The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1891-07-16

Nsin eyes which conveyed 20 her mind
- image of-that on which they rested.
Royal paused in his restless walk and
silently gased at her. Her tone made
him vince like the touch of nettle
He was too much oppressed by the re-
suit OF his own precipitation not TO be
sore and irritable. Involuntarily he re-
sented the implied depreciation.
81 am not bad man, as men CO." he
demonstrated. "a blundering fool, if
you will, but no villain. Your tone i'm
plies that have been both"
Mrs. Hunt turned toward him AS
she did so she caught an expression on
the young mans face which reminded
her curiously of her husband. Her eyes
sOftened and a smile came to her lips
She had seen the hook before during the
days that they had been together, and
always with mute, wistful acknCwledg-
ment OF the tie between them. After
all, he was Phil Royals son and of their
own people-which fact, in the la1yAs
mind, considerably amehorated the sit
uation. What would have been her at
titude toward Royal if, instead of being
member of the family with blood right
of interference, he had turned out SIM
ply laundering stranger, whose tender
nature had ruled his reason to such dis
astrous effect, it is difficult to imagine.
Fortunately for Royal she was not put
to the test. A kinsman, like the shape
Of nose, can be accepted and endured
with the pleasing consciousness that, ex-
ternally, the worst is known of him,
while the introduction of stranger into
ones hfe may be attended with as grave
risks as those incident to the French no
tary's experiment.
Mrs. Hart loved romance with a
southern woman's love, and moreover
she was gifted with a subtle sense of
humor. Iuterwoven with the tragic ard
pathetic elements of the affair there was
comedy as well, for those sufficiently dis
engaged to appreciate it. And, for the
life Of her, Mrs. Hart could not forbear
imaginative pictures of the self COM
placent soul of her kinswoman, assert
lively COMFORTING itself in the infinite,
suddenly confronted with a view Of the
situation as it now stood Even a dis
embodied spirit, in such case. could not
~~xJdAS IN ana
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS oI LIN 7rasrlsrs aI1
arrangements for pulling stroke in the
hfeboat of other people after this mortal
shall have put on Immortality. The
rithy old Scotch proverb REQUIRED again
and again to Mrs Hart's secretly divert
| ed mind with relishing sense of its APP
| plicability.
What did the lawyers say?' she que,-
| toned, coming toward him, and tacitly
| ignoring her own discourteOus exclana.
ton and his impatient reception of it.
Royal pushed a chair toward her, but
declined one for himself In Lis nerv-
ously excited condition it pleased him
better to tramp about the room. They
had been in Alexandria week, coming
directly home with Mrs. Hart after John
Royals funeral, and during that timt
the dead mans substitute had devoted
himself to discovering what might b.
his legal status in the affair. Of hit
case in equity he had no shadow o.
doubt.
There hasn't been time enough fol-
anything like research yet, and a lawyer
is nothing without precedent" he an
swered. ''I've seen a couple of fellow
here, and stated the case alphabetically
and I've talked to q man or two in Wash
ington besides. OF course I've only got
ten horseback opinions as yet. Nobod,
I've seen has ever gone into thing 1ik
this. One fellow told me plainly tina
he didn't believe such case had eve
even been imagined before"
:'But the general impression was
what?"
Royal paused beside her chair, an,
stood looking thoughtfully down at her
GAS far as John Royal is ooncerne'
the case has but one point of view, The.
all agree on that. The proxy marriag
was no marriage. Under the circum
stances it couldn't be- A man in articul
mortis, as John Royal was at the tim
of the ceremony, cannot enter into
contract: the law wouldn't recogniz
such an act as conscious and voluntary
Even if he had lived it is doubtfu
whether the proxy marriage would hav
wanted, though-a fighting chance fo
the money. Marriages by proxy are S
unusual that the law don't provide fo
differentiations of them"
"Then the marriage with John is nul
and void?"
"It's non-existent."
"And with your"
Mrs. Hart looked searehingly up {
him: she put out her hand to prever
him from resuming his restless pacin
backward and forward.
, | ann L.,
! Listen and I'll try to make it clear
YOU"
With allowance made for inaccuraci'
of understanding and statement due
lack of legal knowledge and a, perforc
prima facie reading Of the case, the gi:
of that which Royal had gathered W,
this Marriage was the special charf
of the law, and by it regarded as tt
prime pillar of civilization, therefor
every possible facility had been afor'le
people for entering the matrimoni
state; the notion being. apparently, thu
the moro marriages the more props
ergo, the more civilization.
! In the present case the names of Il
twomen being identical and age and a
peerance sufficiently similar to cause Il
license to fit either indifferently, and Il
. woman having consented to marry Il
man she was with, the marriage Ger
mony, it was declared, had constitute
them man and wife, and nothing sho
of divorce could change the relatio
The woman had designed and intends
to marry her cousin John Hart Royi
!. and she had married her cousin Jol
Hart Royal, and the fact that the ma
she had espoused was not the man
q whom she had engaged herself could n
:. initiate against the stronger fact tn