Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1901-02-07

/ the fault Of a false training; and the
prejudice was strong. Mrs. Carstone.
| that, if she had known l moved IL {
high circle, she would not have mar
RED me. So | wooed her as q pcOr
artist, and Heaven bless heri-s} e
loved me for myself, and married me
Do you not think I was very fo-
tunate man? We should have had a
few more months in this charming
solitude, but for the ball and the visit
of my friend, Forest-Hay."
Il think you are most fortunate
man, my lord" said the kindly lady;
but neither OF the gentlemen spoke.
Now that the discovery is made, :"
continued Lord RIVERS, Il shall lose
no time in taking my wife home to
England. l kept my marriage a
secret short time in Difference to her
prejudices: but, now that the secret
is no longer my own, I shall take her
to my mother at once"
Quite right, my lord said Mrs.
| Carstone.
She owned afterward that he looked
so brave. so handsome. so loving. that
she longed to clasp her arms round
his neck and kiss him.
| Il wish you much happiness, lay
lord" said Richard Carstone. quite
unconscious that his words sounded
| somewhat satirically. He did not
know what else to say.
Thank you," said Lord RIVERS,
holding out his hand.
! The frown on Oscars face deep
ened. Others might believe what
they liked; he would believe what he
chose.
eve leave here tomorrow" said
Lord RIVERS. perhaps Lady RIVERS
will like to spend an hour or two with
you this evening"
He said that to show her utter fear
lessness as to any remarks they might
make. Mrs. Carstone eagerly caught
Violets hand.
ct will be a great pleasure to me-"
she said earnestly.
And Lord RIVERS went away leav-
ing them together.
On the morrow they started for
home, staying two days in Paris,
where, in his wife's name, Lord
RIVERS bought presents innumerable
for his mother and sisters; and then
they started for Ryversdale.
1t was the beginning OF a new life,
in which Violet, Lady RIVERS, mis-
tress of many broad acre and much
wealth, was to find out how long,
sharp, and painful were the thorns
hidden by the orange-blossoms.
CHAPTER XVIII.
Ryversdale was the delight of
artists. 1t was one of the most
ancient of the many ancient houses to
be found in England. 1t stood in the
prettiest part of Kent, where from the
summit of the well-wooded hills one
caught a glimpse of the sea. 1t was
an abbey once upon time, said to
have been founded in the earlier days
of the Anglo-Saxons. There was little
trace of the old abbey to be found
now, and the gray friars who owned
it had been hundreds of years at rest.
But every now and then in the grounds
one came across a ruined arch, the
trace of a wall, covered with thick ivy,
the remains of an ancient crypt, the
delicate tracery of cloister, the out
line of a grand old church. There
was one especially beautiful ruin that
each inhabitant of Ryversdale had
done his best to preserve; that was
the broken arch of what had once
been the great eastern window. It
was Swallowed now by many trees.
Stately oaks stood near, and fragrant
lines touched it with their dropping
boughs. 1t was SO thickly covered with
ivy the old gray stone could not be
seen.
The Ryverses were grand, cour-
ageous race; but as time passed on
the spirit of the time changed, and
they changed with it. Then the
family grew less, their power and in
fuence decreased; they were less
known, less famous, until in this the
nineteenth century they were no
longer conspicuous for anything ex-
cept the antiquity Of their race.
Yet is was something to be
RIVERS. When the late Lord RIVERS
went wooing the stately heiress of the
Atoms, some said that with her
beauty and her money she might do
better. But she said NO" there
were men in England of higher posi-
ton and greater wealth, but none of
more ancient or noble lineage, and
that was what she valued most