The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1901-12-08

Sir Jaspcr Conyers hdgeted somewhat un-
easily with a paper knife that lay on the
table. He sat smoking in his coy bachelor
quarters in the Albany with mis- best friend,
Captain Dallas, but he was not quite
happy. Round the region of his heart he
felt something very like treDidation, for
ne had a confession TO make After a 81
lence Of some minutes. while they pulled
at their weeds. he began.
Congratulate me. old going
20 be married.
Captain Dallas took the cigar from be-
tween his teeth. and stared at him in as
constituent. Married-you. Conyers?
No. not realIy-a confirmed old bachelor.
You can't mean it." and he threw himself
back in his chair with a prolonged whistle.
Its no whistling matter. old chap-its
a perfectly serious thing: and l want you
10 stand by me and see me through. VIII
you2"
BE your best man? Certainly l will.
with the greatest pleasure in the world,
Conyers but it is a bit Of surprise for a
fellow 10 take in all at once. you know.
You're the last man in the world / should
ever have thought it of; but mayn't 1 hear
the name of the fair lady who has sue
ENNN4 IL N1RNA aNAAA AAN 9NoAA1 AAN1AN u III
invulnerabIe Sir Jasper"
My dear boy, don't talk about captivat-
ing my heart. and all that sort of rot;
there is no question of the tender passion
IN the matter at all. I've never been hon.
estly in love in the whole course of my
forty years OF existence; I've got on re-
markabIy well without it. and 1 shall GER
tainly not begin the game now; but the
Nrrrfb fe I'm ffroI 70 Ia4fh of tho wander
ing. K~nockabout life I've been leading.
I've visited every land on the face of the
globe. and I've come to the conclusion that
England's as good as any of them. and 1
mean TO settle down. Convers Court is
running to seed for want of living in, and
it's time found a wife from somewhere to
look after it. For eight months in the
year 1 shall simmer down into a sober, re-
spectacle, f~ox-hunting Leicestershire
squire. III even become their VI. f. H,
If they want nc to, and I'll subscribe to
every local cricket club and charity bazaar
the rustics like TO organize"
And you may enjoy it" interrupted his
friend.
1.-THE remaining four MONTHS continued
Sir Jasper. I'll spend in town as a regular
social and domestic lap dog; I'll allow my
SUI ~ DL LONEu dNDAt, " Oil liz SAlAO
able functions my wife wants to attend.
I'm not quite sure how it will work out,
but I'm going to try the experiment.. any
how. if it doesn't answer we can break up
the establishment. and her ladyship can
go her way and III 90 mine, as a good
many others in the world do. 1 want no
love or ender feeling TO be mixed up in
the -rangeme on either side; all l re-
~ - a.. 49, 4 H. C-.----- 10 fI.N
she shall be good-looking enough not to
d~isfgure the Conyers jewels and the Con-
yers portrait gallery; and she shall be pos
sessed of an average share of common
sense: and. above all, that she shall be a
good hostess and a presentable mistress Of
COnyers Court. So you will see it's purely
a business affair, and if the right lady
hadn't turned up L should probably have
advertised for her. Fortunately. however,
Miss Mabel Trefusis made her appearance
in the nick of time. I met her at Lady Ell
phinstone's in the autumn. and later at
Cannes. where we became engaged. She
perfectly agrees with the terms of the bar
gain. and as a wife I believe she will suit
me admirably. The wedding, l think, is
fixed up for the beginning of March"
And then the two friends passed on to
more interesting topics and remained to-
gether talking of old. times far into the
night and until the first grey streaks of the
dawn began TO steal into the room through
the folds of the half-drawn curtains.
Miss Mabel Trefusis was the elder daugh-
ter of Admiral and Mrs. Trefusis. of Shall
lowdene, Berks. and of Park lane. To be
lovely and admired was the breath of her
existence: she would have sacrificed her
soul to the cause if the occasion had re-
CURED. She was not quite a girl-at least,
rot a very young girl. She had made her
curtsey TO royalty a few years before,
when her sister Joyce was a little round
bunch OF a child in white pinafores and a
wide sash. Indeed, her real age was TWEEN
ty-eight. She was quite the best-dressed
woman in LOndon-and the best-looking,
too. as she would frankly acknowledge to
her dearest friends. while admiring the
faultless reflection of herself in one of the
long mirrors in the drawing room. with the
candor which always characterized her ut
terances
She had many admiCers-so many, in
fact. that she had ceased to count them:
the wonder was that she had never been
married. People marveled at it greatly
II be beautiful, welI-Off. and to have passed
ones ninth season in town and still remain
Miss Mabel Trefusis. was the oldest thing.
70 be sure; but when Miss Trefusis re-
turned 10 Shallowdene from Cannes. en-
gagged TO Sir Jasper Conyers, owner of fifty
thousand a year and more country houses
than he knew what to do with. people ac-
knOwledged among themselves that the
beautiful Mabel had waited TO some pur-
pose. 1t was a brilliant match, indeed;
and then Sir Jasper was such a charming
nan and so handsome, too. in spite Of the
feet that his iron-gray hair was beginning
70 grow thin on his forehead. Mabel Trefu-
sis was an exceedingly lucky woman. so
the world said-and the world always
knows.
And the Trefusis-COnyers wedding went
OFF in due course with great eclat. For
three days il created quite a stir among the
fashionable set who attended. Mabel Ire
fusis looked very beautiful-sO beautiful,
indeed. that Sir Jasper felt something very
like pride as he walked down the aisle with
his wife. and when they departed. amid an
aristocratic shower OF rice. 10 Snugley In
the Dell. kindly lent by Lord Congleton.
n remarked 10 himself that he had really
done a wise thing in marrying the lovely