Year: 1874

MI UNCLE W AS 4 DACnELUk.


"You have often wondered, George,
why it is | have lever married-won-
dered, and most probably reioiced, for
at my death, you know, the old place
will come to You, as it came to me, free
of debt or encumbrance. ] suppose
you have attributed my confirmed bach
elorhood to some disappointment in


love in early life, ell? All, well I'll


tell you the whole story. 1t may serve


rs a warning to you, was going to say,
only do not believe III one mans ex-
perience being of any use to another.
And as to warning, bah they never
save. But nm in a retrospective mood
tonight, so if you care to hear the
stoy, Won shall"


My Uncle George and were staying
up at Barluig, a small fishing place of
his in the Highlands, to which we re,
sorted regularly twice year for about
n fortnight, in pursuit of salmon. |
had lost my father when | was about
four years old, aud since that time his
brother, my Uncle George, had been
my father in all but the name. Indeed,
| think we were fOnder of each other
than fathers and sons usually are in
these days.


1t had always been wonder to me,
and to every one else, that Uncle George
had never married. Some people de-
cNred that he had been hopelessly in
love with the beautiful Duchess de,
and that it WAS for her sake he had re-
NAMED single others limited at some
ENHANCEMENT while some maintained
boldly that Sir George Wyvilie was
married, and that |, his nephew, and
heir presumptive in the eyes of the
world, should look very foolish some
day on the baronetcy and Wyville cas-
tie being claimed by the son of my un-
cle's old college bed-maker.


But to all these stories | turned n
deaf ear. | knew enough of Uncle
George to feel sure there was not a
shadow of trnth in any Of them. My
uncle often spoke of the Duchess de --
as what she was) one of the handsomest
women and most finished coquettcs of
her day. But I felt certain he had
never cared for her he would not have
talked so much about her il he had.
And as to an ENHANCEMENT or secret
marriage, why, / knew all my uncle's
affairs as we'll as knew those Of Charlie
Baynsford, my bosom friend and
brother officer, who had been gazetted
as ensign and lieutenant in the 5th
Foot Guards the same day ms myself,
about two months before. No; what
ever reason my uncle may have had for
remaining single, it was one he had
carefully guarded from the whole world.
I was glad that was going to hear it at
last.


| reflled my glass with whisky and
water, lit my pet pipe, about the color
ing OF which | was so anxious, and
drawing my chair nearer to the fire, pre-
pared to listen in comfort.


81 was about thirteen, George, when
first saw Nora O'Byrne. Twas at Eton
then, and she was hower-girl in the
streets of Windsor. The first day /
ever saw her-I remember it as well as
if it were yesterday-it was bitterly
cold March afternoon, and she was
standing outside the then only hotel in
the place selling violets. To this hour
I can not stand seeing girl selling vio-
lets in the street. gave her all the
money had in my pocket, and my
heart with it. 1t is no use attempting
to describe her. All descriptions of her
real beauty are futile. She was simply
the loveliest child, as she was afterward
the loveliest woman, ever beheld. Day
after day 1 used to see her. / con-
trived to meet her quietly. l did all |
could for her, and it went to my heart
to feel that / could do so little. used
to give her food clothing was of no use
giving, for her mother took it away di-
rcctly, and pawned it to buy gin.


81 need scarcely tell You that Nora
was no common beggar girl. Her father
had been n well-to-do workman, and
during his lifetime she had been to
school, and had learned how to read and
write but after his death she had been
reduced to beggary through her moth
er's fatal propensity for drink. For
nearly two years of my life | spent ev-
cry shilling could spare on that child,
and loved her as | have never loved
any other human being. And what IL
more, kept my boyish love a secret
from every one-no easy matter as you
may imagine.


"When | was fifteen I had bad at
tack of typhus fever. Twas staying at
Wyville at the time, for the summer
vacation with my uncle, Sir Rupert.
He had perfect horror OF sickness, OF
fever especially; and directly was Ia
ken i'll, he left the house to pay visit
10 some friends near Windsor. lie
promised me that when the school met
again he would ride over, and give the |
fellows at my house the latest accounts
of me.


81 did not return TO Eton till after |
the Christmas holidays, and then Nora |
was gone-where 1 could not learn. In
vain made inquiries of different peo-
ple in the town who knew the girl by |
sight. All l could learn was that
neither she nor her mother had been
seen since the beginning of September.
I was nearly frantic with anxiety. l
Give you my word, George, that never
Iut once in my life have I felt anything |
like the utter grief anl desolaiion OF
that time, when thought OF Nora, "ltiI
her extraordinary beauty, thrown upon
ibe w,Is world with no other protection
,hap that drunken old mother. /


"Well, time passed on, and when l
was eighteen left Eton and went into