Hot Springs weekly star. (Hot Springs, S.D.) 1892-1917, 1897-03-19

out much; l am in mourning"
Mourning. nonsense!'' said her aunt;
"ynu have been in mourning-how long?"
"Four months.'
"And old Admiral Fitzgerald was your
relation by marriage?"
"lfe was like Il fntler to me-" said
Anne. turning Il little pale. and ceasing
TO smooth out the dresses Upon which she
had been engaged. II had lived five
years in his house."
Now. Anne" said Mrs. Dumaresq, 81
am going to speak plainly to you. James
said 1 was to talk to you. We are the
only people you have to look after your
affairs and interests. You were eighteen
when your uncle, as you call him, took
YOU home with him after your mothers
death, and said you were to be his daugh-
ter. and all that sort of thing. Now,
weren't you:"
81 was"
"And you are tw%enty-three now. That
is to say, you let him new you up in q
gloomy old house in London, where you
never went out or saw anybody from one
weeks end to another; and when he be-
came i'll YOU nursed him and tended him
like an angel-no. don't interrupt me; l
shall say what 1 like-and were scolded
and bullied and suspected all day long
until he died last July; and then of course
YOU fell ill from overwork and over
anxiety; and we all said. THANK good
ness. that part of her life is over!"
Aunt Charlotte, l am sure you were
not so unfecling!!' said Anne.
And we also said," continued Aunt
Charlotte. regardless of the interruption,
"'Now she will have her reward. The
old Admiral ought to have made her inde-
pendent for life And at first we heard
that he had left You his whole fortune;
and then we were told he had left you
nothing; and then you wrote and said
you had two hundred Il year. So now,
your Uncle Jnmcs and 1 would like to
know what it all means. dear. if you don't
mind telling us; because we are YOUR
nearest relations, and we do hope that
you have got your rights"
Eyes, l got all my rights"
do. dear Anne. tell me what la,,-
pcned." said Mrs. Dumaresq, persuasive
~. ':How did he leave his money? He
had two thousand n year, l know"
Anne hesitatcd for a moment. then
looked her aunt steadily in the face
said. HE :.ft his money to me-"
well, what have you lone with it?"
81 gave it away" Anne murmurcd,
apoloycticnlly.
Mrs. Dumarcsq rose from ne: chair. and
drew herself to her full height. Good
heavens. Anne" she said in her most
emphatic tones, "are you mai"
"Ilat is what Mrs. Haye used to ask
me-" said Anne. "She was ;lngry with
mo throughout the whole voyage. Dear
Major Hayc tried to be angry too, but
could not manage it. He saw that it
was a matter of right and justice"
Right and justice! Fiddlesticks!
Who's got the money now, l should like
to know"
His sister and nephews."
"Who are they? l never heard of them
BEFORE"
81 am sorry to say that 1 had not heard
of them until lately. 1t seems that his
sister married against his wishes. Her
husband died, and left her with half n
dozen boys and girls. Uncle Henry used
to allow them two hundred a year, but
made no provision for them in his will.
l heard of her through my unclc's lawyer.
and found out the details of the quarrel
when the papers We're opened. They had
the right to it, not 1. For myself two
hundred a year is ample"
''You might have helped them without
giving up your fortune"
II did not consider it mine." replied
Anne quietly. The only thing that l
charged myself with doing WAS to see
that the income should not all go to the
eldest son. There will be an equablc
division of the property. My dear Aunt
Charlotte, / have done very we'll for my
SELF" she said. looking at her aunt with
an assumption of innocent dignity. II
have kept four thousand pounds for my
Own use and bchoof, and l feel rich upou
it,"
To her surprise Mrs. Dumarcsq sank
into the casy-chair again. aud began to
cry. ut is too bad" she said. sobbing.
Here YOU have given up your youth-the
five best years of your lifc-to that wicked
old man. and have got nothing by it but a
paltry W hundred a year: and l have
been saying that you We're an heircss-
and everybody is so curious to see you.
l must tell YOU uncle the whole story,
because he is so very anxious about you.
What he will say when he hears it l sim
ply cannot imagine
Mr.. Eastlnke came to dinner. and with
him IL MIR. Rolleston, and the Dumaresq's
eldest son Harold, who had been de-
tanned all day by business in town. Har-
old was a bright-looking. boyish man of
one-and-twenty. with thick brown hair
and sparkling blue eyes. Mr.. Eastlake
was some years older than either Harold
or Mr.. Rolleston. but seemed on very
intimate terms with them, US indeed ne
was with the whole family of the Du-
maresqs. He had known them well in
England, and was connected with them
by marriage in some distant degree. He
was almost as much at home in Mrs. Du-
maresq's house as in his OWE.
Mrs. Dumaresq was radiant in a com
| bination of blue and cream color; Anne
looked stately in her robes of clinging
black cashmere; Michele was simply
dressed in white. A Miss Hilda Seaforth,
a friend of Michelle's, had been asked at
the last moment to join the party. Anne
| enjoyed the evening. She had lived so
secluded a life that the prettiness of
everything around her was u pleasure.
After the dinner, when they had all gone
to the drawing-room, Mrs. Dumaresq
turned to Anne and asked her for a song.
| Miss Carteret seated herself ut the piano.
Before she had sung three notes her hear
49,. <,v,ro1 vo,od ~, kho;r obo;r, mud looG,-