The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1894-12-12
CUPID WANTS
SPECTACLES

On a certain Sunday in July an un-
usual animation, not the result of the
pastors eloquence, seemed to pervade
the congregation in the church of Sor-
by, quiet little hamlet in the South of
Ireland. \ stranger was among them
and a sirikingly beautiful one,
thought some younger members OF the
flock.
Old Jimmy Wrlg. the churchwari-
en-, had shown the mysterious lady to
4 seat and she had Joined in tine ser
vice unconscious of the trenor of ex-
element her presence caused.
"Can she possibly be Dorothea >"
whispered Mrs. Stapleton to her maid,
Pilley.
Not bit Of it, ma'am! She's a
lodger at Pawson's-come last night !;
Robin to!e mc her name, but I've for
gotten it. She's nobody at all in parri-
cular, ma'am.n
SIS she a widow or some kind Of
nun ," wondered Mrs. Clegg. ~ new
cr saw bonnet and veil like those BE-
fore. The bonnet is certainly very be-
coming; wish could get coed look
at the 'front.'
Mrs. Ciegg had lately lost her hus-
band, and, being rather good-looking
and not being ineonsolably bereaved,
the subject of becoming habiliments Of
woe interested her deeply.
Mrs. Stapleton, the owner of a pref
ty place called Trown Lodge and the
queen OF Sorby society, looked uneasi-
ly at her son, tall, fair young man q
little over twenty-five, her only child,
aud the centre of all her hopes and am
billions.
Ever since Fred Stapleton's return
from Eton he had been the object of
alteration to all the young ladies with
in miles of SoTby; but Mrs. Stapleton
had higher aspirations for her son, and
Fred was unquestionably struck with
the grace and beauty of the newcomer,
for he held his hymn-book upside down
and went astray in his responses.
Connected with the parish of Sorby
was a large estate called BarnaSc0ne
Priory-sadly neglected now, but new
ertheIess very beautiful and of great
value when rightly managed. The
sole heiress to this fine property was Il
descendant of Lord Bcrrisford, who
had been born in Italy and brought up
in that country and America. She
had married very rich American,
who had died three months after his
marriage, leaving her his entire for
tune.
Now, at the aye of twenty-five years
the beautiful Mrs. Hadfield Was intend
ing to visit for the first time in her life
her Irish inheritance, Barnascone
Priory, anI to make acluainiance with
the friends of her iong-since deceased
parents.
All these particulars Mrs. Stap,eton
learned from friend, Lady Josephine
Parr, who lived mt Florence and was Il
conlidant of Mrs. Hadfie!d. Mrs. sta
pleton's fancy had composed charm
ing idyi in which her son was master
of Barnascone, with it, beautiful mis-
tress rs his wife-the alien could not
fail to lose her heart to Fred when she
made the much-talked-of-visit to S)r-
by, and Fred was luckily free of any
other engagement. Now her plans
were menacei By great dlngef in the
person of the mysterious stranger who
from the first seemed to have fascinated
Fred.
The next day Miss PilIey, Mrs. Sta
pleton's maid and contidant, sought
her MISTRESS presence with signs of
high dungeon on her fiorid face.
"What do you think, ma'am?" she
said Indignantly, ''NIrs. Douglas, rs
calls herself, IS in the rose garden at
Barnascone, with one o them best tea
roses i'm her button-hole /: she is pryin'
and pokin' about everywhere, lookin'
in at the windows and askin Patsy all
sorts of impertinent questions If she
was mistress ofevery inch ofthe ground
she couldn't give herself more airs ;
her wiles and guiles and half-crowns
where shilling would be too much
have made that fool Patsy and the rest
of them ready to stand on their wood
en- heads for her ~
In Mrs. Stapleton's mental vision
Barnascone Priory was 80 nearly in her
sons possession that she allowed her
self an occasional liberty within its sa-
cred precints, but for other tresspassers
she had little mercy.
ave must warn Nanny at the lodge
| against admitting suspicious-looklng