Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1906-05-26
CHAPTER H. tContinued.)


frame acquaintance with your neighbor
~ Continental table d'hote, ana Lady
Charters, strengthened by a previous
.,.auobt of Debrett's Peerage, and her
chat with the garcon, very soon threw
ont her first skillful line and struck the
newcomer with her harpoon
Her fan fell just at his feet, and he, of
course. recovered it Tor her. She smiled,
thanked him. and explained how attached
he was to that one special article de
luxe. 49,,
(which my dear husband, Sir Hilary
Cbarteris. gave me. ] don't know if you
lnow Devonshire at ALL but Charters is
, very well-known name there"
"Obl YES. | know it we'll have rela-
+;,.as there and often have stayed"
"Ab! now | wonder if / know them
Would Won mind telling me their name ?"
The Duke Somervilles of Somerley
ton
NV dearest friends. Oh! how charm
ing! We positively must have a chat
about them after dinner. It's quite de-
Bghtful to meet a mutual acquaintance
] was on the point of saying relative
in this secluded spot.
She had certainly met the Duke-Som-
eryilles once or twice, and therefore it
was not altogether a fiction to claim ac
ouaintance with them, but she viewed
the case through very powerful micro
scope. and Mr.. Cumberland naturally ac-
cepted her statement without question.
LADY Charters chatted away briskly
and pleasantly until they left the table
for the salon, and from that moment she
had her prey well entangled in her net.
A whole month to be spent under the
same roof
Well, it would be an extraordinary
thing indeed, if by the end of their stay
certain developments had not occurred,
for her ladyship was past master in the
art of plotting and planning, more par
tcularly with reference to things matri-
monial
Mr.. Cumberland made several futile eff
forts to escape from the tolls, but her
mdyship was too wary for him, Her de-
mands on his time, patience and purse
were incessant, and without being guilty
of discourtesy-of which he was incapa-
ble-he could not well have eluded her
and her party, so after the first few days
resigned himself to his fate.
Not very unpleasant one either, most
men would have thought, for the two
girls we're unusually pretty, and the
mother was handsome. rich tat least that
was what she impled), and intensely
amiable.
Dot threw herself heart and soul into
the affair. An earl's nephew and heir
was worth trying for in any case; how
much more, then, when he was young,
attractive. and the handsomest man she
had ever met?
Lady Charters relied on him for every
thing No excursion was dreamt of I'M
less he took part in it. She consulted
him on all points, she regarded him as a
son to herself, brother to dear Hide
garde dot she prudently excluded from
the fraternal view, and with cunning
bordering ON actual genius, took him into
her confidence ON monetary affairs, repre-
senting herself to be extremely wealthy,
but totally ignorant of all details relat-
ing to finance
That served a double purpose. 1t made
1T appear that she and her daughters were
SO accustomed to wealth that his rank
and prospects did not weigh with them at
all, that it was himself they all liked so
much, his future inheritance unknown of,
uncared for.
Then it also left loophole for her to
wriggle cut through when the inevitable
discovery was made later on that her
fabulous wealth existed in her own mag
nation only She could then urge her
utter ignorance of business and finance,
and plead that she herself had been the
most cruelty deceived OF anyone.
The same scheme had served very well
with Sir Hilary, so why should it fail
with man SO much younger and less
experienced as RiGslard Cumberland?
In point of fact it smoothed her path
amazingly.
Mr. Cumberland took her at her own
Naluation-as Il good-natured generous
woman, impulsive, and hospitable, sho
really was ignorant of, or Indifferent to,
all worldly considerations. Certainly at
hFsf he tried to convince her that her
policy was a little dangerous-that pow
erly was one thing, wealth another: that
people belonging to each separate class
had duties to each other and the world
But she was impracticable. There are
none so deaf as those who won't hear,
ana she was determined not to commit
herself to actual hard and fast state
lhents which might afterwards be brought
up against her; so she confined herself
ftHHciusiyel " to gsneralities, and vague
AlnIs at her own wealth, ignorance of de-
lall, and utter disinterestedness
The holiday was costing her a heavy
sum all the same, and if it had not been
,of the knowledge that her expensive
mousse IN Mayfair, which she had taken
furnished at dreadfully high rental, had
ia ITS turn been underlet by her for an
even more extortionate rent, she could
hardly have reconciled her conscience to
he outlay.
tier income from all sources was only
'Ateen hundred year, and during her
1Shteen months widowhood she had
'Eru at the rate of several thousand.
ne extra. of course, would have to be
used out of her capital, but she closed
hor eyes to that.
W.T. her bip EEL