Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1908-07-17
CHAPTER TX.
His Failure.

Ellicotts dinner hour. He meant TO
be punctual.
AS the footman opened the drawing
room door a strain Of music greeted
Hume's ears. Some one was at the
piano, singing in a soft, dreamy voice
that song of Swinburnes:
".Is II worth a tear, is it worth an
hour,
OF fTuitiess husk, and fugitive
TIL. dream foregone and the deed
forborne?"
Hume crossed the threshold, and
hush fell. The musician arose from
the instrument, and came forward into
the light Of the mantel candelabra
It was a girl in a dinner dress OF
some rich shimmering fabric. In her
corsage was pinned a spray OF TUBE
roses, The whiteness of her skin made
her look like something cut from Pa
rian. She glided toward the INTRUDER
fixed upon him two wide brown eyes,
81 am Nigel Hume" he said; i
dare saw my aunt is expecting me.
And 1 am Edith Fassel," replied the
vision. Mrs. Ellicott has had sud-
den Ill turn, but she will be down ol-
rcctly. Yes, she told me you were u
dine here today"
urma felt q sudden, strange impulse
To take to his heels.
Miss Fassel!" 1t was the prlde
that Lepel Ellicott had deserted on her
marriage night. Il have heard OF you!
he stammered, idiotically.
VERY likely. And of you"-with
faint smile. "Mr. Hume, L am giao
that Mrs. Elliott has found nephew
She is old, infirm and alone. You VIII
comfort her-you will reconcile her
again to life"
Rrazen enough under all ordinary
circumstances, Hume felt himself COL
oring now, like schoolboy.
.I fear you overrate my powers. can
I comfort herr"
Yes, and in a measure fill her sons
place.
He shook his head
"T have small hope Of doing that
First of all, some evils are TOO great
for consolation: then I am stranger
the child of a sister with whom she
was at variance; I have none OF the
brilliant gifts Of that precious FOO
He pulled himself up suddenly. l
mean" he concluded, with increasing
confusion, yet looking her squarely IN
the face. "Lepel Ellicott must nave
been a queer sort"
Did you know your cousinE asKeu
Miss Fassel, dryly.
mot at all. But that fact gives me
no particular regret. 1 pitied MIN tlil
this moment. Now 1 see that he was
an unheard-of idiot who deserved
alp
Luckily the door opened before he
could finish the sentence, and MRS.
Ellicott entered. She greeted her
nephew cordially.
II have had a slight indispositlon'
she said. "These attacks-with SAD
smlle-"warn me to set my affairs IN
order. Ali" she flashed quick glance
from Hume to Miss Fessel you two
need no introduction. That Is we'll
want you to be friends"
They went out to dinner. Hume did
not shine at the meal He was ST.
lent and shy. Though he was caretul
to keep his eyes from Miss Fassel'
not a movement of that young person
escaped him. He marked her SLOW
lingering smile, the graceful turn OF
her head, the beauty of her dazzling
ringless hands; and the scent or the
tuberoses which she wore in her bosom
remained in his nostrils long after he
left the house. Report has eXagger-
ated her charms" he thought; "she Is
simply a counterpart of Tennysons
Maud:
Faulty faultless, icily regular
splendidly null
She seemed quite at home in that
desolate house-quite at her ease, also.
And it was plain that Mrs. Ellicott
adored her.
Coffee was served in old Dresden
cups: and as Hume was about to make
his adieux his aunt drew him into her
library, and opened a check book.
"I hear that you live in obscure
lodgings and in very humble man
ner," she said; Il wish to change all
that"
He drew back, reddening to his ten
plies.
Pardon mel cannot take your
money. l live quite as we'll as the
majority of my fellow students. MY
wants are but few, and Spartan sim
plicity"-with an uneasy laugh-ls
good for a man."
She looked at him steadfastly.
You are too proud to accept help
from me-" she said: you prefer to re-
main independent"
THAT is it," he answered.; and she
closed the check book and permitted
him to depart without further words.
After that. he was summoned often
10 the Beacon Street house-to stately
dinners, to cheerful five-o'clock teas to
delightful lunches. Said Parker, the
butler, to Susan Taylor:
MY stomach rebels agin that young
man as slashes up cold corpses; he
comes ere much too often; l ave no
liking for your Mr. 'Ume."
He isn't my Mr.. Hume" shifted Su-
san: IT want no part in him. Indeed
l couldn't bring myself to look with
favor on the Angel Gabriel himself
II I saw that he was trying to slip in
to poor Mr.. Lepers place
Mrs. Ellicott did not again offer her
nephew money, nor seek to impose any
obligation upon him. Hume met MISS
Fassel constantly at the Ellicott house
Plainly, the events of the previous year
had in nowise disturbed that young
persons affectionate relations with
Mrs. Elicott. She bore herself like a
daughter toward the childless woman
hlptta1 plt all his