Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1913-03-25
CHAPTER xxxIv-continued.

AAIhIN-SVHtiieSN
RELY upon me-" said Miss Vann.
with decision. "I will find you pupils
In music. It's q thousand pities that
Cullen Sardis could not have lived
long enough to send you abroad 70
study. Your voice Is really marvel
GUS. OF course, we knew OF your
fathers first marriage-mamma and l
but we thought the child dead; and
1t was a subject that nobody, not even
his nearest and dearest friend, ever
dared speak to him upon. Remain here
in the nest of my dear turtle doves,
Eric and Bee; II Is the best place Tor
you. am very busy at present, Tor !
am to be married next month, you
know"-with gay smile-"to the
most charming Of men; but snail
find plenty of time to devote to you
and to your interests, my dear. You
have taken my heart by storm. The
baron must see you and hear you sing.
He is passionately fond OF music, ana
plays the flute himself like an arch
angel" IL
Bee shrugged her plump shoulders.
StrozzPs name was still an offense to
DO archangels, generally speaking,
play flutes? ?" she said, dryly. "Ah, Miss
Vann, how infatuated you have be-
come with that-that-well, ] Will not
call names, 1t would not be polite
now" ......s .a
Miss Vann smiled calmly.
my dear Bee, you always looked at
the baron, you know, with eyes that
could see nothing but Eric Sake. All
things considered, 1t Is not strange
that you should be prejudiced against
him. He wooed you with culpable per-
sistency, / allow; but what can one
expect Of such warm hearted sons or
the south? I, myself, was very angry
with him for while. / banished him
from my presence, you remember; but
oh, It Is quite impossible to long re-
main displeased with the baron. He
is very penitent for all his misdeeds.
His passion for you Is thing OF the
past" :,
GOOD heaven! / should hope so,"
said Eric Sake, half angry, half anus
ed. Can no one convince you, MISS
Vann, that you are throwing yourself
away upon that man? No, do not hold
up your hands. / am not going to ar
que with you upon the subject, for you
know my mind already"
Charlotte Vann bent over Bees baby
and patted his rose-leaf cheek.
81 forgive you, Eric, because I know
YOU are my sincere friend. But my
happiness is quite safe with the baron.
You think him mercenary, but he Is
not. He adores me; he Is ready TO ole
for me. I count myself fortunate In Sc
curing without either youth or beauty,
so tender and fervent heart
It was useless to talk to her. She
went away soon after and Mercy re-
turned to the bedside Of Mrs, Sardis.
She had found a good friend.
Charlotte Vann never forgot prom
ise. Two days later she appeared
again In the nest of her dear turtle
doves, and carried Mercy Off in her
elegant landau to make the acquafn-
lance of six pupils, whom she had Sc
cured for the young girl among her
own particular friends.
Make up your mind, my dear, she
said, laughing, ito be looked upon with
distrust in all families where there
are grown-up sons. Your beauty will
sometimes be great disadvantage to
you. One question-have you lover?"
What! with all this loveliness?
Passing strange! Were l man, /
would go down on my knees to you at
first sight. Do you know nothing OF
the grand passion-did you never have
what people call an offer?"
Mercy grew as pale as II rude
hand had sudd; My plucked at some
Once, long ago"-she faltered, pain
fully. Dear Miss Vann, don't ask me
about 1t, please cannot bear to think
of 1t, even now."
Miss Vann stared, then smiled.
Not for the world! 1 beg your par
don my child. I will not say another
word"
And she fell back in her own corner
of. the carriage, and began to talk at
once Of other matters.
In this way Mercy, or Mabel Sardis,
as she was now called, took up her
new burdens. Her days and nights she
divided .betwixt her pupils and the
care of Mrs. Sardis. Often she watch
ed from dark till dawn by the bedside
of the sick woman, faithful, tender.
tireless; and, incapable Of thought or
understanding though she was, Mrs.
Sardis always seemed soothed ana
comforted by her presence.
I'm some manner she comprehends
that you are near and dear" sighed
Bee; but l fear you cannot long stand
this strain upon your strength
81 am stronger than you think,
Mercy answered, bravely: with the
exception Of the last two or three years
my whole life has been made up of
hardships. feel as If could now en-
dure anything"
Miss Vann was an unspeakable COM
fort and help, both to Bee and to Mer-
cy, in these days. Her interest and ad-
miration for the latter person knew no
bounds. One day she said to her.
Come and lunch with me tomorrow
and make the acquaintance Of the bar.
on. He adores blondes, and he will
think you irresistible"
Mercy had never been enlightened
either by Bee or Eric SAKE, on the sub
ject of Baron Strozzi; but she felt
little uncomfortable, and tried to frame
an excuse, which was quickly set aside
by Charlotte Vann. =.
MY dear you must! / shall think II
very odd If you refuse"
So. the next day, Mercy was carried
off to Madison avenue to surprise the
baron with her blonde beauty: but, as
fate would have 1t, when Miss Vann's
luncheon hour struck, Strozzi failed to
appear.
Mercy saw no one but Madame
Vann, who had grown more eccentric
with age, and whose behavior filled the
girl with amaze. Lunch over, she de-
parted without encountering the baron
and she found no time to visit Miss
Vann again for many days after.
And still a deep, unspoken anxiety
hung upon Eric SaXe's housenoiu-hC
word had yet arrived from Ethel.
There was one visitor who OTTER
dropped into the studio to inquire re-
earding Mrs. Sardis' condition, or tall
art with the young artist, and criticlse
his pictures-a brown, grave mar
whom Bee presented to Mercy as Mr.
Lawrence Harding.
Fortune while frowning upon sc
many persons in this story, had smiled
very blandly upon Lawrence. He was
now a popular Journalists man ol
marked ability, courted feared, concil'
lated and flattered by the world. Re:
port said he was also the betrotheo
husband of that rich Boston belle, Alice
Bradford.
Mercy soon discovered that Mr
Harding was a prime favorite with botf
the artist and his wife; and she was
much impressed with the undisguiseC
interest which he manifested in the
whole family. For instance, Ethers in
comprehensive silence seemed tc
trouble him quite as much as it die
herself and Bee.
ANY news from Paris YETI" was the
one question which he invariably ask
ed upon all his visits to the studio;
and Bees lugubrious No" was sure tc