by herself. When her uncle could not
leave the hotel she invariably remained with
him. Many days Of delightful companion
ship passed before had my first chance OF
speaking to her alone.
Even then the chance was brought about
in a somewhat ludicrous fashion. The so
ciety papers, were now full of Mr.. Maulev-
erer and his millions. I could not take up
one of them in which did not find his name.
Now it was some wonderful story that was
told about the magniicence with which
Great Lorton Hall was being furnished and
otherwise prepared for his residence; now 1t
was a yacht which he had bought from the
executors of deceased duke, and which was
being redecorated for his use in accordance
with the traditions Of the arabian Nights,
rather than any more sober or prosaic pre-
cedents; and now it was an elaborate calcu-
lation of the number of guineas per hour
which by day and night were being poured
into the pockets of my friend.
When l read these tales / found it very
difficult to connect them with the plain,
almost shabbily dressed gentleman, who,
although he had secured the best suite of
rooms at the hotel, still lived in perfect SIM
pIcity of style, and gave no evidence either
Of the possession Of wealth or the taste for
extravagant expenditure which, if these tales
were true, he undoubtedly had. never, of
course, made any reference to these news
paper paragraphs when was with Maulev-
erer and his niece. Daisy, l was certain,
knew nothing of them, and would have been
revolted by their vhlgarity; while l was
strongly induced to suspect that the million
aire himself was equally ignorant.
But If / put all this gossip aside as being
probably nothing more than the concoction
of imaginative penny-a-liners, it was taken
very seriously by' not few of the people
around us. The more Mauleverer and his
millions were talked about in the newspapers,
indeed, the more wild most persons became
to secure his acquaintanceship.
There was lady staying at the Grand
hotel for whom l had conceived strong
aversion from the first, and who apparently
regarded me with just as little favor as
showed her. Yet l had, as it turned out,
great reason to be grateful to her.
Mrs Domville, the lady in question, was
very big, very stout, with a flaming scarlet
face the color OF which in its richness
matched the ribbons and dresses she habitu.
ally wore She was constant attendant at
those balls of which have spoken, which are
perhaps the most Objectionable of all the
features of life at Scarborough during the
season. On these occasions she was invari-
ably accompanied by her son and daughter,
the former weedy-looking youth of twenty,
the latter big and bouncing like her mother,
and handsome into the bargain, which is
more than one could have said of Mrs. DOM
vile herself
It happened that had danced on one &C.
casion with the daughter. 1t was when q
ball was held in our own hotel, and had
been pressed into the service by an agonized
master of the ceremonies, who found that the
demand for dancing men far exceeded the
supply. Miss Domville was not a person
who cared to encourage the attentions of an
unknown swain. Goodness knows that she
had no reason to snub me on this account,
for after our single dance was quite ready
to drop the acquaintance; but snub me she
did. and her mother evidently encouraged
her in doing so.
i was not little surprised, therefore,
when, CHANGING to meet Mrs Domville one
day in the hall of the hotel was saluted by
her with warmth that was more than
usually friendly.
"Oh, my dear Mr.. Fenton, am so pleased
to see you again. What time it Is since
we met Are you to be at the ball tonight
Pray come and ask Arabella for the first
waltz Shall tell her to engage herself for
ita Now / know how good natured you are.
You will never say no, am sure"
Thus the magnificent creature ran on in q
style which almost took my breath away.
did say "No," however, and rather bluntly,
too She was in no wise Disconnected.
"By the way" she said, al havea particu
lar favor to ask of you. sec that you arc
acquainted with the Mauleverers. Now,
am quite certain that Mr.. Mauleverer is the
friend of very dear friend of my own.
have heard so much about him that l really
must speak to him. So now look TO you tc
introduce me the next time we meet"
Mrs. Domville looked so formidable thai
it required some courage to show any hesita
tion in promising to crafty her wish
Nevertheless, l did hesitate, for knew tina
the promiscuous acquaintance Mr. Mau
leverer had hitherto made in tho hotel hac
apparently bored him. was, indeed, not
little afraid that myself was no exception
to the rule.
II think l must ask Mr.. Mauleverer him
self before can promise to do that" re
A. l.. l.. 49,