The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1902-06-11
A GILDED SIN,
BY CHARLOTTE NJ. BRBAAB,
CHAPTER III.

Venetian face She was quite unlike
anything he had pictured. lie had
fancied girl with tiiulia's sweet face.
with her golden hair and sensitive
lips. The girl before him looked !lkG
a Roman Empress but thai she had
Giulia's eyey-her dark. tender, pas
sionate eyeS-the eyes that had made
for him the only light that he had
ever knOwn-with hair as black aS
night, and worn after the old Greclan
fashion. She was more beautiful than
her Young mother had ever been, oul
it was different type of lovelineSS.
AS he gaZed upon her, Sir Jasper
Brandon owned to himself that
it was the most beautiful and the sad
dest face that he had ever seen. The
dark eyes had {. story in their depths.
the proud lips trembled even as she
smiled.
''Where have seen d face something
like it??'' he asked himself. Then he
remembered that it was IN one OF his
favorite pictures hanging in the Lou
Z lie had gone himself to the station
to meet her. Lady Brandon was very
shreWd. and Katherine was shreWdef
still. He felt that he might betray
himself. So he had decided on meet
ing Veronica that the first shock might
pass unperceived. And shock II was
when she looked upat him with Giulla S
ewes. He estood still for a few moments,
beating back the anguish that almost
mastered him: then he held out his
hands in greeting to her.
Veronica" he said gently. wei
come to England" He did not kiss
the beautiful face-he dared not trust
himself. "Welcome," be repeated.
adding, "Do you speak EngliSh?,'
To his surprise she answered him in
English; she spoke the language eX-
ceedingl " well, but with slight foreign
accent that was very musical and
charming.
''Yes. Ispeak English: it was my own
wish. I learned by my own desire:
nv aunt was very unwilling"
ssWhy did YOU wish to learn?" he
said. "It is harsh after your beauti-
ful liquid Italian
II cannot tell; but something seem
ed always to stir in my heart at the
very mention of England. hardly
knew whether it was pain or pleasure,
for it,was unlike either. Now l kno"
what it was.h
''What?'' he asked wondering if any
idea of the truth had occurred to her;
''It was foreboding," she replied:
sit was because 1 had to come to Eng
land" Then she glanced at him again;
''Are you my guardian?" she asked
timidly.
"Yes," he replied. II came to meet
you; thought you would feel Gull at
first in a strange country.
81 have been dull all my life. she
said, with a smile-the saddest smile
he had ever SEEN. -.
"We must try to make you happier,
he said.
''Why are you my guardian?" she
asked. II cannot understand it. My
aunt never spoke to me Of you until
she was dying, and then she told me
that far away in England there lived a
rich gentleman who would be my guar
= dian when she was dead-that was to
live with him in England and be docile
to him. 1t will not be, difficult to be
very docile to you. > zss- zs.zszs.
SWhy?" he asked. >-;ss:ss=Ss s5ss-=ssS >.
Because I like you sheans&eFed
simply. 81 can always tell at first
sight whether shall like any one or
not, and I do like you"
He helped her into the carriage and
sat down by her side, the servants were
busy with her suggage. Mr.. Segrave
drove home with Sir Jasper and his
ward and all the way the baronet was
saying to himself
s:This is Giulia's daughter; that
beautiful head lay on GIulla'S breast
that is Giulia's child" He longed
to clasp her in his arms, to say, ~ GU
have your mothers eyes, child; you
have the same sweet voice and the same
loving heart"
Allni fancied dislike melted as he
gazed on her. He wondered how he
could have hated her, how he could
have forgotten her. He reproached
himself for it with bitter reproaches.
How could he have been unklnd to
Giulia's child? Il have been dull all
nv life.' she had said, and the words
smote him with pain. He longed to
say to her, II am your father, Eeron-
lea, but my love for your mother IS
shut up in my heart. 1t is my cherish
ed secret; it is so sacred to me that L
cannot talk of it; I cannot tell Others
Of it; it is the very core Of my heart.
He was sorely tempted, but Not yet"
he said to himSelf-"not yet. He
turned to her suddenly. =.
= "Tell me about your life, VERONICA,
he said. "What made it so dull? How
have you spent it?''
81 have lived always with my Aunt
Assunta," she replied, land my aunt
was a woman whose heart must have
been broken when she was very Young,
I think. She never laughed, she never
even smiled. but she hated the English.
They are as peridious. she said. as
Judas. The sun never shines on Eng
land: it is always dark with Heaven 5
froWn.' She would not let me have
any friends. We used to sit for days
and months and years IL that dark old
palace, watching the water, watching
the sky, seldom speaking a word:
She gave me histories to read, and
after many prayers she allowed me to
have masters for paintlng-nCthlng
else: and for many years | have passed
my life in reading dull histories and IN
painting"
Poor child" he said. 1T was not a
very bright life, was it?''
mo. l have often asked her TO tell
me where my mother and father he
buried: but my aunt would never in
form me. I have never seen my moth
er's grave"
Sir Jasper's face grew white with
emotion. He said to himself, =" 1t IS
Giula's child who has led this sad life
who has never known one bright
hour" He dared not look at her lest
she should wonder at the pain on bis
face.
How old are you. Veronica: he
asked.
''I am twenty, as men count years.
she said. 1t seems to me that / have
lived century il the dark Old palace.
1t was full OF spirits who walled ali
night through the long dark passages