The Yakima herald. [volume] (North Yakima, W.T. [Wash.]) 1889-1914, 1892-03-10

are running separate establishments for
the present. understand you have been
Of great service to Mrs Willatts, pre-
senting her to your aristocracy."
"only too delighted, am sure, to
have been Of any little use."
"And," continued Mr.. Willatts imper-
turbably, ut has come to my knowledge
that your services have received liberal
remuneration" ....r
The smile faded from Lord Georges
face. II am surprised" said he, chat
. third person should have been told Of
what was assured would remain .
purely confidential transaction; but,
since that promise seems 10 have been
broken, had better, perhaps, mention
to you that the sums TO which you allude
represented q loan, not q remuneration.
A short while ago happened, unluckily
for myself, to be in financial difficulties,
and Mrs. Whats very kindly offered
me temporary assistance. OF course
couldn't possibly have accepted"-
Excuse me, interrupted Mr.. Willatts;
''this IL irrelevant. In the course Of
business Mrs. Willatts' drafts had to
pass through my hands, otherwise
should not have known that she had
drawn any in your favor. have no re-
marks to make upon the question Of loan
or payment. But presume l may say
without offense, that from what l have
heard your financial difficulties are not
yet entirely at an end, and
"You may say nothing Of the sort,
sir" interrupted Lord George In his
turn. 81 owe no account Of my actions
to you; nor, to my best belief, does Mrs.
Whats, whom l have always under
stood to be lady Of independent means.
II your object in requesting this inter
view was to cross examine me you will
gain nothing by protracting it."
Mr.. Willatts remained seated. my
object" said he calmly and deliberately,
twas not to be offensive-quite the re-
verse. am not here to sit in Judgment
upon you English aristOcrats. / am .
simple business man, Lord George, and
I have q simple business proposal to
make to you. Mrs. Willatts, believe,
intends to give q ball on the twenty-sixth
Of this month"
Lord George stared and nodded,
"Well, l myself have it in contempla-
ton to give ball on the same date.
That ball is going to cost more than any
ball that has ever been given in this city
for the last ten years, and it Is going, l
hope, to be graced by the presence Of
their royal highnesses the Prince and
Princess Of Wales, aud all the most
prominent members Of your London So
ciety, and from what have heard and
read about you believe you are the
man to assist me. For your assistance
am willing to pay you q much larger
sum than you have had from Mrs. VIII
latts, and may add that, IL you are
successful, shall consider the money
well spent and well earned. Excuse my
bluntness, as you know am quite I'M
accustomed to civilized ways of doing
things. Now, sir, what do you sayr'
Lord George hardly knew what to say,
he was in debt, and had before this had
recourse to divers expedients for raising
the wind which had been at least as dis
creditable as that now suggested to him.
Moreover, he was so well known and so
popular that he had little doubt Of his
ability to earn Mr.. Willatts' check. At
the same time he felt some natural com
junction about betraying the lady whose
cause he had hitherto espoused.
''It In very short notice." he said at
length. There is an empty house In
GrOsvenor place, and, assuming money
to be no object, dare say could man
age to secure everybody for you except
the royalties, who are out Of the cues
ton. But couldn't you FIX a rather later
dateg"
Mr.. Willatts made q gesture Of dis
sent. "Money Is no object, he replied,
"and as my wife hasn't contrived to get
the royalties l can do without them,
though should be glad IL you could en-
gage some sort of u serenity for me. But
! need not point out to you that there
would be no sense in my giving q ball
unless gave 1t on the same night As
hers"
After some further discussion Lord
George agreed to accept the part as
signed to him. BE knew, II his inter
locutor did not, that in London the
claShing Of two entertainments does not
necessarily imply the fasco of one Of
them. Besides, he had really done all
that he possibly could do for Mrs. Will
latts. People who accepted the wife's
hospitality would assuredly wish to com
pare 1t with that Of her husband; and al
though the latter would probably have
to forego the patronage Of the Duchess Of
Stratford, he would scarcely grieve over
an abstention the significance Of which
he would be protected from realizing by |
his ignorance.
Mr.. Willatts, It may be, did not realize
the social Importance Of the Duchess Of
StratfOrd, except in 90 far a. he con- |
ceiVed all duchesses to be socially i'm |
portant; still she was one Of the ladies
whom he hoped to see at his ball.
The duke, who had recently visited :
the United States and had purchased
large tracts Of land in the far west, was
extremely DESTROYS Of acquiring a GER
tain property which was now IN the pos
session Of his would DO entertainer, 50
that the latter, In the event Of his con-
senting to part with that Naboths vine
yard at q price slightly below its market
value, would be fairly entitled 70 request
some small recognition Of his generosity.
Two days later, therefore, Mr.. Willatts
betook himself 10 Stratford house, where,
on giving his name, be was at once ad-
mitted. In the meantime, he had not
allowed the grass 10 grow under his feet.
49, 81 II