Waterbury evening Democrat., 1890-12-22

very good care to avoid being left alene vita
him. steady drilling rain-one Of those
downpours which obscure North Devon while
other counties are conscious only of cloudy
weather-precluded all possibility of walk
upon the terrace, and Lady Grace. by whose
side Chris had seated herself, did not seem
to understand the impatient signals made to
her by her brother. He had to make the best
of a bad business, and content himself with
asking whether he might call upon Miss
Compton when he passed through London.
81 am afraid you would never find your
way to the place where we live," she an
swered; and he could not get her to tell him
where that was. Besides" she added, 81
am very seldom at home in the afternoon.
Peter and go out for long walks and don't
return until nightfah."
Men who are in love are easily snubbed,
and long before the evening was over Gerald
Severne was convinced that even if he had
been millionaire there would have been no
hope for him. 81 trust we may meet again
some day. Miss Compton," was all that he
could say, as he wished her goodnight with
a sigh.
To which she responded cheerfully: "Oh,
yes, I hope we may. But I'm afraid it isn't
particularly likely"
Brentstow being at some distance from
railway station, Chris had to make an early
start on the following morning. Gerald OF
course rose early in order to see the last OF
her; but he did not gain much by that, since
his mother and sister had done likewise, and
it was under their watchful eyes that his
adieus had to be spoken. As soon as the
carriage had disappeared he strobe away,
announcing that he was going out fishing and
would not be back before the evening.
81 always thought" remarked Lady Barn.
staple, as she re-entered tho house, "that one
required rod, or at the very least line, to
catch fish; but no matterl If he catches
nothing we must console ourselves with the
reflection that he has escaped being caught"
Although Gerald did not overhear this
speech he was almost as angry with the ladies
of his family as if he had. They had treated
him abominably, he thought, and he deter
mined to see no more of them that day. But
whether ones heart be whole or broken, one
cannot possibly sit for moro than a certain
number Of hours upon a rock, doing nothing
and staring across the British Channel; and
SO it came to pass that, about three o'clock
in the afternoon, Lady Grace, who had en-
sconced herself in hammock on the lawn
and was lazily glancing at one OF the weekly
papers, became aware of haggard and
detected young man, who said, reproachfully:
"We've always been pretty good friends up
to now, Oracle; don't know what I've done
that you should turn against me like this"
Lady Grace jumped out of her hammock
and protested against so unjust a charge.
to have turned against her brother when she
had not even been informed of what his
wishes were?
err that's all," Gerald replied, "I can very
soon tell you" And forthwith he took her
unreservedly into his confidence.
Lady Grace was by no means hard-hearted.
She was fond of Chris, and was devoted to
her brother, and she was quite capable of
enjoying little bit of romance. But at the
same time she could not deceive herself as to
matters of fact, and it seemed to her that the
obstacle of pounds, shiliings, and pence was
an insuperable one. Therefore she confined
herself to expressions of sympathy, and
would not say what in her heart she was in
clined to believe, that, but for the aforesaid
obstacle, her brother would have had no rea-
son to despair. So persuaded, indeed, was
she that no good could come of this unlucky
attachment that she even went a step further
and, in accordance with the universal femi-
nine custom, revealed in strict confidence
something which she had promised not to
reveal, and which had been revealed to her
by some one who had made a similar
promise.
''Do you mean that she is engaged to the
mani" Gerald asked when he had been in
formed of the existence Of Mr.. Valentine
Richardson,