Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1893-12-02

some one still there. And she, although
| the aggressor, felt aggrieyed. Her pride
WAS not snbdued, though her love burned
brightly.
She stood now before her glass IN her
comfortable firc-ligbt room. Was her love
deep enough, and ail-powerfnl enough, she
wondered, to compensate her for the sac
rifce she must make, or thought she must
make, were she to yield to IL, or did the
world promise her more? Would she not
| find her happiness more fully In the admi-
ration her beauty might win for her In the
| splendid home which might be hers once
again, on Lady Ravens return? She could
not tell, but she doubted; aud the doubt
made her very sick ut heart and weary with
her indecison.
There was as least the charm Of rest In
! the home-life which she knew now was
| within her grasp, and she felt a glow OF
rapture when she pictured herself always
cheered by the tender tones of a voice so
sweet to her, the presence she loved SO
well, and the heart anticipating, she Knew
well, her every thought and wish. But
| then she knew she would be for ever ex.
cluded from her old sphere, and costly
dress and jewels would be at her command
no more. She hesitated, was lost. Her
| OdHflut ltlDDltF was even HOW Df hlufs
| Wearly she opened her dressing case to
| return the few trinkets she had worn that
evening, when her eyes fell upon her aunt's
last letter, unopened and, until that mo-
ment, forgotten. IL had arrived late that
J day, and determined that her pleasure
should not be undmmed. at least for the
evening, she had left it unread; but now
she threw herself into the easy chair and
| perused it. All the tide of tenderness
| that had been rising within her was now
] turned aside.
The letter was worthy OF the writer
| When once the Countess Raven desired TO
accomplish any object she had In view,
| she left but few means untTied 70 attain
/ success. Her love for her niece, small
though IL might be, had wonderfully reyiv-
we'd of late; and her ladyships pride too
1 was hurt that her dead brothers only child
the reigniDg beauty of two seasons, who
had let coronet slip through her hands
! should be allowed to throw herself away
/ III a sphere far below her. Her conscience
| too was touched, for she knew the real
( blame must lie at her own door.
! But there might yet be time to retrieve
! her fault, and experience had taught her
I that Miss Worthington might be led or
! tempted but not coeTced; 30 she would
now try earnestly, with all the tact she
! possessed, to fulfil her own wishes and pro-
vide q brilliant future for her niece. She
would hold out the most tempting lures
! her brain suggested, and Florence found
herself apparently, and for the first time,
Of great importance in her aunt's estma-
tion. Lady Raven would return TO Lon-
| don with Sir John Meddowes la q months
time, when she earnestly desired her niece
10 be in readiness TO join her in Charges
street for an unlimited visit at least
which was saving clause for her ladyship,
| in case that visit proved irksome nor need
| the arrangement preclude return 10 Flor
encc's present home if she proved intracta-
BILE or difficult TO manage.
I Lady Raven was counting the days, she
told her niece, to see her again. Her cous-
| in, Lady Margaret, would he in England
two mouths later, when the weather would
! be more settled and Lady Raven looked
forward to a brilliant season for them all
her own importance enhanced by her
niece's beauty. The last piece of news in
her aunt's letter made Florence's lip curl,
! and an old defiant light CLEAN in her eyes.
1t was that Lady Margaret had lately met
Lord Harcourt Vernon at Nice, ut the
| Duchess Msrtori's reception, and that his
1 lordship had asked with great empresse-
ment for news of his cX.fancee, Florence.
"Who knows, my dearest girl, what the f,l-
ture may bring forth, and especially now
that you have gained so much sad expert
ence and are older and wiser|' her lady,
ship wrote playfully, in conclusion. The
postscript added that Lord Vernon would
| be almost Immediately in town again for
! the whole season, and had declared his in
tent ion of making a speedy aDDearance in
| Charges Street.