The suburban citizen., 1900-09-29

y I VIZ 7 sN stdItleu anu NY .
titled by his sudden fight and disap-
pearance. At that time his position
here had seemed a singularly pleasant
one. He was young-he was seven OF
eight and twenty; he was fairly well
off-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 Norshingfeld, was his uncle;
he was good-looking, amiable, amusing
popular, and he had just won a seat
in the House of Commons, las jun
Tor member for Sheffingham), where,
since he was believed to be ambitious
as well as clever, it was generally ex-
pected that he would go 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 a journey round the
world. ! shall be gone an indefinite
IlInes- 49,, -..-s. -
The. indefinite time ended by de6n-
ing il as upwards Of thirty years, for
the first twenty of which only h!s 80
llcitor 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 bis
cousin, too, had died, and chlldless, so
that the estates and dignities had de-
yolved upon himself. With that a re-
turn to England became an obligation;
there were, score OF minor beheficia.
riss under his COUSINS will whose lega-
dies could not without delay &c paid
nalegs the "ne& ford was at hand,[r
Mrs. Sandytl Exemption at,befofe the
fire In her wide, airy faded drawing
room and thought of Theodore vellan
Of old days, and wondered what the
present Lord Yellan would be like. She
had got a note from him that morn.
Ing, dispatched from Southampton the
day before, announcing:
''I shall be in town to-morrow-at
Bowdens Hotel, in Cork street." and
asking when he might come to her.
She had answered by telegraph:
"COme and dine at eight tonight, D
to which he had wired back an ac
ceptance., Ms.
Thereupon she had told her son that
he must dine at his club; and now she
was seated before her Gre, waiting fol
Theodore Vellan to arrive, and think
Ing of thirty years ago.
She was a bride then, and her hus
band, her brother Paul and Theodore
Vellan were bound In a league Of ar
dent young mannish friendship, {
friendship that dated from the time
when they had been undergraduates to
gether at Oxford. She thought Of tho
three handsome, happy, talented young
men and Of the brilliant future she haC
foreseen for each Of them, her HUSBAND
at the bar, her brother in the church
and Yellan-not in politics, she coulC
never understand his political aspira
tions, they seemed quite at odds witt
| the rest Of his character-but in litera
ture, as n poet, for he wrote vers,
which she considered very unusual an,
pleasing. She thought Of this, and thel
she remembered that her husband wa
dead, and that Theodore Vellan ha,
been dead to his world at all events
for thirty years. Not one Of them haC
In any way distinguished himself; no
one had in any measure fulfilled tn
promise Of his youth.
Her memories were sweet and bitter
they made her heart glow and ache
Nellan, as she recalled him. had BEEF
before all things, gentle-wlth the gen
tlest manners. His gentleness. sh
told herself, was the chief element 0
his charm-his gentleness which wa
really a phase Of his modesty. III
was very gentle, he was very modest
he was very graceful and kind" sh
said, and she remembered a hundre
Instances Of his gentleness, his mod
esty, his kindness Oh, but he was n
milksop. He had plenty Of spirit
plenty Of fun. He was boyish, b
couAd romp. And at that time a seen
repeated itself to her mind. a seen
20 .---