Evening journal., 1900-11-26
(Contlnued From saturday,.

"Do not tear up that piece Of rice paper,
Miss Derrick"
Stoke Moreton is a fine old Elizabethan
house standing on rising ground. As we
drove up the straight. wide approach be-
tween two rows of ancient, fantastical-
ly clipped hollies, l was impressed by the
stately dignity of the place, which was
not lessened as we drew up before great
arched doorway. and were ushered.into
long hall supported by massive pillars
of carved white stone. A roaring log fire
in the immense fireplace threw a ruddy
glow over the long array of armor and
cleaning weapons which lined the walls.
and made the pale winter twilight out
side look bleak indeed. Charles, emerg-
ing, slim and graceful, out Of an ex-
quisite ulster, sauntered up TO the fre
and asked where Sir George Danyers
was AS he stood inside the wild? fire.
place, leaning against one Of the pillars
which supported the towering whi a.
stone chimney piece covered with her
Ildic designs and coats OF ar1lg, he looked
d wOrthier representative Of an ancient
race than fear he really was.
$50 they have put the stage at that
end, in front of the pillars, - he remarked,
nodding at a wooden erection. Quite
right. 1 could not have placed it better
myself. What, Brown? Sir George is
in the drawing room, is he: and tea, as
perceive, is going ON at this moment.
Come, Col. Middleton" And we fol-
lowed the butler to the drawing room.
am not a person who easily becomes
confused, but / must own did get con-
fused with the large party into the
midst Of which we were now ushered.
soon made out Sir George Danvers, a
delicate but irascible looking old gentle
man, who received me with dignifed
cordiality, but returned Charles greet
ing with certain formality and cold
ness which was panied to see, family
affection being in my opinion the chief
blessing of a truly happy home. Charles
/ already knew, and with the second
son, Ralph, a ruddy, smiling young
man, with any amount Of white teeth,
had no difficulty; but after that be-
came hopelessly involved.
was introduced TO an elderly lady
whom I addressed for the rest of the
evening as Lady Danyers, until Charles
casually mentioned that his mother was
dead, and that until the deceased wife's
sister bill was passed he did not antici-
pate that his Aunt Mary would take
upon herself the position of stepmother
TO her orphaned nephews. The severe
elderly lady, then, who beamed go
sweetly upon Ralph and regarded Charles
with such manifest coldness was their
aunt, Lady Mary Cunningham. She
had known Sir John slightly in her
youth, she said, as she graciously made
room for me on her sofa, and she ex-
pressed a very proper degree Of regret at
his sudden death, considering that he
had not been a personal friend in any
way.
1--WE all have our faults, Col. Middle
ton" said Lady Mary, with a gentle
sigh, which dislodged little colony OF
crumbs from the front of her dress. 'SiI
John, like the rest of us, was not ex-
empt, though have no doubt the soft
ening influence Of age would have done
much, since / knew him, to smooth acer
bities Of character which were unfortu
nately strongly marked in his early life.
She had evidently not known Sir Johr
in his later years.
As she continued to talk in this straiI
/ endeavored to make out which of thu
young ladies present was the one to whom
Ralph was engaged. / was undecided
as to which it was of the two to whom
had already been introduced. Girls al
ways seem to me so very much alike, es
pecially pretty girls, and these wer
both of them pretty. l do not meai
that they resembled each other in tn
least, for one was dark and one was fair
but which was Miss Aurelia Grant
Ralph's iancee, and which was Miss Ey
elyn Derrick, cousin of the family,
could not make out until later in tn
evening, when l distinctly saw Ralp
kiss the fair one in the picture gallery
and instantly came to the conclusio
that she was the one to whom he wa
engaged.
l asked Charles if l were not right. 9
we stood in front Of the hall fire befoI
the rest Of the party had assembled fC
dinner, and he told me that had indee
hit the nail on the head in this instanc
though for his own part he never lai
much stress himself on such an occu
renee, having found it prove misleadin
in the extreme TO draw any conclusic
from it. He further informed me thi
Miss Derrick was the young lady wit
dark hair who had poured out tea, an
whom he had favored with some of b
conversation afterward.
Iadmired Ralph's taste, as did Charlie
who had never seen his future sister
law before. Aurelia Grant was a charI
ing little creature, with curly hes
and dimple and pink and white col
plexion, and a suspicion of an Irish a
cent when she became excited.
Charles said he admired her compile
ion most because it was so thorough
well done and the coloring was so tr
to nature,