The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1897-11-05
CHAPTER NyII-(Continnod ,

pisc him. 1t was in her nature to feel
nd do all things with an exceptional in
'cnsity AS she had loved her benefactor
18th all the force of her young heart. SO
lie hated her benefactor's brother. She
was ready to be insolent to him on the
.iightcst provocation.
Il was neither listening nor watching:
hat | went to that window yondcr to see
gho was rromenading the terrace, and
vas just III time to see you fling yourself
;st our statcsman's feet and kiss his hand.
Il was very prettily done, and | have
little doubt that it will have the desired
feet
Indeed. Pray what effect do you sup
pose | wish it to have:'
My dear Miss Boldwood, when a
"oung lazy throws herself at Il gentle
-nans foot the obvious conclusion is that
she wants to bring him to hers. 1t is
taking short cut to denoucment that
hangs fire. And in the case of a young
lldy whose attractions are much greater
ihan her fortune, and Il wealthy widower.
,nlprcss;onable but wavering. one can
conceive 20 better coup de main than that
With which YOU have just surprised our
friend Nestorius.'
''Iou think that l want to catch Mr..
NcstoriuS as a husband?"
What else can | think, having seen
what SAW Just now?'
You alc very quick in jumping at con-
clusions, Lord Lashmar."
when the conclusion is so obvious the
jump is inevitable, and it is a very small
inmp-onlv . gutter. Do you suppose
that | haze not understood your game for
The last three weeks? That | have not
marked your naneuvers. your lonely ram
hleS across the park and accidental meetf
ings with Mr.. Ncstorus on the way: your
pitcous revelations to him, your tears for
the father whom YOU lost too long ago to
have the fnintest real feeling about him.
always remembering how much you were
gamer by his loss?"
"A gancr!" she cried, "to eat the bread
Of dependence in Your mothers house. DO
you think that is gain?'
1T is st least better than being a fac
tors girl. which YOU would have been in
all probability had your father lived
Had he lived! DO you know for cor
tain that he is dead?'
y know. us everybody else knows-that
ijfc.' answered Lashmar. forgetting ev-
crytllin:s but his headlong anger: "and l
know That my brother. who was worth Il
dozen d"m"gogues. risked his life to save
Il child whose face he had never seen.
You have good need to be grateful to
him.
'Dcad.' she faltcrcd; ''your brother
toll me that he had gone away to Il dis
tant country. thought as | grew older,
that he had left England because life
here WIS too hard for him; that he had
left me behind. intending to send for me
if things went we'll with him i'll his new
country. And then | thought that fate
had still been against him. and that he
was waiting for the tide to turn. wait
ing to be rich enough to send for his only
child; and low YOU tell me he was killed
ihc night of the iirc-killed in trying to
save me. oh, it was cruel, infamous, 10
deceive me So" she cried. passionatcly.
1T WAS your benefactor the man who
was more than father to you. who told
the lie
Yes. but when he was gone--wLen l
was older. better able to face sorrow.
when | had to bear Il hard, bitter life,
when no one would have been panied by
my tcai's--why was | not told the truth
then: Neither you nor Lady l4ashmar
have been So anxious to spare my feelings
that YOU need have kept this from me.
You haze let me go on year after year,
feeding on false hope, dreaming mock
ing drcam.'
1T WAS an oversight on my mothers
7
ought to have told YOU the truth. My
brother Hubert had Il foolish sensitive
hess on the subject: Il morbid dread of
Your tears: but with us it was otherwise.
We did wrong in not telling you. How
ever. yol have heen in somewisc ganer,
as Your pathetic case has made Il pro
found impression upon Mr.. Nestorius; and
that last touch of pathos--your belief i'll
your fathers existence many years after
his death-has quite subdued him.
Mr. NcS1orus has been very good to
me, and lm deeply grateful to him: but
ii YOU think that l have schcmed to win
his rcgalt-"
II do think that you have so schemed
and that you have gone very near win
ming your gamc-not quite, perhaps-bnt
''ui iiSl liIONt NitS tiuiliil ANY anu 'A'-
1lcipatc the pleasure of congratulatlng
you upon your promotion before Nestorius
leaves the CASTLE
rs that all you have to say to me, Lord
LaShmar:''
YES. that is all, until l offer you my
congratulations"
Il think you for your kindness and
1t il. almost equal to that
with whc! YOU sentme out of the library
seven years ago"
oh. YOU were child then, and am
sorry to say you were a very unmannerly
chi!i. hope YOU 90 not harbor resent
'hrnt after all these years, because l was
Il little rough with you that afternoon.
l do not harbOr resentment. l do not
care enough about you to resent your
conduct to ne in ;nything-no. not even
your cruelty in trying to strnngle every
ambitions thought of My mind, every
nope and every dream when your broth
rf GeAth made my life desolate de-
Sl''Se yon too much to be resentful.
she TUNED FROM him and walked quick
" towards The house; he followed as
lnlrkiy and opened the library window
-! her TO pass through. The action was