Beverly banner. [volume] (Beverly, N.J.) 1877-1964, 1890-01-04


from his mother for you to dine there
tonight. promised You should go;
they will send the carriage for you.
Hope was not in happy frame of
mind. She had heard lsuch news
travels FAST that Wilmington P.
Gerrans, as his visiting cards labeled
him, was fabulously rich, and she re-
scented bitterly that he, a stranger and
an American, should come with his
dollars to patch up the rents in the
family drapery. She was warm hearted
and generous, but she felt surprised
and almost jealous at the ease with
which Pauline, Clarissa and their
mother had taken a place in the so
ciety of the neighborhood, and she
fancied that their brother might sup
plant her father. She would have
liked to refuse the invitation for the
evening, but she reflected that she
must meet her fathers tenant some
time; so she suffered herself to be
dressed by her mothers maid, and she
was amused to find the old servant
had chosen, for her, her freshest toilet
of soft silk and creamy lace, and had
arranged lovely sprays Of roses for
her hair and dress.
''Why, how grand you have made
me- Parkes" she said; land where
did you get these fowers2 Is it to be
a dinner party2"
II don't know, miss, " was the reply;
"but they do have deal of company;
the flowers came this afternoon from
the manor"
Hope was vexed. She had often
wished for some of the treasures of
the greenhouses, but the girls did not
care for flowers, and it had never oc-
Cured to them to send her any, and
directly their brother arrived came
these rosesl She thought Mr.. Gerrans
was ofllcious. Her resentful feelings
did not last long, however, for no
sooner did the butler at the manor
usher her into the long, low, oak pan
eled drawing room, than they per
force changed into amusement.
Standing in front of the fireplace was
a tall, broad shouldered man, in even
ing dress, looking as well in that
costume as an English gentleman does.
His dainty little mother, heap of soft
lace and crimson silk, was shaking
with laughter in a large easy chair;
Pauline and Clarissa were sitting on a
broad, low couch, and talking English.
Their voices, accent, the very pose Of
their heads, we're altered, and they
rose and greeted her with the same
stiffness and want of animation that
most of her friends would have shown.
Let me present my brother to you, :"
said Pauline SOftlV
"Ah, you have spoiled it now"
laughed Mr. Gerrans. can English
girl would have said introduce not
present, would. she not, Miss Charl-
ton9"
II think So" said Hope.
1--WE have been showing Whining
ton how easy it is to speak as you do, ="
said Clarissa, land we shall surprise
our friends at home"
"How will they like it0" asked Hope.
mot at ALL" was the reply; you
do not know what the sound is in a
New York drawing room when q good
many girls are there for tea; they
screech and screech, like rusty car
wheels; and when I wade in with my
English they will pretend they cannot
hear. Wilmington don't like me to
say wade in,'" she added, relapsing
into her natural tones.
Hope spent q merry evening, and
was amused to remember, as she took
the flowers from her hair, that she
had entirely forgotten Mr. Gerran's
wealth as well as his impertinence.
Christmas passed pleasantly. Mrs.
Charlton was cheered and interested
by the visits of her tenant, for in the
course of his extensive travels he had
visited Jamaica, and spoke hopefully
of the condition of the country, tell
ing her it was extremely probable her
husband would find his excursion
thither profitable. Mile and Dollie,
with their brothers Jack and Tom
from Winchester spent delightful
holidays; the weather was frosty, and
the lake 1.-THE manor presented an un-
broken surface of smoothest ice, where
on the skaters of the neighborhood de-
lighted to congregate, and where the
Americans were preeminent for their
grace and skill; while their mother
was never weary of sending out strange
hot drinks and delicate cakes for the
refreshment of her guests, nor of enter
tanning large parties for luncheon or
tea within doors. Hope entered with
a light heart into all the festivities,
and enjoyed above all party on the
manor where the kindness of Pauline
and Clarissa prevented her from feel
ing she was merely guest in her old
home.
The next few weeks, however,
brought a change. Hope became
gloomy, irritable, and unlike herself.
She did not venture to search for the
real reason but blamed every cause
except the true one. In reality the
angry feeling she had experienced
when Mr.. Gerrans first came had
grown into almost passion Of jeal-
ousy. 1t seemed that wherever she
went she heard nothing but praises of
the newcomers. AT dinner parties the
conversation was sure to turn on the
Inequalities of the manor, the good
ness of the imported 'chef, " or the ex-
cellence of the hosts taste. AT lat
homes" she heard of the toilets of the
girls, and the jewels of their mother;
in the cottages the people who had
known her from her cradle thought
to please her by cataloguing the good
deeds and kindly words of the dwell
ers at the manor; even at home she
could not escape, for her mother and
sisters were necessarily praising the
Gerrans family, and Tom and Jack
added their voices to the chorus. Her
fathers letters had been her chief con-
ISOLATION; but even these had now lost
their SAVIOR, for he too began to speak
with warm commentator of evil
mington p, "as Hope scornfully called
him to herself. She tried, by every
means in her power, to keep the fam
lily at distance, and refused so many
of their invitations, and spoiled SO
many of their plans by her petulance,
that the girls were fairly puzzled, and
nearly quarreled on the subject with
their brother, who refused to believe
that Hope was unamiable, and took
her part warmly in every discussion.
Hope was returning one bitter day
in March from an errand at the far
- h. Ct,