The Plymouth tribune. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1901-1911, 1907-12-26
CHAPTER XV-Continned


Il will not hear you speak ill of
them" cried Lord Mallow, Indignantly.
You have but shared the common fate
or genius, in having a mind in advance
of your age"
Lady Mabel breathed a gentle sigh
of resignation.
Il am not so weak as to think myself
a genius" she murmured; but vent
ure to hope my poor verses will be bet
ter understood twenty years hence
than they are now
Undoubtedly" cried Lord Mallow,
with conviction
Lady Mabel looked at her watch.
Il think l will go in and give NAM
ma her afternoon cup of tea" she said.
Don't go yet" replied Lord Mallow,
1T is only four, and l know the
duchess does not take tea till five.
Give me one of you last hours. A
lady who is just going to be married
is something like Socrates after his
sentence. Her friends surround her;
she is in their midst smiling, serene,
diffusing sweetness and light; but they
know she is going from them-they are
to lose her, yes, TO lose her almost as
utterly as if she were doomed to die"
THAT Is takino a very dismal view
of marriage" said Mabel, pale, and
trifiying nervously with her watch
chain.
This was the first time Lord Mallow'
had spoken to her of the approaching
event
us it not like death? Does it not
bring change and parting to old
friends? When you are Lady Mabel
Vawdrey can 1 ever be With you as l
am now? You Will have new interests,
you VIII be shut in by network OF
new ties. / shall come some morning
to see you amidst your new surround
ings, and shall find a stranger My
Lady Mabel will be dead and buried"
There is no knowing how long Lord
Mallow might have meandered on in
this dismal strain, if he had not been
seasonably interrupted by the arrival
of Mr.. Vawdrey, who came sauntering
along the winding shrubberw walk,
with his favorite pointer Hecate at his
heels. He advanced toward his be-
trothed at the leisurely pace of man
whose courtship is over, whose fate is
sealed, and from whom society exacts
nothing further, except decent COM
pliance with the arrangements other
people made for him.
He seemed in no wise Disconnected
at finding his sweetheart and Lord
Malfow seated side by side, alone, in
that romantic and solitary spot. He
pressed Mabers hand XIII dly and gave
the Irishman friendly nod.
What have you been doing with
yourself all the morning, Roderic'-'"
asked Lady Mabel, with her hal
proachful air which is almost the nc,
NAL expression of a betrothed young
lady in her converse with her lover.
"Oh, pottering about at Briarwood
The workmen are such fools. l am
making some slight alterations In the
stables, ON plan of my own-putting
in managers, and racks, and pillars,
and partitions, from the st. Pancras-
Iron works, making sanitary improve
menis and so on-and / have to con-
tend with so much idiocy in our local
workmen. If l did not stand by and
see drain pipes put in and connections
made, believe the whole thing would
go wrong"
ct must be very dreadful, to you,"
exclaimed Lady Makcl
1T must be intolerable," cried Lord
Mallow; "what, when the moments
are golden, wien Love takes up the
glass of Time, and turns 1t in his
glowing hands, when Love talks up the
harp of life, and smites on all the
chords with might you have to devote
your morning to watching the laying
of drain pipes and digging @; sewers!
/ cannot imagine more afflicted
man."
Lady Mabel saw the sheer, but ner
betrothed calmly ignored it.
Il am going to pour out mammals
tea" Lady Mabel said, presently,
keenly sensible to the stupidity of her
position. "Will you come, Roderick?
Mamma will be glad to know that you
are alive. She was wondering about
you all the time we were at luncheon"
Il ought not to have been off duty
SO long," Mr.. Vawdrey answered, meek,
Iy; "but if you only imagine the stupid
ity of those bricklayersl The day be-
fore yesterday / found half a dozen
stalwart fellows sitting upon a wall,
with their hands in their corduroy
pockets, smoking short pipes, and,
believe. talking politics. They pre-
tended to be at a standstill because
their sattellites-the men who hold
their hods and mix their mortar-had
not turned up. Don't disturb your
selves, gentlemen / said. There's
nothing like taking things easy It's
a time-job. I'll send you the morning
papers and a can of beer And so
did, and since that day, the fellows
have worked twice as hard. They
don't mind being bullied, but they can't
stand chaff"
what an interesting bit of char
acter," said Lady Mabel, with family
perceptible sheer. Worthy of Henri
Constant"
May come to the Duchess's kettle
drum" asked Lord Mallow, humbly
by all MEANS" answered Mabel.
How fond you gentlemen pretend to
be of afternoon tea nowadays. But ]
don't believe it is the tea you really
care for. 1t is the gossip you like
Darwin has found out that the male
sex is the vain sex; but | don't think
he has gone so far as to discover an
other great truth. 1t is the superior
sex for whom scandal has the keenest
charm"
Il have never heard the faintest hiss
of the serpent SANDER at the duchess's
tea-table," said Lord Mallow.
They all three sauntered toward the
house, choosing the sheltered way, and
skirting the broad sunny lawn, whose
velvet swards, green even in this trop-
ical July, was the result of the latest
improvements in cultivation.
There are some more parcels for
you, Mabel" said the fond mother,
81 Ii