The Irish standard., 1889-08-03
whose bright faces, reversed, gave to them

SQ6 laQ asked a6r QuSOauQ why IQ6y
were hung so strangely, and he had grown
pale and agitated, and had answered eva
sively, at the same time leading her away
with some remark entirely foreign to the
question.
Being curious concerning the portraits,
and mystifed by her husbands unsatis-
factory reply, she sought an interview with
Clarkson, telling her of Sir Rupert's I'M
explainab]e demeanor during her visit to the
gallery. Thus it happened that she heard
the legend Of her husbands ancestors re-
LATED
Aud the hOusekeeper had, with all the
superstitious influence of her Irish nature,
impressed on the susceptible mind of her
mistress the weight Of the whitening sor-
row of this woeful legend.
Yet it had never come to her, after all, as
forcibly as when the innocent, upturned
face on her agonized bosom proclaimed her
the mother Of "the eldest child-a daugh-
teri
Then Lady Percival had shuddered and
wept over the sleeping infant, gathering
her closer to her aching heart and wailing:
"Oh! my darling my precious child; my
Inflated one! May the kind Father, in His
mercy. spare thee from this awful thing-a
fathers hatred"
With her tear-wet cheek pressed to that
Of her child Lady Percival could hear the
plying tones of the housekeeper once more
as she ended the recital. sAh! me Teddy,
an OHM sorry for yes that's niver hear'n
tell O. the loikes ov this therible thing, that
cooms to all ov 'em that's born under the
curse. Thin faces what's turned away
from We, ma'am, is ov thin ez has bin ban
ished from the house. They hev to bear it,
me Teddy, for there's not ony thing to
sthand forninst an 1nany's the prayer for
marcy am forgiveness ez has COON from
broken hearts within these walls, an niver
been listened to, naythur."
Now, with the birth of her daughter it all
came back so painfully and wildly, that to
her supersensitive soul it seemed that the
trio of reversed faces on the wall Of the
gallery gazed down in plying sorrow on
the little form so dear to her mothers
heart.
And Sir Rupert walked the corridors si-
lent and gluln, little thinking that the DEL
entailed by the birth Of the daughter. His
only comfort lay in the thought that she
was bGssfully ignorant of it all as he paced
up and down in an aimless march. But the
bitterness of the wormwood he had hoped
to keep from her cup had been put to her
lips through his reticence in the rudest and
most thoughtless manner.
The season Of gloom ashered in by Miri~
ANS advent gradually became dispelled,
and the sunlight Of happy content shone
from Lady Percival's sweet eyes and illu-
mined the visage of Sir Rupert as the child
grew. beautiful, bright, and above all else,
affectionate.
1t was then that hope sprang up in the
bosom of the mother.
She would watch as the child grew;
watch and palliate any dislikes, smooth down
any differences which might spring up be-
tween the two she loved.
She, with her great wealth of affection,
would avert, On at least mollify, amy trouble
threatening an arrangement
To this hope Lady Percival chung as Miri-
am developed into beautiful childhood,
Sir Rupert seemed very fond of his
bright little daughter, and spent many
hours with her after she was old enough to
prat1le her childish witticisms TO his
paternal ear He seemed to have forgotten
the ancestral anathema, as he amused the
child by the hour, driving or strolling about
for her pleasure. Perhaps he was trying,
in ceaseless endeavor, to foil the evil in
Ruence lowering over the name, and with
fathers love break it's spell III this genera
ton. Thus the fond mother argued, NOS
dreaming that deep in the heart OF her hus-
band there lurked terrible dread of the
day when the happy days should have an
ending, darker and more sorrowful than
death. He was certain the evil days would
fall, and he WAS right.
The clouds of fate were already in the
horizon of the fair heavens, although the
fair mother, trusting and ever hopeful, per-
ceived not their baleful gathering.
And so it happened that the day arrived
when the black cloud of vengeful darkness
came between the sun and the dial, and all
their lives were henceforth Swallowed by
the storm cloud without silver lining.
They were walking in the park all three,
in the lovely weather and Miriam, running
on before her parents, w, to all appear
ances the very embodiment OF beauty and
affection. Her bright curls flying in the
soft sweet air, anu ner tiny red boots twink
ling over the close-cut sward as she sporied
among the trees, delighted the eyes of the
mother She looked up with a word Of af-
fectlonate admiration on her lips, only to
see such strange, yearning look on the face
of her husband that she forgot her remark
in the chill OF apprehensive terror which
seized her. Such an expression OF deep
emotion on the countenance Of Sir Rupert
could never be forgotten. Ali what could
it mean2 Why should she, of all others,
ask?
Her heart refused it's usual beating, and
the trees seemed as it in a mist, while her
husbands face she saw as one sees faces in
troubled dream.
Then she put her trembling hand on his
arm and looked the wretched question she
did not dare to put into words.
Sir Rupert started as if from terrible
dream, and looked down into the face of
pale, frightened inquiry moment, as iftry
ing to read her thoughts. stShe is older in
heart than in years." he replied, slowly
with dash of keenest pain in his voice, as
his troubled vision turned toward the child.
s'She is getting old enough to-hateme, and
it will fall, how or when know not, but of
one thing am certain, and that is the COM
ing arrangement. have felt q strange
presentiment present with me for weeks,
and
He stopped short, as if alarmed at having
made this confession, and had otLady Per-
oval understood, through previous infor-
nation, his words would have been a mean
ingless riddle. As it was, too well she
knew to what he referred.