Jasper County Democrat, Volume 8, Number 34, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 25 November 1905 — The Yellow Holly [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

The Yellow Holly

By FERGUS HUME,

Author of "The Mystery of a Hansom Cab,” Etc. X X

SYNOPSIS OF PREVIOUS CHAPTERS. CHAPTER I—George Brendon, a young Londoner, vlsitt bin friend. Leonard Train, > who has lodgings in the boarding house I kept by Mrs. Jersey. Among the boardersj is an elderly maiden lady. Miss Bull. Mrs. i Jersey is startled by a piece of yellow holly | worn by George. ll—George, whose real name is Vane, tells Train the story of his i life. He is an orphan and the grandson of ’ Lord Derrington, but the latter refuses to recognize the marriage of George’s father (Lord Derrington’s son), who had eloped. Brendon desires to establish his position as Lord Derrington's heir in order to marry Dorothy Ward. The place of marriage of Georges parents is known only to Mrs. Jersey, formerly maid to George’s mother. His mother died at his birth, and his father had been murdered in San Remo, Italy, years before. Ill—ln the night Mrs. Jersey is killed with a stilleto by an unknown person. IV—Miss Bull takes charge of the house in behalf of Margery, neice of the murdered , woman. The house has been leased from Lord Derrington. So far as James was personally concerned, he heard no more of the little woman. Miss Bull collected the boarders in the drawing room after dinner and made a speech. She said that it was Margery Watson’s Intention to keep on the house and that the terms would be as before. If any chose to stop they would be welcome, but those who decided to go could have their bills made out at once. Having thus acted as the mouthpiece of Margery, Miss Bull took the girl away to the sitting room of the late Mrs. Jersey, the very one in which the tragedy had taken place. “Good child,” said Miss Bull, “Lord Derrington is the owner of this house, and he leased it to your aunt by the year—a very strange arrangement, for which there ought to be some explanation. lam going to seek it from Lord Derrington. With regard to the annuity”— “What annuity?” “I forgot—you don’t know about that. Well, there is no need that you should. But it seems that Lord Derrington allowed your late aunt an annuity of £SOO a year. I don’t know the reason why be did so, and as such reason is not pertinentto ma tiers in hand I do not wish to know, but the annuity must lapse. It is not likely that Lord Derrington will continue it to you.” She paused and looked at the girl. "Your parents are dead, I believe, Margen ?” “Yes. For many years I have been with my aunt. She was my only relative, dear Miss Bull." “All the better ._I don't want other people interfering,” said Miss Bull in her icy way. “Well, Margery, I shall see if I can get Lord Derrington to renew the lease to you, and I shall be your security. With the money in hand—l have counted it, and with that in the bank it amounts to £2oo we can continue the boarding house. A few of the boarders will go. but many will remain, as they will not get anywhere so cheap a place. You will be the nominal head of the house, but in reality I shall manage. Do you agree?” “I am your slave,” cried Margery, with melodramatic intensity. “You are my friend," sail Miss Bull, her thin lips relaxing. “I am a lonely woman, Margery, though I still have a surviving sister"—her lips tightened again as she said this—“and I love you, my dear, for your goodness. Well, we shall keep on the boarding house." From that moment Miss Bull was in charge of the Amelia square establishment. Whatever means she nsed to induce Lord Derrington to consent, she certainly managed to get the lease renewed in Margery’s name. Some of the boarders went, but others came in their place. —-CHAPTER V. EVERY one who was any one knew the Honorable Mrs. Ward. She was a fluffy haired kitten of a woman, more like a Dresden china shepherdess than a mere human being. Nothing could be prettier than her face and figure and nothing more engaging than her manners. With her yellow hair, her charming face and her melting blue eyes she managed to hold her own against younger women. The late Mr. Ward, Lord Ransome's son, had been a fast young man, devoted to the turf and to bis pretty wife. But he was killed when riding in a steeplechase two years after his marriage and left bls widow alone in the world with one daughter for consolation in her affliction. Mrs. Want, being in want of money—for her deceased father had been a general with nothing but his pay—played her cards so well with regal’d to her father-in-law that he allowed her a good Income and thought ■he was the most perfect of women. But Lord Ransome was the only one of the family who thought so, for the other relatives fought rather shy of the pretty, pleading widow. Not that Mrs. Ward minded. She characterized the women as frumps and the ’men as fools, and, having enough to live on comfortably, set up a house in Curzon street. It was thought that she would marry again, and prob* ably she would have done so had a sufficiently rich husband with a title been forthcoming. But somehow no one worth capturing ever came Mrs. Ward’s way, and as time went on she chose to assume the role of a devoted mother and, as she phrased It, to live again in her daughter. This was quite wrong, as Dorothy Ward was a slim, serious minded girl of nineteen, not

given to gayety, an<J was one who was anxious to marry a husband with mind rather than with money. How frivolous little Mrs. Ward came to have such a Puritan daughter no one ever could make out. She resembled her mother neither in face nor in manner nor in tastes. Mrs. Ward openly lamented that Dorothy was such a difficult girl to manage, which meant that Dorothy had refused several good matches and had declined to be guided entirely by her mother’s opinion. When the Earl of Summerslea proposed and was not accepted Mrs. Ward was furious, but Dorothy said steadily that . she would never marry a brute with a title. “You’ll marry any one I choose,” said Mrs. Ward when the two were discussing the matter. “Certainly not Lord Summerslea,” rejoined Dorothy steadily. “And certainly not that penniless George Brendon,” retorted her mother. I “You shall not throw yourself away on him.” “He is a good man and a clever man, and a man whom any woman might be proud of winning, mother." “And a man with no money and no position. Who is be? What is his family? No one ever heard of him.” “You shall never see me the Countess of Summerslea. I know all .about that man. He is bad and dissipated." Dorothy respected as well as loved George Brendon and every time she met him grew to admire and love him more. Mrs. Ward became quite exasperated and redoubled her efforts to sicken Dorothy of the “creature,” as she called Brendon. She took to praising him on all occasions and sometimes asked him to dinner. At the same time she constantly abused young Walter Vane, who was Lord Derrington’s grandson and heir. He was the man she wished Dorothy to marry, as one day he would have a title and fifteen thousand a year. But In spite of this Machiavellan policy Dorothy still continued to love George and expressed a hearty dislike for Walter Vane, whom she characterized as a “weakling." “You would marry me to the prince of darkness himself if it suited your purpose,” said Dorothy, from which speech it will be seen that Miss Ward had small respect for her fascinating mother. The two did not assimilate, as their dispositions were so different. Mrs. Ward complained that Dorothy was too religious, and Dorothy found the frivolous world in which her mother moved dull beyond words. It so happened that Dorothy stayed mostly at home or went out with one of her aunts, who was something of her type, while Mrs. Ward enjoyed herself at Hurllngham and Monte Carlo. Things were tn this position when the murder of Mrs. Jersey took place. Dorothy read about it in the papers, and, knowing that George hnd gone to stop in the house with Train, was extremely anxious to hear particulars. She wrote to his Kensington address asking him to call, but received no reply. Then she saw that he gave evidence at the inquest, and two days later George made his appearance at the Curzon street house. Mrs. Ward, who had been voluble In her expressions regarding Brendon's “love for low company,” so she put it, sailed toward him with open hands. She always welcomed Brendon in this bright, girlish, kittenish way, as it was part of her scheme. She thought so serious a man would never relish a frivolous mother-in-law and hoped to get rid of him in this way. But Brendon was too much in love with Dorothy to mind the vagaries of her fashionable parent “My dear Mr. Brendon," cried Mrs. Ward in her usual gushing manner, “I am so glad to see you. The murder, you know! I saw your name in the papers. How exciting! How romantic! Tell us all about it.” "There is nothing to tell, Mrs. Ward," said George, glancing round the room and seeing that Dorothy was absent. “All I know is set forth in the papers. I was visiting Mr. Train there.” "Dorothy will be down soon, but meantime tell me the whole thing from pour own clever point of view,” said Mrs. Ward. She was so pertinacious that Brendon had reluctantly to yield. He detailed events as they had been reported by tiie press, but concerning the confidence of Leonard he kept silent Mrs. Ward expressed her disappointment when he finished. "You tell me nothing new.” “I warned you that I would not” replied Brendon, wondering at her petulant speech. “But surely you can throw some light on the matter?” said Mrs. Ward. Brendon shook his bead. "I fear not I went to bed at 11 and slept soundly until I was awakened by the clamor.” Mrs. Ward thought for a 'hioment “Does Mr. Train know anything?” “Nothing more than I have told you,” declared Brendon uncomfortably. He disliked deviating from the truth even in the smallest particular, but he dared not risk the story of his birth becoming public property. It was strange, he thought, that Mrs. Ward should take

such a~profound interest in this case. He had never before heard her talk on such a subject To add to his perplexity he saw that, in spite of her rouge, ifi spite of the shaded windows, she

looked haggard. Yet it was impossible that she could be connected with the matter in any way. He ventured a leading question. “Why are you so anxious to know about this case?” Mrs. Ward’s reply rather astonished him. “I am not blind,” she said quietly, “and I know well enough that you admire my daughter. You are poor, you are unknown, and should Dorothy marry you she would make a very bad match.” “I am aware of that," began George, “but”— “Wait,” cried Mrs. Ward, raising her hand. “I have not yet done. Notwithstanding all these disadvantages, I made up my mind to place no bar to your union with my daughter, as she seems to like you”—• "She loves me, Mrs. Ward.” “Nonsense. Dorothy is too young to know the meaning of the word. I say she likes you, so we can let it stand at that. But in spite of your poverty and obscurity”—Brendon winced, for Mrs. Ward’s tone was insolent in the extreme—“l am not willing that you should marry Dorothy, unless”— She hesitated. “Unless?” queried George, looking steadily at her. “Now we come to the point. Unless your character is above suspicion.” “What do you mean?” “You know well enough. Here you go to a house, and while you are there the mistress of it is murdered.” George rose with some indignation. “Good heavens, Mrs. Ward, you don’t suspect me!” he cried. “Oh, dear, no. But it would be unpleasant for my daughter to have a husband mixed up with such a shady affair.” “I am not mixed up with it, Mrs. Ward.” “It’s unpleasant,” said Mrs. Ward, willfully holding to her opinion. “I don’t like it. Find out who killed that woman, and I say nothing. But until you do find out, and until the assassin is brought to Justice, I must ask you to discontinue your visits to Dorothy.” [TO BE CONTINUED.!

"Mrs. Ward, you don’t suspect me!”