The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1890-08-10

fuse this extremely kind offer which Mr.
Harbut is good enough to make US.
1T is for you to decide, my dear" An
netre said, cautiously. "You know | only
| came over here to take care Of you it Is
| your expedition altogether.
"WeIl, then, l accept, SIR Constance
said. land feel very grateful to you for your
kindness"
"That is settled then. Now let us go
straight to business. You have nothing to
add to what Ferr has told meF'
Nothing; that is as far as can see the
exact state of the case.n
well, L have, of course, been thinking
| it over since Ferris told me the story, and
perceive that it is difficult task that is be-
fore u.s."
us it wrong for me 20 ask what you
really think Of my chances, Mr.. Harbutr'
''As we are working as friends, Miss Cor
byn, you can ask exactly what you please,
and will answer to the best Of my power.
believe that Ferris told you frankly that
hs did not think that there had been a mar
riage; in fact, that he is Of opinion that the
chances are very strong indeed against it.
| Now | admit at once that as he mad the ad-
vantage of some kno ledge of Mr. Cor
byn's character, while | only know by
what he has told me about it, bis opinion in
the matter is of more value than my own:
but on thinking the matter over in every
| light | am bound to say that | regard the
chances as far more favorable than he does,
and that think it more probable than not
that there was a marriage"
Constance gave a little exclamation of
thankfuness and pleasure. 1t was an in
! tense satisfaction to her that an unpreiu.
diced person should see the matter in the
same light that she did. and especially that
she should not be working with one who,
| although ready to give her every assistance,
regarded the mission upon which she was
engaged as an altogether utopian one. She
was not aware that James Ferris had said
to his friend, "ab0ve all things, Robert, you
must lead the girl to believe thai you think
her claim TO be a just one. If you don't she
will never listen to your advice, aud will
end by putting herself into the hands of
| some shark, who will fatter her up with
false hopes and fleece her till her last penny
has gone You would not dissuade her
from her search by throwing cold water
upon it, You would simply throw her into
| other hands,
With this Robert Harbut had agreed,
but thinking the case over he found that ne
could, without sraining his conscience,
| take that view of the matter
"Of course the matter turns very much
upon Mr.. Corbyn's character, and you
will excuse me if | pain you in discussing it
freely, but it is absolutely necessary to do
| SO to get fair view of the CASE
|
Duport said. "All these years that l have
taken charga Of the child, l have watched
him, for liked not this position in which
| he kept her, although l benefited from it.
be was man who thought himself to be
| strong, because he was accustomed TO have
his own way, but who at heart was weak
he was man vino thought of himself aud
| his position more than he did Of his daugh-
ter. l think he meant we'll, but he was
| ba
kind to Constance when he was with her,
| but that, think, was not because he loved
| her, but because his visits were more agree
able to him if she were plea sed and graft
fed than they would have been otherwise. ~
- es, that is about the estimate formed
from what Ferris told me; an easy going,
| somewhat selfish man, proud of his family
and shrinking from anything like scan
dial; especially afraid, | fancy, from what
Ferris tells me, of the opinion of his elder
| sister, woman with a sharp tongue and
passionately fond of her only son, VINO
would be deprived of his position as heir of
the Corbyn estates by the appearance on
the scene of adtughter, born in wedlock, of
| Mr. Corbyn. At the time the alliance
whatever 1t was-was formed, Mr.. Corbyn's
father was alive and, in fact, survived until
Miss Corbyn was years old. Mr.. Corbyn,
| ST., was, hear, "A very proud and imperious
man. Whether Mr.. Corbyn the younger
| went through the ceremony Of marriag o
with your mother would have depended so
greatly upon her character, Miss Corbyn,
| that it is impossible for me, not knowing
her, to form the lightest opinion myself as
| to whether there was a marriage or other
wise, but the very strong opinion held by
| Madame Duport, who had the advantage OF
| knowing her, counts, of course, for good
| deal in the matter.
"At any rate, Mr.. Corbyn, Jr.'s, con-
| duct with respect to you does not appear to
be at all inconsistent with the fact of his
marriage. Up to the time of his fathers
death he would put off declaring his mar
rage for fear of his fathers anger Had
| your mother lived he might have brought
himself to do so in order to place her in her
proper position, but after her death that
motive no longer existed He would have
| said to himself that you were we'll cared for
! aud happy, and that there was nothing to
| be- gained by an explanation which would
be painful to make. When his father died
| it was, of course. open to him to fetch you
home and proclaim the marriage; but he
was averse to facing the public talk and
scandal, the wrath Of his sister and other
| unpleasantness, as long as the evil day
could be put off. Before you came of age
it was possible-I do not mean that he had
at all counted on that-but 1t was, of
course, possible that you might die, and In
marriage would be altogether obviated,
| But expect that he argued chiefly that it
would be better and more pleasant to defer
| the matter until you were at All age to be
presented to society as his heiress, foreseeing
that your appear ance would go far to make
matters easier for him, and would create
far more favorable impression than if he
had presented you as a child or as an I'M
| grown girl, with nothing in your favor. The
fact that he told you that Oh his next visit
he should take you back and put you at the
head of his establishment would go far in
support of this view of the case"
But surely it quite proves it, Mr.. Har-
but" Constance broke in, he could never
have placed me at the head Of his establish
ment Tiff he had not been married to my
| mother"
"He certainly could not have placed You
at the head of Corbyn Court" Mr.. Harbut
agreed, "but you see you knew nothing
about Corbyn Court nor about his position
aad he may only have intended to have
taken house somewhere in London. and
established you there, spending a portion of
his time with you, but still without intro
duclng you to any Of his friends | do not
| say for moment that this was So | only
bring it forward to show that what he said
is not necessarily conclusive as to his inteu-
ton TO introduce you publicly as his heress
You see we must necessarily look at the
| matter in the light in which our opponents