Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1894-12-13

cred from tho shock such an awful
event must have caused her."
We'll, yes; / think she has recovs
cred from that, Her husbands death
following so quickly was, of course a
blow, and since then she has had an
other trouble to bear
Indeed. | am sorry, said Mrs, Wall
singham, with thoughtful look
"Yes, we did all for the best. She
was dangerously i'll, you know, about a
year and hall ago, and we-well, 1t
was foolish, perhaps though the plan
succeeded for tho moment--we made
her believe that her little girl had been
saved from drowning at Schoenesthal,
In the Black Forest You may have
heard of the circumstance.
yes, yes,
ut was quite won lerful. She re-
ceived the strange child we introduced
to her with delight-never doubted
its Identity with her own baby-anl
all went on we'll till poor Sinclair's
death; but on his death-bed he wrote
letter telling her"
THAT the child was not her own"
exclaimed Mrs, Walsingham. THAT
must have hit her hard.
ut di |, poor girl. She has not yet
recovered the blow, and fear never
will. What most dread is her sink
ing back into the state in which she
was the winter before last"
Where is Sir Cyprian DavenaAt?"
asked Mrs. Walsingham, somewhat
irrelevantly,
"At the other end of ne world, sup
pose | believe he started for Africa
last autumn"
Was there not some kind of early
attachment between him and Mrs. Sin
clair? Pardon me for asking such a
question.
"Yes, | believe Davenant would have
proposed for Constance If his circum-
stances had permitted him to hope for
my consent.
Poor fellow And he carried his
broken heart to Africa, and came buck
to find fortune waiting for him, and
your daughter married, Do YOU not
think, ii he were to return now, Mrs.
Sinclair might be consoled for the
loss OF her child by reunion with the
lover of her girlhood?"
81 doubt If anything would res ncile
her to the loss of the little girl Her
affection for that child was an infatua-
ton.
A pair of picturesque Italians began
duet by Verdi, and the conversation
between Mrs. Walsingham and Lord
Clanyarde went no further He did
not make any offer of bringing Con-
stance to the lady's receptions: for the
memory of that old alliance between
MR.. Walsingham and Gilbert Sinclair
hung like cloud over her reputation.
No one had any specific charge to bring
against her, but it was remembered
that Sinclair had been her devoted
slave for long time, and had ended
his slavery by marrying somebody
else.
AS the weeks went round Constance
showed no improvement in health OF.
spirits. Pride was making q sorry
struggle in that broken heart. She
would not go back to England and the
spurious Christabel, though err heart
yearned for that guiltless impostor.
She would not suffer another woman's
child to hold the place Of her lest dar-
ling; no, not even though that strange
chile had made it elf dearer to her
than life. Mrs. Sinclairs doctor i'm
formed Lord Clanyarde that Rome was
getting too warm for his patient,
whereupon that anxious parent was
fain to tear him elf away from the
pleasures of the seven-hilled city and
those delightful evenings at Mrs. Wal
singham S.
"Our medical man threatens me with
typhoid fever and all manner of hor-
rors if | keep my daughter here any
longer" he said, $50 we start for Enga-
dine almost immediately. You will
not stay much longer in Rome, | sup
p1seE"
81 don't know, answered Mrs. Wal
singham, carelessly; the place suits
me better than any other. am tired
to death of London and Paris. There
is some pleasure in life here; and |
should like to be buried in the ceme-
terry where Keats lies"
Eyes, it's nice place to be buried in,
if we must be buried at all; but that's
rather a gloomy consideration. |
should strongly advise you to spend
the summer in a healthier climate, and
leave the burial question to chance"
"Oh, dare say shall soon get tired
of Rome, l always get tired of places
before have been very long in them;
and if the artists go away, shall go
too"
TO BE CONTINUED