The Kimball graphic. (Kimball, Brule County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1905, 1897-05-15
CHAPTER NXXyIII.

MI. HERBERT lIlnley, L ask PERMISSION to
it is quite likely that some of the opinions
you will find here might offend you IT ! ex-
pressed them personally. | can relieve your
anxlet. on the subject Of Miss Sydney West
eriield. But l must be allowed to do SO in
than those which, think it becoming to all
honorable man to impose on himself.
You are quite right in surprising that
Miss Westerfeld had heard Inc spoken of at
Mount Morven as the agent and legal adviser
of the lady who was formerly your wife.
these circumstances you will presently dis
cover. AS to the means by which she found
her way to my Office i may remind you that
any directory would give her the necessary
intOrmatiou.
Miss Westertield's object was to tell me,
in the first place, that her guilty life with
you was at an end. Acting under motives
which | am sure you must understand, and
which l hope You will also respect, she has
left ynur n,otection-not 10 return to it. L
was sorry TO see uhough she tried to hide it
from mel how kcenly she felt the parting.
You have been dearly loved by two sweet
women, and they have thrown their hearts
aWay on you-as women will.
Having explained the circumstances so
far, Miss Westeriield next mentioned the mo-
tive which had brought her to my office. She
asked ii | would inform her of Mrs. Or
niond's address.
This request, | confess, astonished me.
80 my mind she was, OF all persons, the
last who ought to contemplate communicate
ing in any way with Mrs. Ormond | say
this to YOU; but | refrainmd from saying it to
her. What did venture to do was to ask
for her reasons. She answered that they
were reasons which would embarrass her il
she communicated them to a stranger.
After this reply-.speaking as gently and
considerably as possible declined to give
her the information she wanted.
Not u%nprepaled, as it appeared to me. for
my refusal, she asked next il i was willing
to tell her where she might find your brother,
Mr.. Randall L;nlcy. In this case ! was glad
to comply with her request. She could adj
dress herself to no person worthier to advise
her than your bro .cr. In giving her his al
dress in London told her that he was alb
sent on a visit to some friends, and that lie
was expected to return i'll a weeks time.
sShe thanked me and rose to 90.
II confess | was interested In her. Per-
| hsns | thought OF the time when she might
have been as dear to her father as my own
cnts We're living; they We're dead. My next
| question was: Have you any friends in
London9' She answered: ! have no friends
1t was said with a resignation SO very sad in
so young a creature that | was really dis
tressed. ran the risk of offending her
and asked il she felt any embarrassment in
respect OF money. She said: 81 have some
small savings from my salary when | was a
goverEess." The change in her tone told me
that she was abiding to the time OF her resi-
dence at Mount MOrven. 1t was impossible
to look at this fricndless girl and not feel
some anxiety about the lodging which she
might have chosen in such Il place as Lon
don. She had fortunately come to Inc from
the railway and had not thought yet OF where
she was to live. At last ! was able to be OF
some use to her. My senior clerk took care
of Miss Westertield and left her among re-
spectacle people, in whose house she could
! live cheaply and safely. Where that house
is | refuse, for her sake, to tell you. She
shall not be disturbed.
AFTER a week had passed | received =
visit from my good friend, Randall Liniey.
He had on that day seen Miss Wester-
field. She had said to him what she had
said to me, and had repeated the request
which l thought it right to decline; owning
to your brother, however, the motives which
she had refused to cOntide to me. He was so
strongly impressed by the sacrifice OF herself
Which this penitent woman had made that
he was at first disposed to trust her with Mrs.
Ormond's address.
Reflection, however, convinced him that
| her motives, pure and disinterested as they
undoubtedly were, did not justify him in let
ting her expose herself to the consequences
which might follow the proposed interview.
All that he engaged to 30 was to repeat to
Mrs. Ormond what Miss Westeriitld had
said and to inform the young lady of the re.
suit.
'ln the intervals of business | had felt
some uneasiness when ! thought of Miss
Westeriieldis prospects. Your good brother
at 9ice Sc. an hhletS on th ns; suo(Ses AZ t r. 7
,,ndar R.o la,,. nf ~ nII and daor f,iand ~
her late fatherGCapt. Bennydeck. Her vol.
untary separation from YOU offered to YOU
brother and to the captain the oppor .Mnlty
Tor Wliicn they haa Doth Deen waiting. capt
Ianht EMMA mIi ,, tne.i r un ! hius r rs, sua III M llIs
Westerfield's ineiinatio,,s would he Consulted
and she would no doubt eagerly embrace The
onnortnn;tv of heinp introduced TO her faith.
cr's friend.
u have now communicated all that know
N reply to the questions Which you have at
utess9u 70 lhe. Lei me tal'ies.tS aua.se w! ,iri
.,hioh - IN y , AZ n nop Rn ~ vour,elf to
n senaratinn3 v Will, Is rot only for her GOOD,
but Tor yours.-Samucl Surrdztn."
CHAPr II xXxIx.
Not having heard from Cant. Bennvdeck
orsomr liitIe time Randall thnnpht f do.
irable in Sydncy's interests to make in