The state republican. (Jefferson City, Mo.) 1871-1896, 1895-05-02
CHAPTER xxi.
HOW ELvIRA TAKES THE NEWS.

HOW EbVIRA TAKES THE NEWS.
Elvira Delane was inconsolable,
She could neither sleep nor eat, and
even during the short time that had
elapsed since the death of Pierce
Vaughan had been established with
out a doubt, she had lost all her
roundness of form, her gay insouci-
ante manner, and the pouting charm,
which was the characteristic of her
beauty, had given place to a subdued
melancholy expression.
She scarcely ever left her own par
ticular drawing room, erst SO bright
with its artistic coloring. There
we're no flowers in the rare china
vases now, and a piece of black
Grape yelled some picture or brio a
brac which was especially connected
in Elvira's mind with the dead man.
OF course she had donned a black
garment and would trail her long
skirts up and down this room for
hours, with a dismal monotony that
verged on madness.
She was not engaged to Pierce
Vaughan. Except by small attentions
he had never manifested any especial
regard for her, yet she had elected to
care for him and since his death had
set him up as a sort of idol.
SIT was preposterous, ridiculous,
absurd" so said even Lady Marcia,
who was Pierce Naughan's particular
friend and fully prepared, as she
expressed it, ''to mourn him with all
fitness, but this behavior of Elvira's
was past all brooking, and the girl
ance."
Lady Marcia did not in the least
think that Elvira was mad, it vas
only a 1ippant of hand way OF
expressing her disapproval. Yet
she was perhaps nearer the truth than
she suspected. That Elvira would
Gov from the conditions of mind
which mental strain had produced
there was every reason to expect,
that is, if she were properly taken in
hand but for the time, there was no
doubt of it, she was setting alike the
laws of commousen.e and convent
ionality IN II side without being in
the very least aware that she was
doing anything out of the way, or
drawing down upon herself the
remarks of the entire neighborhood.
Never had a girl been more in want
of a mother to guide her than Elvira
was during this trying time. Lady
Marcia, fond of her, and ''good fell
low" though she was, was far too
injudicious a woman to be of any use.
On the contrary, her off-hand
fault finding remarks did harm
instead of good, and as for Delane,
the millionaire himself, he was too
stolidly engulfed in his own money
bags to notice Elvira's vagaries.
The probability is he would not
have known that she was behaving in
any unusual manner if Lady Marcia
had not talked to him about it every
time she saw him. Nor did her
words make much impression, he
was accustomed to think hat all that
Elvira did was well, and he was not
inclined to blame her now.
'Let the girl alone, she'll forget
all about the poor fellow in time"
And in this, stolid Mr.. Delane was
wiser than chattering, energetic Lady
Marcia. The friend whose counsels
and loving words would have had the
most beneficial effect on Elvira was
Lady Gertrude Dunraven, but ii had
been so impressed on Elvira that
Lady Gertrude was fo- the present to
be told nothing about the dreadful
event that had happened, that Elvira
had kept carefully away from Aboyne
Court.
Lady Gertrude had asked to see
her, had in fact sent more than one
message, but Elvira had not even
replied. She was in a testy nervous
unhappy frame of mind, ready to take
offence where no offence was in
tended, and she so resented a note
she had received from Sir Clement,
in which he had asked her not in any
way to communicate with Lady Ger
trude on the dreadful subject, that
she said she should not go neal them
If she could not say what she liked,
and she decided to shut herself up
still more in the privacy of her own
apartments.
AS for Lisbeth, the idea of COM
forting her was the very last thing
that entered Elvira's brad. She took
a diametricaly opposite view from
that taken by the more tender
hearted Lady Gertrude, and was
perpetLally reproving herself for
ever having spoken to or done any
kindly action for a woman who was
the daughter of such a father.
For Elvira Delane believed firmly
in Jim Glendinning's guilt, nay more,
she believed in the heredity of crime.
How could Lisbeth be otherwise than
vile and bad considering her parent
age.
Perchance even Miss Delane might
have given Jim ~Glindenning the BEN