The Jennings daily record., 1902-07-21
THE AFFAIR in THE BELFRY
By Charles Edwardes.

I been esteemed Il child Of nature. Even
at Oxford learned none of those arts
! o. polite and discreet dissimulation
which are such an aid to a fellow who
means to become famous.
She thought | was always covertly
I sneerlng at her. which protest l never
did
But. be that as it may, when she had
been mistress of Sundcw House about
four months something startling. yet
far from unconventiona]. occurred TO
set me keenly on the Qui vive.
! This was nothing less than the ap-
partition at the Red Lion-our village
, in"-of Il red-uoScd stranger man. who
+ proved to he an acquaintance of the
/ stepmother's.
AS usual. Mabel was uncommonly
| smart ON the least thing that tended to
diminish the regard in which l seemed
: to hold Mrs. WinStanley second. She
was terribly fond of novels. this sister
/ OF mine and had an imaginatlon-per-
! hapS in conSequence-wbich leaped to
/ conclusions with amazing celerity.
| Nevertheless. l felt il my duty 10
lead her a pretty stiff lecture about
| The vices of uncharita bleness and evil
! thinking when she dumped her infer
! enc upon me in one fell swoop with
! the words
! Rupert. that wretch at the Red Lion
! is Mrs. Winstanley's first husband: I'm
convinced of it.
1t will be seen how far the govern
declare that he was quite unsuspi-
| cOuS of the red-uoSed man The per-
sons name in use was Fortescue and
Stepmother admitted that he was 4 cou-
| sin.
Il know" she said to me on the sub
| iect. with Il charming blush. that you
may be disinclined to believe me. but
it is certainly the truth that that poor
fellow and l are only cousins"
| My dear stepmother" | exclaimed
after these words. "how can you take
so ignominious a view of me?''
Whereupon she changed her tone
somewhat abruptly and confessed the
! Joy she felt in having at least one
friend at Sundew House besides her
/ husband. Friend seemed hardly the
word for the occasion but l had no
! wish to be over-critical.
We all have our poor relations
s1epmother continued sadly, land Tom
! FOrteScuc is one of mine
The phrase "one of mine seemed so
ominous that I could not help asking if
| ha hpI R1f Ion uIa1
at my question, called me a terrible
! clever fellow" and said she didn't de-
! sire to be interpreted literally. Of
! course Map!cton tour VILLAGE was not
! likely TO see II procession of her poor
| relations. She should be perfectly sat
isied if Tom Fortescue would settle
/ down peacefully in some little cottage
i in the nei.hborhood and devote himself
! TO the natural history tastes that alb
! sorbed him. For my part felt scru-
pies about Tom Fortescue. The only
| obvious branch Of natural history that
! interested him was that concerned with
the distilIation of alcoholic liquor.
Ii is scarcely credible. but it is true
! wthal. that stepmother's cousin was
allowed to settle in Mapleton and be-
come the talk of the village. He took
a little ivy-clad cottage close to the
church. TO which regularly every Sun
| day he carried his red nose and bald
! head. which did not deter him from
u,terng tie responses very audibly.
Upon the whole could tolerate him
! very well. having that saving gift-a
sense of hnIuor. But the governor did
, not like Tom FOrteScue. though he tried
| hard. while the feelings of the girls
about him may be imagined when say
: that they were daily more and more
convinced he WAS the only lawful hus-
band of Mrs. Winstanley second
The village, of course. had its own
opinions. These. l am sorry to say,
were no, wholly unlike Mabel's and
Agness But out of Difference to the
governor our dear and humble neigh
hors did not express their feelings on
the subject broadcast.
Ii came out hot and strong. though,
one September evening. Phipps, the
sexton. was the miserable mouthpiece
of the rumOr.
had been to the doctors to ask
him TO look in and take u hand at
, whist, and on my way back. having
nothing much to do, put my feet in
side the church. where harvest decorat-
ing was in force. If Tom FOrtescue
was not there with the ladies of the
parish upon whom he beamed across
his red nose in the most ludicrous man
ner! The girls were there also-as far
as possible from stepmother's cousin.
10 me as ! stood smiling by the foot,