The Lebanon express. (Lebanon, Linn County, Or.) 1887-1898, 1893-03-10
CHAPTER XVII.

II were asked TO mention the man OF
my acquaintance whom | consider the
least fitted, by nature and by habit, TO
impose upon child of average acuteness,
] should unhesitatingly name Jim Leigh.
Yet such is the power of love, and so prone
are the best Of US to listen to casuistical
arguments, that he embarked upon the
career of duplicity suggested to him by
his friends with readiness, not to say a
zest, Of which he ought certainly to have
been incapable. That he and Lady Mil
dred and Beauchamp were actuated by
the best OF good motives in behaving as
they did don't deny; but, as a more or
less impartial locker on. / felt my sympa-
thies veering round, while / watched
them, to the side of the unsuspecting
old man who was so completely taken in
by their maneuvers Lord Staines, | be-
lieve, looked upon his daughters engage
ment as being to all intents and purposes
an accomplished fact. He saw that she
walked or rode every day with her sup
posed lover; he did not know that as soon
as they were out Of sight OF the house they
were joined by Jim, and that Beauchamp
then promptly hurried away to smoke a
cigar with me, thereby interfering con-
siderably with my daily labors. He seemed
to be satisfied that all would now go well;
but In truth the apathy which had fallen
upon him after his grandson's death was
hardly to be stirred by any event, great or
small.
One event, for which he, and indeed all
London, mnst have been fully prepared,
took place at this time and created no lit
tie excitement in the neighborhood; for
we do not study the ''society" journals
much in our parts, nor does the gossip Of
the clubs reach us. | say that the finan-
cial collapse Of the Braeknell establish
ment can have surprised no one who had
lived In or near the fashionable world
during the foregoing year or SO; yet, II
her statement was to be believed, it fell
with all the cruelty OF an unexpected
blow upon the person who, one would
have thought, should have been best
aware Of its imminence. Late one even
Ing, Hilda, bringing with her a stupeD-
dons pile Of baggage, arrived at Staines
Court to cast herself, somewhat dramati-
cally, upon the protection Of the head of
the house, happened to be dining there
and witnessed her entry upon the scene,
which was Of nature to melt the hardest
heart. lii voice broken by emotion she
told her lamentable tale, She had-so she
assured us--no longer 9 home; perhaps
even she had no longer q husband; for to
Braeknell's whereabouts she was unable
10 obtain any clew On her return TO
Wilton place, after paying round Of
visits, she had found the minions of the
law In possession, and her personal prop
erty seized. "T'hey have taken every
thing-everythingl'i she cried. "Even
my Bible and Prayer Book are in their
handsn
At this an unfeeling member Of her
small audience had the bad manners TO
laugh; but she treated this interruption
with the contempt that it deserved, and
went on to enlarge upon the pitiable
plight in which she found herself She
had nothing left but tile clothes she stood
up in-those and few Others which she
had taken with her to the country. Not
word of warning, not a single direc-
ton or suggestion had been vouchsafed to
her, After being neglected for years, che
was finally Abandoned sAnd now,'' she
concluded, in tragic tone, what am |
TO doN' 4
II should think, y answered Lord
Staines, rather peeyishly, 'that you had
better 60 and wash your hands and face,
and then have some dinner.p
The advice was more practical than
sympathetic, hut such as it was she acted
upon it, She may have had some fear
that her father-in-law would recommend
her to 80 straight to the rectory (which
was certainly what should have done in
his place, and no doubt she preferred re-
manning where she was to seeking that
refuge. H
Staines Court is large house, but one
OF its Temporary inmates decided without
delay that il was not large enough to con-
tain him and Lady Braeknell at the same
time, II shall be off the first thing to-
morrow morning. Beauchamp informed
me In confidence, after he had beat pre-
cipitate retreat from the drawing room,
taking me with him Called away on
urgent business, don't you Know. That
woman has brass enough for anything
but III be hanged IL ! can trust myself to
speak to her
Beauchamp, who, as / have already
mentioned, had latterly favored me with
a good deal Of his company, had, in the
course Of our conversations, taken occa-
sion to express his opinion Of Lady Brack-
nell in the most unequivoeal terms
There is no iconoclast sorpthless as an ex-
devotee; and, indeed, it must be very uh-
pleasant To discover that woman whom
you have been disposed to worship has
not only made fool of you, but done her
best to rob and murder you into the bar
gain,
So Beauehamp took wing: and whether
Lady Bracknell was annoyed or relieved
by his hight Ieanlot venture to say. She
was in some RESPECTS so sharp and in
others 50 oddly ihsepsible that, for aught
i know, she may stiN have fattered her.
self that she might be able to lure him
back into her net BE that as it may, 1t
was hardly to be expected that her lady
ships biimor shoul1be Of The best at such
la time, and from the lassiduity Of her at
tentions to her father-in-law, as well as
from the extreme Gmiability which she