Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1901-04-06
CHAPTER K.
Behold the Heir,

Addle Iristram died with all her old IN
commences. Death was to her an end
more fully than it is to most; had she been
herself responsible for it, she could hardly
nave thought less of any possible conse
quences. And it was to her such a begin.
n1ng as it can seldom SEEM She had been
iVing ip anticipation Of dying, but in
sense sense utterly remote from that contempla-
uon OF their latter end which is enioined
on the ptous. During the last day or two
she was delirious at intervals; as precau-
tion harry was with her then, instead of
IN me nurse; the measure was superfluous;
lhere was nothing on Lady Tristram's
fnlhd, and when she spoke unconsciousIy
she spoke OF trif1es. The few final hours
Iound her conscious and intelligent al
anough very weak. Just at the end
curious idea got hold of her. She was a
little distressed that the Gainsborouphs
were not there: she whispered her feelings
10 harry alphabetically, well remembering
ms objection to that branch Of the family
ana MS disinclination to have them or any
OF them at Blent. "Cecily ought to he
mere. she murmured. Harry started a lit
tie: he was not accustomed in his own
mind to concede Cecily any rights. His
mothers fear OF offending him by the sug-
gestion was very obvious. Shed come
after you, You see, if" she said once or
twice; there did not pass between them a
word OF acknowledgment that CeciIy ought
to come before him. The barest hint Of
this kind would have raised Harrv's sus-
plclon and anger a few weeks before: the
new mood which Nina Zabriska had mark
eo IN MIN made him take 1t quietly now
and even affectionately For this Addie
Trfstram was grateful; she had always the
rare grace OF seeming surprised at her own
power over men. Harry promised to ask
the Ga1nsboroughs to her funeral. Addie
Iristram's conscientious scruples were en-
tirely laid to rest; with a sigh of peace. she
settled herself to die. 1t was the feudaI
FEELING, Harry decided, which insisted that
the FAMILY must not be ignored; 1t did NOT
deny their humble position or the gulf that
separated them from the succession Yet
ne was vaguely vexed, even while he agreed
to what she wanted.
So she passed away in the full. tide of
the darkness of night. The doctor had
left her some hours before, the nurse had
been sent to bed; for there was nothing
that could be DONE Harry was alone with
her: he kissed her when she was dead, and
stood many minutes by her, looking from
her to the picture Of her that hung upon
the wall A strange loneliness was on him,
a loneliness which there seemed nobody to
solace: He had said that Blent would not
be much without his mother. That was
not quite right 1t was much. but different,
She had carried away with her the atmos-
phere of the place, the essence Of the life
that he had lived there with her. Who
would make that the same to him again?
Suddenly he recollected that in four days
he was to ask jamie liver for her answer
Say week now; for the funeral would en-
IoASC VI SACuSc SO IuuCu pOStpOnement.
jamie liver would not give him back the
life or the atmosphere. He was Tristram
of Blent now; that he must and would re-
main; but it was not the same Bient and
did not seem as though it could be again.
So much Of the poetry had gone out Of it
with Addie Tristram.
After he had left her room he walked
through the house. carrying shaded candle
in his hand along the dark corridors of
shining oak He bent his steps toward the
long gallery which filled all the upper floor
Of the left wing. Here was the valhalla
and the treasure house Of the Tristrams-
the pictures Of ancestors, the cases of prec-
ious things which the ancestors had anaass-
ed. At the end Of the gallery Addie iris
tram had used to sit when she was well
in large. high-backed arm chair by the
big window that commanded the gardens
and the river. He flung the window open
and stood looking out. The wind swished
In the trees and the Blent washed along
leisurely. A beautiful stiffness was about
him. 1t was as though she We're by his
side, her fair head resting against the CD,
brocade cover of the arm chair, her eyes
wandering in delighted employment round
the room she had loved 20 well. Who