The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-02-26
CHAPTER TX.

mate where be was gong
He did not" her ladYship answered
somewhat suappishIy. He did not ever
say he would not be back to dinner
The baronet and his wife we're stroniuf
on the lawn in front Of the hall, having
dined alone, saying the presence Of thelI
daughter. q short time before. As the
evening was a fine one be had gone out to
puff his after dinner cigar, and she had
Joined him with the intention Of saying
something about his ward.
~ daresay the young man will have
dropped across some friends in town and
will have stayed to dinner"
81 don't think So" she said in tone
which drew her husbands eyes upon her
quickly.
why don't you, Adelaide"
''For reasons OF my own. You do not
seem to have noticed that your ward did
not return home last night either in your
company OF with myself and C0rdelia.'
II had never thought ebouE It, When l
failed TO see him at tine club l assumed he
had made his way here before me"
80 he did. He reached the hall ten min
utes or so before YOU arrived, and the SER
wants told me that be went straight TO his
room And he must have walked all the
of voice one disunCuvely uses when max
ing some important declaration.
'He would scarcely tramp all that dis
lance, 7 should think" be made reply, in
differently "And if he did what natter"
"Did you see Paul at the CLUB al all!' she
Queriei Ignoring his question.
''Not that l remember"
''Nor heard either Of him being there"
"No.n
$50 that it is pretty evident that he had
somewhere to go which suited him better
than the club with yCu or the carriage with
Cordelia and me-"
Il daresaY he wanted walk after being
stuffed up in the theater.'
She laughed in his face, and be demanded
with some warmth
''Wha5 are you driving at, Adelaide
There is something wrong, 1 can see"
Nothing wrong as far as l know. But
I suspect that your ward Is enjoying his
leisure this evening where be spent it last
night"
''Where's that"
"In some Of the villages between this and
the town with one Of your pitbrow gi.lsm
she replied, sharply.
''Nousensen he calculated.
1T may be nonsense. but 1t is true"
Paul would hardly be so foolish as to
get himself entaUgled with one Of them. He
is rather fastidious, I have noticed, whore
women are concerned-woUld not look at
any girl who was not pretty and refined
And then he's so fond offs l think deeply
in love with CordelIa. ! suppose some one
has told you this story about himsn
90, no. I saw him with my own eyes.
He wGsstandiug under the lamp opposite
the White Crow with the girl when we
drove home.n
cat that hourF'
eyes"
''You are sure it was Paul.'
"Qaite certain. Cordelia saw them also,
and If she begins 20 think that Paul is behav-
ing badly she will have nothing to do with
him. You know what will OF her own she
he's got"
"Who was the girl-but I suppose you
will not know herr"
Il know her well. You remember the
girl who sang az the concert-I think Cor
della told you about her"
u recollect.'
ITS the came. She is very handsome.
and 10 one would think her a pit brow girl
If they saw her in any other than her work
ing garments. | was really astOnished
when Madison introduced the girl-Bar-
bingham be called her-to me as one Of YOUR
employees. She 10 very different indeed
from the ordinary pit lass, and is good
looking and smart enough to be dangerous
IN the case OF young man like Paul.
And do you believe that he is with her
tonight"
''Of course 1 do not know, but somehow
] feel assured that he is"
do you think l ought TO speak to him Y'
Certainly not. 1t would spoil every
thing to do SO. Paul is exactly the kind of
man who will insist upon going the way his
friends do not desire him to take. We had
better do nothing at present, and in the
couree of a few days we may learn more
about him and the girl"
No more was said on the subject lust then
by either the baronet or his wife. He was
inclined TO treat the affair rather lightly
as a mere Irritation which men Of Peul's
age and infiammRbls nature were always
liable to drift into But Lady Carsland re-
garded the matter much more gravely. She
had seen Salome, and knew how lovely and
fascinating the girl was, and she was afraid
the pit brow girl would move heaven and
earth TO capture such a rich prize as Sir
Sydney's ward
On the confines Of Gale Wood, just beside
the stile referred to already several times
in the course of this narrative Salome Bar
bingham was standing.
IL was the evening following her visit to
the theater at Earlsford, and it was late
enough for the last glimpses Of day 20 have
died out Of the west
Behind her the wood lay silent and
gloomy before her rose the head gear and
the Dank OF the pit Wherent she labOred and
on either hand the fields, from which tie
grain had been gathered weeks ago,
stretched dumb aud dark and weird
The girls mind was filled now, as it had
been charged all the busy lvelong day,
with thoughts OF her lover, and the glorious
future his glowing words of affection had
opened out TO her
She loved him with all her strength, and
would have been amply satisfied to have
found him Door man 80 long as be was
honest aud returned her affection.
and 10. her lover turned ont now to be
the ward Of Sir Sydney Carsland-a gentle
man who was wel-born, high bred, con-
nected. and not very remotely, with the
aristocraCy, and one who would be a
wealthy man in a couple OF years. when the
guardianship OF tie baraueJ expired.
There was strong undercurrent of ro-
nance In SGlome's nature in spite of all her
common sense and prudence. She had fed
her fancy on the love stories of the most
romantic kind the penny Journals she tool,
III weekly contained, and her own love story
appeared all the more singular and charm
ing on that account.
Surely no romance she had ever read WIS
half SO remarkable As her own history had
been since she and Paul Meredith first net
that morning IN Gale wood From the first
moment Of their acquaintance she had seen
that the man who called himself WIfred
Cunliffe was socially her superior Jur
never, IN her widest flights of imagination.
had she dreamed that her lover was of high
social position and considerable yBeatth