Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1905-07-22
CHAPTER /.

- . the most iniqmtous VIII ever
AZ cried Mrs. Rochester, with flash
me- No oyas "and all the good opinion I've
~, ne Ind of your uncle's justice and
go sense has gone for ever. He was
.t.ber wilfully malicious, or stupidity
-, IN a sense of what was fitting"
'" .olaTer speak i'll of the dead, mother"
Aha new baronet, Sir Halco Roches-
Tor quietly; "after all, it was my uneles
o~n property he was disposlng or ana
Ia had the right to do as he hked with
it." 4;s,, sort;,nor+ Of
wee she said vexedly, but | don't
orroe with it, and you cannot either IN
rs,,r heart. although you try to appear
- i Won did. l must show what | feel,
was never made for double dealing or
tvnocrisv. 1t was cruel VIII, and L
shall always say So.
a0f course, | don't pretend that | am
NOT disappointed" admitted Sir Halco,
ratbcr oloomily, "but | am not hypocrlt-
iSaI have the real conviction that my
,ncIe Sir Hilary had moral and legal
riubt TO leave his private fortune as he
@Nonsense! Charity begins at home,
and there was proper scope for 1T there.
Blooa is thicker than water, and you are
his only living relative, the child OF his
own mother, of the same race and name,
and his next kin, and heir-at-law!
Gloss it over as you may, 1T was
shameful viii
This was private not family money"
ARGUED her son, still fighting the dead
mans battle though he had been sorely
hurt in the strife, land it is impossible
10 tell what sterling reason lies at the
hack of what seems--on the surface, at
least-a thoughtless will.
NV uncle Hilary was only his
fathers third son, and never for mo-
ment expected to come into the
title and estate. His father was
rtabcr unbusinesslike and eXtravagant,
and his elder brothers even more so.
They simply beggared the family, emp
tied the Golfers, and one or other, or all
together had Rochester manor estate
mortcaged to the hilt. That means, of
course, for double the sum it would fetch
now owing to the depreciation of land
all over the country. My father went
into the army, and my uncle Hilary, see
ing how utterly hopeless his prospects
were at home, very wisely went out to
Australia, forgot--or perhaps l should
say remembered-the long line of titled
ancestors behind him, and determined to
equal them in prowess, if of another sort
altogether Anyhow. he made a huge
fortune, and then, to his amazement, was
recalled to England as his father and
elder brothers had all died off. the latter
without leaving heirs behind them, so he
had come into the title and estates. First
Of all he cleared the whole of the La
bilities off, paid up the mortgage, and
set affairs in apple-pie order. then, my
father having unfortunately also died,
he sent for us, you and me, and set us
up in a comfortable home within a
stones throw of the manor house. Could
anything have been kinder, more gen
erOus, than the way he treated us? |
think not! He sent me to the best pub
lie school going, giving me a handsome
allowance"
And then, Just when | really did think
he was the best, kindest, justest man on
earth, and everybody said you would
inherit everything, he suddenly intro
duced little girl on the scene, a ward,
he said, who was to be his adopted
daughter, and then for the first time gave
1t plainly out that his money would not
come to you-he meant to dispose of it
otherwise. Shameful"
AT any rate, he never deceived us on
the point" continued Sir Halco slowly,
I'VE deceived ourselves. for we naturally
concluded that girl, Violet Surrey, was
to be the heiress"
ri course, we did, Indignantly, "and
/ treated her exactly as if she were my
own daughter. Instead of turning sulky
or dlsagTeeable about it, as most mothers
would have done where their own sons
interests We're concerned, / really over a
course OF years did my utmost for her
IN every way When she was sad com
ioTted her, when she was sick / nursed
her and when, as it seemed to me, some
tioag deeper than friendship was spring
ing up between you, put aside all the
jealousy that mother feels, when some
Other woman takes first place in her
son heart. Then-then-oh that in
lqmlous will!''
Poor Violet is not to blame. she suf-
lfj- equally-or rather more than our
selves said Sir Halco Eve must never,
never let her feel that the loss of the
money makes any difference-it is her
sen We love, not the fortune, people
thought would be hers
AIRS Rochester stamped her foot in
Wy dear Haleo, my heart bleeds for
", sir but, of course, when you talk
'' making no difference between what
vas and IS, that is all nonsense. Violet
' ~et viii see it. and understand thor
-ai} You are left with the bare title
. state, with an income of less than
'.. .housand a year-Violet has only an
g'- MY OF $3.50, from money Sir Hilary
' EFT to he invested in her name. i
'''5-aee between you is impossible,
".'-d be insanity. 1t would be love and
N..>'', and ruin before five years are
All the money is left to this
-e girl, this Alice Smith, whose very
L..ta / never heard of until the will was
out. and she has sprung from the
oi Australia to haunt me-or Will
- directly the ship reaches England.
pose. And equally, Of course, she
me zee glTl you must marry; there is