The record-union., 1898-04-12

OI -ESF HOESS, pursuing MN Win Fe .
preaches to the doorstep, where her
two little brown haired. brown eyed
girls stopped their skipping in Mortified
wonder. He leaped into the cab await
ing him By the curb with sense OF
escape from q terror, scarcely caring
that his sisters words must have
reached the ears of the coach-1lan. And
now he was at home again in Dover
street, and was sitting in the armchair
Of his study. his nerves still shaken by
the scene he just passed through. The
violence Of his sisters words had rob-
bed them of a possible effect Cf arous-
ing in him a feeling of self-reproach,
What filled up tie horizon of his pres
ent thoughts was the black i1Gratitude
Of her behavior and his own past kind
ness and foTbearance. He was not in
the habit of turning TO his wife for
sympathy, but he resolved to write to
her at Cnce about this with Emily. She
would confirm him in his resolution of
having no further relations with his
sister and her family and of blottinS
the thought of them out of his life.
Emily had only herself to thank. and
for him it was best so. His near con-
not but be regarded as an undesirable
impediment III his struggle up the So
cial ladder. His present position was
due 70 his own exertiCns. aided by a
carefully chosen marriage. from which
love had been the only element miss
ing He took much credit to himself
for the success of his career it never
occurring to him at any time that his
ambitions were unworthily placed.
Years rolled by and found James
Homersham we'll on in the path he had
chosen for himself. His childless wife
died shortly after the breach with his
sister, which nothing had ever occurred
to repair. Once or twice he had caught
a glimpse of her as he flashed past
her in his carriage. At another time
they had almost elbowed one another
in a crowd and he was surprised TO see
that she looked handsome and not ill
dressed. He would have been more
surprised to learn that, with all her
anger and resentment. the knowledge
of her brothers state formed an agree
able element in her consciousness and
imposed certain obligations upon her
own manner of life, Of whose real
source she was, perhaps, unsuspicious.
Fer his part. he was never conscious
of regretting the result of their last in
tervieW. and the echo of her bitter
words still sounded across the years,
He chung to his old ambitions. and
knew few interests beyond the state of
his investments and the number and
distinction Of his social engagements.
One morning he found on his table a
letter Of invitation to the country
house of a nobleman whose doors had
only that season been thrown open to
him. He was surprised at the moder-
ate amount of elation with which the in
vitation filed him. and thought how diff
ferently the departed Adelaide would
have been affected by it. Somehow, of
late, things he had always priced did
not seem to yield to him the old salts
faction. He began to be conscious of
unpleasant sensations when by chance
witness at an exhibition of the family
affections. He put these sensations
down to the fact of his being a little out
of health. and on that account was in
clined to welcome this opportunity of
spending an April day or two away from
town. He knew little of his hosts. His
hostess was an American, and he had
gathered vaguely that she was not held
in special esteem among the women OF
her set But the great fact remained
that she was a countess, and d hand
some one, too. and it was not every day
that he had chance of eating his morn
ing egg in the company of the English
nobility.
The garden lay in glory of afternoon
sunshine. Mr. Homersham, paper in
hand, descended the stone steps of the
terrace, and waved a greeting as he
passed by the tennis-laWns to the men
and girls hard at play there. During
his morning ramble he had noticed an
outlying bit of lawn with a sun-dial and
scattered clumps of rhododendron and
lilac. 1t was here he purpOsed to en-
joy an hours ease and respite from a
noisy, chattering world. Arrived at the
spot, he chose with care a seat weil
within range of the shafts of mild sun
shine, and lay back in it, with closed
eyes, prepared to yield himself to the
physical resources of the situation. The
voices of the distant tennis players
sounded family in his ears. A thrush
trilled for him from a white lilac bush.
The air was heavy with the scent of
iANiS AADOl Al4S may NiCCs. OII lIAC NAlOACI
he was glad ne had come. The other
members of the house party We're agree
able people, really very agreeable peo-
pie. And most of them belonged to
quite the best set. He felt hattered at
being asked to meet them. How well
Adelaide would have played her part
among them ALL AS for himself, these
things were beginning to be too much OF
an effort If he had only had a child now
"a daughter! By the bye, what a pretty
little goVernesS creature (or was she a
nursemaid? p he had noticed in the morn
ing at play about the lawn with the
children. And what head of hair she
had, 1t had uncoiled itself as she ran
and lay spread like a mantle over her
shoulders. He tried to recall where he
had before seen such hair, with those
shades in it of the copper beech.
The sound of talking from the further
side of an opposite clump Of lilacs dis
turbed his reverie. The voice most in
evidence was that of his hostess, be-
trayed by its American twang. She was
sColding some unfortunate person with
all the vulgar vehemence of an angry
waSherwoman.
Mr.. Hommersham's first impulse was
to make his escape. But he found he
could not do this without revealing his
presence, and increasing thereby the
unpleaSantness of the situation. So he
sat down again on the seat from which
he had half risen. disgusted at the part
of eavesdroDDer that was forced upon
him. He soon gathered that it was the
little nursery governess who was I'M
dergoing verbal chastisement, and as
insult followed impertinence, his blood
began to boil with shame for the honor
of noble countess.