Arizona republican., 1899-01-17
CHAPTER fl.


 town together after quitting Gramerccy
 park. T do hope Alonzo will not
 be late at dinner again to-day. People
 with great esta bishmants need not
 mind delays of this Lind, but we, in orr
 detestable little Fifty-tllird street fla |
 arc quite destroyed by them
 ''Alonzo isn't going to dine with Us
 to-day, mamma said Kathleen.
 No? And pray why not?n
 Kathleen gGvc the reason, and her
 mother greeted it with little scream.
 Mercy! Suicide? And a partner in
 the banlzing-touse? I wonder wfht
 could have been the cause. He didn't
 tell you? No? Perhaps it hasn't trans-
 pired yet. It couldn't have been non
 ey-oh, surely not! Their firm is al-
 most like the Bank of England itself.
 As you know. dear, I In21c lots of in-
 quirics when your engagement became
 probable But one dccs so dislike to
 hear these wretchcd things. l declare,
 this has quite shaken nc up. Chiches- | ter, rn-ycs; no ono ever heard Of him at ! places. Possibly he was out Cf his mind
 vixen he did it. l think that I recall having heard l1e vas in . fast set-nct of people whom enc meets, however; decidedly the reverse. If I Gr1 not IaiG- | taken, he was connected in scrac vague way with tho LisPenards; and the Lis pcnards (as 1 think have told you once or twice before. my dear) wore never of the least social importance till the ia ther of Alonzo and Mrs. Sactvoord mar ricd their mother. She, yol know, was a Van Alstync. Not that the Van AL stynes were by any means r2al Inicl1- erbocl1ers 1 remember how poor dear Eamrna used to say that some of the best houses in Bleccllcr and Bond streets were shut to them. But they got to know thc Manhcttans. though for some reason the Amstcrdams didn't respond. They were on good terms with the Poughlceepsies, though the Scheaecta- dys held clocf. But when Tyi5illa Van Alstync married Gardiner Li5pcaard, things began to change. Tybila yvas ambitious and threw round the Lispe- nard name a halo it had never Ghone with before. A truly delightful woTaln. l often see sor1ctl.iag Of her il Alolzo. Too bad that she Gllould have died in her forties, She had inst begun to en- tertain with an air at her house in La f2yctte placc, and Gil the best people were at her feet. Su3h prc5ty feet, too, and they never led her into any quick sands like those that her daIghtcr's have dared to explore. You can't see D trace of her mother in Kitty. But Alol1o is like both parents. He hasn't his father's fine P~e5eacc, thouGh. We speak of iojr5h making the gentleman, and I, for enc, firmly bolevo in birth why should ] not? But Gardiner Lis penard, with not enough ancestry tc make out under q microscope was ncv. crtholcss q Celtlc.nq- to his 1inCcrtips It keenly curprised nc t-ct his vifc's ! death slloalI have killed him, Gs they say t did. He always seemed to me person too hirl-brcJ for any5hing So sensltio2al as dying of grief. And yet he wclo within two years of poor Ty- . billa. lclvinT both children to the guar di2nGl2i0 of their lI2clc Crawford. So ! cicty expected t3lot Al0nzo Van Alstync. their n2ternal uncle, would be intrust- cd with the care of them, for AlOnzo had a-cr-In3 pro patrician kind of right to their custody, a5 one might express it. don't you lz,lo.v? He had got to be q good deal received, and he had d~iftcd into one or two exclusive clubs, and his money would have made him match, if he he'd only chosen to nalrry discreet ly; while Crawford Lispoaard, on the other hand, went noTvhe-e and had wholly neglected the chances of ccquir- ing position. But 23 t tt,rncl out, the early death of poor Alonzo (who left considerable money to his niece and his narnesazc nepheET) rendered that exist ing plan the lucl1ier one. And society the children when they grew up. ITo1 Kitty'5 mad elopement didn't alienate us. We couldn't forget you know, tl1ao their papa and mamma had really once been des 710tre8. nOtvTith- standing that hermit of an uncle. But m afraid I've mentioned all this be- fore, my dear. It's twice-told tale, is it not?'
 ''Yes, fell from Kathleen, as she sat in the dirnness of the rolling vehicle, her mother. She did not say anything more. and perhaps note of abstraction CT Vearincss in her tone caused Mrs. Kcnnaird to proceed, with some crispncss:
 Remind me, my dear, when I fall into train of stale "reminiscences. That is a sign of advancing years, and wish to avoid all elderly fOllies, as I hope have stcerc1 clear of all youth ful ones. It is my wish not merely to grow old with grace, but with } certain interesting freshness, de mine bon en5aat, you know. Sc many women, as they go, get care less about pulling thcmselves together. They sink into ruts and stay there. want to avoid that sort of thing. So ciety rewards one if one will only make m effort. Wrinkles and gray hairs arc forgiven, have observed, but never the tendency to be dull and tautolOgical. l You've passed over the instant you be- 1 gin to be proliX-to construct your syn tax with an excess of perfects and plu- l ocrfecta Now I don't want to be passed ovor, and intend to preserve q healthy ;ult for the present tense of things"
 Kathleen smiled to herself in the gloom. She could not help wondering, ( ust then if her mother had ever passed , single 7valzcful hour in her whole life