The state republican. (Jefferson City, Mo.) 1871-1896, 1895-01-03

to t1c rtle " On ul1 .vautua..t he us
Nsd-Fnn. VITO man. .cs 10 ,"rr-f.'u 1ii
-on 8 -Vret resolve ste. r, 70
rh"eo, and a lew days before the time fixed
for the wedding Lady Gertrude receive,
n letter in an unknown hand; ana opening IL
scrap of paper tutters to the door. Glenn
ent Dunraven picked it mp and finds IN it the
words Darling Glen 4" with the Signature
Beta" 1t was the mote Vaughn had
picked up under the old tree in the wood.
CHAPTER V~.--PLAYING WITH FIRE.
The morning of the 10th of Janu-
airy came and the sur shone brightly.
1t was Lady Gertrude's wedding day.
All Coleshill had turned out in gala
dress. The marriage of the earl's
daughter was an event of far greater
magnitude than frequently occurred
in that quiet neighborhood.
"Happy is the bride the sun shines
on,'i' said the good wives as they
greeted each other in the Highstreet,
and none of them doubted the hap
piness that was in store for Lady
Gertrude with that handsome genial
young fellow, Sir Louis nephew.
If they could only have penetrated
behind the veil that concealed the
real state of affairs from the outer
world, would not dread rather than
hope have overtaken that now
smiling throng?
Elvira Delane was chief brides
maid. As she donned her lovely
dress of white silk with the touches
of pink and green so deity intro
duced by Partisan fingers, there was
a feeling very near akin to sorrow at
her heart.
Sic could not forget the scene in
the bou.'ir after she had given Lady
Gertrul l. the letter in queer writing.
1t wa more present th@n eyor to her
mind on the morning of the we'd
ding.
"WhJ should Gertie marry Glenn
ent in spike OF every warning? 1t is
so unreasonable, so Illogical"
Would Elvira herself be more
logical when love, the great ensIaver,
had taken firm possession of hor?
Probably not; yet she woG!l never
be SO entirely carried away by her
feeling as %as Lady Gertrude.
Ahony nous the letter enclosing
Beta's assuredly was, yet Beta's
letter vas written to Clement, and
the explanation he gave of it would
not have satisfied the practical
Elvira.
He told her that it was a by gone
foolish fancy, the heroine of Which
had been dead this many a year. If
intending wives dipped too closely
into young mems past lives-no
woman would ever marry at all.
Had he not told Lady Gertrude when
no proposed to her that he was
unworthy of a place in her atfec-
%tions, yet she had said she would
trust him.
Yes, and she would trust him now,
IL regardless of Elvira's presence
she threw her arms around his neck
and bade him forget that she had
ever seen the intrusive missive.
And so there was not even a check
to the marriage preparations, and
the lovers, for lovers they still were,
seemed more closely allied than
before hat letter reached the
f~ianeee.
The explanation was a feeble one,
Elvira thought, rendered ten times
o feeble by the ashen tint Glenn
emit Dunraven's features had assumed,
while he was called upon to give it.
Nor did the color return to his face
when by Lady Gertrude's request,
he walked to the fire to burn the
communication. By happy legerde-
main he burnt Beta's letter only, and
managed to slip the anonymous
missive into his pockets for future
investigation as to its author.
ut is burnt and there is an end"
said Lady Gertrude, ''now let us
think of it no more" and with her
back to tina fire she went on arrang-
ing her flowers.
But little escaped Elvira's sharp
eyes. She saw the letter was sup
pressed, End she wondered then as
she did now what trouble would
come OF IL in the future.
No suspicious of Pierce Vaughan
having had any hand in the matter
came to her, however, as it did to
Clement, but then Elvira acknowl-
edged a sneaking tenderness for
Pierce, and she would not have
believed him capable of under
hand doings, whereas Clement hated
him, and knew full well when he
read those letters that his deadliest
enemy in the future would be the
cousin who considered himself rob-
bed OF his inheritance. ,
II ever Pierce Vaughan discovered
lught of Clements first marriage 1
What chance you'd there be of his 1