The Opelousas courier., 1900-12-08

MM%FDMsMHM Thirty odd years
Mi NMlNAA ago the set he
II NM~&T lived in had been
W NUN jgssA startled and mys.
titled by his sudden flight and disap'
pearance. At that time his position
here had seemed q singularly pleasant
one. He was young-he was eve OF
eight and twenty; he was fairly well
of-he had something like three thou.
sand a year, indeed; he belonged to an
excellent family, the Shropshire Vel.
lans Of whom the titled head, Lord
Vellan of Norshingfield, was his uncle;
he was good-looking, amiable. amusing,
popular, and he had just won a seat
in the House Of Commons, (as jun
Tor member for Shefingham), where,
since he was believed to be ambitious
as well as clever, 1t was generally ex-
pected that he would 60 far.
Then, quite suddenly, he had re-
signed and left England. His motive
for this unlikely course he explained
to no one. To a few intimate friends
he wrote brief letters of farewell.
II am off for o journey round the
world. ! shall be gone an indefinite
time"
The indefinite time ended by dein-
ing it as upwards Of thirty years, for
the first twenty of which only his So
licitor and his bankers could have
given you his address and they
wouldn't. For the last ten he was
understood to be living In the Island of
Porto Rico, and planting sugar. Mean
while his uncle had died, and his cous-
in (his uncle's only SOM had succeeded
to the peerage. But the other day his
cousin, too, had died, and childless, SO
that the estates and dignities had de-
volved upon himself. With that a re-
turn to England became an obligation;
there were a score of minor beneficial
ries under his cousins will whose lega-
cies could not without delay be paid
unless the new lord was at hand.
Mrs. Sandyrl Kempton sat before the
fire in her wide, airy. faded drawing
room and thought Of Theodore Vellan
of old days, and wondered what the
present Lord Vellan would be like. She
had got a note from him that morn
ing. dispatched from Southampton the
day before, announcing:
Il shall be in town to-morrow-at
Bowden's Hotel, In Cork street" and
asking when he might come to her.
She had answered by telegraph:
"Come and dine at eight tonight"
to which he had wired back an ac-
ceptance.
Thereupon she had told her son that
ne must dine at his club; and now she
was seated before her fire, waiting for
Theodore Vellan to arrive, and think
ing of thirty years ago.
She was q bride then, and her hus.
band, her brother Paul and Theodore
velian were bound In a league of al.
dent young mannish friendship. a
friendship that dated from the time
they had been undergraduates to-
gether at Oxford. She thought Of the
three handsome, happy, talented young
men and OF the brilliant future she had
foreseen for each Of them, her husband
the bar, her brother in the church,
n Vellan-not in politics, she could
never understand his political aspira-
Hons, they seemed quite at odds with
the rest of his character-but in Iitera-
as q poet. for be wrote verse |
she considered very unusual and
pleasing. She thought Of this. and then
she remembered that her husband was
dead, and that Theodore Yellan had
been dead to his world at ali events
Tor thirty years. Not one Of them had
IN any way distinguished himself: NOT
one had In any measure fulfilled The
promise Of his youth.
Her memories were sweet and bitter.
lney made her heart glow and ache.
as she recalled him, had been
DeIore all things, g~entIe-with the gen.
TEST manners. His g~entleness. she
Old herself, was the chief element Of
ms charm-his gentleness which was
q phase of his modesty. "He
was very gentle, he was very modest.
was very graceful and kind she
said. and she remembered q hundred
Of his g~entleness. his mad.
esty, his kindness. Oh, but he yas no
nilksop. He had plenty Of. spirit.
plenty OF fun. He was boyish. he
could romp. And at that time q scene
'epeated itself to her mind. a scene
nat had passed III this same drawing
Dom more than thirty years ago. It
vas tea time, and on the tea table Inv
dlsh OF pearl biscuits, ana she and
1er husband and Vellan were alone
her husband took a handful of pearI
biscuits and tossed them one by one
2 the air. while vellan threw bach
lis head and caught them III bis month
y they came down-this was one Of
lis accomplishments. She smiled AZ
'he remembered II, but at the same
lGae abe put her handkerchief 10 her
yes,
aYYYAy DID 30 &c aWays what could