Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1890-01-04
Written for TIE EVENING STAB.
WHOSE WAS qHE HAND?
BY MISS BRADDON.
tALL RIGHTS RESERHEI
CHAPTER /.
DRAMArIs PEEsOSE-

in front of the window waving and nodd!n;
their rosy lips IN the soft April wind. wife,
can YOU guess what good new / have brought
yOu?"
a. Indeed no, Rob- unless il is that you are
going to take me for a long drive to Durham
Beeches or the Forrest, for instance"
She was not one OF the Indifferent. off-hand
wives. who hardly look up from their work or
their book when a husband comes back from
his morning walk. She not even one of
those excellent matrons whose elections are
concentrated upon the nursery, for whom
babies have a higher claim than the bread
winner. Clara Hatrell was fond of her hus
band and was not ashamed to show her affec-
ton for him in those trivial ways which mark
the line between love and liberation. She laid
down her pen, rose from the little davenport
and went over to meet him as he came flushed
and smiling into the sunshiny room.
Better than that; ever so much better than
thatr'
Not another diamond bracelet, hope" she
Said, with touch of petulance.
He had passion for buying things, an anna
bic weakness which had been pleasant enough
mp to a certain point, but which Clara OBJ
iected to when it passed the limits Of common
sense.
"Ungrateful woman"
''You know, dear, 1 have more jewelry al
ready than / care to wear"
1T is not bracelet. 1t is not any kind of
ornament for the most ungrateful of women.
viii that satisfy your
The little girl never looked up from the in
dicative mood; the glory of beginning for
eign language overcame her sense of weari-
ness. The tutor never raised his eyelids from
the eyes which watched the child puzzling
over her book; but he was listening intently all
Che same.
Not quite, Rob. You have been buying
something. can see it in the sparkle of your
eve. You have been wasting heap of money
upon SEINE trumpery or other"
Il have not spent or incurred liability to
the extent Of three and sixpence since l left
this house, but have heard something which
may lead to my spending three or four thou
sand pounds before we are much older"
The landI' cried Clara, clapping her hands,
''My meadows, my gardens
Precisely. Young Florestan has made up
his mind to part with some superhuous terri
tory, and as soon the lawyers are ready to
sell l shall be able to buy the extra acres for
which my fair land grabber has been pining."
What RAPTURE And l shall have an Italian
garden-a real italian garden-with marble
balustrades, and Pan and Syrinx, and walls of
cypress and yew, and long avenue of juni-
pers-"
MY dearest dreamer. your cypress walls will
take thirty or forty years TO arrive at perfec-
ton
They will be something to look forward to
in our old age, and We shall have the pleasure
of planning everything, and watching the
things grow. The garden will be our own
creation an emanation from our very selves.
Adam and Eve would have taken more trouble
TO STAY in Eden if il had not been ready made"
Robert Hatrell had the sanguine tempera-
ment, and had knack of adopting any idea OF
his wife's with even greater enthusiasm than
her own. He was never more pleased than in
pleasing her-yet had marked tastes of bis
own-pictures, statues, foreign travel; a man of
no profession or pursuit. and OF an energetic
temper; energetic even to restessness.
He was an only son, and had been lord of
himself and of between three and four thou
sand year at an age when most young men
still dependent upon parental benevolence.
He had left oxford without a degree, but with
a reputation for considerable talent of an ar
tistic. social, and generally intangible charac-
ter; he had travelled and amused himself for
half-a-dozen years, enjoying independence,
health. and high spirits to the uttermost He
had had his adventures. his disillu-
siOns, and his disappointments during that
long holiday; and he had only sobered and
settled down on marrying one of the prettiest
girls of her season, a girl fresh from Bucking-
hamshire valley, where her people had been
lords of the soil before theWars of the Roses She
had practically no money, Dut she came of Il
race which claimed kindred with Hampden She
had the calm end chaste beauty of Artemis
by PraxIteles; she neither firted nor talked
slang; and she knew no more about racing or
cards than if she had been still in the nursery. In
"a word she was girl whom Wordsworth or
a
of English girlhood; and Robert Ha;ren con-
sidered himself a very lucky man in the win
ming of her for his wife.
His father had been a civil engineer-a
genius, successful in all he touched. The re-
wards OF his profession had been large and
rapid. and had tempted him to overwork,
which resulted eventually, after many notes OF
warning. In an appallingly sudden death.
Robert inherited with the engineers fortune
the engineers ardent temperament. which, on
his part. showed itself in superfluous energy. a
feverish activity about trifles. There were
times when in spite of fortune, happy home
and idOllZed wife, he felt that he had made a
mistake In his life. that 1t would have been
better for him to have worked hard and had a
career like his fathers. He read of the two
Brunels, the two Stephensons with a pang of
regret
But on this bright April morning there was
no shadow upon Robert Hatreiis happiness;
no sense of purpose and a career missed; a
life in sOmewise wasted. He talked of the
additional land as if it were the beginning and
end OF existence.
lit will just make the place perfect Clara, "
he said. You are always right, love-we were
terribly cramped when made our garden.
The grounds are unworthy of the house."
He opened a glass door and went out upon
the lawn. ms wife following him. They stood
side by side and looked first at the house and
then at the garden, this way and that, and then
at the river.
Eleven years ago. on the eve of their mar
riage, he and Clara riding together one morn
ing. between Reading and Henley. had discov-
cred an oid-fashIoned cottage in a good-siZed
garden. with a lawn s!oping 10 the river. There
were couple of meadows and orchard be-
hind the cottage. divided from it by a road.
but the best part OF the whole thing was this
riyer frontage of less than quarter of a mile.
The cottage was to be let or sold. as a lop-
sided board announced to the world at large,
ana the neglected garden gave evidence that il
was long time since the last tenant had de-
parted and left the place To gradual decay. The
lovers dismounted. and found door on the
latch. and explored the house which was empty
of human life; albeit some shabby furniture
and a sandy cat in the kitchen indicated that
scaretaker had her habitation on the prem
ises.
The thick walls, loaded easements, quaint old
staircase and corridor fascinated Clara. Size
was passionately fond of the rlver and of the
country IN which she had been born and reared
Her future home was to be In Chester street
Belgrayla; but the exploration of the cottage
suggested delightful alternative.
How sweet IL would be TO have this for q