Mexico weekly ledger., 1891-01-29
LAZY HELvolR FAKES Lee REyENoE.

1tItS lHBIbLl might nAhS Itlt moro
interest i'll the awful r~etribution with
which his friend Lord Guise was men,
Rred if he had believed ill the proba-
bility Of its ever being carried into eff
feet, but he suspected that tGuise would
prove too hard a nut for even Lady Bel
voir to crack, and in any case he was
disposed to deprecate hasty action.
why" he asked his cousin at break
fast the mex morning, 'sho1 I'D you rush
off TO London and open siege operations
in this breaIhless way? You'll only
brighten him. Besides, you must re-
member that he can't propose to you
without OR permission, and we shall
undoubtedly fnfiict a six months SEN
tence upon him if he APPLIES to US.
That is the very least that We can do for
one who has shown SO much kindly care
for our happiness"
"Who told you that | hadn't opened
siege operations already returned Lady
Belyoir, land who told yol that l am
going up to London to see Lord Guise:
Your esteemed president isn't the only
mar in London: he isn't even the only
member of your society. Ii yours were
not q naturally selfish char cter, and if
you were not made doubIy selfish just
now by the condition that you are in.
you would have given a thought to two
absent friends who have been treated
quite as badly as you have. I have
heard that Mr.. Moreton has come back
from New Zealand, and The Morning
Post tells me that the new member foI
S~lumberton has arrived in town"
:'Oh-I see! Poor fellows!'
81 don't know why you should pity
them both. 1t is obvious that in a
Christian country l can only marry one
of them, and to be married by me seems
to be the most terrible fate that your
imagination can picture"
"Oh. you'll marry neither of them
but you won't let them depart in peace,
I'm afraid. That's why 1 Inn sorry for
them"
My dear Percy, you have never un
derstood me and younever will. On the
other hand l understand you perfectly,
and l understand that what is troubling
you at the present moment isn't the
thought of Mr.. Sc~hneider's CT Mr.. More
toms sorrows, but the prospect of having
to leave Westmoreiand and Dorothy
Leslie. Well, now I'll show you how
benevolent / am. must bs off to-mor.
row, but if you like to stay where you
are there's no reason in the world why
you shouldn't. Whether 1 am here OF
moi Gres have to be kept going all over
this great cold house, and you might as
well warm yourself before them as not
until parliament meets. Later on I'll
ask Dorothy to come up and stay with
me, and | suppose | shall lave to take
in the old woman too, if it's a question
of buying a trousseau. Well, anything
to oblige."
1t need scarcely be said that Percy
gratefully accepted his offer, and per.
haps, all things considered, he was moi
very sorry that his cousin felt it incum.
bent upon her to take her departure.
There is always a certain feeling of awk,
wardness in sitting between the old love
and the new, even though the old love
may have abdicated as willir ely as Lady
BelvoiF had done. And SO. during the
succeeding fortnight, Mr.. ,rhorold en-.
joyed himself very much, notwithstand.
ing the wintry weather, and Dorothy
was happy, and the soul Of Mrs. Leslie
was satisfied. One must indeed be hard
to please il one be not satisfied with a
eon-in-law whose means are ample,
whose character stands high. and whose
political future is full of promise.
Meanwhile Lady BelvoiI. also was
enjoying herself, though possibly in
somewhat less legitimate fashion. Or
the day after that of her arrival i n Carl
ton House terrace an agitiGted visitor
was shown into her presence, and this
was really remarkable, because if there
was one thing from which Lord Guise
might be said to be free. us a general
rule, it was agitation. Not only, how.
ever, was he perturbed now, but he
made no effort to disguise the fact
Without responding othe commonplace
with which she greeted him. he at onct
made known the object of his visit. He
said:
"Sybil, / think I have known you long
enough to have the privilege of waving
ceremony with you when I feel inclined
AT all events | am going to waive cere
mony now.
but that isn't precisely a novelty, il
it, interrupted Lady Belvoir. "Yor
were a little bit unceremonious in the
way you took leave of me-or rather
omitted to take leave of me-not SO long
ago"
Il was called away in a hurry"
"By whom or by what, l wonder
Never mind, though: it's no business OF
mine, and l am not inquisitive. Please
go on being unceremonious You arr
going to say something very disagreed
BILE, of course"
II dare say it will be more disagree
able for me to say than for you to hear
but I find that / really can't hold my
tongue about it. saw that little beast
Schneider today"
poor Mr.. Schneider! What has he
done to be called a little beas'2 Did yor
think him a little beast when You were
so kind as to introduce him t., me?''
eyes, | suppose SO, l really don't re
member what | thought about him al
that time. What | ! know now is that ht
is an admirer of yours, and that ne ha:
the impudence to intend asking you tc
marry him."