The Washington times., 1901-12-08
THE MASTER OF
WHARNE CASTLE



LAT he cant be so much worse than
other men. All the maids are nattered
BY show of his attentions, and l war
rant you any of them would have had
him fast enough. But II he we're Blue
beard I'd marry him just the same. I've
been poor long enough"
How can you talk so. Dorothy? I'm
sure poverty isn't as bad as-as some
other things
Twas Tom Gregory converted you to
that view. All, we'll. wait twelvemonth
till your sweet love in a cottage is thread
bare. and see what poverty is like then
Mistress Dorothy Farlngdon was pretty
enough to make one doubt that love In a
| cottage, were she It's tenant, could ever
be anything but delight. She was pure
blonde. with hair of that glittering yell
low which seems to attract the sunlight
like burning glass. As she lifted her
white arms above her head to adjust
refractory tress. her companion. girl
though she was, and. therefore, natural
rival. gazed at her adoringly. Polly Winn
was no match for the little beauty, either
| in looks or cynical philosophy. She sighed
! looked puzzled and uncomprehending. and
! consoled herself with the reflection that
| Toms love for her was an undeniable
/ fact. though the universe might be crum-
/ bling, and Dorothy about to be married to
! Godfrey Wharne - rich, peculiar ugly
and twice her age.
A grand ball was given that night at
| the Manor House where Wharne ana
/ Dorothy had first met, and as the oddly
assorted pair came into the ballroom.
/ they drew all eyes upon them in way
/ that seemed to add new lustre to the
/ beauty of the girl They looked like a
bit of Sevres porcelain and Chinese idol.
Wharne was a head taller than his be-
I trothed, and carried his height like a
soldier. His iron-grey hair covered
heac long and narrow. running up to
| curious peak. His eyebrows, darker than
| the hair. sloped sharply down, meeting in
V shape over the bridge of his nose. and
the eyes which peered from under this
line we're black and piercing. great
hooked nose. pointed chin. and sweeping
military moustache. were the other salient
points of his visage, but his hands, large
white, and expressive In gesture, though
he seldom used them in that way, were
no less striking to the average observer
than his face. He was known TO be rich,
Tory. and of good family; and he owned
a large country estate in Central New
York. on which was an old house, known
to the natives as "Wharne Castle" That
was all that anybody knew about him.
Apparently It was enough for Mistress
Dorothy. for she married him and left her
home. with no signs Of regret on the
sweet, laughing face that looked back
from the window " the coach at the Sob
bing Polly. whom Tom was vainly en-
deavoring to comfort. At the country
inns where they stayed she bore herself
like queen. proud of her distinguished
looking husband. who waited on her with !
a distance and Difference which sometimes
led to her being mistaken for his daugh- |
ter. On the third day they reached the =
Castle" a rambling old house with an
octagon room. a turret, many gables, and
wainscoting throughout. 1t was tenant
ed by differential and subdued-looking
servants. in charge OF the housekeeper,
an old woman with something Of the
martinez about her. Dorothy's own room
was furnished so sumptuously that she |
uttered a little cry OF delight ard gave |
her husband the first unsolicited kiss he |
had ever had from her.
1t came near being the last, for as |
she grew more familiar with the still /
ness and air OF mystery about the old |
house the gay rafting spirits which had !
made her leader and a belle were some |
how chilled and dampened. Sometimes |
she would wake in the night and find !
her husband gone; then, without the sound !
Of a door being opened or closed, he /
would be with her again. Always cour- |
teous and stately In his manner to her. |
he yet seemed to Re watching her with |
an intentness that made her shudder, as
she glanced up from the embroidery or
spinet and found his eye fixed upon her.
The servants. too, with the exception
OF the old hOusekeeper. seemed TO feel a
sort of awe and error Of the master OF
the house. and there was whispering in
corners, and there were frequent changes,
SO that Dorothy hardly knew the names
of those who waited upon her. Now and
then she caught words and phrases OF
mysterious, and, to her, terrifying i'm
port she grew more and more silent and
scared.
She began to fancy that there was in
the. housekeeper's eyes when turned upon
her a look of deep. concentrated hate. and
that she was being watched by two per-
sons. woman who hated her and a
man who for inscritabIe reasons of his
own took notice of all that she lid. and
not in love. She began to look about her
Btealthily, even when she had every rea-
son to believe herself alone. 1t seemed
as if eyes must be watching her from
some lattioed window, or behind some
curtain.
1t was a relief one morning in July
when a rider clattered up to the door
with the news that war had broken out
between England and the Colonies Like
her fathers people. Dorothy sympathized
with the Tories. and held herself above
her rebel noighbors. She was therefore
glad to find her husband one OF the chief
supporters Of King George in that part
Of the country and she was more glad
when he rode away to render aid to the
Tory faction in New York She bad come
to fear his inscrutable gaze and almost
unbroken silence.
After a few months of disjuintcd add
varying rumors. a regiment Of Hessiln
troopers camped not far away. and Eng
lish officers were quartered in the house
Some thing of Dorothy's old spirits re-
turned with tho prpgpnce of sn MANY