The St. Charles herald., 1922-03-25

forsook him and middle age began to
draw on.
| now made my home with them,
as a brother to the parents and an
uncle to the children. The fullness
of affection they showed each other
was always shared with me.
They were the years. following Wa
terloo, of England's first great indus
trial expansion. John Halifax be-
came one of the new nobility which
then began to so large degree to sup
plant the old, the nobility of COM
merce His progressive mind was al
ways looking for new outlets to his
Ienergies, which were also to include
new phases of prosperity to the people
roundabout, who more and more
looked to him as leader In addition
to the business Of which my fathers
death had made him master, he took
! over the old cloth mills at Enderley.
Here Lord Luxmore was the propri-
ruin John, he DETECTED the stream
on the pretext of needing the water
to supply his own fountains. John
Halifax was equal to the occasion. He
had already been in touch with Ark
wright, who first used steam in the
mills in Manchester. Steam was
therefore introduced at Enderley, the
income Of the mill owner doubling and
trebling with each year. From the
small house in town John and Ursula
Halifax moved to modest estate In
the country, moving from that in the
course of time to one Of the great
houses Of tbs country, exerting with
each change q widening influence for
good which in the Regents days were
rare.
But prosperity brought them no i'm
munity from domestic trouble. Little
Murief's death was the first blow.
Other blows followed soon. The boys
grew up to be young men. With their
love affairs came the first real dis
cords in the family.
They began with the appearance of
q governess for little Maud. She gave
her name as Miss Silver. Beautiful,
mysterious, and self-contained, she re-
PEELED Ursula's motherly sympathies
by a coldness not explained until she
proved to be Louise dArgent, the
daughter of a notorious French dep
uty under the Reign of Terror. But by
this time the worst mischief was done
since Guy, the eldest son, was in love
with her. To accept her as Guys fu-
ture wife cost John and Ursula Hall
fax struggle. 1t was surprise to
them, therefore, that Guy should be
refused on the ground that Miss Sill
yer was in love with another man.
There was no relief in this, however,
since the other man proved to be the
love with her. OF this difficult situ-
alton the animosity between the two
brothers was not the least of the trials
the parents had to undergo. In a
household where love had been the
watchword the hatred of brothers was
the harder to bear. Before Edwin
was married Guy had gone abroad,
nominaIly on business for his father,
but really to be away from the sight
of Edwin's happiness.
While this change eased the situa-
ton, it was also the source Of new
anxieties. Disquieting reports were
brought from Paris by the earl of
Luxmore's son, Lord Ravenel. From
boyhood young Ravenel had enter
tained an admiration for his fathers
opponent, John Halifax, which had
grown with time. The kindness al
ways shown by Mr.. and Mrs. Halifax
to Lord Ravepers sister, Lady Caro-
line Brithwood, whom her husband,
Richard Brithwood, had divorced,
strengthened the attachment of
young man neglected by his father.
| to those who could take 9 stand OF
their own. Each time he returned to
Luxmore Park young Ravenel made
refuge Of the Halifax home. From
Paris he brought news that Guy had
come into the circle of the aged repro
bate, Lord Luxmore. With little advan-
tage to himself. Graver news followed
that. A letter in Guys own hand in
formed his parents that being
drunk in gambling house he had
quarreled with Sir Gerard Vermilye,
who years before had induced Lady
Caroline to elope with him, had struck
the man, and possibly killed him. He
had now to flee from France BY the
time the letter reached his parents he
would have sailed for America.
If Muriel's death had ended Johns
youth, Guys disgrace did the same
for his mothers. l first noticed then
that Ursula was beginning to grow old.
| Up to that time she had been a ma
tron, ripening with serenity. More
| than maturity came into her beauty
now, sadness. depression. which
she rarely threw off. Though peace
full years came with the news that
Guy had settled in Boston, where the
business of which he had become the
head was prospering, the light-hearted-
ness went out Of our home forever. In
| my case that was the more true ow-
| ing to the fact that on the day when
Edwin was married had surprised
Yoy,n FOR whom INV affncfion wac that