Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-09-27

too timid to follow up the opening. and
had thereby lost an opportunity and per-
haps friend
Mrs. Tudor was one OF the annual
habitIes of Biarritz and the Bellevue.
She occupied her own rooms year after
year: every one who was any one knew
Mrs. Tudor. Mrs. Tudor knew every one
and any one: she was parsonage In So
; ciety. and moved with equal ease in the
English. French and Spanish sets. A
childless widow. wealthy and peculiar,
she had an extraordinary knack or get
ting her own way: accomplishing with
. success feats that other people dared not
attempt and obtaining considerable
amount of satisfaction and SAVIOR out OF
her life. In appearance Mrs. 1udor re-
sembled the traditional fairy godmother:
she was small and wore high-heeled
shoes. Over a cushion her snow-whlte
hair was drawn off her FACET was a
resolute old face. with deep-set blue eyes
and pointed chin. Mrs Tudor generally
dressed in black. in the evening many
diamonds glttered about her person. and
at all times she carried herself with i'm
posing dignity. Well connected and rich.
bold to speak and prompt to act. the
English widow was power IN the lahd
Today traveller. her nephew. had
lunched with her-an officer, on his way
through to Gibraltar-and as they sat to-
gether in the corridor drinking conee.
they watched the great exodus from the
dining room pass by; two and two. or
three and four; for most of these madame
had a gay word or a nod. AS Mrs. Cox
and Mrs. Britten went chattering along.
followed by the tagging and indifferent
Hester. Capt. Tudor stared hard. took
his cigar out of his mouth and exclaimed:
"Hullo. Aunt Laura, so | see you have
the heiress here!
'HeresS!" she repeated Il should hope
we have more than one in such large
hotel. Whom do you mean by the?'
II allude to the red-hared girl in black
who went by just now
'Oh, Miss Forde. She is only compan-
ion to a lady: little dressy. scheming
woman. who is rather in the fast set.
She brought her out with her, I suppose,
to play propriety. The girl does pro-
priety. and Mrs. Britten-plays-
And Miss FOrde pays; yes. I See!" sup
IDENTIFY impressed by the brilliancy of his
discovery.
But what do you mean. Freddy" de-
manded the old lady; "come-have an
other cigar-an tell me ali about it: This
sounds delightfully."- promising and mys-
teriouS'
WELL" said Capt Tudor. carefully Sc
lecting and lighting another Havana
you know Tom Colson? He has some
capital shooting on the borders of Lin
colnshire. and Shalesmoor is his village
When l was shooting round there last
September. partridge driving. Mrs. Tom
told me this tale, which I will pass on to
you-you can make any use of it you
please
Yes, yes" urged his aunt. impatiently.
but get on, get on. How L hate
preface
1T seems that an old fellow called
Forde had lived in ShalesmOor Grange
for twenty years. He married hand
some north countrywoman. who. In the
teeth of her relations, endowed him with
91OOOO and herself. She died after a
while. leaving one chld-this girl here
and from that time he seemed to freeze
up and go in for money grubbing heart
and soul. He shaved all his life and never
gave himself or any one holiday
"And now he is gone. l suppose this is
his daughters holiday" interrupted Mrs.
Tudor Not exactly my own idea of one,
but-well. never mind proceed
Miss Forde-she must be five or six
her days shut up in the old Grange-I
cannot tell you whether it is moated or
not-but Mariana had far livelier time;
at any rate. she had lover"
How do you know that Miss Forde has
not one?"
Bah" = contemptuously = why. you
have only 10 look at her! / don't suppose
she has exchanged two words with
young man ever since she was born.
Il would not be so sure of that,
Freddy
ooh but I am, Old Forde was most
peculiar. and his servants were more pc
culiar! The girl was strictly brought up:
no dancing. cards or company; indeed, by
all accounts, she had not much time, be-
ing drudge and nurse to her pater, who
latterly was paralytic. She lived inside a
wall and was never visible except at
church--that is where 1 saw her"
What an existence. Poor creature, no
wonder she looks so limp and sat upon"
The old boy quarreled with his rela-
tives. and there was an impression that
he was poor; so naturally he was let
Come. come, Don't try to be cynical.
Freddy
Well he died last summer, and when
his affairs came to be examined, it was
found that lie had left the girl i'm
mense fortune-something like a quarter
of a milion!
Mrs. Tudor suddenly pushed away her
coffee cup and sat up.
Yes. I can tell you that it made every
one Whereabouts sit up, Aunt Laura! They
We're misled by shabbiness and economy"
mo wonder he was rich-all saving and
no, spending" she exclaimed.
mo spending. certainly! ] believe the
girl was as much astonished as if some
one had given her a bang on the head
she was stunned. eh?"-and a faint
smile fitted across the old ladys lips.
II should think so; being dismissed
fatigue duty in sick room, and not hav-
ing to ask leave for every blessed thing.
not to speak of owning tons of money,
nearly turned the poor creatures brain,
and. like birds who have been long in
captivity. she refused to f1utter her wings
or leave her cage, and there she hung on
with the old servants-living precisely as
before
Good gracious.''
You see all her life she had been
among old people and treated a child,
and she had not the courage to lift the
latch of the nursery door and walk out. )"
But she presumably has walked out"
argued Mrs. Tudor. Did any one be-
friend herr"
Mrs. Colson motored over once to see
her She said she seemed like a thing that
had been kept on ice! and the Grange
enough to give any one the blue
devils: the girl seemed afraid of her own
voice and terrified of the old servants.
She escorted Mrs. ColSon round the gar
den-the usual cOuntry-visit treat. Such
a all box and dead fruit trees-and
they SUNK about it together, as If they
were trespaSsing Mrs. ColSOn asked the
girl to spend couple of days with her.
but. of course. she never did, and after
that she fell i'll. and the ancient retainerS
called in doctor-anyway, some one did
and he frightened them properly, and
said the heiress was in a bad way; sort
of general breakdown. would slip through
their fingers if they did not look out, and
ordered her complete change and sum
shine: talked of consumption and melan-
cholia.'
Il am not surprised,' calculated his
aunt. Il wonder she was not in Earls-
od'long ago.
Then there was no end of jawing,
havering and consulting-the lawyer, doc
tor and parson We're all in it! Who was
to undertake the charge of the patient,
show her the sunny south and give her a