Mexico weekly ledger., 1891-02-05

somebody. She said-but after all l
don't know why | sEcnld tell you what
she said; it woulda't interest YOU"
Lord Guise, however. wa of opinion
that it would interest him greatly, and
Schneider was prevailed pon without
much difficulty to relate what had passed
between him and Lady Belvoir. 1t APP
peared that she hal been perfectly frank
Eith him. She had confessed that an in
creased income would be extremely well
come TO her; that She was free from any
prejudice as regarded pedigree, and that
for him individually she had just about
rs much regard as she had for most PEG
pie. NeveT'helesa sAo fuuIlu herself I'M
able ,oaccept his offer.
whatever ones convictions may be-"
she had told him, lone can't alter ones
nature, and mine, unluclsily, has a faint
of romano in it which is apt to crop up
at the most announcement moments and
upset all my plans. Little as you might
suppose it 10 look At me, am just one of
those women who form a foolish attach
ment and sacrifice everything to it,"
.And then" observed Lord Guise.
Efyou naturally wanted to know the
name of the man to whom she had be-
come foolishly attached"
"Well, yes; hut of course she wouldn't
tell me. However, it was easy enough
to guess. When [ remember the things
that MOreton has said to me about her. I
must say that | agree as to the foolish
ness of the Attachment; but that is her
look out and his. not mine"
.'Oh, you think Moreton is the man.
Mr.. Schneider hadn't a doubt of it,
but it is scarcely surprising that Lord
Guise should have arrived at a different
conclusion. He got rid of Lady Belvoir's
discounted sutton as soon as he could,
and went home in a very troubled and
i~rresolute condition of mind.
II will not he muttered repeatedly,
''be a fool" Yet he went on to ask
himself whether a man who does what
will at least secure him q brief period of
supreme happiness can be properly called
q fool-which is a most dangerous line
OF thought to follow out. One thing, at
all events, he was determined upon, aud
that was that he would abstain for the
present from calling in Carlton House
terrace. The representations Of an old
friend might or might not have been in
strumental in causing Lady Belvoir TO
decline Schneider's millions; but as
suredly these would not be needed in
order to bring about Moreton's dismissal.
That young gentleman was VIGOROUSLY
~ineonstant and had no money, no tai
ents, nothing in the world except his
handsome face. And Sybil would not
abandon all ambition for the sake Of a
handsome face. hShe isn't old enough
for that yet, Lord Guise reflected some
what cynically.
1t was, therefore, without II inward
feelings of uneasi1less or uncertainty that
lie encountered AIoreton in Pail Mall a
few days after this. and inquired pleas
antly whether New Zealand was a nice
sort of place to spend the winter in.
mot having sIent the winter there !
don't know" answered Moreton; s.as far
as l got it didn't strike me as the kind of
place where | sholld care to live. How.
ever, as the governor paid my expense.
out and back I didn't mind having a
look at it, and dare say the voyage did
me good"
You certainly look more fit than you
did when 1 saw you last" observed Lord
Guise. Come into the club and have
some lunch. 1 should like to hear wheth
er your spirits as well as your health
have improved since then"
AT first Nloretoa was not disposed t.
be communicative upon this point
'Oh, bother!" he said when questioned
''what's the use of talking about it?' But
a bottle of champagne had a softenine
influence upon him, and eventually hs
consented to crafty his hosts curiosity
81 Jared no better and no worse thar
I had expected" said he. 81 went
through the form of proposing to her
because l was almost bound in honor tc
do that; but it didn't surprise me in the
least to be reminded that last year wa
last year. Ineyer deceived myself about
her; / always knew just exactly whai
she was, and that if there was the ghost
OF a chance for me at one moment a de
lay of six months would be enough te
~extinguish it six times over. It's ode
how ~ungenerous women are. She tool
up the lineo declaring that it was l who
Aihti tllttlAH5CA ikltA tiif6l sHc udI lDIESStI
from the first how it would be. Then,
when | accused her of having trifed
with me, she admitted it in the most IN.
blushing way. She said she had only
wanted to show nle that she could bring
me to my knees if she chose. That's a
nice sort Of confession to make, isn't it%:'
81 dare sayshe knew that you wouldn't
break your knee, or your heart either, ;
remarked Lord Guise.
81 don't see how she could know any
thing of the kind. But of course not
seeing a person for six months does make
a difference, and then, as l tell you, ]
had no illusions about her. She's just
what You have always said she was-a
thoroughly bad lot"
81 don't recollect ever saying that"
"Oh, come! Besides it's what every.
body knows. Well, I'm free to admit
that you and the other fellows did me a
good turn, though I don't think I'll re.
new my membership at the end of the
year. One can't ell what may happen,
and perhaps if you sent me to New Zea.
land again | might not be able to feel
that l had had s1ch a good deliverance
as this time"
sit is pleasant to have ones wisdom
and foresight recognized" observed
Lord Guise; 'still, everybody isn't a
weathercock. Schneider and Thorold
have stood the test. and one of them has
had his reward"
"Ah, so l hear. I'm sorry for him,
poor chap, because Miss Leslie didn't
strike me as a very arniable young WON.
an. AT the same time one must allow
that she hasn't a stain upon her charac.
ter-which is more than can be said for
certain other ladies whom we know"
And now, to NI~oreton's great aston
ishlnent, he received one of the sharpest
and m ,st dignifed rebukes that had
eve been administered to him.
.'That is a speech which no gentleman
ought to make" siid Lord Guise, land /
hope you won't make it again. Sybil
Belvoir hes fiirted a good deal, first and
last, n we are all aware; but you haven't
the slightest excuise for saying anything
worse OF her, ami / wonder that you
don't feel how cowardly such insinua-
tons are. Women, of course. are given
to whispering away n anothers char.
acters; but l realty do think that a man
ought TO be above that kind Of thing"
Moreton, much abashed, stammered
out a sort of apology, which Lord Guise
interrupted by saying CURLY: well