Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1908-07-28
cHAPTER ri.

|
charged with melody, gracious, compla-
cent. uncertain, like an April day.
CHAPTER XI.
George Greswold was not the kind OF
man to sit down in idle submission 10
! Fate under a great wrong or under
great loss. A feeling of blank despair
had come upon him in the solitude OF
| those deserted rooms where every object
| smoke TO him of his wife's absence-where
the influence of her mind and fancy was
a mart of the very atmosphere; so much
so that IN spite of her farewell letter in
his breast pocket he started every now
and then from his reverie, fancying he
| heard her footstep in the corridor, or her
voice in an adjoining room.
He went to London on the day after
lIildred's journey to Brighton, taking Pa
nela with him to hotel near Hanover
SQUARE. where he had occasionally stayed.
Pamela had been much disturbed by Mil
dreds letter, and was full of wonder
ment but very submissive, and ready to
do anything she was told.
II don't want to be inquisitive or trou-
| blesome. uncle" she said, as they sat
| opposite each other in the train, but
am sure there is something wrong"
'Yes. Pamela, there is something wrong,
but it is something which will come right
| again in good time, | hope. All we can
do is to be patient"
His look of quiet pain, and the haggard
lines which told Of sleepless nights and
brooding thoughts. touched Pamela's ten
der heart: but she was wise enough to
know that a sorrow big enough to part
husband and wife is not sorrow to be
intruded upon by an outsider.
Mr.. Greswold drove with his niece to
the hotel. established her there with her
maid in a private sitting room. and then
started for Lincoln's Inn Fields in han
som.
Messrs. Pergament's Office had solid
and old-established air. as of an Office
that had only to do with wealth and re-
seemed to have grown old on the prem
Uses.
II should like to see the senior member
of the firm, if he is at liberty" said Mr.
| Greswold.
"Mr. Champion Pergament is at Weis-
| baden. Danvers Pergamentf lis at his place
! in Yorkshire. If you would like to see
his SON."
.sI.et me see him, if you please"
George Greswold sent in his card He
was received in a handsome office by a
bald-headed gentleman of about five and
forty. who smiled upon him blandly from
| n background of oak wainscot and Grim
son cloth window curtains, like an old
fashioned portrait
.'Does my name tell you anything about
me, Mr. Pergament?" asked Greswold
grayely.
George Ransome Greswold,' read the
lawyer slowly; 'the name of Greswold
is unfamiliar to me"
"ButAnot that of Ransome. Sixteen
years ago my name was George Ransome
| assumed the name of Greswold on my
mothers death. You remember the name
of RansomeT'
"Yes, it recalls certain events. Very
sad circumstances connected with lady
who was our client You would not wish
me to go over that ground. l am sure,
Mr.. GreswoldW
NO. there is no. occasion to do that.
hope you believe that l was blameless
or as free from blame as any man can
be in his domestic conduct-in the matter
to which you have aluded%
II have no reason to suppose other
wise. / have never been on the scene of
the event l knew nothing of 1t until a
year after ii happened, and then my
sources of information were of the slen-
derest and my knowledge of painful de-
tails never went beyond this Office. Pray
be assured that I do not wish to say one
word that can pain you; l would only
ask you to consider me as totally unin-
formed person. have no charge to make
upon anybody's account. have no
questions to ask. The past is forgotten.
so far as | and my firm are concerned.
mfr. Pergament, for me the past is
still living, and it is exercising a baneful
influence over my present existence. 1t
NAV blight the rest of my life. You. per-
haps, may help to extricate me from a
labyrinth of perplexity. | want 10 know
| who NIX first wife was. What was the
real name Of the young lady who called
herself Vivien Faux. and whom l married
under that name before the British consul
at Florence? Who were her psrents:"
II cannot tel you. / know that GER
| tain persons were interested In the young
lady's welfare. and that certain funds
sere placed in our charge for her main
| tenance. After her death, the capital
for which we had been trustees reverted
| 10 those persons That is the sum total
| Of the lady's history so far as 1t is known
to US"
"wnl you tell me the name of the per
son who gave my wife her income. who
placed her at the school at Brussels. by
whose instructions she was transferred to
the care Of Mr. and Mrs Mortimer:
want 10 know that mans name. for tbs;
man must have been her father
''wher my father and undertook that
business for my client. we pledged or
selves to absolute secrecy. The facts Of
the case are not known even 10 the other
members of the firm. The person in
question wSs our client. and the secret
was lodged with US"
DO you happen TO know the name OF
nav second wife,
Il did not even know that yon had
married again. You were known 10 our
frna as Mr.. Ransosne We lost sight OF
you when you changed your name "a
tsreswold."
Il have been married-happily ma.Tfss
! for fourteen years. and the name OF my
! wife was FausSet. Mildred Fausset
daughter Of Jchn Fausset. your client
Vivien Faux. Does not that sound 10
| | your ear like sn assumed n1me, Mr. Per
{ | gaments" pursued Greswold. Faux: the
|. | first three letters are the same IS in Faus-
set"
And then George GreswOld told the 50
1 icitor how his second wife had r-cog'
: nixed bis first wife's photograph. as tbs
: likeness Of a girl whom she believed Il
: have been her half-sister, and bow this