Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1898-05-14
CHAPTER NXyI.
SIR OSMALD'S DOUBTS

III was the close of a spring day. Lady
Hampton had been spending it at Darrell
Court, and General Deering, an old friend of
Sir Oswald's, who was visiting in the neigh
borhood, had joined the party at dinner.
When dinner was over, and the golden sun
beamTewere still Frightening the beautiful
room. he asked Sir Oswald to show to him
the picture-gallcry.
You have a fine collection he said
every one tells me that; but it is not only the
pictures | want to see, but the Darrell faces.
| heard the other day that the barrels were
generally acknowledged TO be the handsOm-
est race in England"
The barOn's clear-cut, stately face flushed
a little.
II hope England values us for something
more useful than merely handsome faces"
he lejoined, with a touch Of hdutCur that
made the general smile.
Certainly he FASTENED to say; 'but in
this age, when personal beauty is said to be
on the decrease, It is something 10 own a
handsome face"
The pictpe-gallery was a very extensive
one; it was wide and well lighted, the floor
was covered with rich crimson cloth, white
statues cleaned from amid crimson velvet
hangings, the walls were covered with rare
and valuable pictures. But General Deering
saw a picture that day in the gallery which
he was never to forget.
Lady Hampton was not enthusiastic about
art unless there was something to be gained
by ii. There was nothing TO excite her Gu
pidity now, her last niece being married, so
her ladyShip could afford TO take matters
calmly; she reclined at her ease on one OF
the crimson lounges, and enjoyed the luxury
of 4 quiet nap.
The general paused for a while before
some of Horace Nernet's battle pieces; they
delighted him. Pauline had walked on to
the end of the gallery, and Lady Darrell, al
ways anxious to conciliate her, had followed.
The picture that struck the general most
were the two ladies rs they stood side by
Side-Lady Darrell with the sheen Of gold in
her hair, the soft lustrc of cleaning pearls on
her white neck, the fairness of her face
heightened by its dainty roSe-leaf bloom, her
evening dress of sweeping white silk setting
off the graceful, supple lines of her figure,
all thrown into such vivid light by the Grim
son carpet on which she stood and the back
ground Of crimson velvet; Pauline, like some
royal lady in her trailing black robes, with
the massive coils of her dark hair wound
round the graceful, naughty head, and her
grand face with it's dark, glorious eyes, and
rich, ruby lips. The one looked fair, radiant,
and charming as q Partisan coquette; the
other, like a Grecian goddess, superb, mag
n%iiicent, queenly, simple in her exquisite
beauty art OF ornaments could do nothing
for her.
Look said the general to Sir Oswald,
THAT picture surpasses anything you have
on your walls"
Sir Oswald bowed.
'What a beautiful girl your niece isr' the
Old soldier continued. "See how her face
resembles this of Lady .Edelgitha Darrell.
Pray do not think me impertinent, but l can
not imagine, old friend, why you married, so
devoted to bachelor life as you were, when
you had a niece 50 beautiful, so true q Oar
rell, for your heiress. ] am puzzled now that
| see her"
"She lacked training said Sir Oswald.
~"Training?' repeated the general, con
temptuously. what do You call training?
DO you mean that she was rot experienced
in all the little trifling details of a dinner
table-that she could not smile as she told
graceful little untruths? Training! Why,
that girl is queen among women; q noble
soul shines in her grand face, there is q royal
grandeur of nature about her that training
could never give. | have lived long, but |
have never seen such q woman"
"She had such strange, o~ut-of-the-way, UNI
real notions, | dared not-that is the TRUTH
dared not leave Darrell Court to her"
Il hope you have acted wisely" said the
general; "but, as an old friend and a true
one, | must say that | doubt it,"
MY wife, | am happy to say, has plenty
OF common sense" observed Sir Oswald.
Your wife," returned the general, look
ing at the sheen OF the golden hair and the
shining dress, sis pretty, graceful, and ami
able, but that girl has all the soul; there is
as much difference between them as between
a golden butterchp and a dark, stately,
queenly rose. The rose should have been
ruler at Darrell Court, old friend"
Then he asked, abruptly
What are you going to do for her, Sir Os-
waldo
II have provided for her. he replied.
Darrell Court, then, and all its rich reve-
nues go to your wife, l presume?'
"Yes, to my wife" said Sir Oswald.
"Unconditionally?" asked the general.
Most certainly" was the impatient reply.
"Well, my friend" said the general, 'ln
this world every one does as he or she likes;
but to disinherit that girl, with the face and
spirit of a true Darrell, and to put a fair,
amiable blonde stranger in her place, was,
to say the least, eccentrlc-the world will
deem it so, at any rate. LIZ l were forty years
younger l would win Pauline Darrell, and