New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1889-09-22
Latimcr,
The Great House,
Latmcr,

Miss Frances Latimer?" For Il moment or two
She wondered in confused foolish kind OF fas non
who this Miss Frances Latlmer might be; then
suddenly mental lllumna,lOn, an intuition
lucid a certainty, struck hcr with sharp pam.
They were Jack Fanshawe's letters, and they
Were meant for her
4 tumult OF pa ,SionS swept over her quiet
soul; curiosity, indignation and TcaWakened love.
She trembled like leaf, and the cat. evidently
frightened at her emotion, sprang down from the
table and took refuge under sofa.
For some minutes Frances sat the letters be-
fore her, the sealed paper IN her hand too shaken
and confused tc think or act, but at last She
rose, moved to the fireplace and deliberately
broke the seal and unfOlded the slip of paper.
it WAS written all over in her greataunts line
Italian hand. close, minute, but clear as print.
Frances gave one look at the face above her
looking cllmly and proudly down upon her aglta-
ton, and with sudden hardening Of eyes and
heart began TO read.
Should this secret drawer and its contents
ever come to the eyes OF my great-niccc, Frances
Mary Latmer, or any of my descendants II is
necessary to my honor ana mat OF our house thar
there should be some explanation Of ITS eN-
istcnce. | shall not speak here Of the love and
hopes which ]. an old and weary woman, have
centred upon Frances; she best knows how great
they were.
She also knows in some sort my rcpugnance
to matrimony and my innate dstrust Of men. If
| could have done consistently with my loyalty
toward our house and name, | would have kept
her unmarried rs IL was, | desired 10 see her
marry one who would consent 10 take her name,
and whose birth and fortune ut least cquallcd her
own. Tears went by, ana she fPluSed many
sO-called eligible oilers, and l had begun TO
reconcile my sense of loyalty with my natural
wishes, and TO look forward to future for my
child. honorable, peaceful, and undlsturbed by
the chances and uncertainties of married life.
These hopes for the future were rudey dis
PEELED by sutton for her hand who found favor
with her Mr.. Jack Fanshawe. / failed TO see
that he could have any attraction for her; he
had neither good looks nor fine fortune to dazzle
with and had no anxiety about their frequent
opportunities of meeting. That a young man
nod M
make open love to my niece a possibility
which l. with my old-fashiOned ideas of honor
and duty never contemplated even Tor an III
slant"
The swift blood rushed to Miss Latimers
face. and her lips curled contemptuously
:" I ought 10 have known how little weicht such
words as honor and duty would have had with
the son of Lucy Fanshawe. | have no wish to
sneak evil of the dead, even though through her
came the bittcreSt sorrow Of my he, the alena-
tion of nv husbands affections; but she was ut
beSt careless heartlesS woman and / was thank
full she never paid but one visit to our nelsLbor-
hood in that one visit she contnVed 10 rum
All nv happiness and. though l hope | have
forgiven her cannot trust one OF her name ana
blood After he left Latimer, Mr.. Fanshawe
wrote me two letters urging his SUIT with iran
cps: to her lac wrote no less than SIX times. his
letters 10 me | have burnt. they were mine, anu
were of value to no one else but my sense OF
honor forbade me TO destroy or ledd letters al
dressed 10 my niece. | have therefore no kno"l-
edge OF their contents. ana can only peg thdl
those into whose hands they may fall VIII destroy
them unread if my niece should happen 10 ne
dead or hand them over 10 her If living. hope
and believe that the pain | shall have cost her
by withholding these letters will he amply com
pcnsatnd and atoned for by the suffering shall
| thereby have spared her. is the wife OF Mr.:
| Fanshawe sic could never have been happy. and
| her happiness i now nay only care and thought
Sarah FOrlvcc Latimcr."
The Iaper fell from Miss LaumerS hands, ana
| with passionate eageTneSS She caught db the
| letters They were arranged in order of date,
and all bore the stamp of q manly and honorable
| passion The first two were glowing ouiouISts
| of n love which the writer said he had hardly
dared speak of 10 her in the first blessed reiIil
| tion that it was returned The third was stlll
tender. but full Of reproach for her silence the
| fourth showed n Just and growing resentment
| and the fifth coldly relnquishcd suit 10 which
| her continual silence nothing less than an
| insult Nevertheless IN the last letter which
| WAS dated two years later than the others the
| writer told her that he had obtained pIoilotlol
and that With u legacy left him by an uncle,
! justified him, he thought, in renewing his en-
| tTeaties A spirit Of pride, as great AS Madam
| own. breathcd in the later letters, and II was
| evident that the persistent silence OF the woman
| he loved had at last out Captain Fanshawe's
natience Frances laid the letters on "a stool near
| The fire and sinking down beside them. burst
| into an agony Of weeping. How long she lay
| and wept she could not have told she was walk
| ened from her trance OF passion by soft touch
upon her hand and piuful wall They came from
the gray cat who had jumped upon her kne1