Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1898-04-02
CHAPTER XIV,

Court was at an end. The invited guests
were expected, and Sir Oswald had deter
mined TO do them all honor. The state
apartments, which had not been used during
his tenure, were all thrown open; the superb
ballroom, once the pride Of the county, was
le-decorated; the long, empty corridors and
suites of apartments reserved for visitors,
were once more full of life. Miss Hastings
was the presiding genius; Pauline Darrell
took far less interest in the preparations.
Il am glad" she said one morning, that
i an TO see your world Sir Oswald. You
despise mine; l shall be anxious TO see what
yours is like
The baronet answered her testify:
Il do not quite understand your remarks
about worlds Surely we live under the
same conditions"
Not In the same world of people" she OPP
posed; land | am anxious to see what yours
is like"
What do you expect to find in what you
are pleased to call my world, Pauline|' he
asked, angrily.
Little truth, and plenty Of aiTectation; lit
tie honor, and plenty of polish; little honesty,
and very high, sounding words; little sinceri-
~, and plenty of deceit"
"By what right do you sit in Judgment"
he demanded.
None at ALL" replied Pauline; "but rs
people are always speaking i'll Of the dear,
honest world in which / have lived, | may
surely be permitted to ~criticlse the world that
is outside it,"
Sir Oswald turned away angrily; and Miss
Hastings sighed over the girls willfulness.
"lYhy do you talk to Sir Oswald in a fash.
ion that always ~irritateS himY" she reinon-
strated.
1--WE live in free country, and have each
Of us freedom OF speech"
II am afraid the day will come when you
will pay a sad price for yours"
But Pauline Darrell only laughed. Such
fears never affected her; she would sooner
have expected TO see the heavens fall at her
feet than that Sir Oswald should not leave
Darrell Court TO hcr-his niece, q Darrell
with the Darrell face and the Darrell figure,
the true, proud features of the race. He
would never dare to do otherwise, she
thought, and she would not condescend to
change either her thought or speech to please
him.
The barrels do not know tear,' she
would say; there never yet was an example
OF a Darrell being frightened into anything"
SO the breach between the uncle and the
niece grew wider every day. He could not
understand her; the grand, unframed, undis-
ciplined, poetical nature was beyond him
he could neither reach it heights, nor fathom
its depths. There were times when he thought
that, despite her outward GOODNESS and pride,
there was within a soul Of fire, when he dim
ly understood the magniticence of the cllarac-
ter he could not read, when he suspected
there might be some souls that could not be
narrowed or forced into a common groove
Nevertheless he feared her; he was afraid to
truaa, not the honor, but the fame OF his race
to her.
"She is capable Of anything" he would re-
peat to himself again and again. "She would
hlng the Darrell revenues 10 the wind; she
would transform Darrell Court into one huge
observatory, If astronomy pleased her-into
one huge laboratory, if she gave herself TO
chemistry. One thing is perfectly clear to
me-she can never be my heiress until she is
safely married"
And, after great deliberation-after listen
ing to all his hearts pleading in favor of her
grace, her beauty, her royal generosity of
character, the claim of her name and her
truth, he came to the decision that if she
would marry Captain Langton, whom he
loved perhaps better than any one else in the
world, he would at once make his will, adopt
her, and leave her heiress of all that he had
In the world.
One morning the captain conlided in him,
telling him how dearly he loved his beauti-
full niece, and then Sir Oswald revealed his
intentions.
You understand, Aubrey" he said-'the
girl is magnificently beautiful-she is true
na r1,nlI. hat I q, Trlobta,,oI ohnrf Ior Cka
is not like other girls; she Is wanting in tact,
in knowledge of the world, and both are es-
sential. / hope you will win her. ! shall
die content if / leave Darrell Court in your
hands, and If you are her husband. / could
not pass her over to make her my heir; but
If you can persuade her to marry you, you
can take the name OF Darrell, and you can
guide and direct her. What do you say,
Aubrey"
What do / sayY' stammered the captain.
II say this-that | love her so dearly that |
would marry her If she had not q farthing. |
love her so that language cannot express the
depth Of my affection for her."
The captain was for a few minutes quite
oyercome-hc had been SO long dunned for
money, so hardly pressed, SO desperate, that
the chance of twenty thousand a year and
Darrell Court was almost too much for him.
His brow grew damp, and his lips pale. All
this might be his own if he could but win
the consent of this girl. Yet he feared her;
the proud, noble face, the grand, dark eyes
rose before him, and seemed to rebuke him
for his presumptuous hope. How was he to
win her? Flattery, sweet, soft words would
never do ii. One scornful look from her sent
his ideas ''hying right and left"
IF she were only like other girls" he
thought, 81 could make her my wife in a few
weeks"
Then he took heart of grace. Had he not
been celebrated for his good fortune among
the fair sex? Had he not always found his
handsome person, his low, tender voice, his
pleasing m irresistible? Who was this
proud, dark-eyed girl that she should meas
ure the depths OF his heart and soul, and find
them wanting? Surely he must be superior
to the artists in shabby coats by whom shs
had been surrounded. And yet he feared as
much as he hoped.
'She has such a way Of making me feel
SMALL" he said to himself; ''and il that kind
OF feeling comes over me when | am making
her an offer, it will be OF no use to plead my
suit"
But what a prOSpect-maSter of Darrell
Court and twenty thousand per annum! He
would endure almost any humiliation to OBJ
tain that position.
''She must have me-" he said to himself
'she shall have me! / will force her to be
my wife!'
Why, If he could but announce his engage
ment to Miss Darrell, he could borrow as
much money as would clear of all his liabili-
ties! And how much he needed money no
one knew better than himself. He had paid
this visit to the Court because there were two
writs out against him in London, and, unless
he could come to some settlement Of them,
he knew what awaited him.
And al1-fnrtuna bonoinaes uyaoIth fraa-