The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1900-01-07
Miss Thorne's WiII,

Everill stood for moment on the broad
| terrace, and then, with a sigh, turned
and entered the house. Only that dag
her aunt, Miss Matilda Thorne, had been
buried, and Mr. Nerthbro0ke had come
/ down from London to read the dead wo-
mans will II was simple enough, and
| those who mad known Miss Thorne inti-
mately hardly wondered at its wording:
ITO my niece, Elizabeth Everill, provi-
Ged she marry man OF title, i viii and
bequeath all my worldly possessions
And if I do not marry?" Miss Everill
! had asked
YOU retain your Inheritance" the law
yer answered with smile. Miss Thorne
drew up the will herself, and il is def
/ cient Oh that point"
ElizaDeth's mother. Miss Thorne's sis
| ter, had run off with Paul F.verill, tbs
organist of the church, before she Ess
Is. Her father had forbidden her name
to be mentioned in his hearing, and at
| his death Glenthorne had passed TO Ma
| tilda Internationally. She had held no
| communica ton with her married sister I'LL
she read III a newspaper OF the death Of
| Paul Everill, and then she had paid one
visit to the dismal London lodging where
| Mrs. Everill lay dying. There had never
| been much love between the sisters, but
! Miss Thorne was willing 10 take her Sis
| ter's daughter under her care. So, when
| the organist's wife was laid beside him,
! their only daughter had been brought 70
her mothers home. Masters and govern
esses had been employed to perfect her
education, and her aunt had never wea-
| ried of Installing a love of wealth and
! power and a horror Of poverty into the
| girls mind. That her words had not fall
| len on barren ground she would have ur-
! derstood could she have known her ntece's
| thoughts that evening.
| She was thinking Of q scene that had
taken place there just five years before.
| Some old paintings had been sadly in
need Of the attention that only skillful
hand could give, and Miss Thorne had
heard Ralph Crosby favorably spoken of,
and had asked him to do the work Eliz-
abeth had been much in the long portrait
gallery while Ralph Crosby talked and
painted, and at length he had forgotten
that he was only a struggling artist and
she the niece of the wealthiest woman in
the county and had spoken his love. Miss
Everill could still remember the naughty
stare and mocking smile of her aunt
when she spoke of her love for Ralph.
Love! Your mother loved Paul Ev-
Grill, I suppose. and you know something
of her life. But make your own choice.
Marry this young man if you will. but
And the girl had lain awake till day
break thinking Of the sordid surroundings
amid which her childhood had been pass
ed, and of the poverty for which she had
such . horror till at last she was re-
solved to answer mo" to her lovers
pleading.
She WINGED even now as she recalled
the grief that struggled with a contempt
uous pity for her reasoning when she
told him the next day that she could not
be poor mans wife.
And now-and now" she said to her
self while the shadows grew deeper IN
the corners of the wide library, AN in
surmountable barrier divides u.s. She
clasped her hands tightly, and, with eyes
that were dimmed by tears. gazed into
the glowing embers. ''Oh, Aunt Matilda,
your very kindness is but cruelty. 1 Won
der where Ralph is now? Oh, I almost
wish | We're a poor girl today. And yet,
mol couldn't bear THAR
And the latter reflection was constantly
passing through the girls mind as time
wore on. 1t was very pleasant to be mis-
tress of the great house and to have
money at command. Under her rule Glen
thorne became a very pleasant place, in
deed; and before the year ended it was
whispered that Lord Arthur Kendall was
very much in love with her.
Elizabeth heard Ralph Crosby's name
mentioned several times later, when she
went to London. He was occupied upon
a work that was to make a name for
him, some said, Others limited that he
was i'll: and Miss Everiu wondered that
her heart should beat so quickly al the
sound of his name. She had resolved to
accept Lord Arthur. He was rich-much
richer than she-and quite at the top Of
the social ladder. Certainly she did not
love him: he was hardly a man whom
any woman could respect. Anyhow she
did not respect him. and yet she would
marry him. They were uncongenial spir-
its, she knew, but what of that?
In sucha mood she was going one night
to a great ball given by one of the most
fashionable women in London. Lord Ar
thur would be there, and probably she
would say Yes to mis- pleadings that
night. She rather thought she would as
she stood before a mirror when her maid
had given the finishing touches to her
toilet She had on a white dress, and
pearls were on her neck and amid her
dusky hair; she was raiantIy beautiful.
six years ago.. she muttered. Six
years and more since the day Ralph
CROSBY said
She turned away. Now and again
feeling came over her that she could not
understands feeling that her wealth and
her beauty were not to bring her happi-
ness; and she had grown impatient with
herself for feeling so. Generally at such
times she was even gayeT that usual,
and when, some hours later, Lord Arthur
sat by her side in a convenient recess in
Lady JaveneITs conserva tory, he felt that
he could almost die for her. There was
something in her beauty that night-a
sadness in the dark eyes behind their
mirth-that ne could not understand.
Eliza beth" ne whispered. say Yes -
and just then the sound OF voices reached
than.
And Crosby, the artist. you know. is
blind"
"BHndl'
Quite. He consulted Reynolds ,yester-
dav; his case is hopeless.
Poor beggar! What will he do?"
Il don't know. He hasn't penny He
has never steadied himself 10 work for
years Somebody told me q girl who jilt-
ed him. or something
Miss Everiu rose.
'Lord Arthur. I hope You viii never
speak to me ike this AGAIN.
Lord Arthur bowed. He knew that fur
Their pleading would be useless.
Very early on the following morning
Miss Everill's carriage stoDoed al RalBh
Crosby's chambers, and Elizabeth was
informed that he was ar home. She gave
no name. but entered the room where he
was
''Ralphr'
tt was voice that he had not heard
for six long years. but he recognized Il
al once, and turned his sightless eyes TO-
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