Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-07-07

| tnan breakfast room. and therein, at half
past every morning, the Earl of Mel
! bourne. more punctuai than the clock itsslf,
| sat down TO breakfast.
| Now, here was n man who had been an
aovsnturer all his life. man OF the neid.
| the forest and the sea: a blur, bearded
man, not unrefined In face and feature. but
utterly unsuited by the disposition OF his
VIII to the dignity which accident had
hour that he lived.
What are We but slaves OF our birth7'
| he would ask his daughter passiona teiy.
| Why am / cooped up In this old house
when might be on the deck of good
ship or under canvas in the Allegheny
mountains? You say that nothing forbids
| my doing II. You know II isn't true. The
world would cry out on me IL cut myself
adrfft. And you yourself would be the first
TO complain OF IL. We owe it 20 society,
Evelyn, to make ourselves miserable for
| the rest of our lives. They call IL station
| In the prayer book. but the man who wrote
| that had never shot big game on the Fam
best or he d have sung to q different rune."
| Sometimes when Evelyn protested that
society would really remain Indifferent.
| whatever they did. he would reply. little
| brutally, that when she had found hus-
| band II would be another matter.
| There VIII be two OF you then 10 stand
| for the cinquefoil. he observed. cynically.
! Il shall shake the handouts of and get
| back to the east. A man lives in the sun
| shine. Here he scarcely vegetables. When
| they inquire in ten years time where the
| Earl of Melbourne Is. you'n send them TO
| the Himalayas 10 begin WITH, and there they
| can ask again. Don't lose time about 10,
| Evelyn. You know that young John Hall
| Is head over ears In love with you"
| Eyelyn's face would flush at this: and
| there had been an occasion when she an
| swered him with the amazing intimation
| that she would sooner marry Williams. the
| groom, than the young baronet he spoke OF.
! This frightened the old earl exceedingly.
| Her mothers blood runs in her veins.
| he said to himself. BY heaven. sned
marry a stableboy if I thwarted her"
| Here was the spectre which haunted him
| continually. He feared TO read the story
OF his own youth and marriage IN the youth
! and marriage of his daughter Nocwith-
| standing his jests, his love for her was
| passionate and dominated every other in
| stinct OF his lie You are all that / have
in the world my little Evelyn" he would
| confess in gentler moods. He desired her
| affection In like measure, but had never
| wholly won IT, Perhaps instinctively she
| understood that some barrier of the past
| interposed itself between them. Her
/ fathers defects of character could not be
| absolutely hidden from her. She feared
she knew not what
And If this were her normal mood what
| of the Evelyn who had gone to London at
! the bidding of a mad desire: who had be-
1 come Eta Romney there: who had re-
turned at the dead of night and awaited
| her fathers homecoming with that trem-
| ulous expectation which at once could
! dread exposure and yet delight in the peril
| of It? When her first alarm had passed
and quiet days had led her to believe that
she dreamed the story OF espionage. Eve
| lyn could await the issue with no little con-
/ fdence After all. why should Count Odln
| betray her, even IL he had her secret? He
| was a man of the world and had nothing
! to gain by dealing treacherously with a
| woman. Her father went to London so
| rarely that she might well deride the dam
ger of his visits Nothing but a clumsy
accident could write that story so that the
earl might read il. she thought. And 50
| she welcomed him home with all her hab-
| itual composure, and upon the morning OF
| the second day of July she found herself
seated opposite to him in my ladys bower.
| listening to his stories of Italy and his
plans for the summer and the autumn
| months to come.
I'VE ought to give some parties. l sup
posei" he said; the servants expect IL, and
| we must not disappoint them. Ask all the
| people who don't want to come and get rid
| of them as quickly as you can l have
written to Colchester about the yacht and
we ought to get her in commission in Au-
| gust. You always loved the sea. Evelyn,
| and this will be a change for you. We can
| put into Trouville and Etretat and see what
| the French women wearing. 1 shall
steam down to the Mediterranean later on;
| but that won't be until December. We
have the birds to kill first and plenty Of
| them. OF course, | know you wanted TO
| be in London this spring, and 1t is not my
| fault If you did not go. This copper mine
In Tuscany is going to make me as rich as
Vanderbilt. ! could not neglect 1t just be-
cause lot of fools were driving mail phae-
tons in Bond street"
Evelyn smiled a little coldly.
Men do not drive mail phaetons nova
days" she said, they drive motor cars.
OF course, 1t is very necessary for us to
keep the wolf from the door-we are so
poor, father"
The earl had grown accustomed TO re-
marks such as these, and had become skill
full in evading them He understood per-
fectly well that Evelyn expressed her own
disappointment, and that she meant to re-
mind him of his broken promises to take
a house in Mayfair for the season and to
sacrifice his own pleasures at least for a
few brief weeks.
81 am poor enough" he said, ito want all
the money 1 get This old place costs
q fortune to keep up. l mean to do big
things here by and by, and twenty thou
sand won't be too much when they are
done Besides, II is not money that we
men run after. but the qualification OF our
own vanity In getting II. The claims on
this estate are heavy and they have TO be
met quickly II II Is to be cleared. backed
my own opinion about this mine against
the biggest house in Germany, and am
coming out top all the time If 1t put nifty
thousand a year into my pocket. who'll
benefit by 1t but you? Think of that when
you talk about the little crowd of paupers
you want to see in London. Moneys
money And precious glad some of them
would be to see the color of - "
Evelyn did not contradict him. She was
too weary of the subject to wish to revive
1t. Initiating others. whose youth had been
one of far from splendid poverty, the earl
permitted money to become the guiding
principle of his life in the exact ratio OF its
acquisition. An exceedingly rich man
when he inherited the bankrupt estates OF
the Melbournes each year found waning
of his natural generosity, growth OF un-
accustomed meanness and a diligence m
the quest of fortune which the circum-
stances made almost pathetic. On her
part Evelyn was perfectly well aware that
he would give parties at the Hall this
year would not take her to Trouvflle, nor
visit the Mediterranean in the winter. Each
season found its own excuses for delay
The wretched mine in Tuscany was a very
godsend when postponements OF any kind
troubled the earl for good excuse.
az am glad you are going to do something
to the Hall" she said evasively; lat least
there will be the painters society to enjoy.
After that I suppose may go to Dieppe, as
Aunt Anne wishes. 1t will be quite a diss1-
patfon-under the circumstances"
He looked at her rather sharply.
so you went to London, after all?' he
said II thought you meant to put it Off
ITO put II off! That would have been
familiar task I live TO Put things Off.
There is no one in all Derbyshire who has
so many excuses to make as I have"