Year: 1879

CHAPTER VII. .....


DR.. Joshua Carey had left Sir Roxwells
affairs in such condition as to require con-
slant communication between that gentleman
and himself; for he had no intention of re-
linquishing the hold he had so clevery man
aged to obtain upon him, or allow absence IN
any way to weaken his own influence, or cloud
his prospects of brilliant future. He,
therefore, wrote regularly twice week, re-
ceiving such short replies as the baronet
(whose health had improved) felt equal to
composing; and thus kept vigilant eye on
affairs in England as we'll as those in his new
quarters.


The intelligent reader may consider it sin
gular that this crafty parsonage should have,
in any way, voluntarily, added to his des-
pised sisters knowledge of the secret he pos
sessed, and of his own schemes concerning
the same. But he considered it expedient to
do so, with the view of making her his tool,
should occasion require it ; no difficult under.
taking, according to his judgment, in consid'
Grafton of the awe in which that poor little
parsonage stood of his displeasure. 1t was
for this reason that he informed her of his
encounter with Mildred; and she, as we have
seen, was greatly agitated by the news, feel
ing that the time was probably at hand when
she might be called upon to use all the force
or ingenuity at her command, to combat his
superior will and power.


That she was mortally afraid Of her broth
er could not be denied !; but there were GER
tain underlying traits in her character of
which he was ignorant, which formed
groundwork for more decisive action than he
deemed her capable of. As she meditated, in
her solitude, upon the facts of the case laid
before her, and other facts connected with it,
unknown except to herself, she braced herself
to a mighty resolve to suffer anything sooner
than become accessory to any villainy in re-
gard to poor Mildred, which Joshua might be
contemplating. Could she have found
chance to write, her way out of her difficult
ties would have been easy enough, for few
lines to Sir Roxwell could make all straight;
but she was much too strictly watched to per-
NIT cf this. She had neither pen or paper at
her command, nor any method of mailing
letter, even could she have managed to write
one. Joshua never left the house without
locking up everything, and of late had taken
to fastening the street door also, to prevent
the possibility of her transgressing his orders
to admit no one, so that she had no way what
ever of communicating with the outside
world. She was as strictly prisoner as if
she had been within the walls of Jail, in
stead of an ordinary dwelling house; while
Joshua warded of the occasional inquiries
propounded to him concerning her, by saying
that she was in delicate health, and too nerv-
Gus to take pleasure in seeing strangers.


Joshua did not rest until he had found out
the Croftons' residence, which was not diff
cult to do; but it was some time before he
obtained another sight of Mildred, though he
persistently endeavored to do so. / have al
ready stated that the idea of presenting him.
self as her suitor had vaguely occurred to him;
but since the conversation with Sir Roxwell,
which had led him to hope that in the event
of Mildred's non.appearance he would stand
a better chance of inheriting a handsome
share of the property, he had come to the
conclusion that his greatest security lay in
her being kept out of the way. Even should
he marry her, he saw that Sir Roxwell would
probably leave the estate at her disposal rath-
er than his, and the notion did not suit him
so we'll as that of having unlimited control.
The scene which, therefore, presented itself to
his mind, at first indefinitely, but quickly as
suming tangible shape, was that Of falling
upon plan to conceal her (even from her
present friends and protectors, so as to lead
to the supposition Of her death) until Sir
Roxwell should give up the ghost, and the
disposition of his property be irrevocably set
tied; and then, if it pleased him, either to
compel her to marry him (without any refer
ence to her own inclinations) or release her,
under such conditions as would ensure him
against punishment for his conduct toward
her.


Little did Mildred guess as she serenely
pursued the daily round of her accustomed
duties and tranquil recreations, that plot
was being woven against her liberty, perhaps
her life itself.


A large ball was to be given at one of the
palatial residences in the most aristocratic
quarter of the city, and Mr. Crofton's family
received cards for the same. Alice and Eth
ell were wild to 60. And though the latter
was not actually "out, yet feeling Of reluc-
tance to deprive her of any pleasure which
her sister could enjo induced her parents to
give their consent on this, as on many other
occasions, to her having her own way. Fora
week before the appointed evening, the pair
could do nothing but chatter Of who they were
to meet and what they we're to wear. And
like Cinderella, Mildred was perpetually call
ed into consultation over their toilets, though,
unlike that famous parsonage, she was not