Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1901-11-01

Mf. oD'Oyley looked at hts- Haseaan
with mild surprise.
Understand raes. ray 1ord,- said he;
81 have not hreAthcd word Of this
TO your daughter. All want to aacer-
tain from you Is this-.STould the posi-
| ton of rector of Dftchfey he such as
would satisfy You,:ia point of status
and means
osYou, Mr.. D'oyley. Rector of Ditch
leyi Do0you know what you ere talk
ing about?'
81 hope !. do, my lord, returned the
curate with smile. Gas 1T HAPPENS,
Lord Cuddeslyois the patron; and his
eldesto son was at Oxford with me. -
| fIhe curate said this lin a quiet but
| offhand sort of way. as much rs to say
that is the least part of the bust
ness.). MY real object in coming to
your lordship now is to ascertain
whetheroI should be personally accepts
able as sutton for your daughters
hand; and if so, whether the prefer.
ment of Ditch1ey would be considered
by you as sufficient e
The bishop had been looking at the
curate with increased respect allothis
time. Being comparatively stranger
i'm the diocese he knew very little Of
Lord Cuddesly's character or. senti-
bmentse
'eMy dear young FRIEND" he, began,
with his.o most Apaternal smile, you
cam understand that while the ques-
ton of standing in the diocese and
that of ways and means are not unim-
portant, they are, oafter all, only Sec
ondary considerations. My dear
daughters happiness is of the first
Importance with me. And if you win
her consent, you shall have mine, so
far as you are personally concerned.
Then, as to the ways. and means, Ditch
ley is. not a very rich living; and I
understand you have no private in-
come. Still, it might be sufficient
By the way, Lord 'Cuddesly's solicitor
was speaking to me about Ditchley.
Several names yere mentioned, but
yours was not among them" 9.
e''I think Mr.. Debray had not seen
his father on the subject at that time"
said the curateswith some modest con-
fusion.
"Proba1y not. Well, now you knew
my. views. But remember, there must
not be a word of this to Ernesta till
the matter is positively settled
. Next day Mr.. D'Oyley betook himself
to Lord Cuddesly's seat Neddiston
Park. Before going up to the great
mans door, however, he looked in, at
the yicarage, hoping to pick. up there
some scraps of useful information,
| and above all hoping to hear Of some
thing that might serve as an excuse for
calling on his lordship.
+ Thes vicar turned out to be- a good,
teasy-going, loquacious sort of man.
He had no very high idea of Lord Cud-
desly, who, he said, seemed to have
but one object in ife-the passing of
the deceased wife's sister bill.
Mr.. D'Oyley went up to the great
house, and by the help of liberal
brides succeeded in getting shown into
Lord Cuddesly's presence.
81 believe, my lord" began the
curate, "that you are patron of the
living of Ditchley.''
"Well, what of that? You haven't
| come to ask for it, have you?s For, if
you have, you won't get it,
perhaps your lordship would kind
| ly hear me for one moment
81 don't know your name even. Who
are you?''
"Perhaps I had best describe myself
! as the eson-in-law of the bishop OF
| Brampton.''
"Whaf! The bishops son-in-law!
| didn't know he had another daugh-
ter. Why, how many. has he alto
| gether?''o Q.
Give, my lord; but the marriage has
not taken place yet
. "Oh, L see! Son-in-law elect; and
the bishop doesn't likeoto give you a
living himself. Il that about it, eh?''
Mr.. D'Oyley smiled respectfully, and
looked down.
| "Well, 1 don't know that have any
reason for going out of my way to
oblige the bishop"
| ct is hardly going out of your way,
nv lord" suggested the curate. 'It
is as easy for your lordship to present
| one name to the bishop as another"
| 81 know that well enough. But the
bishop-he has a vote in the house,
hasn't he?"
| certainly, my lord; and if I may
say so without offense. am certain
that mere ordinary feelings of graft
| tude for so marked favor bestowed
on one of his family would constrain
the bishop not to oppose your lord.
ship on any public occasion"
"Humi That's true. Couldn't ask
for promise, of course. You're to
marry his daughter. are you?"
81 hope so, my lord. That is, the
j particular time of the marriage de-
ponds on whether I am presented tc
the Ditchley living or not.'' .
YOU couldn't marry without liv'
ing, eh?"
/ Cranky, my lord, we could not
Lord Cuddesly pondered for a mo
| ment or two. .