The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1902-07-09
A GILDED SIN.
BY CHARLOTTE N. B2BAMB.
CHAPTER VII.

peace and QuietneSS relgned IN the
house Of death: the passionate weeping
and wailing, the first wild outbreak OF
sorrow. were over. The doctors VINO
had been summoned in such hot haste
had giyen their deciSiOn-Slr Jasper
had died of disease ofthe heart There
was no need whatever for the formali-
ty of an inQuest-no need for eXamIna-
tion.
They had laid the illustriouS states
man-the man whose heart had been
faithful to one passionate love-in state
i'm his own chamber with hangingS OF
black velvet and wax tapers and the
fairest June flowers about him whose
hand should never more gather leaf or
blossom: and then with lingering looks
at the marble face, so grand in Its
sculptured beauty, they had left him
to the silence that should never more
be broken.
Veronica sat in her own room. a
pretty room that opened on to the
western terrace-a room where She
had ali her books, her easel, her piano
where she spent happy hours IN STUDY
and reading. 1t was half parlor, hai1
boudoir, as pretty as it could be MADE
bv taste, by art. and by affection. 1t
was dark and gloomy now. With the
blinds drawn and the flowers all dead.
Veronica sat there silent, dazed, bewll-
6ered. She still wore her evening
dress Of black lace-She had never
changed it: her dark hair hung over
her shoulders, the beautiful face with
it's passionate sorrow, its untold story
was pale and worn, her eyes looked
brighter and darker. What had she
not suffered sitting there-what emo,
tion, what bitter pain, what untolQ
woe?
His daughter She came back
again and again-to these woros- his his
daughter" The proud noble states
man whom all England revereo was
her father. Oh, if she could but nave
known it before. If she had but had
time to pour out the passionate love OF
her heart to him. If there had but
been time to tell him how proud and
happy she was, and how she valued
her birthright, how she reJ0lced IN the
knowledge that he was her father. 50
many things were clear to her now.
She had never understood his strange
manner toward her. half love. hall
avoidance. One thing after another
unveiled itself, so that she almost
wondered at last that she had not
guessed the secret. And she was Eero-
MICA Brandon. heireSs of Queens Chase.
She repeated the name over and over
acain to herself Eeronica Brandon
Sand each time she liked it better.
She was heireSS Of the grand mansion,
of the fair domain, of the broad IandS.
of all the wonders Of wealth she saw
around her-she who had never known
the luxury Of having one shilling to
spend. 1t was no great wonder II her
heart beat and every nerve thrlIIeo1
with the sudden sense Of power ana
wealth. Henceforth she could do as
she Hked-she could make every one
happy, she could lavish wealth on lhe
things she loved best, she couIo 90 uh-
told good. -,
She was reused from her reverie by
the entrance Of Lady Brandon. LOOK
ing at her, Veronica realized what she
had sufered-her face was quite white,
with dark circles round the eyes. She
had wSpt almost incesSantly since her
husbands death. but now she seemed
calm with the calmnesS OF despair.
She closed the door, and, coming up:tO
Veronica, took the girls cold hands II
her own and looked earnestly INTO heI
face.
Veronica she asked, have you
- kept the secret?,>
The young girl raisrd her head
SDid YOU think that I should betray
it?" she asked. Il am not a traitor,
Lady Brandon"
Il Know know: forgive me for
speaking hastily. Veronica, am al
most mad. You cannot realize what |
have to suffer-yOu cannot understand
NV position. l would rather-theSe
are not wild words, but true ones-l
would rather kill myself than that the
world should know how cruelty, l
have been deceived-that I had but
the ashes of my husbands love, that
he never cared for me, that his heart
had been given to another before me.
I could not bear it-1 could not sur
Yiye such a downfall to my pride, my
affection, my standing and position in
the world should not survive 1t.
II am very sorry" said Veronica:
"I cannot help it, Lady Brandon: it is
not my fault, you know.
Think, too, OF Katherine. my oeau-
tiful child, brought up as her father 5
heiress. All her life She has deemed
herself heiress Of Queens Chace-her
future secure. Oh, Veronica, think
what a blow it will prove for her. 1t
will kill her" And the poor lady 5
lips quivered again. Then, ," she con
tinued, ''you do not know my people,
the VaIdoraines. They are the proud
est people in England: they WOULD
dare not think what they will say or
do when they hear that my child IS
disinherited. I shall never look them
in the face again. ! wish that | had
died before this 6ay came.
II am very griered, said Veronica:
:but cannot help it."
s:Poor katherine-SO happy IN her
future, They called her heiress Of
Oueen's Chace when she lay in her era
die. Ny pretty child, it is not right,
if is NOT lust. / have done nothing to
deserve it. AL my life was good and
faithful to my husband. He has left
me legacy OF sorrow and shame. POOR
Katherine, how is she to bear It, Sero,,
MICA? viii it make her hate him, ana
dislike his memOry2
NO, she is too noble for that. SAD
Veronica. Have yoa forgotten s Whas
he said to her on the evening before
his death?"
''No. Oh, Veronica, my dear. | can
not tell her. cannot indeed, She has
been so ight-hearted, 50 happy all her
life. Until now she has never had any
sorrow, any care. How can !, her own
mother, go to her and tell her that she
and | are to be driven out, away from
that which we have always held TO be
our own? How can l go 10 her ana
say to her that she must lay dOW!l every
hope. every brightness OF licf NE: anu
suffer Heaven knows what: