Mexico weekly ledger., 1890-09-04
CHAPTER V.

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E.NNG~<E
Miss Derrick"
Stoke Moreton is "a fine old E~lizabethan
house standing on rising ground. As we
drove up the straight. wide approach be-
tween two rows of ancient. fantastical-
1y clipped hollies, / was impressed by the
stately dignity of the place, which was
not lessened rs we drew up before a great
arched doorway, and We're ushered into
a long hall supported by massive pillars
Of carved white stone. 4 roaring log fire
In the immense fireplace threw a rudy
glow over the long array Of ar1nor and
cleaning weapons which lined the walls.
and made the pale winter twilight out
side look bleak indeed. Charles. emerg-
ing, slim and graceful. out of an ex-
quisite ulster, sauntered up to the fire
and asked where Sir George Danvers
was. AS he stood inside the wide FIRE
place, leaning against one of the pillars
which supported the towering white
stone chimney piece covered with her
aldic designs and coats Of arms, he looked
eworthier representative Of an ancient
race than I fear he really vas
$50 they have put the stage at that
end, In front Of the pillar" he remarked,
nodding at q wooden erection. 'Quite
right. I could not have placed it better
myself. What, Brown? Sir George Is
In the drawing room, Is he? and tea, as l
perceive, is going on at this moment.
Come, Col. Middleton" And we fol-
lowed the butler to the drawing ROOM.
am not a person who easily becomes
confused, but 1 must W 1 did get con-
fused with the large party into the
midst Of which we were now ushered.
Isoon made out Sir George Danvers, a
delicate but irascible looking old gentle
man, who received me with dignitied
cordiality, but returned Charles greet
ing with a certain formality and cold
ness which I was panied to see, family
affection being in my opinion the chief
blessing of a truly happy home. Charles
I already knew, and with the second
son, Ralph, a rudy, smiling young
man, with any amount Of white teeth, ]
had no difficulty; but after that 1 be-
came hopelessly involved.
was introduced to an elderly lady
whom / addressed for the rest Of the
evening as Lady Danvers, until Charles
casually mentioned that bis mother was
dead, and that until the deceased wife's
sister bill was passed he did not antici-
pate that his Aunt Mary would take
upon herself the position of stepmother
to her orphaned nephews. The severe
elderly lady, then, who beamed SC
sweetly upon Ralph and regarded Charles
with such manifest GOODNESS was thetl
aunt, Lady Mary Cunningham. She
had known Sir John slightly in hel
youth, she said, as she graciously made
room for me on her sofa, and she ex
pressed a very proper degree of regret al
his sudden death, considering that hi
had not been a personal friend in any
way.
"We all have our faults, Col. Middle
ton," said Lady Mary, with a gentle
dgh, which dislodged a little colony Of
crumbs from the front Of her dress. ssh
John, like the rest of Us, was not e1
empt, though Ihave no doubt the soft
ening influence of age would have done
much, since I knew him, to smooth acer
bities of character which were unfortu
nately strongly marked in his early life.
She had evidently not known Sir Johr
IL his later years.
As she continued to talk in this strai1
! endeayored to make out which of the
young ladies present was the one to whom
Ralph was engaged. / was undecided
Is to which 1t was Of the two to whom
had already been introduced. Girls al
ways seem to me s very much alike, es
pecially pretty girls. and these were
both Of them pretty. I do not NEAR
that they resembled each other in the
least, for one was dark and one was fair
but which was Miss Aurelia Grant
Ralph's~ fancee, and which was Miss Ev
elyn Derrick, q cousin of the family,
could not make out until later in the
evening, when l distinctly saw RALPH
hiss the fair one in the picture gallery,
and I Instantly came to the conclusion
that she was the to whom he was
engaged.
I asked Charles if I were not right, az
we stood in front Of the hall fire before
the rest of the party had assembled fol
dinner, and he told me that I had indeed
hit the nail IN the head in this instance,
though for his own part he never laid
much stress himself on such an occur.
renee, having found it prove misleading
In the extreme to draw any conclusion
from it. He further informed me that
Miss Derrick was the young lady with
dark hair who had poured out tea, and
whom he had favored with some of his
conversation afterward.
Iadmired Ralph's taste, as did Charles,
who had never seen his future sister-in
law before. Aurelia Grant was q charm
ing little creature, with a curly head
and q dimple and a pink and white com.
plexion, and a suspicion of an Irish &C
cent when she became excited.
Charles said he admired her complex.
ion most because it was so thoroughly
well done and the coloring was so true
to nature.
! did not quite catch his meaning, but
It certainly was a beautiful complexion;
and then she was SO bright and lively
and showed such pretty little teeth when
she smiled! She was quite delightful.
did not wonder at Ralph's being sc
much in love with her, and Charles
agreed with me.
"There is nothing like a good COM
plexion," he remarked gravely. zone
may be led away to like a pale girl with
. mind for a time, but for permanent,
domestic happiness give me a good com
plexion, and-a dimple," he added, as il
Il were an afterthought. ~ feel
could not bestow my best affections on
. om without a dimp,e. Yes, in.
deedl Ralph has chosen we'll"
Now do not agree with Charles there,
- I have always considered that a wo.
man should have q certain amount Of
mind; just enough, in fact, to enable he,
70 appreciate q superior one. I said a.
1hneh to Charles, but he only laughed
and said it was q subject on which opin,
ion had always varied.
Flow did he meet hergt' I inquired.
ION the Rigi, last summer" SAID
Charles II am thinking Of going ther,
myself next year. Lovely orphan sat b,
Lady Mary at table d'hote. Read tract
presented by Lady Mary. Made &C
quaintance. Lovely orphans travelling
companion or governess discovered to b
Hive sister of defunct travelling compan
1m or goserness of Lady Mary. Result
warm friendship. Ralph, like . dutifu
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