Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1898-09-15

fN 1900
YOU seriously intend TO contest your
claim to that title. l warn YOU that
you are carrying the joke too far"
Joke she repeated. lis il a joke
fer a woman TO share her husbands
title? / must be very dense, for, real
~. | cannot see it,"
Then you are going upon the
grounds that our marriage was Il legal
one? Well, try 1t on, il you like. But |
must emphatically object to your pos
Ing as my wife down here; and L
warn you, once for all, that IL you are
still upon these premises at the expira-
ton OF half an hour, / shall have You
arrested as a common adventures and
imposter. LADY Deane.."
There was an indescribable ring of
venomous sarcasm in the concluding
words. But they seemed TO have III
sting for her.
Thank YOU" she said, quietly. as
before. THAT is quite right. Lady
Deane. But we do not seem to under
stand each other, and this Is II SOME
what draughty place for a discussion.
You were going to the library. So vas
/. Let us go there together"
WHAT he exclaimed. dc you
' r,can TO brazen out your claim to be
wife before my late uncle's law
yeri'
Nest certainly not she replied,
with a strange, bitter smile. II shall
press no such claim, | assure you.
4 Come
Somewhat Modified by this assur-
ance, and wondering very much what
his pseudo-wife's next move would be,
he shrugged his shoulders and followed
her into the library. Two elderly,
clean-slayen gentlemen were seated ut
n table chatting, apparently in most
amiable fashion, and with no particu-
lar reference TO various legal docu->
ments that lay in front of hem.
This is Sir Derek's nephew. gentle
men, said Alice, observing that he
was 4 stranger To them both.
The older-looking of the twain adj
vanced toward stephen.
Il am John Nesbitt, of Nesbitt &
Pike" he remarked, by way OF intro
ductlon, land the late Sir Derek was
one OF our most esteemed clients. This
gentleman is Mr.. Hookum. of CraslIer
&IIookum, and has, SO far, represented
Lady Deane's interests"
Lady Deane?" echoed stephen,
scornfully. There Is no such person.
Ii you mean that young woman
Excuse me-, sir" interrupted Mr..
Hookum, with some warmth, but this
lady. my client, most certainly is Lady
Deane."
II deny it, protested Stephen. 81
tell you the man who performed that
cefen ony was a drunken actor"
What? The Dean of Pilchester a
drunken actor exclaimed the horri-
fed attorney. Are you mad, SIR
II can corroborate Mr.. Hookum as
to the thorough validity of the mar
Rage" put in Mr.. Nesbitt. Eve We're
both present ut the ceremony, which
was performed, as he says. by the
Dean of Pilchester, under special IL
| cense from his Grace. the Archbishop
of Canterbury
A new light broke in upon Stephens
mind. A light so fierce. so deadly TO
his fancied triumph, that 1t seemed to
scar his very brain. This woman,
whom he had betrayed, had somehow
| cajoled Sir Derek into marrying her.
He. the clever man-about-town, the
plotter. who stuck at nothing TO gain
his ends. had been outwitted by this
innocent looking
Let MS waive that point for the
present. he said. when he had suffi-
| GENTLY mastered his passion to speak.
.'The marriage into which | suppose
| the old dotard was tricked may or may
not stand the test of Il law court; and,
If upheld. ii will, l presume, carry a
jointure-'
Pardon me for again interrupting
you.' replied Mr.. Hookum. but your
last conjecture is romeo There is
no reference whatever to any jointure
in the will executed by Sir Derek the
day after the marriage. That will is
here. 1t was opened and read by Mr..
Nesbitt in the presence of about sixty
persons who were present mt the in
terment. Sir Derek himself deposited
an attested duplicate copy at his bank
er's. 1t is very short and very clear.
Shall I read it TO your
Stephen nodded assent. He either
could not trust himself to speak or the
struggle raging within him had, for
the moment, deprived him of his voice.
The attorney read as follows:
'This is the last Will and Testament
of me, Derek Deane Of Deanshurst.
barcnet. The entire estate. whether
of realty or personally, of which may
die possessed ! hereby devise and be-
queath to my wife, Dame Alice Con-
stance Deane (nata BennetD absolute
ly for her own sole use n beneiit
Subject only to the payment annually
out of my said estate of the sum OF
five hundred pounds TO Elizabeth. rel
ative of my late brother Oscar, during
her life or widowhood. and of sums OF
ten pounds to each OF my two nephews
Oscar and Stephen. l further appoint
my said wife, Alice Constance sole ex-
ecutrix ef this my last VIII and Testa-
ment. In Witness whereof | nave this
| day affixed my hand and seal, etc"
."rhe document Is duly signed and
| witnessed, as You can see added Mr..
Hookum, ''and is in every respect con-
| Clusive.'
sThat will be for the courts to de-
| eide, as well as the validity of the
marriage retorted stephen, who had
regained his power of speech during
the reading of the will. II. rs heir 10
| the ~baronetcy and the entailed estates,
shall dispute them both to the ut
most"