The Press., 1888-03-22

The servants by this time have taken in all their luggage that is, as much as they have been able to bring in the car- riage; and now the two ladies walk up to the steps and enter the hall, their host beside them. -....
 Mrs. Talbot, who has recovered her spirits little, is chat ng gayly, and monopolizing Sir AdrEs& to the best of her ability, whilst E s Delmaine is strangely silent, and eemS lost in kind of pleased woni as she gazes upon all her charming rroundings.
 The last rays of lie are streaming in through the staine lass windows, rendering the old ha1A full of myster- ious beauty. The grim arriors in their coats of mail seem, the entranced gaze of Florence Deh ne, to be mak- ing ready to spring 6m the inches which hold them.
 Waking from her dz hm as she reach- es the foot of the stop staircase, she says abruptly. but V D lovely smile : Surely, Sir Adrian su have ghost in this beautiful old nlace, or a secret staircase, OF, at least bogy of some sort? Do not spoil the romantic look of it by telling me you have no tale of visitant who walks these halls at the dead of night."- eS ..s
 we have no ghost here, am sorry to say," answers Sir Adrian, laughing. "For the first time [ feel distressed and ashamed that it should be so. We can only boast 8 haunted chamber; but there are certain legends about it, l am proud to say, the bare. narration of which would make even the stoutest quail"
 @Good gracious--hoR distinctly run- pleasant" exelaims Mrs. Talbot, with 8 nervous and very effective shudder.
 How distinctly delicious, you mean!" puts in Miss Delmaine. "Sir Adrian, is this chamber anywhere near where I shall sleepT -... .
 "Oh, no; you need not be afraid of thatl" answers DynecQurt hastily.
 "I am not afraid, said the girl sauci- adventure of some sort. l am tired of my prosaic existence. want to know what dwellers in the shadowy realms of ghost-land are like"
 Dear Sir Adrian, do urge her not to talk like that; it is positively wicked" pleads Dora Talbot, glancing at him beseechingly. =.
 Miss Delmaine, you will drive Mrs. Talbot from my house if you persist in laughing again. "Desist, pray you!"
 "Are You afraid, Dora?" asks Flor ence merrily. Then keep close to me- I can defy all evil spirits, I have spells and charms" a
 "You have indeed!" puts in Sir Ad- rian, in tone so low that only she can hear it. And, knowing this, you should be merciful.
 Though she cannot hear what he says, yet Mrs. Talbot can see he is ad- dressing Florence, and marks with some uneasiness the glance that passes from his eyes to hers. Breaking quick ly into the conversation, she says tim idly, laying her hand on her hosts arm
 This shocking room you speak of will not be near minep
 "In another wing altogether" Sir Adrian replies reasSslringly. Indeed it is so far from this part of the castle that one might be safely incarcerated there and slowly starve to death with out any one of tlae AhOusehold being a bit wiser. It is in the north wing in the old tower, portion of the building that has not been i'll use for over fifty years."
 "I breathe again." says Dora Talbot affectedly.
 "I shall traverse every inch of that old tower-haunted room and all-be- fore am week older" declares Flor
  at Adrian again, and follows the maid up the broad staircase to her room.
 By the end of the week many other visitors had been made welcome at the castle; but none perhaps gave so much pleasure to the young barOnet as Mrs. Talbot and her cousin.
 Miss Delmaine, the only daughter and heiress of an Indian nabob, had taken London by storm this past sea- son; and not only the modern Babylon, but the heart of Adrian Dynecourt as we'll, She had come home to England on the death of her father about two years ago; and, having no nearer rela- tives alive, had been kindly received by her cousin, the Hon. Mrs. Talbot, who was then living with her husband in pretty house in Mayfair. Sixtmonths after Florence Delmaine's arrival, George Talbot had succumbed to virulent fever; and his widow, up on whom handsome jOinture had been settled, when the funeral and the necessary law worries had come to an end, had intimated to her young cousin that she intended to travel for year upon the Continent, and that she would be glad, that is-with an elaborate sigh she would be degree less miserable, if she, Florence would accompany her. This delighted Florence. She was wearied with attendance on the sick, having done most of the nursing of the Hon. George, while his wife lamented and slept; and, beside, she was still sore at heart for the loss of her father. The years abroad passed swiftly; the end of it brought them to Paris once more, where, feeling that her time of mourning might be decently terminal ed, Mrs. Talbot had discarded her son. Der robes and put herself into the hands of the most fashionable dress maker she could find.
 Florence, too, discarded mourning for the first time, although her father had been almost two years in his quiet grave amongst the Hills; and, with her cousin, who was now indeed her only friend, if slightly uncongenial, decided to return to London forthwith.
 It was early in May, and, with sen satiOn of extreme and most natural pleasure, the girl looked forward to few months passed amongst the best of those whom she had learned under her cousins auspices to regard as society,""
 Dora Talbot herself was not by any means dead to the thought that it would be to her advantage to introduce into society girl well-born and pos seSSed of an~almOSt fabulous fortune. Stray crumbs must surely fall to her share in connection of this kind, and such crumbs she was prepared to gath or with thankful heart.
 But unhappily she set her affection upon Sir Adrian Dynecourt, with his grand old castle and his princely rent roll-a "crumb" the magnitude and worth of which she was not slow to ap- Preciate: At first she had not deemed it possible that Florence would serious lv rQ0QrA r0nr0 hoTnnnt a caVifa..