The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1898-10-24
Chapter VII.
THE MISSING MARIETTA.


THE MISSING MARIETTA.
In London the January AFTERNOON was
wet and cherries. Alone in this dingy
chambers on the third floor of an ancient
s,ooka-begrimed house in CHHord's Inn,
one of the old bits of New Babylon now
sadly fallen from its once distinguished
estate. George Stratfeld sat gazing moodilV
into the fire. In his mana was 'e.ter Us
had lust received from Liane; strange
letter which caused him to ponder deeply
and vaguely wonder whether. after all,
he had not acted unwisely in sacr1nclng
his fortune for her sake
She had been yearly three months
abroad. and although she had written
weekly there was an increasing GOODNESS
ahont her letters which sOrely puzzled
him. Twice only had they met since ne
left the COurt-on the two evenings she
and her father had spent in London on
their way to the Continent. He often
looked back upon those hours, feine etnad
ing every tender word she had u1Gereo,
and reoallinsg the unmistakable light OF
love that lit up her face when he was
nigh. Yet since she had been zen sejour
on the Riviera her letters were no longer
long and gossipy, but brief, hurrledly-
written scribDles Whloh pore sstueu oe
that she wrote more for the fulnlment OF
her promise than from desire to tell OF
her daily doings, as lovers WILL
A dozen times he had read and re-reao
the letter, then lifting his eyes from 1t
his gaze wandered around the Shabby
room with its ragged leather chairs, It's
Garnet so faded that the original pattern
had been lost, it's two well-filled book
cases which had stood there and been used
by various tenants for close upon CEN
fury, it's panelled walls painted dull
drab, and its deep-set windows grimy
with the SCOT Of London. The two rooms
which comprised this bachelor abode were
decidedly depressing even on the brightest
day for the view from the windows was
upou small paved court, beyond which
stood the small ancient Hall the same In
which Sir Matthew Hale and the seven
teen judges sat after the Great Fire IN
1864. to adjudicate on the claims OF land
lords and tensants of burned houses. SO as
TO prevent lawsuits. An ocean of CHM
news belched around, while inside the
furniture had seen Its best days fully
twenty years BEFORE and the tabiecloth OF
faded green was full of brown holes burnt
by some previous resident who had evil
IDENTIFY been a careless cigarette smoker.
George drew his hand YEARLY across his
brow. sighed, replaced the letter slowly
in its envelope, examined the post-mark,
then placed 1t In his pocket.
ono" he said aloud, II won't believe
1t. She sale. she loved me, and she loves
meastill 4" -,
And he poked the fire vigorously until
fl blazed and threw q welcome light over
the gloomy dismal room.
Suddenly loud rapping sounded on
the outer door, and rising unw1lhngly,
expecting it to be one of his many friends
of the "briefess brigade" he went and
opened it, confronting to his surprise M
fathers solicitor, Harrison.
well, George - exclaimed has visitor
thrusting his wet umbrella into the stand
J in the tiny cupboard like space in which
served hall, and walking on uninv1ted
rte anf OIL q office
and sittin1-room, "Alone, see. I'm
clad, for i want ten minutes chat with
Sat your service, Harrison" Stratfeld
snwered, in expectation of a tve-guinea
grief. "What is its Something Tor opin'
ionf'
ssYes" answered the elder man, taking
chair sit is for opinion, but it concerns
yourself"
George flung himself into the armchair
from which he had just risen, placed bis
feet upon the fender and his hands at the
back of his head, as was his habit when
desiring to listen attentively.
"Well," he said, signing, about that
absurd provision Of the old mans will,
s | SUPPOSED I'm comfortable enough, so
what's the use of worrying over its"
"But 1t is necessary. You see I'm
bound to try and find this woman" the
other answered, taking from his POCKET
some blue foolscap whereon were some
memoranda. "Besides. the first stage OF
the inquiry is complete.
''And what have you discoveredf' he
asked, eagerly.
II placed the matter In the hands OF
Rutter. the private inquiry agent, whose
report have here" answered the solicit
tor. sit states that no such person as
Madame Lepage Is living at 80, Rue
Toullier, Paris but the concierge remem-
bers that an elderly lady, believed to be a
iad hay> DOR nfx
q fiat ON the fourth floor. The man, how
ever, forgets their name, as they only re-
sided there few months. During that
time the daughter, whom he describes as
young and Of prepossessing appearance.
Inysteriously disappeared, and although a
search was instituted, she was never
found. There was no suspicion Of suicide
or foul play, but the police at the time
inclined to the belief that, possessing q
dice above the average, she had, like SO
many other girls who tire OF the monotony
of home life, forsaken it and obtained an
engagement at some obscure csfe-concert
under an assumed name. Rutter, follow
ing up this theory, then visited all the
impressarios he could find in an endeavor
to discover an artist whose real name was
LepaRe But from the first this search
was foredoomed to failure. for girls who
seldom give their impressarios their COR
rect names, hence nos such person as
Marietta Lepage could be traced. -
"Then after all we are as far off discoy.
ering who this mysterious woman Is as
we ever were,' George observed, CHANGING
at his visitor with half-amused smile
'sWell, not exactly the solicitor an
swered "Undoubtedly the girl who dis
appeared from the house in the Rue Toul.
lier was the woman for whom We are
searching"
"The letter found on Nelly Rridson Is
sufficient proof that she's still alive" said
the younger man.
EXACTLY. And from its tone it would
appear that she is in the lower strata of
society Harrison remarked.