Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1886-02-19
had not Thought IL desirable TO menr,uN
interview at which Old Sharon had chess

permission to go out, Dut 10 expecV Aiiu W
leave word down stairs of the time at which
he is likely to return. When he did come
back, after an absence of some hours, |
naturally asked for an explanation Would
you believe ita he simply informed me that
be had been away on business of his own, ex-
pressed no regret, and offered no explana-
tion-in short, spoke as If he were an indie
pendent gentleman. You may not think it,
but kept my temper. I merely remarked
that hoped it would not happen again He
made me low, aud he said My business
is not completed yet, my lady. ! cannot
guarantee that it may not call me away
again at a moments notice. What do You
think OF thats Nine people out Of ten would
have given him warning to leave their SER
vice / begin to think / am q wonderful
woman; only pointed to the door. One does
hear sometimes Of mems brains softening in
the most unexpected manner. / have my
suspicious Of Moody's brains, can tell you"
Mr.. Troy's suspicious took q different
direction; they pointed along the line OF
streets which led to Old Sharons lodgings.
Discreetly silent as to the turn which his
thoughts had taken, he merely expressed
himself as feeling too much surprise to offer
any opinion at all.
swat q little" said Lady Lydiard; 81
seen boy here in pages livery, think
Well, he is a good boy, and he has gone home
for weeks holiday with his friends. The
and and atSsr en
is, Of course, the youngest footman, lad Of
only q few years older than himself. What
do you think Moody doess Engages stranger,
with the house full Of idle men servants al
this morning heard them wonderfully merry
IN tbs servants hall--so merry that the noise
and laughter found its way up stairs to the
breakfast room. ! Ike my servants to be In
good spirits, but It certainly did strike me
that they were getting beyond rsas sons ;a
formed that the noise was all due to the jokes
of the strangest old man that ever was seen,
In other words to the person whom my
steward had taken it on himself to engage In
the pages absence. spoke to Moody on the
subject. He answered in an odd, confused
way, that he had exercised his discretion to
the best of his Judgment, and that lit
wished IT. he would tell the old man to keep
his good spirits under better control
asked him how he came to hear Of the man.
He only answered. BY accident, my LADY,
and not one word more could get out OF
him, good or bad. Moody engages the SER
wants, as you know; but on every other occa-
sion he has invariably consulted me before
an engagement was settled / really don't
feel at all sure about this person who has
been so strangely introduced into the house;
he may be Q drunkard or a thief. wish
you would speak to Moody yourself, Mr.
Troy. Do you mind ringing the bellf'
Mr.. Troy rose, as matter OF course, and
rang the bell
He was by this time, 1t is needless to say,
convinced that Moody had not only gone
back to consult Old Sharon on bis own re-
sponsibility, but, worse still, had taken the
unwarrantable liberty of introducing him as
spy into the house. To communicate this
explanation to Lady Lydiard would, in her
present humor, be simply to produce the dis
only other alternative was to ask leave to
interrogate Moody privately, and, after
duly reproving him, to insist on the departure
of Old Sharon as the one condition on which
Mr. Troy would consent to keep Lady Lydiard
In ignorance Of the truth.
if your ladyship will permit me to see him in
private, the lawyer said. "Shall go down
stairs ana speak to him in his own rooms'
why SHOULD you trouble yourself to do
thatF' said her ladyship. "See him here,
and will 90 into the boudoir.m
AS she made that reply the footman ap
peared at the drawing room door.
''Send Moody here,n said Lady Lydiard
The footman's answer, delivered at that
moment, assumed an Importance which was
not expressed in the footman's words. "My
| lady" he said, "Mr. Moody has gone out"
CHAPTER XIII.
While the strange proceedings Of the stew
ard were the subject Of conversation between
Lady Lydiard and Mr.. Troy Moody was
| alone in his ROOM occupied in writing to Isa-
BEL Being unwilling that any eyes but his
own should see the address, he had himself
posted his letter, the time that he had chosen
| for leaving the house proving, unfortunate
ly, to be also the time proposed by her ladyz
ship for his interview with the lawyer In
ten minutes after the footn,an had reported
his absence, Moody returned. It was then
too late to present himself in the drawing
room In the interval Mr.. Troy had taken
his leave, and Moody's position had dropped
q degree lower in Lady Lydiards estima-
ton
Isabel received her letter by the next
mornings post If any justification Of Mr.
Troy's suspicious had been needed, the terms
In which Moody wrote would have amply
suppliedit.
DEAR ISABEL q hope I may call you
Isabel without offending you in your pres
ent troublet-I have proposal to make
which, whether you accept it or not, / beg
you will keep a secret from every living
creature but ourselves. You will understand
my request when l add that these lines relate
to the matter Of tracing the stolen bank
note
~ have been privately in communication
with person in London who is, as believe,
the one person competent to help us in gain,
ing our end. He has already made many in,
quiries in private With some of them am
acquainted; the rest he has thus far kept to
himself. The person to whom / allude par.
9n,,t~- ivxx H. - Ill
versation with you-in my presence. I arm
bound to warn you that he is very strange
and very ugly old man, and can only hope
that you will look over his personal appear
ance in consideration of what he Is likely to
do for yon.
Can you conveniently meet us at tbs far
Their end Of the row Of villas in which your
aunt lives, the day after tomorrow, at four
o'clocks Let me have one line to say il you
will keep the appointment, and If the hour
named will suit you And believe me your
devoted friend and servant,
s'RogEar Moody
The lawyers warning to her TO he careful
how she yielded too readily to any propo al
OF Moody's required to Isabel's mind whils
she read those lines. Being pledged to
secrecy, she could not consult Mr. Troy-she
was left to decide for herself
No obstacle stood in the way OF her frea
choice Of alternatives. After their early
dinner, at three O'Clock, Miss Pink habitually
retired to her own room. ''to mediate, " az
she expressed it. Her ''meditaiions' in.
variably ended in a sound sleep of some
hours; and during that interval Isabel was
at liberty to do as she pleased. After con-
siderable hesitation, her implicit belief in
Moody's truth and devotion. assisted by a
strong feeling Of curiosity TO see the COM
panion with whom the steward had associated
himself, decided Isabel on consenting to keep
the appointment
Taking up her position beyond the houses
on the day and at the hour mentioned by
Moody, she believed herself to be fully pre-
pared for the most unfavorabe impression
which the most disagreeable of all possible
strangers could produce.
Rut the first appearance of Old Sharon
as dirty as ever. clothed in a long, frowzy,
gray overcoat, with his pug dog at his heels,
and his keblackened pipe in his month,
with tall white hat on his head, which
looked as if it had been picked up in gutter,
hideous leer in his eyes, and iaunty trip
in his walk-took her so completely by sur
prise that she could only return Moody's
(-~s--