Middletown transcript., 1905-02-18
ence Of a girl, "young, bright and prettyP'
would be worth dozens Of doctors bottles.

some OF your sunshine, for 1t Is very niue
she has had since-for the last twenty
years. l hope you'll like her J" He
looked at me very anxiously.
swell, I'll do my best, and one ought
not to Judge by first impressions but she
is so very quiet. She seemed afraid OF
me p
"She's had little cause to admire other
women's youth or beauty" Sir Adam
replied gravely "but that's all over now,
and we must do our best to brighten her
up between us. Twenty years You
wonld not think that she is only thirty
eight, would you, Ethie That is all she
is! She was only eighteen when-when
she was sacrifced-a slight bit OF girl.
with eyes like forget-me-nots and hair as
yellow as corn in Augusta gentle yield
ing thing, who had not selfish thought
in her mind. And they sacrificed her to
man who was notorious even then
But she was ignorant of him ; she knew
nothing of his past, and they-they-
| The veins rose on his forehead, and his
strong hand clenched. l had never seen
him SO moved.
/ could do nothing. 1t seemed incred-
ible to me that Lady Verriker could ever
have been, even in her halcyon days,
what Sir Adam fancied her to be. But
for his sake l was willing to think the
best of her.
"And was she married twenty years p
| asked
"Yes-twenty years-the best part OF a
woman's life Merciful Heayens-when
| think of it. He looked at me
suddenly and keenly with bis clear steady
eyes, which we used to say could see
through stone wall. "Ethel, my child,
make no mistake Lady Verriker.s mar
riage was great and terrible failure.
Jasper Verriker was a scoundrel p He
paused, and then looked down at me
with his old quizzical smile. "How old
may your ladyship be" he queried.
"Nineteen ?"
You have guessed right. Nineteen
next month";"
He looked at me musingy.
"a mere slip of girl And yet,
young woman, you have not got that
firm little chin, those straight brows, that
high-poised head for nothing. You
would not marry because your father
said that you must, with no thought for
your own inclination-eh? ?' And he
laughed as 1 drew myself up involun-
tarily. ''No-your will is strong enough ;
but poor Kitty's-"
He got no further, for at that moment
my father called him impatiently, and
| I, bidding them goodnight, went off
to my own room with my head full
of Lady Verriker. 1t astounded me to
think that that drab little woman should
have occupied Adam Gordon's heart to
the exclusion Of all others for over twenty
years y
/ stared at myself steadily in the glass.
and wondered what l should be like in
twenty years time and whether anyone
who had known me when was eighteen
would cherish fond memories of me
twenty years later I doubted it ex-
ceedingly, especially when l remembered
how Nigel Buchanan had heard unmoyed
and had uttered no regret that l was
going away.
CHAPTER III
I shall never forget my first impression
of Verriker Court. 1t was a wet day
when l arrived, one of those hopelessly
soaking days which one often gets i'll
July, when the rain pours steadily down
and everything is damp and warm and
steaming.
l was the only passenger to alight at
Brashfeld, and man-servant, in a white
macintosh which was decidedly the
worst for wear, touched his hat to me
and asked if were Miss Fothergill. His
appearance was SO very "seedy" and
poverty-stricken that l was greatly sur
prised to find that he was Lady Verriker's
servant.
"Her ladyship is very sorry not to
be able to meet you, "he said, as he held
an umbrella very awkwardly over me
while / crossed the line. 'She is very
unwell to-day"
A small brougham drawn by single
horse was waiting in the station yard.
The servant was evidently coachman and
footman combined. The carriage was
very old-fashioned, very shabbily up
holstered in dark-blue cloth, and il had,
to my fancy, musty disused smell. l
could not understand why this should
be. Lady Verriker was very wealthy
at least, my father had said so-and,
as certain part of her money had been
invested for her sole benefit, surely she
could afford decent horse and newer
brougham than this one which numbered
and shook and creaked along the rough
country roads.
1t was not a pleasing or a promising
beginning to my visit, and my spirits
sank lower and lower until the carriage
turned in at the lodge gates, and we
bumped along an avenue nearly as rough
as the road.
The park was abominably kept, and
the house was in the Italian style with
rows of windows and fiat columns. With
the rain staining the succeed surface and
its general air Of neglect and dilapidation,
it looked as miserable a place as one
could imagine.
Lady Verriker was standing in the
great doorway waiting for me. She had
twisted white shawl over her head and
shoulders.
ut is very good of you to come y she
said in her nervous jerky voice. sit is
such nasty day, too! am sorry that
could not meet you, butt have had neu-
ralgia SO badly. / feel almost distracted
With the pain. Come into the drawing
room and have some tea. do hope that
you are not very tired"