Weekly commercial herald. (Vicksburg, Miss.) 1884-18??, 1886-05-28
CHAPTER III.
0 M%IsFoRTUNE

1t was dark as father n son drove nome,
and Percival was greatly startled when,
almost as soon as the horses began to move,
the rector threw himself upon him, and, sob
bling like a child, called out:
II am a ruined man, Percy-a ruinedmanV'
The explanation which followed this an
nouncement was in all its main features new
to Percival, who had never known any par
ticulars of his fathers affairs. The facts,
which may be briefly told, were these: Brent
senior was the son of a father who had mar
ried twice, and the rector lac now a half
brother nearly twenty years older than him
self. This brother, under his mothers mar
riage settlement, had inherited all her prop
erty, which was very large. The father had
a life interest in it, but at his death the whole
passed absolutely to her only child. Rector
Brent's father had ever been a careless and
imprudent man, who, having married for
t~unately, lived on his wife's money. After
her death he married again, as has been said,
and his second wife died in the same month
as himself; but his reckless and improvident
character was plainly seen by the state in
which his affairs were left. He might easily
have saved, and saved handsomely, for the
education and maintenance OF his second son,
our rector, but as a matter Of fact he died SO
deeply in debt that even his furniture had to
be sold to satisfy his creditors. Young Brent
was then at Oxford preparing for the church,
but it seemed as if his whole future must be
altered. At this time his brother came for
ward, and although he had never been kindly
used by the second Mrs. Brent, he now, with
great generosity, resolved to help his brother;
and he made him an ample allowance for his
university expenses. Under these circum-
stances a very cordial friendship sprang up
between the two, and this friendship had
hitherto been unbroken. The elder brother
did not marry, being studious; and if not
a woman Halter, certainly not a woman
hunter. As time went ON, and the younger
brothers position and requirements grew,
the elder increased the allowance he
made him, and now for several years he
had been giving the rector fifteen hundred
per annum. This, he promised, should be
continued to his death, when an ample pro-
vision would be made for himself and hisson.
This arrangement had gone on for many
years u~ndisturbedn but a short time before,
to Rector Brents great establishment, his
brother, then over seventy, told him he
meditated marriage. The facts were soon
out. A strong-minded Irish widow, of god
family, with a file of tall, hungry, pennies
sons, had marked him for her own. There
followed, in the usual artful sequel, fiattery
and amiable persecution. The old man was
cajoled, managed, and, in the last stages of
the affair, bullied, until, withouthis brothers
knowledge, he was actually married to the
triumphant widow, who wrote to the rector,
explaining the haste and secrecy of the tram
saction by the state of ''our dear Henry's
nervous SYSTEM The elter brother assured
his junior that the marriage would make no
difference in his allowance or his subsequent
prospects; and for twelve months this prom
ise was kept. But the old man was growing
feeble, and his wife impatient. Her sons
were expensive, and she wished to secure
everything for them. By what means could
not be ascertained, but she spirited her hus-
band away to the south of France. Under
the plea Of bronchial disease and nervous
prostration, she shut him up from society;
and when, a few months before, the rector,
growing uneasy, had gone to Cannes to see
his brother, he was not admitted to the house,
being comforted by the assurance that every
thing was being done TO restore, or at least to
compose, uedf IleuIy ueIfOuS S9sCOm' ~
tell the rest in a few words, on the morning OF
Sibyls marriage the poor rector received a
letter, written by his brother himself, in
which, after some vague sentences about "oss
Of money" failure Of investments, and in
creasing expenses" he plainly said that he
inclosed the last check which he would ever
be able to send. The letter closed with a
postscript, in which the rector was reminded
that already a great deal had been done for
him, which genial stroke was due to the die
tation Of the accomplished Mrs. Brent So
our unhappy rector found himself placed in
the position Of the holder Of a benefice worth
scarcely a hundred a year, after outgOings, a
costly establishment, luxurious habits, de-
Ginning years, and a son who had been led TO
expect fortune as bis Inheritance.