The herald., 1896-01-18

/, along the school lane and through the park
He escorted Miss Putnam to-day. because
| he wanted to ask how long MS Hege lauy
| Punishment was to last.
81 don't know" was Miss Putnam's reply;
''I suppose she won't come back till the
| Duchess chooses"
'The children will miss her sadly"
moaned the curate. =,
Guess we must make it up to them, >"
said Claudia, graciously. "Ive promised
| Henrietta TO stand as much in the gap as
possible
He gave her a grateful look.
when shall l come and give another op-
Jest ?" she went on. Tomorrow!
"Oh. no." said the curate. "to-morrow's 5
geography day. Her ladyship always gives
a geography lesson on Thursday.
/ So Claudia put on another bewitching
fro,k. varied her trinkets, and did her best
with a geography lesson on Thursday. which
was mainly devoted to a fiattering but in
accurate description of the United States.
On Friday she wrestled with sums, and by
degrees she learned the whole school rou-
tine She also visited, under Mr.. Gibson
escort. one or two of Henrietta's old women,
who, he thought, would feel themselves
neglected in her absence.
Her fiance laughed at her. 81 see what
you're up to- she said; "of course it's a
clever move, but it's rather rough on a
susceptible ass like Gibson
"Why do you call him an ass?" aske1
Miss Putnam, sharply; because his father
/ is a eaddler?'
"It's a splendid opportunity for you to
make yourself popular in the parish, dear,
said the Duchess. "Of course when you are
mistress here you will like 10 be popular
among the people"
81 suppose I SHALL" said Claudia, mus
ingly.
hox- ba lac sd
she was equally deaf to the Dukes impa-
tience and the Duchess's hints.
There are such heaps Of things to do
and to think of before anything can he
fixed" she said vaguely, when her tiance
urged the matter upon her.
We'll, go oa with the heaps of things
then" he retorted: ''and don't piffle away
so much time at that confounded school"
And Lady Henrietta was still in banish-
ment in South Wales.
Finally, Miss Putnam's stay at Longlands
came to a rather unsatisfactory end, for she
went away to London, leaving the wedding
day unfixed and the hangngs for the new
drawing room unchosen.
The day after her departure there were
two letters for the Duchess-one from the
curate, the other from Miss Putnam. She
opened the former first, because she felt
more curious as to its contents.
Madam" it ran. although Your Grace
did not seriously entertain my proposal Tor
the hand of Lady Henrietta 1 feel myself
in honor bound to let you know that my
eyes have been opened to the folly and un-
suitability of the marriage for which l would
fain have had your sanction. have written
to Lady Henrietta, explaining, as far AS l
can, the folly of our past, and begging her
to forgive me if she be in any way a suf-
ferer by our mistake. l am leaving Long
lands at once. therefore the embarrassment
of any further meeting will be avoided.
The Duchess heaved sigh of intense re-
lief. This was Claudia's doing. Claudia
was a rght-down clever girl. She had GER
tainly spent a great deal of valuable time
in treading in Henrietta's footsteps, but
she had disenchanted Mr.. Gibson and lifted
a horrible incubus off the family shoulders.
She was really far too good for that stupid,
muddle-headed son Of hers; still she, the
Duchess, supposed that a title was an in
finite attraction to a born democrat, so
things were, after all, not so very uneven.
Then she took up Claudia's letter. Dear
child" she murmured as she broke the
seal.
My dear Duchess" she read. and with
each succeeding line her dismayed astonish-
ment increased; I'm glad l came to stay
at Longlands before I took the irrevocable
step to the altar. l don't want to say any
thing nasty or mean, but, really l never
did care about the Duke; l only accepted
! him because 1 thought you'd made up your