Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1888-01-22

he did not care much about this new
scheIne; but WIS 10th 10 oFeEd Mrs.
C1;l!!pgton or appear Indifferent to her
ambitious views.
"Lafy Bray brooke-whst : uiocksTJ :"
vas ever Melsuie's secret thought. And
low, how to make Montague L1nstale
! understand more fully the cruel pressure
/ That had beGn put upon heT-.he etc
| Of the false rEmor cf his dtsth-ard that
! she hld never forgotten and neyei de-
ceived hin.
CHAPTER LxI.-GosSIP.
"You here, Lousdale. after clip"
"Hallo-Bnke? Val Blk, CT the
| Kings Dragon Gu2rds?"
"Ihe ssme, my boy. Glad 10 see you
| alive and well, Old man," was the &C me
what parsdoxicsl response, as Lonsdale
found his hand shaken by TIA issllsnt Off
cer il the eno6iDg-r00m II the N4V-I sud
Military Club.
Not that L9nsda,e had ever much
affected the society Of the blase and,
sooth to say, somewhat bloated aud
"beery" looking csvalTymsn, but lis fIce
was 6 familisr one snd smid the ever
changing society Of the club wss one Of
the few he now knew The gay Val was
so bibulous that ne alwsys looked, as bis
NESS said, "like 6 fellow half sprung, or
On half cock"
$50 you escaped those niger fellows
in the land OF the white elephant" said
| Billie, profering his handsome silver
ciger-csse. "Try one OF my fayorite
brand"
"Thsnks-yes, I gave them the slip"
| "A1d have you come home invaded
with SICK That is like the blind leading
the blind, as Byron says" said Bike,
whose knowledge of literature WAS some
what hsZy; "but did not expect you to
turn up here. looking SO well ana jolly,
alter being killed and buried by d.
colts"
"Jolly2 Well, 1 cannot say that quite
| feel SO. Fever at Rspgoon nearlysfnished
me-" replied Lonsdale. l have come
| home to find health; though l cannot say
have much TO live for now-so mSny
old friends are gone, aad l care not 10
cultivate new.'
"Oh, d-n it, don't begin to moralise,
old man." said Bike, burying his some
what purple nose in beaker of brandy
and settler. ~ nave often thought that
it is wonderful what a man can go
| through-marching fighting, disease and
| as before, egad, and never seem to get
| old"
Lonsdale, not thinking this remark
merited reply, smoked On in silence; so
Val Bike .wirIed his carefully waxed and
| dyed mOustache and said:
"Y0u remember D'Oyley, Of Ours-Bob
D'Oyley. He has succeeded to his title,
and is now in the Upper House; though
he won't be much use there, fancy"
"Whst OF him." asked Lonsdale, with
ill-concealed indifference.
ga gay old bird. He is dropping into
! & good thing"
"His title, you mean, or the estAtes?"
"Better than either, the eststcs, per-
hsps, particularly"
'Iu what Way"
"a charming widow-cne scarcely &
wife, they say; but widows were always
Bob's pet weakness. You remember that
pretty little one who was at GRASS in Cal
cutta till her calamity turned up, to the
establishment OF Us all. Then
Bob's sensible admiration for married
women has always been the saving OF him.
But the grass widow of Ca!cutta-LsdY
| whst's-her-nsme'S supposed companion,
whose husband, an Infantry man, wa
killed in Burmsh, you know" continued
Bike, ending what he meant to say by
putting his nose egain in his sparkling
oeaker and becoming little involved un-
der the gaze OF L2nsdsle, who resented
this public reference to the story OF NJ on :
tresser and his wife, poor little Claire.
"You don't mean to say that the colonel
Is dangling sitter her agsin-here Ia Lon
don?' he asked. *
"Not st all, not at all; he is flying al
higher game. really think he metns to
become respectable and settle Fdown
quietly ct last. Tney say II is quite q
case between him aud the young beSat3,
d, Lady Braybrooke."
"What did you ssy-WhO?"
"Lady Biaybrooke, by Jove!"
This rel binder edectually silenced Ions
dale. WHAT was really meant or inferred,
what had TRANSFERRED within 80 short d
space, or what was now transpiri1g, he
knew not; but while he silently resented
the mention Of Melanie's name in this
blunt and Of-hand way In such o public
place, and its being coarsely coupled with
that OF such man as Lord D'Oyley, be
wss unsble to show any vital interest in
toe matter or ask any information about
it. However. amid thesbanter Of few
vacant fellows, who were intreI caed be-
hind their journals on lounges or IN essy
chairs, be Cleaned that tie sudden widow
hood Of MelanIe On her we'd
ding morning, together with her
beauty and reputed wealth
and sudden appearance in public places,
under the chsperonage Of Mrs. Chilling
ton, had made her q kind Of nine-daYs'
wonder even In London; and thst
D'Gyley, an old friend-some!said whilom
admirer-of her aunt, was in asuch close
standardization daily dooty, don't you
| know, and all that sort CT thing"-that it
must eventually lead up to something of
| tie kind towards Melsnie, and in due
course matrimony.
ca landing at Portsmouth, Lopsdale
had heard early Of the bsronet's sudden
demise; but he hsd sleo heard CT his
marriage, as fact, before it-sn un-
i pleasant fact for him to swallow; one
which seemed somehow to separate him
rudely and suddenly from Melanie, and
made him fee. as If the new
ties cancelled all the old be-
| tween them. All the more nov
| dill this seem when In this sccursed club
gossip her name was "muddled up" with
| thst Of such sn utter vsurion IS D'Oyley
Of the Kings Dragon Guards. And lest
he might hear more that was eq9slly
Calling, unpleasant and unp.latsbie, he
retired and sought the solitude OF his
own rooms.
His return to London had summoned
back keenly all the fond, the sweet and
tender memories, that were beginning,
even with him, to lose their first acute
| =