The Washington herald., 1907-10-13
CHAPTER x.

The gathering was a delightful one.
James Ince, astonished and relieved 20
find such nice people where he had ex-
peCted to find persons of quite a differ
ent character, chatted with Nine Le-
blanc. who was all smiles and gracious
ness; with Mrs Mortimer, Miss Dens-
! ley's old school mistress. and with the
/ Rev Mr.. Alverthorpe, a man whom he
! had long desired to meet, on account
OF the strong and manly position the
vicar had taken up with regard to some
! recent religious ana social controversy.
/ Mrs Mortimer was simple-minded and
! gentle lady. not without intelligence. and
evidently in a state Of eostatic delight
at the change in the fortunes Of her IA
vorite pupil.
| She related to St Quintin. to his great
| comfort and relief. the whole story Of
/ Miss Densley's upbringing, of the early
| death Of her supposed parents, Of the In
| difference and neglect with which the
/ head Of her supposed fathers family had
| treated her.
! I thought it was quite shameful" the
| dear old soul babbled on into st. Quin-
/ tins willing ears, that a man in the
position Of Sir William Lane should treat
/ a member Of his own family so, when
she was left helpless in the world How
| ever, Of course, it doesn't seem quite so
/ bad on his part, now that we've dis
! covered that he was not really her great
uncle after all
Her French aunt and uncle seem much
more anxious to do their duty toward
their niece, don't they?"
Yes. oh, yes. They've managed every
| thing; written TO Sir William Lane. which
l myself declined to do, after the un-
! pleasant way in which he received nv
letters in the past; got their own solicitor
10 look into the documents"
st. Quintin smiled.
What documents asked he.
"Oh, there are always documents, aren't
there. where property is concerned? e?
Title deeds and wills and codicils and
things, that would have puzzled poor
Dorcas-I mean Marie-and me horribly.
if we had had to do the business by our
selves"
''Oh. yes. Of course And you are quite
satisfied with the way in which they've
done everything"
Perfectly They've engaged a gov
erness 10 go about with her, as you see,
and done everything they should. And
isn't she beautifully dressed? I was al
ways so sorry that I couldn't dress her
better, with the very little money she
had-or I either. for that matter. Now
she looks just as she ought to look, bless
her hearth
St Quintin was charmed with this art
less talk. and very much pleased to have
an opportunity of interviewing the wom-
an who had had the care Of Miss Densley
since her early childhood He rather
wished, however, as he turned his eyes
toward Nine. Leblanc, with the straight
mouth and hard eyes, that the girl he
loved had not found her French rela-
tons, who were rich and attentive. but
that she had remained what she supposed
herself to be, the neglected and poor niece
Of an English baronet Of undoubted honor
and good repute.
st. Quintin and his friend had been
specially invited to come down early. so
that the whole party had time for
pleasant stroll through the grounds be-
fore dinner.
But try as hard as he might st. Ouin-
tin found IL impossible to get a chance
Of speaking to Marie alone. Failing in
his efforts. he decided upon bold
course Taking the little case containing
his gift from his pocket. he contrived
10 steal away from the three elderly
ladies who We're hemming him in as they
all walked round the dtchen-garden in
a flock. and placing himself beside Marie.
needless Of the fact that her uncle and
James Ince were on the other side of her.
he said:
Miss Densley, I've brought you some
thing / hope you will accept-something
your uncle gave me permission to offer
you
And at the same time ne held out the