Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1900-02-20

able sweetness. you are very young,"
after q pause, during which she regarded
me intently-"young and pretty"
mot 30 very young" I said, trying to
smile. ''Twenty-three last September"
$50 old!" with a slight, ~ironical eleva-
tion Of the delicate eyebrows. II am
glad that you are no older-my doctor
will be satisfied. He," with a scornful
laugh, prescribed a young companion.
Where Is your home?'
II have been living at Easton for the
past year., with an uncle, as you know
from my letter." I was a little surprised
that h had forgotten or overlooked this
fact.
"Ah-I did not see your letter. indif-
ferently. MY nephew, Mr.. Jack Ray
mond, sent the telegram finally engaging
you. I left the matter entirely in, his
bands. Your father and mother? "Ah!'
CHANGING from my black gown to my dis
tressed face she waited for no reply. II
snail require little of you only to be here,
with me, In this room-I never leave this
room"-With a half fearful, half cunning
look creeping into her eyes-'for certain
hours of the day: to read to me, if you
can. You will come tomorrow. at nine.
Good night"
She laid hold of the great volume in her
zap n resumed her reading. AS for me,
OUTSIDE the door, I caugh my breath, as
II relieved from some heavy oppression.
me old man servant had disappeared.
wandering through a maze Of halls and
in search of some one to show
me to my room, l came upon him at last,
quite at the other end Of the house.
emerging from a heavily curtained door
way. He seemed strangely embarrassed
and asked sharply if there was anything
l wanted. and how long l had been fol-
lowing him.
Ignoring his insolence, 1 replied with
as much 01QnjfV ,9c 0n111H c1,uonoo~
while my lips trembled and my. heart
felt like bursting with a miserable sense
OF loneliness. that Ihad but just come
was looking for some one to show
me my room.
Well, then, We must just turn back
and go the whole length Of the house, for
your room Is on the same corridor as
Mrs. Bellville's'' nj with that he con-
descended to guide me to my door.
AT dinner that night there was only
Mr.. Raymond, the nephew to whom Mrs.
Bellville had alluded, and myself; and
we were waited upon by the grim old
servant, who glared at me so sullenly as
he passed the dishesthat Mr.. Raymond
felt the necessity Of %apologizing for him.
II hope you won't mind Brooks i'll
humor. He is a very old servant and
seems to feel privileged to vent his tenn
pers when and where and upon whom he
pleases. l think he's a mistake. but Mrs.
Bellville refuses to see his faults. What
~ " > vi Aay duulS COuOltIOu,
Miss ~Beauchamp?" he concluded, abrupt
ly.
She scenes depressed and ILL.," re-
piled.
"She never rallied from the shock of
her husbands death, which happened a
year ago while he was performing some
experiment in his laboratory. She grows
more and more morbid and dispirited
every day. Her low for her husband
to idolatry, and all her interest
IN 1tfn anrNn ~ A,,G 1917 NJ y
was a very learned man, and she was
almost as much absorbed in his pursuits
as he himself was. They were constant
ly together. in his laboratory in the east
wing. Indeed, for some time after his
death, she continued to sit there, every
day, allowing no one to enter except old
Brooks. who keeps the place in order.
But for some reaSon she suddenly gave
this up, and has mo- been inside the room
for months, keeping the keys herself and
absolutely refusing to have it disturbed.
I haxegtold yots ALI this, Miss Beauchamp,
SO that you will be better able to cope
with my aunt's p~eculiarities.
I also learned that, Mr.. Raymond was
manage n part owner of some iron
works at Brompton, and had come to
death. hoping to relieve her loneliness.
In the drawing-room after dinner, he
showed me portrait of Mr.. Bellville,
which he said was a remarkable likeness
handsome man, with delicate, sensitive
features n a look of splendid intelli-
gence about the brow, though the lower
part of the face was somewhat weak.
That night, being unable to sleep, I
lay and listened to the fierce patter of
ain upon the window panes, and the cry
of the wind as it rushed through the
bare maple trees. Suddenly the soft
closingof a door on the other side of the
corridor made me start. There follow
ed the faint rustic of -draperies and
someone crept stealthily past my door.
For a time I listened for some further
sound, and listening. fell asleep.
My life as Mrs. Bellville's companion
was m~onotonous in the extreme. I used
to o forward to the doctors visits
with longing; and to my not i%nfrequent
tete-a-tete dinners and evenings with
MI. Raymond with positive delight.
From the first I felt that it would require
more than ny presence and effort to
rouse Mrs. Bellville from her unhappy