The Washington weekly post. (Washington, D.C.) 1878-1916, 1899-08-29

yes and no. was the brief reply.
What DO you mean by yes and no,
| you
But Muriel laid her hand on her fathers
mouth.
The whole Of Emmerich was led 10 be-
lieve that | married Mrs Colin Gordon. %
| said Iestrange. whereas the individual
she married was her own husband IL
was a preconcerted arrangement to bring
them together again after a desperate
| quarrel. Gordon. a joeose man. always
fond OF a practical joke. Is. nevertheless.
a great friend Of mine. and he backed
| I'D by the chaplain az Emmerich. Induced
me to take part in this foolish business.
which. II IL had the desired effect Of
bringing the Gor6ons together. certainly
has not added to my reputation as
| sensible man
Muriel was laughing. but the squire
| looked mys,ifed still
Il don't in the least understand shat
happened. Explain, he said testify.
We'll, Gordon. after a quarrel. went
| TO South Africa about year before his
| wife and l met at Emmerich While
there he had il given out that ne was
| dead. He wanted TO discover what she
would do. Suddenly he heard that she
was at Emmerich. and that she and I
were great friends, in fact. that she IN
tended TO console herself with me- He
arrived in my quarters without the lady
knowing anything about mis- Intentions or
restoration 10 life; discovered that l was
by no means in love with Ger, although
society at Emmerieh had ,ong since
paired us. In consideration OF our friend
ship, after much persuasion. re induced
me to play e part in the mosI ridiculous
farce that was ever arranged"
BY this time the squire had Joined in
Muriels laugh.
Great Scot. To think that you, the
solemn stipendiary. let yourself in for
such fooling. Go on''
The marriage with Mrs Gordon was
TO take place in a room in the chaplsin's
house, for IL was to be kept quite pri-
vate. The widow arrived, dressed in con-
ventional gray, and accompanied by
friend. whom | insisted should be In the
secret, and, to her infinite surprise. in
stead of your humble servant. 1t was her
own husband who stood besiae her"
And were you not thereT'
Yes. of course / was there. I and the
chaplain brought about the reconciliation
between them. and If we did not after
ward have a real wedding feast we had
one of reconciliation and much convivial-
ity. though the lady has scarcely smiled
on me since, and not little of the ridi-
cule attached to this foolish business
chung TO me through her. II even follow
ed me down here, for Lady Vane was,
unfortunately, at Emmerich and heard a
dismembered account OF the story. OF
course, / hoped ii would have gone no
further, having bound all those concerned
to secrecy, but particles of information
fioated about, which, when gathered up.
made a tale which was very unlike the
true one and Ms. Gordon herself has
helped in no mean degree 10 place me in a
ridiculous position. She came to the gar
den party at Weldon Castle with some
friends with whom she was visiting. ex-
pressly in order to set the bail of gossip
rolling"
mo wonder" cried the squire, who was
now laughing noisily. The ladys self
respect would be az a discount If she did
not make out that you were the individ-
ual sold by the husbands sudden appear
apce. Well, well. it is a queer business.
and you think you'll patch up your repu-
tation by marrying my little girlg'
'Oh, father, you must not Say
"Chut. child! / have not said that we
will not lend a hand In his rehabilitation,
have 1? Lestrange and are old friends.
and-an old friend may even sometimes
be forgiven n folly"
ooh, you darling, dear good fatherr'
And once more Muriers arms were about
the squire, who begged her TO transfer the
hugging to Lestrange, as he had had
enough of it.
Three months later Muriel and Eyre
Lestrange were married in the presence
1f MIR. and Mrs Colin Gordon. The squire
insisted that they should be at Le-
,tranees real weddiag. so tina; the tongue
" scandal should be wholly silenced in
to the whimsical episode at En-
Eerich. The journey TO the Riviera be
,ame a honeymoon trip. and during the
I any talks that Lady Vane and the bride
lad together at Cannes, a laugh over
Eyre Lestrange's fictitious marriage was
-ery frequently heard.
CTHE END)