Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1896-05-23

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that Is. She has budded into The Blank.
hampton Lily"
LORI cried Lady Staunton. "well
then III tell you what | should do with
the Liiy's white Pompadour II I were you
should just wait till | got my house and
then should give it q special niche In
your own boudoir. You are sure to have
a white and yellow boudoir, and II yon
stand the Ponp' up against the new fash.
Toned white wood chimney-shelf, Il will
look lovely. But walk u with it you
can and that is n certainty"
Not with me-" put In Stephen al this
moment
30 Mrs. Stephen Howard did not take
the Ponpadour stick away on her honey
moon, and 1t remained among the other
presents for Blankhampton society to look
over and comment upon.
Mrs. Lovelace and the Major had sent n
pretty little brooch with a jewelled fly re-
posing on IL, and Mrs. Lovelace had look.
ed one OF the prettiest women present at
the ceremony. But she looked I'll, every
body noticed that and more than one per-
son was heard to say that really she seem.
ed 70 have taken the loss of her jewelry
very badly.
All tbe same there were one or two who
guessed that there was another and a very
different reason than the loss of her jewels
which was at the bottom OF Mrs. Love-
lace's altered looks and graver smiles.
Pamela Winstanley, for instance, with
her W head held higher IN air than she
had ever held IL in all her life before,
which "a saying a good deal, knew we'll
enough what vas in the heart Of her rival
her rival, good Heavens, she meant her
sister. for did not she aud Mrs. Lovelace
stand on the same battlefield and had not
Captain Legard loved, or pretended that
he loved. and then ridden away alike from
them both,
More THIN once Pamela's pale eyes had
met Mrs. Lovelace's great black oues, and
not wishing TO seem to be watching her,
she had turned her head away quickly
and with a gesture which seemed to the
other to be one of triumph. All, IL only
she had known about that little incident
in Mrs. Trafford's drawing-room, when
the star OF Pamela Winstanley had paled
before the sun OF Florence Doughty.
Well, the excitement attending Julia
Trafford's wedding passed away and the
robbery OF Mrs. Loyelace's jewels ceased
to be talked about, was indeed we'll nigh
forgotten, and then the Trafford house
hold began to thiu-the Stauntous went
of to town for a few days before paying
their visit 10 the old ladies', and Marcus
Oxford and his wife went back to the reg
iment, having only had a few days leave
for the purpose Of attending Julla's we'd
ding. So Mrs. Trafford was left quite
alone aud she declared that she felt quite
glad to be quiet and live for herself after
the excitement and worry OF the past two
years.
Dull. my dear" she said to Nina de
Lisle, who came to commiserate with her
on her lonely state; mo. | am never dull
/ have always plenty TO do and my friends
are very kind. But really | am only now
beginning to breathe again. Two engage
ments going on In the house together are
bad enough, but an engagement OK only
a month ia length is a matter of cruelty
to everybody concerned"
Are you going TO remain In Blank
hampton, Mrs. Trafford," " Nina asked. II
hope you are. Everybody will miss you
dreadfully II you leave IT."
~ shall not leave for the present, my
dear" Mrs. Trafford replied. lyon see /
have this house on my hands till next Oc-
tober and | know so many people here that
| do not think Of leaving before next Au-
tumn."
~ hope you won't leave 1t then" cried
Nina.
Mrs. Trafford laughed. "Oh! my dear.
you may have left it yourself long before
next October
Yes, that is so-but then I may not"
answered Nina, with a blush that was a
little Juvenile for her years.
~a.Msunws Hhau ases" said Mrrs rcs ~cree
into consideration. Really II anybody
had told me three months ago that |
should be here alone in my house to-day
aud Juhs wooed and married and all, |
should have taken the liberty OF saying
that I thought they would prove them
selves wrong. And vet Julia is married
aud here | am all by myself"
But the little widow did not find herself
left very much alone. Her friends came
to see her duly and truly and especially
did the young ladies get into the habit Of
going In at all times just to cheer her
up. they said. And before long the young
meu also got into a habit of going in to
have a cup Of tea with her, and while
Marcus Oxford and Sir Anthony were in
~Blankhampton they naturally went and
called on the incoming regiment which
had relieved the 32nd, and equally natu-
rally they took several OF the officers to
call at No. Z, and very soon il became one
OF the popular houses in the town among
the officers OF the 43rd princess Mary's
Own Hussars.
About this time the Bob Markhams
went up TO town for a few days, but when
they got back to Brentwood, Mrs. Bob
drove over and insisted upon taking Mrs.
Trafford back for a day or two. She tried
hard TO get out OF 1t but Mrs. Bob would
not hear a word about that-they were
going to have m i%mpromptu dinner party
he next evening. the Lucifers and some
people who We're staying there and one or
two others. II was no use Mrs. Trafford
declaring hat she really wanted rest and
quiet more than anything else, Mrs. Bob
meant her to go and said so. she would
not take nc for an answer and simply said
she would not leave the house alone.
So Mrs. Trafford had no choice but to
get her things put together and submit
TO the inevitable, and I must admit that
she enjoyed herself very much when she
got there. And whilst she was there, the
neighborhood was again thrown into a
kind OF CONFUSION by the news that an
other great robbery Of jewels had been
commlttedl
Little Mrs. Bob was eloquent about It.
'Ohl Mrs. Trafford," she cried, II do get
so frightened by al this. l really almost
wish that we had never come into this
nsighborhood at all. Yes. l do really. l
know I shall never know . moments
peace when we get TO the Manor Lodge,
and of course. IL you visit much you must
have silver and so on. You can make a
very good show with }0sr as many dia-
monds as you can carry about your person
but You can't carry your dishes aud
your spoons and forks about with you,
can your"
'well. not very comfortably, /" said Mrs.
Tra..ori. with a laugh. But, IL you are
so frightened you can buy electro plate
instead OF ~silver-nobody will want to
steal that"
Mrs. Bob looked doubtful. Bob would
not like that. I'm sure" she said. HE is
30 odd about those things, III you can't
have real things. don't have them at ALL
he always says. and l believe he'd rather
eat with his fingers than use what he calls
sham things. Yes, / know it's very silly,
h.,t man WIN haya rnuChed N N Oood deal