Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1896-07-02
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gu nave no I6doOII INV IO1 0CA4A4h4
me away. Oscar Despard is not your
= father and you belong to me-"
White and red struggled for the mas
terry in Madeline's delicate face. She
} gently extricated herself from Jenny's
t clasp and sent the child away; then
turning her heavy eyes to Lancelot's
face, she said:
How have you heard?"
"He has been to tell me-"
"Oh, why should he have come to
you?'
There was an accent of intolerable
lain in her sweet voice
Because I was an interested party"
But he did not know that you
that I"
THAT we loved one another? Per-
haps not; nevertheless, dear, he
thought it we'll that I should know the
truth"
HAS he told you" said Madeline,
secuted, an exile from his country and
, that finally he died by his own hand
"My darling, I knew your fathers
sad story long before Oscar Despard
spoke of him to me-"
Did you, Lancelot?"
Il had heard of him as a singularly
brave, self-sacrificing, noble-hearted
man. Mistaken, perhaps-we know
that in some of his views and aims he
must have been mistaken; but a man
of heroic mold, nevertheless. | see his
nature in your own, Madeline the
courage, the unselfshness, the disdain
of falsehoOd and wrong. These all be-
lOnged to Leon Zayertal as they be-
long to you"
''Lancelot," said Madeline, holding
out her hands to him, tell mellow
do you knOW?"
! my darling, because we are of the
same blood. My mothers name was
Zavertal; Leon was her brother you
are Icons child"
His arms were round her and she
was crying softly on his shoulder as
he said the words.
ooh, Lance, is it true? Am I really
your cousin? Do I belong to you?"
You do, indeed And you will not
refuse me now?"
q can hardly believe that it is true"
said Madeline. dashing the tears from
her eyes and looking into his face
Are you quite, quite certain, Lance
lot?"
las certain as one can be under the
circumstances" said Lance, with rather
an unsteady laugh But we shall be
able to go into the proofs by and by.
There is, l think, nc moral doubt.
Dear, my mother wants you to come
! to her at once. Can you Gomez"
IF you wish it. She is a great in
valid, is she not?"
/ Yes, but she is so like you-or,
rather, you are so like her, Madeline,
/ | was often puzzled ~ the resemblance
Your hair, your complexion, your
mOuth-but not your eyes, those are all
your own"
And much as he loved his mother,
Lance acknowledged to himself in that
moment that he preferred the steadfast
dark gray of Madeline's long-lashed
eyes to the varying CLEANS of green
and blue, which in his mother heralded
every change of temper or of mood
He bore Madeline off with him to
KenSingtOn Immediately and as they
sat side by side-and hand in hand, if
the truth must be tCld-he told her
little by little some of the details of his
mothers history. you surely heard
OF her sometimes?" he said once,
! paUSing in his recital
"A very little,'' Madeline replied.
i Lady Frances spoke of her once or
twice, but l always thought of her as
Mrs. Vanbrugh. l never heard the
name Zavertal.'
"Ah, Lady Frances. She was always
devoted admirer of the cavalier, as
! she called my father" said Lancelot,
rather sadly. q have never quite un-
Gerstood the reason of father and
mothers alienation and I think that
every one else has been more in the
dark than |. If only they could be
reconciled now I should indeed be
happy"
Perhaps said Madeline, a little
shyly, I'VE may help to bring it about,
| Lance"
1T is possible. I have great hopes.
She said today that she had done him
an injustice. That may be the begin
r ming of better things
5 In spite of LancelOt's reassuring
: words and presence, Madeline felt sad
= ~ nervous when the time came for her
: tC be admitted to Nine. Zavertal S
r room. She hardly knew what sort of
0 face she expected to see, but when she
: first bent to kiss it, in obedience to
= the gentle force that drew her down
/ she thought that she had never seen
i lOvelier one Something hard and
wild and fierce that had often been seen
|. in Venetia's face seemed to have died
i? out of it and left only the sweetness
V and tenderness that had once won Ro-
ger Vanbrugh's heart. And, although
h Nine. Zavertal's voice was weak anC
: her hands painfully wasted, she re
tanned her old charm OF manner which
had fascinated husband and son ant
scores of men beside.
"Ah, yes. there is no mistake abou
:, it," she said, looking into Madeline'
:, face. You are Icons child
9 Can you speak his tongue?" sh
went on softly. You must have heart
it often when you were a baby girl.
% She said a few words in a strang