The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle. — 1887-01-08 (Stourbridge, West Midlands, England)

ADRIENNE;  OR, THE SHADOW OF THE PAST.  [ALL BIGHTS RESEILVEDd  CHAPTER IL  LEFT alone, M. Lecour listened to the sounds made by the retreating pair till they died away in the distance. He then carefully fastened the door, surveyed every portion of the room, and re-arranged the lights in such a manner as to throw no decided shadows on any angle. Placing himself beside the table, he again took up the letter of the abbess, and carefully reperused it. An expi ession of bitter mockery flitted over his. features as he read again and again, a single sentence, and he sneered:  " Cleverly expressed, faith ! 'Until her reversionary expectations are realised.' In plain words, till I am dead and out of the way, they will keep the girl, in consideration of the rich inheritance she may claim. Ha! they don't know as much as I do about this estate, or they would scarcely calculate on the right of my granddaughter to inherit ;t. It would be a good trick to let the greedy cormorants keep the girl under the impression that she is the true heiress, and hen the evil one claims me, leave behind me the proof that she has no legal claim on a single acre. I have half a mind to do so, for it will be a risk to have this girl here. What can Ido with her? Disgust her ith life, and make her commit suicide, or take refuge in her convent again? The last is not a probable alternative, after her energetic protest against the life of a nun. The first a little unpleasant to contemplate, as she really is bone of my bone, and flesh of my flesh. Ugh! I hated her father, I cursed her mother, and now their child must come to me at last, to become the so'ace of my declining years. Ha ! ha! a joyful consolation the daughter of Julien Durand is likely to become to me—me, accursed as I am among men, bearing a seared heart and withering brain; mocked at by friends, haunted by a phantom whose mission is to avenge the dead, even before I swell their ghastly ranks. No, no, no; let har dwell amid peteeful, God. fearing women, even if the monotony of their existence does eat into her weary soul. Better even that, than the awful existence she must lead with me."  He seized a pen, and rapidly wrote: " Adrienue,—l dare not grant your prayer to come to me. I have no fitting home in which to receive you, and my heart is closed to every appeal from your father's child. He was my eneny—l loathed him; I hurled my malediction upon the ungrateful daughter who forsook me for him; and now you, their child, ask to be taken to my heart! "It is impossible, for that heart has become a baleful flame of hate, which consumes itself, and leaves no genial spot on which love can repose. lam a man blighted by the indulgence of my own passions. See, I do not throw the blame on others; I know that my career has been evil, my conduct towards those nearest to me harsh and cruel. Therefore am I left in my old age isolated, hopeless, yet not utterly wretched. "I have my own pursuits; innocent they now are, Z.-nd I wish to have no further temptation to evil. Should you come to me, my old propensity would return; to torment, to abuse the power placed in my hands is th; irrevocable law of my nature, and I must obey it. "Poor child! remain with the good sisters;• they w;11 he kinder to you than I ever can; they are innocent, they are pure, and you will not be contaminated by coming in contact with guilt. "You cannot brighten me. lam but a blighted ruin, around which no ivy may twine its clinging verdure. I can bestow a small endowment upon the convent, which will secure to you a respectable position among its inmates. Beyond that I cannot go, for my possessions are much over-rated, and the bulk of m 3 wealth must goto other claimants. It will be best for your earthly, as Well as your heavenly welfare, for you to remain in your preiAnt secure and respectable asylum. Believe me, that weary as this lot seems to you, it is far preferable to the future you would embrace in coming to me; therefore I must lay t pon you my positive command to remain in your convent. °