Year: 1877

blaze of sunshine; there was not 1
breath of air, not rustic in a Leaf
not sound save the monotonou
hum of the bees ransacking the bios
SONS. A dead stiffness reignet
without the manor of Brocklehurst
although within there were boil
noise and excitement, for the NOR
row was the wedding-day of Heste
Kyrle, the sole child of John Kyrle
millionaire, and the heiress Of Brock
lehurst estates. But there were two
rooms in the house that noise ant
excitement did not reach. They
were apparently sacred from the in
trusion; and even the mother of thu
bride-elect did not venture to invade
their precincts. One of them was the
study of John Kyrle, and the Other
the chamber of his daughter. Mr.
Kyrle sat in his study in deep rev
erie. He was a tall, lean man, with
hawk-like eyes, that rested with
curious intensity on the CRATE, while
a huge pile of letters, pushed care
fully into heap, lay unheeded by
his side.


He was exclusively that which is
understood by the term man of the
world, thoroughly mundane to the
backbone. He slept and he ate and
drank under the connubial roof, and
with a stereotyped, icy smile paid the
household bills without a question OIL
q comment ever crossing his thin
lips.


But, as far as any of the ordinary
feeling or influence that the magical
word "home" is supposed to exercise
over man, he might have been a
celibate. A very long time ago he
had discovered that his marriage
was a fatal mistake. Both he and
his wife were of the world; but with
this one fact the bond of sympath y
between them ceased entirely.


John Kyrle was cynical, clever
and desperately ambitious. Mrs
Kyrle was foolish, frivolous and
dreadfully underbred.


At the present time there was as
little unison of sentiment as usual
between the Unmatched pair, for Mr.
Kyrle's sharpest physiognomy bore
upon it a marked contrast to the
complacent round face of his better
half. In lieu of a beatific smile OF
content, such as she wore on the eve
of her daughters marriage with
Mervyn Tyrrell-a man after hel
own heart-Mr. Kyrle's lips were
tightly compressed, while an ominous
shadow bestrided his light-gray eyes
and his high brow.


There had been an appeal made to
him on the preceding night, an ap
peal most passionate and most elo
quent, with that powerful eloquenct
that truth and feeling can give even
to the most trivial words, while the
voice that uttered it was the one that
was dearest to his ears.


He had faithfully pledged himself
to consider the subject, forced on
his attention by the plaintivc, sob
bing tones, and he had passed sever
al hours shut up in his study to car
ry out the promise he had made
But for once his keen intellect seemed
entirely at fault; the difficulty he dc.
sired to solve remained still unsOlv.
ed, and he was sorely perplexed.-
A timid knock aroused him; he hesi
tated an instant before bidding the
visitor enter, and he felt almost like
a culprit and a craven when at last 4
light football crossed the floor and
paused close to his side. Then he
mustered courage and turned to look
up with a sternness that was felgned
in his glance, and resolution thai
was a mock on his mouth.


The girl who stood beside him was
slender, almost fragile, in appearance
wanting slightly in physique, per
haps, but yet willowy and graceful
in figure, and with face fair as the
morning. Her clear cheeks reddenec
and pale alternately, and her soft lips
quivered like child's, while hel
eyes, meek blue eyes, were tixed
eagerly on his own.


Before he could address her, she
was down in a white heap on the
floor, with her clasped hands resting
on his knee.


"You will not make me marry him
father; you will have mercy upor
me, and send him away!"


The wailing cry reached even the
heart that had grown somewhat hard
and insensible by contact with the
world.


chester, listen to me-" and Mr.
Kyrle leaned forward and took hel
trembling fingers in his own firm
grasp.


"You are going to be cruel faith
er," she gasped, with her color al
flown and her face showing up al
ashy white.


"Do not excite yourself like this,
he said, quietly, still holding hel
hands; but she dragged them away
hastily, and began wringing them in
her excessive agitation.


"Tell me, will you or will you no,
save me from worse than dcath?'
she asked with passion in her voice


81 will tell you nothing, Hester
until you choose to be calm.'


She drew herself together, as ii
were, with a visible shiver passing
over her whole frame.


81 am calm now," she said, in &C
cents that were comparatively steady.


eff you had told me n month-nay
even a week-ago, that in pledging
yourself to marry Mervyn Tyrrell
you were acting under coercion,
could have and should have stopped
the matter at once. TO me it seems
a most inlquitous marriage when 8
woman swears to love her husband
and deliberately perjures herself
But l understood that you accepted
him voluntarily, and that his atten
tions were agreeable to YOU"


81 was a miserable coward, father
as l told you last night. He and
were thrown so much together thai
it seemed impossible for me to re
fuse when he almost demanded me
to marry him. And then my moth
said that my refusal would break he1