The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1899-11-29

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that time-honored step-mother OF
Younger sons-and on his refusal to do
so, words of anger more bitter
than had ever before passed be-
tween father and son.. were spoken
words which Clarence declared he
could neither forget nor forgive. BY
right of Inheritance he had not even
q Younger sons portion, for LIS
father, who had never liked him, now
hated him bitterly; but on the death
of his mother, he had inherited the
small fortune which she had possessed
in her own right; and, with the whole
amount in his portmanteau, he shook
off, as he hoped, forever, the dust Of
his native land. One consideration
only could induce him to return to
England that was contingency
so remote as to be scarcely worth
taking into account. In the event of
his brothers. death without an heir,
he was the immediate successor to the
estates and Earldom of Windermere.
But, as Lord Appleby was in the
prime of life and had been already
engaged to marry when Clarence had
left England ten years before, the sue
cession was probably long since pro-
vided for; and for himself, he added,
with touch of pardonable pride, he
was wholly independent of his father
or brother, either; the small fortune
inherited from his mother had already
been doubled and trebled SO many
times that he could buy and sell and
buy again the Windermere estates if
they should ever come into the mar
ket. Not that he had any wish to be-
come their possessor, by any means;
for always in referring to his English
home, Stanley spoke of it with repug-
nance as we'll as bitterness, declaring
his wish never to see it again even if
fate should make him its future
owner.
This story, simple enough in itself.
and, like many others he had heard,
became especially interesting to Mr..
Hamilton when he saw the acquaintance
between his daughter and the young
Englishman ripening into an intimacy
that had already given rise to a
rumored engagement between the
two; and he was particularly glad to
fud, on investigation, that young
Stanley's account of himself seemed
to bear the stamp of truth in every
particular. In regard to her future,
Mary's father had but one ambition
that she should love the man she
married, and that she should marry
the right man. Through his many
friends and correspondents abroad he
had been able not only to substantiate
Stanley's own story of his family but
to add to it some facts as yet unknown
to Clarence, who had held no COM
munication with his father or brother
since leaving England. The earl was
still living, though advanced in years.
but so hale and hearty that he might
stand many years between Lord
Appleby and the coronet, and as bit
tcrly opposed as ever to his younger
son. Lord Appleby was said to be in
poor health, but his son, an only
child, was robust and splendid boy;
and if the old earl should outlive his
own son, there would be e grandson
to succeed him.
Mrs. Hamilton gave one little sigh
when she first heard all this from her
husband. It would be very nice to
see her daughter countess if, in the
course of human events, such thing
should come to pass, bu. it was sub
ject she was not going to allow her
self to dwell upon; and when she
heard of the little boy-heir, she was
far too gentle and too much mother
even to think again of future posi-
bilities.
As for Mary Hamilton-she cared
for none of these things. She had
never yet allowed herself to think very
seriously of Stanley. They had drifted
into the easy, half-fraternal intimacy
of their age. They called each other
Polly and Clarence; she thought him
every nice," and as she had said to
Dolores, she ''liked" him, and had
even wondered sometimes what his
ssate of feeling might be in regard to
herself.
The acquaintance had progressed
just so far when Mr.. Hamilton sud-
denly announced to his family that
business would make it necessary for
him to spend q year or two in New
York; and when they had been three
weeks in their new home, Clarence
Stanley one day called on them. He
explained that he had business in Chi
cago, and by an original method of
travelling. had chosen to get there by
way of New York-just exactly how
did not appear; but he supposed this
roundabout route must be due to his
English ideas of the country. Mr..
Hamilton was disposed to jeer at him
as traveller, but Miss Polly declared
she could see nothine,to laugh at, par
ticularly rs the Chicago business did
not seem to be very pressing: and
when, at length, the Honorable Clar-
ence went there, he found that he could
attend to..his affairs much better by
making New York his headquarters.
This last item of information he had
just impaired to his admiring listen
ers, Mrs. Hamilton and her daughter
for Mary had been correct in her
surmise that he would call on her be-
fore the day was over.
Looking at Clarence Stanley at that
moment, it was natural enough that
Polly Hamilton, or any other young
girl, without experience or the un-
usual perception that may serve in
place of it, should like" him and