Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1890-04-13

rest, anQ IN mad but too choose, his
mother said, when speaking of his
riage-an event which she feared dread
ed and sometimes hoped for.
Lady Blenkensop was thinking of this
mother and son as she drove along the
misty roadwaYs toward Wrothsley. She
was not personally acquainted with the
young lord, who only paid occasional
and sometimes very brief lists to his
mother, though to do him justice he was
fond of her and unwilling to wound her
unless his own pleasures and convent
ences interfered Will his t1lial affection.
Gwen, il is a fine place, - thought
Lady B~lenkensop, as they entered the
vast park, driving through the open
lodge gate, at which stood the rosy
checked, stout lodge-keeper's wife, sur
rounded by four r~osy-cheeked children,
who all seemed in some strange state of
excitement or other.
"Absurd, having those children out N
a mist like this mentally reflected
Lady Blenkensop as she passed this fam
lily group, for she never could resist man.
aging her neighbors' affairs, and abso=;
lutely thought of stopping the ~carriaEsl
to give the woman this advice. She 81
not do this, however, but proceeded
across the park by the wide carriage
LOdu . TIC SI6i0 u IL dLll1OS piCAO 1LuiOo
hiding from her view the broad grass
lands and stately groups of leafess trees
on either side of it.
The castle was also invisible through
the murky air; that vast pile of build
ings which the first Lord Gilmore, them
Sir Thomas Clifford, had raised with suSH'
pomp and pride. Nothing that wealth
could purchase had not been spent on it,
and the second lord had been proud of
his pictures, if not of his beer. All the
great masters were represented at
| Wrothsley, and Sir Thomas used to
boast that for the seven paintings the
state dining room contained, he had
spent over G25 600.
cit is strange how u%nequally money is
divided, - reflected Lady Blenkensop,
thinking of these things as she proceeded
On her way, and of the poor, almost
penniless, well-born girl, whose bread
she was now going to beg for from the
heirs of the rich brewer.
Although as this thought went through
her active mind, a groom ~splendidly
mounted, and dressed in the Gilmore
livery, galloped past the carriage IN hot
haste, the sudden appearance of the man
and his steed through the mist, some
what startling Lady BIenkensop' g horses.
The groom was riding from the castle,
which was still distant about half a mile,
so extensive was the park; and as Lady
BlenkensOp put her head out of the win
dow and looked after the nan wondering
what made him ride at dangerous speed,
she perceived a group of figures also ap-
preaching the carriage, and d moment
later they had hurried past it, and
among this group Lady Blenkensop rec
ogniZed a face, a figure, that she knew.
"Surely that was Lady Gilmore, - she
muttered to herself; ''whatever can
have happened
Lady Gilmore's appearance. was, in
deed, sufficiently startling. Her dark
hair was uncovered and her dark eyes
were fixed before her with an eXpresSjOn
Of such anguish and mental fear written
on them that no wonder Lady Blenken-
sop was sure that something dreadful
must nave occurred. She stopped the
carriage; she descended on the roadway
and looked eagerly after Lady Gilmore's
flying footsteps. Two women were with
her and one or two men servants; Il as
Lady Blenkensop hesitated a moment
what to do another woman n a man
also came running toward her from the
direction of the castle, and Lady Blenk-
ensop at once addressed the foremost of
these.
"What is the matter?" she asked of
al excited young woman servant.
"Surely that was Lady Gilmore who
passed just now?''
eyes, nv lady - answered the pant
ing, breathless girl; ''that was her poor
ladyship, and she's in a fearful state"
"What has happened?' again in
CURED Lady Blenkensop sharply.
''The young lord has been shot, my
lady, Inc they say he's lying dead and
murdered in the woods down there -
answered the maid, and she pointed down
the road. Zone of the keepers brought
the news, and my lady ran out just as
she was, and they've sent John, the
groom, galloping for the doctor, but the
keeper thinks it no good.'
''How dreadful!' said Lady Blenken-
sop, greatly shocked, III her clear rosy
complexion grew a little pale. She was
thinking of the mother whose devoted
love for the young lord was well known,
and her kind heart bled for her.
"I'n follow her, - she said the next
moment in her quick way. ''Get up be-
side the c~oaohman, girl, and direct him
TO the wood where you say Lord Gilmore
was found. Did the keeper leave him
alone when he brought the news to Lady
Gllmore?'
emo, my lady. two keepers found
him, and one OF them stayed with
him - replied the maid as she prepared
to obey Lady B~lenkensop's command,
and was assisted up by the ooachman to
the box after he had turned his horses.
FDrive as fast as you can, Williams
Lady Blenkensop, as she re-
entered the carriage; and Williams
therefore, drove rapidly back the same
he had come, until he pulled up in
view of a small wood; or rather cop
pice, when he decended from his box
and went to the carriage window to
speak to his lady.
"Ths young woman, my lady, says
yon's the wood where the young lord was
and there's no carriage road
through II, - he explained.
elm that case 1 b a get out - replied
Lady Blenkensop, "and the young
must show me the way, and you
wait here until I return
Williams touched his hat, and went
gave directions to the ''young
woman;' n a moment or two later
Lady Bl~enkensop and the maid left the
roadway, and crossed the damp grass