New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1888-08-12


be in other respects he was genuinely w Jrayine
Three minutes later Margery entered inc ar"MinS
ROOM accompanied BY Mrs Jcnrick, sun " -
some widow of forty. who hyed III I hnws ym.
very pleasant cottage orncc, within poMsnoU
OF the rcctory. The vicar made tne in''ue'". -,
in due FORM and scarcely were 'ney 0v Whit TO-
day her only ornement being n damasK rose III
The bosom of her dress. She made ci,si in' SO
picture, and Mr. Gascolgne e rnnIv pcfraying
The gaze he bent her so ireqnent,N i So n
as much admiration rs was comn',ipn "ifm rt rVI
breeding Margcry had cautioned MIS- , ogn adns'
and as matter of course, neither OF inc Ia',gs'
| when the introduction took place, ailo"o" ~.
Cascoicne for one moment to suspect tnat they
were conscious of there BENG any 'hins o"' Va VIZ
| common in his appearance. -
Wr Gascoignc NJ table looked Us other men
! look: he sat quite high as his nos, anu MS
! shoulders were nearly as broad but had any one
| necncd nndcr the table they would have seen thaI
| Inc toes Of his tiny dress barely 'oucheu
the ground His features were g0od anu ~ ad
| Of the opposite sex he was doubtless considered
| an rmincntly handsome man. HIS nose was
aGuiIinc but not prominently so; he had wiae-
orn hazel eyes and very pcasal!t sliiisJ'
| brown His dress-suit might almost be termed
! work OF art, so admirably did it lit hn.
There were evident traces Of shyness I9r me me
! first few minutes in his manner towards the
ladies' although il was far from being the shyneSS
Of rustcity; but it quickly wore away, ana PC
fore long he seemed as much at his ease as II
ne had been in the habit OF sitting at the
rcctory for years. 1t was then found that he
could talk sensibly and well on a variety of
ancc with London and Paris. while he handled
certain questions of the day after the fashion oil
one who is in the habit of speaking with some
degree of authority. OF himself personally he
made little mention. Having a few idle weeks
on his hands, he had sought out quiet nook
where lie could SKETCH or fish, or lie Oh his back
I in the and do nothing, without being called
to account by anybody.
Later they had music Here again Mr.. Gas
coigne was at home lie had a pleasant. light
tenor voice. which had evidently been carefully
cultivated. and he sang with taste and feeling
several mOrccauX. both English and Italian. Music
was Margerys one special accomplishment, ana
when Mr.. Gascognc praised her playing 1t was
clear that he spoke from conviction and not from
any desire to hattcr her. After that they had
q stroll by the light of the young moon IN the
sWcct-slnciling GARDEN IN which Inc fragrance
Of a hundred bygcLc summers seemed stlli TO
. linger. The rector and Mrs. Jcnrlck' who were
cronies of long standing paired naturally, jeaVDS
the younger couple 10 themselves. II is posi- ble
that Mr.. Gascoigne fccitated himself on his skill
in drawing Margcry out, when the petite wn i
began TO talk Of hersclt-of her dreams her as
pirations, her Ignorance of the, great world
outside the village boundaries, and OF her lonely
hut far from unhappy life at the old rectory'
Simple minded Mr.. GascOigne,
In any ease. he seemed TO derive great satisfac-
ton from listening to the confessions of this ten
der little sOul-sO fresh so virginia., so Isolated,
with ignorance Of life and all It's burning
questions which was at once amusing ana "a
thctic in tho naivctc Of its expression. Inc
rector ard the widow, TO whom the garden
by moonlight coniurcd up visions Of rheumatism
rather than Of romance had been deep in game
Of bcziquc for some time before Margcry- dccmns,
perhaps, that she had confessed enough for one
cVcnng-and her companion went indoors III
tie later came Mr.. GascOigncs fly. The rector
wrunc an easily cXtortcd promise from ms guest
that this first visit should not be his last, besides
which cement was come to for certain hsll-
ing excursions to be taken in company. 10 the
Rev Dyke. in the loneliness and isolation of Whltc
apple Ar GascOignc. fresh from the world OF men
and things and brimful Of information. came Ike
a vcritable godscnd. and he resolved to secure as
much Of his society as possible while he had the
chance Of it, Besides might not certain other pos
sibiIitics loom in the future!
When Mr. Gascoiene was gone the rector cs-
corted Mrs Jcnricl as fer as the gate Of Jonqnil
Cottage q ceremony he never pretcrmttcd when
ever the charming widow honorcd his roof with
her presence. Indeed, there were not wanting soS.
sips in the village TO whisper that whenever IL
should please Providence to remove Mrs Fcrmor
number two from this vale of tears, people would
not have far TO look FOR Mrs Fcrmor number three
Here il may be mentioned that. such a noncntity
had Mrs Fcrmor number two by this time become,
and so much did her maladics real and imaginary,
keep her to the rooms set apart for her IT had not
been deemed necessary, as FAR as Mr. GaScOlgnc
was concerned, even TO alludc to the existence oil
such person.
would give something to know who and what
our friend really Isl sad the Itrv. Dyke 10
his daughter On his return from cscOrtlnS MrS.Jcn-
You have formed some opinion about him.
papa. I've no doub.. What would you guess
him TO he ?"
( not necessarily rich, but sufficiently weltOdo Ia
be able to i've without worIing-a condition OF
affairs l would gladly initiate were III position
to do So lie is who has travelled, who
las read and who has thOught-tlrcc things which
do not always go together. lie is evidently worth
cultivatng and we must %nGeaEGr to %a aSGer' %
! played him such scurvy trick. But for that
there might have becn-whO knows? Pa chance fol
: Margcry Daw." lie pointed the tips OF his ing
ers together and smiled mcaningly at his daughter
Papa" answered Margcry, who was not smii
ing at al. d" am nearly sure that have found ou
who Mr.. Gascoigne really is'
Tho dickens you have! But how did yot
make the dscOvery?'
That l will tell you presently. II I'm right il
my superstition, our visitor OF today is known u
! the world at large as the Earl OF Chestnut.
The rector stared aGape at his daughter for few
moments rs though 5crcit of the faculty OF speech
, The moment 1 set eyes on him. resumed
Margery, " / experienced an odd sense OF havlni
, seen him somewhere before. All through dlnhe
, | was puzzling my brains trying to recall whcr
and when had met him. At length the knowi
edge came to me in flash. You Will rememDe
that at different times Johnny ransom has sen
us a COPY Of The Buttonhodcr'-thc society
journal that issues cartoons of all sorts OF celeb
rites. Well felt nearly sure that Mr. Oascilsic
or some one vc"y much like him, had been carlo
aiurcd in one Of the cartoons IN question Whei
we left the table made an excuse to Mrs Jchricl
and ran up TO the lumber-room. There, ate
hunting for a few minutes, found the number o
The Buttonholder / in search OF. III Mr
iascoignc and Lord Chestnut be not one and tn
same person. then must Nature IN their case nav
done what she very rarely does-dupilcated he
= handiwork'
This is most extraordinary! most astounding"
| caspcd the rector " You aid not say word o
your discovery to Mrs. Jenrick?"
Papa, what do you take me for 2
With that Margcry ran up stairs ana presently
: rcappgarcd with the number of The BGttOn
, holder" containing the cartoon Of the Earl o
: Chestnut which she gave to her father
The rcctor's hands trcmblcd little as he place.
: his glasses on his nose. lie gazcd at the carlca
, ture long and earnestly; then he said in his mos
unctuous, ecclesiastical tones: IL is quite eVl
, dent my dear, that have been entertaining, no
an angel. but a peer Of the realm, unawares'
, Which have no doubt is much the same thin
: in tie eyes of a great many people, sad Mhfger!
t slyly.
The rector turned 20 the brief notice of his lord
shin which accompanied the cartoon.
There is more popular member Of the -Four