Middletown transcript., 1905-02-18
CHAPTER /

One evening in July my father and !
were dining alone. 1t had been a very
hot day, and heat always affectsume 40.
The season had been very gay, and ! had
gone ont great deal, SO that | was feel
ing very tired and little depressed. My
father, too, had been quiet during dinner
though that was bv no means unnsnal
with him-he had always SO much on his
mind. / noticed on this particular even
ing however that he was more than ordi-
narily silent, and was frowning at his
plate as if he had personal grievance
against the pattern.
But it was not until dessert had been
put on the table and the servants had
left Us that my father gave me an idea as
to what his thoughts had been during the
past hour.
"What have you got on hand for next
week P' he asked casually as lie peeled
a peach for me. &c, u!d you go out Of
town for time, do you think ?"
Ny face must have expressed my aston
ishment at his words, for he continued
"You are looking rather washed out,
and rest would do you good. II. il
almost impossible to breathe here. Be-
sides if you go to the place OF which am
thinking, you will add a charitable action
to your account"
"Oh, where is it? What do You want
me to do?' / asked Il can get away
easily enough-for a month if you like.
There will not be much going on now
nothing that / should mind missing il
anything very nice took its place. But
you are not trying to get cut of our trip
to Norway in August, are your
He laughed.
"Oh, no This is all emergency visit
I've been attending new patient lately
She is a lady whom / have heard much
about for several years, but whom never
knew personally until began to attend
her. Her name is Verriker. and she lost
her husband about seven months ago
He was drowned while cruising in the
Adriatic. Perhaps you remember seeing
the account of his death in the papers
He was Sir Jasper Verriker. l do moi
think he was very great loss," my
father added drily. "At any rate, he ha'
not very good reputation. However
he is dead, SO we need say no more about
him. Lady Verriker has been under my
care for some weeks now. She is qne
little woman, but very feminine y anc
he frowned again and looked almos
puzzled.
l guessed at once that he was not mucl
taken with his new patient. or he would
not have called her feminine. To bt
called feminine by my father at once
stamped woman as being in his opinion
illogical, weak, foolish and empty headed
"Be womanly, my DEAR" he used to tel
me when l was schoolgirl, ''but shur
femininity p
81 don't know that she is exactly the
sort of woman whom you get on with
Ethel" he continued but it would
really be doing her good turn ii yor
would spend week or SO in her gloomy
old barracks. She is liyng-a at Nerrikel
Court, and by all accounts it is not much
of place She must be horribly lonely
in fact l know that she is, or her nerves
would not be in such state. Yet the,
say that Verriker was brute to her
Gordon is tremendously il rested in
her. He has known her all his life, he
says; and l fancy" But here he
stopped short.
"Oh, go on r. l said. l was growing
interested myself. Don't tell me that
you think that my dear Sir Adam is in
love with her! Why, have always in
tended him for myselfn'
You can't marry your godfather, car
you p he retorted and his eyes twinkled
"Oh, I'd easily ignore that He's q
love-twenty times nicer than any young
man that l have met But do 90 on
about Lady Verriker. What is it that
You fancy?'
"Well, Lady Verriker comes from the
north. as Gordon and do but when he
first knew her Gordon was only young
engineer who found it uncommonly hard
to rub two sovereigns together, whilst she
was the only child Of a cotton-spinner
As fortunes went then he was exceedingly
wealthy, and was correspondingly am
bilious for his daughter and when Cor
don went out to South America she mar
ried or was married to Verriker, Mind
/ know nothing certain, so don't say any
thing to either Lady Verriker or to Cor.
don."
"As if I should ~ cried Indignantly
"But l have never met Lady Verriker
How can 60 to stay with hert'
"Gordon met her accidentally in town
| believe that he had not seen her TO,
years. He was shocked to see her look
ing so i'll, and persuaded her to come
to see me. Then he talked about Won
and she saw your photographs and to
day she asked me if she might see you
and then, as you were out, if you would
care to stay with her for little while.
told her that | would take you to see hel
tomorrow afternoon. She is staying in
town until Wednesday, when she return.
to the Court"
sit sounds rather comical, but also
N rather interesting" l replied "Of course
I would do anything for Sir Adam, bu,
still" The prospect was not very
enlivening, and my face did not express
any great willingness to act as consoler to
"a Lady Verriker. Hasn't she any chill
drenr r' I asked. "Who inherits the
property@'
"a very distant cousin, believe but
according to Adam, there is not much to
inherit. Sir Jasper played ducks and
brakes with all he could lay his hands
on, and his affairs are in the most hope
less confusion apart from the law pro
ceedings which have arisen owing to his
death occurring as it did. 1t will take