Wichita eagle., 1890-03-16

secretary's handwriting, neither ad.
dressed nor signed.
''This is kind" thought Lady Char.
lotte bitterly; "Mr. Potts does not want
to create discriminating evidence"
1.-The groom who went for the doctor
! did not ind him at home, he had to
| drive on to Maidenhead to find another,
go there mas been delay in getting assist
ance Mr. Hart has been conscious sons
time and has taken brandy which we
| poured down his throat. l will let you
| know in the course of the afternoon how
matters progress. 1t will be better if
you are seen everywhere in. the grounds
during the afternoon and evening. Your
maid tells me that no one heard the re-
port of the pistol except herself; the
heavy portieres must have deadened the
sound"
With little rouge Lady Charlotte
concealed the deadly palIor, which she
felt must otherwise attract universal
attention. She asked the same maid
servant who had brought her the note
to bring her some brandy, and, after
nous quantity, she summoned up all her
courage to leave her room and join the
crowd down stairs.
Everything had been SO well prepared
beforehand that nothing was left to be
arranged on the last day. A blazing
July sun poured down on the grounds of
Reminshall Abbey, and the little glen
arranged for the performance was the
only shady nook within the cultivated
part of the grounds Immediately sur
rounding the house.
Towards the carriages belonging to
that part of the audience who had paid
for their seats began to arrive. Rich city
men, with their wives and daughters in
ultra fashionable bonnets and dresses;
wives of doctors who had already reached
that high footing on the medical ladder
exemph6ed by residence in Harley
street, but not that proud eezleine!2ce
which means appearing ii print amongst
the favored few who sign The daily bull
letins of the illnesses of great ones; wives
OF barristers and many others who liked
to see dull play without the faintest
spark of interest poorly performed by an
absolutely inefficient though eminently
aristocratic corps dramatiQue. These
gathered in great force. They peered
into everything, anxious to discover how
the new millionaire did things. The
daughters took mental notes of the
housemaids' and ladies' maids caps and
to
ton caps and aprons identically the same
for their own handmaidens for "ma's
next party" The men thought the
ribbon bordering poor and not equal
to that in their own gardens
at Norwood and Sydenham. The ma
irons, in the main. employed themselves
in specializing as to how much the whole
thing had cost to get up, and many
came to the conclusion that the ices and
refreshments alone, which were gratis,
must have swamped the takings, SO of
course the charity must go to the wall
That really was of no consequence. No
body even knew where the church was,
or cared, except a few local magnates
and they were hidden to the feast and
performance free Of expense.
The exhumed pastoral Elizabethan
drama in its new dress progressed rap
idly. The amateur artistes had not ac-
quired the art of ladling out the SEN
fences slowly as though they were loath
to part with line of their parts, after
the fashion Of the modern psychological
dramatic school; and, either from ner-
vous longing to get to the end and hide
themselves, or from desire to say It all
before they forgot it, the piece played
very rapidly.
Lady Charlotte got through her part
not brilliantly, but no worse than the
rest, though she felt that lifetime's
agony was compressed into the three
hours occupied by the play and en-
tr'actes. Towards the end of the last act,
when she had grown accustomed to the
appearance Of the audience and had the
hardihood to look it in the face and rec
ognize individuals, her eyes suddenly fell
upon the owner of Reminshall Abbey.
He was sitting on a seat at the end Of the
front row, the end nearest the Abbey
The hero of the play was indulging in
a long meandering soliloquy during
which at rehearsals Lady Charlotte
had been coached to occupy herself
with elaborate stage business, but
had forgotten all her coaching. She felt
her eyes fixed on Mr.. Potts. a servant in
gorgeous livery, with much mysterious
and apparently meaningless gold crna-
mentation dropping from one shoulder,
came rapidly towards his master. The
servant bent down with that remarkable
air of blended mystery and respect pc
culiar to the well hammered footman and
murmured what seemed to Lady Char
lotto long communication. Mr. Wash
ington Potts looked serious and said a
few words to the servant, and stood up
and moved few steps in the direction
of the house.
Lady Charlotte felt her heart beating
furiouslv. She thought she could divine
what the message was. Mr.. Potts was
wanted in the house, the man was worse,
dying, perhaps, and the police had come
to take his dispositions.
For q few moments there was silence on
the stage-that dreadful stage wait of
private theatricals when all the actors J
with the exception of the unconscious
offender look the picture of silent misery.
Lady Charlotte was the offender. She
stood with her cheeks ghastlv beneath
the rouge. her eyes fixed upon Mr.. Wash
ton Potts and the servant.
Il knew it He is dead-I have muir
dered him, she cried. in hoarse, awful
voice, and fell prone on the stage.