Richmond Palladium (Daily), Volume 34, Number 167, 24 April 1909 — Page 6

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HE was dressing for a ball, fortunately a fancy ball. Otherwise she would have been unable i to dress lor it, lacking frocks and means to KJr purchase frocks.' However, she chanced to be the fortunate possessor of a beautiful old faded gown which had belonged tn a great-grand mother. She had chosen the character of "My GreatGrandmother," and if her great-grandmother had looked as charming as she did in this quaint brocaded silk with its patterning of rosebuds and true lovers' knots and its fine age-toned lace, the romantic thing that happened needs no explanation. .. She had fastened the last of a row of silk-embroidered buttons, when she felt something crackle in the bosom of the dress. Investigation showed a stiffened square and faded stitching-as though something many years before had been sewn into "the lining of the' bodice. She had allowed herself time and to spare for her dressing, ' loitering deliciously "over the' rare delight of a grand toilet. She had leisure, therefore, to remove the bodice and sitting down ran her scissors through the faded silken stitches and withdrew a square of parchment tied with a yellow ribbon. In faded ink, but clearly and boldly, was set forth in a man's handthe stiff quaint hand of a century earlier : "To my beloved Ursula de Lisle Lyndon, in token of my undying affection, I bequeath the whole of my unentailed Monies and Property.. "(Signed) JOHN HERRIES." 1 The document was duly witnessed by a justice-of-the-peace and by another. ' It was dated "July the twentieth, 1803." Folded with it lay a tiny note: , "I have never claimed this, having more than sufficed mc. URSULA DE L. L." "Well, Pamela," his great-grandson greeted her. "Well, John!" her great-granddaughter responded. I "Why do you look at me like that ?" "Do I look at you like that? How do I look at you?" f "It is difficult to define, there's something different about you." . : "To-night I am .nearly a hundred years old," she laughed, courtesying in her silken rosebuds and true lovers' knots. "I also," he said, in his great-grandfather's clothe;. "Pam, I have never seen you look so so well." "John, I have never seen you look so so sadly." ' "They're not really so bad," he said carelessly, "and you see I had to belong to the same period as you to , make our minuet decent." "John I hope Lilian " His face clouded. "She didn't altogether like jt But as I told her you and I once shared bottles of baby's food." "We never did!" she cried indignantly. "You weri t school before I was christened."' , - "Anyhow, we've known one another all your life. I say, Pam." . . . "Go and dance and do your duty. There's no time to say more." - He drew a little age-stained package from a pocket of his snuff-brown coat. She turned whiter than her frock. . "Good gracious!" she faltered. "A faded rose," he said, lifting the ragged flap and giving her a glimpse of shriveled fragments, and the faintest whiff of sweet perfume. He showed her the envelope. On it was written in the bold old-fashioned characters she knew: "Ursula wore it." "Ursula was my great-grandmother," she said, with a, tremulous lip. "I know," he answered, his eyes on her curiously. He returned the envelope reverently to his pocket "And tny great-grandfather loved her." "Why why didn't they marry, John?" I He broke the silence of a half-minute abruptly. "Some one made mischief," he said hurrying off, "stopped letters and told lies." - , 9 . The minuet went charmingly. A strange lady, who had come in somebody's party and chanced to sit betide Lilian Wilthorpe, observed upon it. - "How delightfully those two dance. What a beautiful girl and what a beautiful dress! I suppose that is the girl Mr. Herries is to marry." "Then you suppose wrongly," Lilian retorted with an angry flush. "I am the girl." "Mercy on us!" the discomfited lady murmured; "really, I am very sorry." Lilian was a wit. She prided herself upon putting persons out of countenance, while admirably preserving : her own. "Perhaps ' you are his great-aunt Susan," she submitted ingenuously. "Otherwise I can scarcely see how bis choice affects you." "I meant to say, of course, I was sorry" the poor lady began, in a flutter. , Lilian laughed good-humoredly. . ; "Oh, I understand," she said. "Pray don't apologize. I'm not at all thin-skinned !" She was not But it is difficult to guess why she perpetually boasted of it. ' Herries was an easy-going person. When his mother had assured him he must marry money in the abstract, he had assented laughing. "Why not !" he said, . money's an excellent thing." When she had further informed him that he must marry money in the concrete form of Lilian Wilthorpe, the great brewer's only daughter, he had further assented, laughing, "Why not! She's a handsome, jolly sort of RirL" It did not occur to him to doubt the wisdom of his choice until his old friend Pamela congratulated him upon it. She showed herself so frank and smiled so beamingly and gratified that he turned of a sudden crusty. ; "One might think - you were going to marry . her, you seem so pleased," he grumbled. Pamela bad . never appeared to him so fair and delectable as she did a, that moment, from .behind the iron barrier of his brand-new engagement. "Oh, fm far too poor to think of being married," Pamela responded, laying her lashes demurely on her

checks. And afterward he asked himself what the dickens she had meant " Pamela was pacing up and down the little orchard using breezy language. About her the scene was pink-and-white, ; and magical with apple " blossom and witn cherry-bloom; under her feet the grass lay cool and green, above the sky was blue, and everywhere a sweet wind wantoned, laden with the fragrance of Spring flowers. It was the morning following upon the balL Her face wore still that irradiate brilliance the excitement and joy of a ball bring to some girls' faces, but her brows met frowningly, her eyes flashed, and at intervals she stopped to stamp a pretty foot. " As chance had it, Herries sprang presently over a breach in the low wall Herries in riding-breeches and with' crop in hand. e "I say, Pamela," he said heartily; "good Lord! you're never crying." '..;. "Of course, I'm not," she snapped. "Why in the name of everything absurd should I cry?" "Who knows!" he said. "Why do women cry?" A dead canary. - A spoilt bonnet. A cross word Pamela," he broke in earnestly, "are you perfectly happy, you know Is Miss Coventry always good to you?" "I'm perfectly happy," she insisted, "and you shall not make horrid insinuations about my aunt." "AH right, all right," he said, good-humorediy, putting up large hands wherewith to defend himself, "don't annihilate me. I meant no harm. I've come on Jill and I've brought Jack to see if you've a mind to ride. Don't say no, Pam." He was surprised to find that she said "yes" without any further ado. She was presently walking beside him to the house to dress. All of a sudden she stopped and faced about. "Where is Lilian?" she demanded. "Have you asked Lilian ?" ;

TO-MGBT I AH KEAUV A HUNDRED YEAXS OLD, SHE LAUGHED

. He stood rubbing his hands reflectively. "If I knew what lie to tell," he said, "I'd tell it But you're so difficult. 1 If I say I haven't asked Lilian, you'll probably preach to me about my duty, and if I confess I have asked Lilian youH tilt your nose and tell me you refuse to figure as a substitute." She laughed into his rueful countenance. "I'll come under any circumstances," she retorted and tripped gaily on. "Pam," he said boyishly, overcome with gratitude, "when you are friendly and nice it seems as though as though there were three suns shining." Oh, what rubbish!" she cried hotly; "you forget you're not talking to Lilian." He laughed to himself. It would have been rubbish had he talked it to Lilian. Lilian's moods had no effect at all upon the weather. Half an hour after they had ridden away Lilian called to see Pamela. Informed that Miss Pamela was not at home, she asked for Miss Coventry, fOh. I did so want to see Pamela," was her breathless greeting- "It is most important. There is not an hour to spare. Do you think she would lend me that delicious frock she wore last night, so that I may have it copied exactly for a fancy ball in town?" She went away some minutes later with Pamela's great-grandmother's gown and Herries's great-grandfather's win wrapped in brown paper on the front seat of . her carriage. That same evening she confronted John as he sat smoking in his library. T came across the lawn," she said. "I have something to say to you."

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Her manner was hostile. He shrugged his shoulders. He was, of course,' to be scolded for riding with Pamela. Lilian unfolded a small age-stained parchment. She described how she had come by it. "Did you know of it?" she demanded. He stood white and perturbed. ; "I wonder if Pamela has seen it," he said slowly.. She repeated the question. "I knew of it," he admitted. There was a long silence. Then she broke out contemptuously. "And you have defrauded Pamela all these years, and would have defrauded me would have made me party to a cheat." "I meant to tell you," he said, tonelcssly. She cried out scornfully: "Did you think I would consent to be a fraud?" He turned and looked at, her. "Your estimate of me is scarcely flattering," he said stiffly. ; " "No, because I've found you out," she cried; "I see the whole mean plot. You would marry me for my money so as to make yourself safe in case the will were found. And you would go riding and paying attention to Pamela so that should it be found " She halted, lacking words and breath. He turned away his face like a man ashamed. In a forced, unnatural voice he said. "Under fhis will I should have been a beggar, Lilian. The estate must have gone. I should have been liable for the interest and accumulation of all those years." - She laughed curtly. , "I thought you well enough off to be marrying me for myself," she said. ""."I suppose it was in the character of a beggar that you asked me. Perhaps you would have had the honesty to declare the will and pay off the interest and accumulation when you had got my money with which to do it." He kept his face averted. "Your opinion of me is is staggering," he said, lamely.

"Not my opinion of you," she retorted smartly, "but yourself with the light let in on you." "In a way," he said, "I admire you for your indignation. But are you not expressing it a bit coarsely?" "I believe in calling spades spades," she retorted bluntly. After a minute "Of course, you realize that under these circumstances all is over between us?" "Oh, of course," he said, drawing a light breath. Her face felL She had not expected so easy an acceptance, r "Still," she resumed, hurriedly, "if you should do the honorable thing my money would be enough for " "I couldn't think of it," he broke in as hurriedly and with rather more eagerness. "Oh, well," she cried, "as you please." A flash of light darted prismatic from her hands. She had thrown her engagement ring upon the table. "After all," she said bluntly, "it was bought with Pamela's money." She turned to leave. She turned back to look at him. He carried off the situation welL Standing there, his fine frame ' erect.' his head well op, she had never seen him look cooler or more composed. She moved a pace toward him. "John," she began, and stopped short. The rage in his eyes showed her his' composure as merely a mask. She knew that nothing she could do now or would cement the relations ' she had broken. She changed her tone, k "What are you going to do about the will?" "This." he said. Before she could reach it, he had caught it from the table and had put it in the fire. He held her hands r. nm

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tdering, from the blaze. A moment later it was a bl; ened mass. Then he released her. x"You are a mean cad!" she cried, cside herself with anger. "I suppose there is no cop; "Oh, yes," he returned coolly, possession." "Well, I shall tell Pamela threatened, as she left him. 'But it is in my everybody," she She met him two days later in anc- He raised his hat and would have passed her. JM she stopped in front of him. "John, she appealed, "I said much the other evening. , I took too much for gr; led. I find you hal already told Pamela." His eyes wandered. "Did Pamela tell you so?" he sked. "Yes. She was quite angry me. She said you told her long ago and offered to ike everything right Will you ever forgive me?" "Never," he said, emphatically Then, as though the subject reason did Pamela give V no interest: "What "Oh, some nonsense about n caring for money. It's plain, of course, that she's in 1 with you." He winced as though he h; heavens !" he cried, "are you m been struck. "Great of hemp and straw?" "I'm sure I don't know wh. yon mean. "Possibly not," he retorte "And have you told everybody else ?" "Of course, I haven't," shsaid sullenly. "And I apologize for all I said to yof "Don't give it a second thoit," he said, with absent looks. He lifted his hat againlnd left her looking after him. I When it was known thatlhe engagement between Herries and Lilian was brjen off, everybody asked everybody else to bear wifess that it was exactly what she had foretold. Fit said each, it had been plainer than a pike-staff thf he had never cared two pins about her. Such low as there had been had been wholly on her side, lid when later she became engaged to an impecuntouf&ctor, the reason she had thrown over Herries was 01 plainer. There are persons it is impossible to hdwink. These persons knew alsthat Herries engaged himself presently to Pamela RJwood merely from pique. Others there were, howejpr, who insisted that Pamela had never been so full ofspirits and gay laughter as she had been immediate! after Lilian had accepted Herries.' I "Pamela, are you ill, dr?" Herries inquired of her, ruefully, once, during tkjlr engagement She would sit lost in thought, her hjpds elapsed on her knees, her eyes and mouth downcft . So she had been sitting now for seme minutes, aiarently forgetting him. ' She roused herself ih a flush and a start She forced a lauarli. "111?" le cried. "I have never been ill I was merely thinV ig- - , He pressed nearer ti I her. He took her hand and kissed it. "Darlimr." said, "are you not happy? Pamela, there is sometfng troubling you." She broke away frof him she almost always broke cway from his caress!. "There is nothing troubling r.ie, she cried, petulatfy. She gave an hysterical sob. "Of course, there is always a rift in the lute," she ridded, and fled weepi The subject of the fill had not been broached. Once or twice the conversion had led up to h, but eacn had "shied nervously ad evaded it The wedding was j .er. Slippers for luck and confctti for confusion groom had seated id been thrown. The bride and lemselves in the railway car reserved for them. lere was a ten-minute run to a junction, after whic there would be no stoppage for two hours, when thl were due at the beautiful mountain resort where tlj Pamela was a s honeymoon was to be spent int, pallid bride, as she had been reserved during he engagement. Her nature seemed to have wholly chaged. Herries found her quite incomprehensible. If a large and tolerant fashion he had made the best of it 'Women are sal to have moods," he told himself. "In time she will grow used to me, and I will learn how to manage h-." He seated her farefully, facing the engine. He arranged the wind to her taste, so far as he could elicit from her ploccupied answers what might chance to be her tasteJ Then, placing himself opposite, he turned admiringAmiling looks upon his beautiful bride. She forced faincsmiles in return, obviously forced and unsatisfactory. "The rain haf cleared," he said. ' "Darling, we shall have a heavcnlyjfortnight." She avoided us ardent eyes and murmured some incoherence. 1 "After we h&e passed the junction." he reflected, T shall take her in my arms and kiss her and melt aw:y this intolerably ice-waU." C , But "the plfis of mice and men going aft agley." At the jontjon, just as the train was about to start, Pamela, wbojbad risen and was standing by the door, said suddenhj, in an excited voice, "John, I feel faint. Quick, please, get a flask of eau-de-Cologne from my dressing-bag She put a key into his hand and pointed out a bag tt the further end of the carriage. Concerned, he hurried to open it He found no flask amid its many furnishings. With nervous hands he tooic out one sflfer-capped bottle after another. . The trail began slowly to move. "What sort of a bottle is it I dear V he demanded. Receiving no - answer. "Pam, dear," he insisted, - "what sort of a bottle?" Still receiving no reply, he turned, surprised. ; There was nobody there. The tram was now moving rapidly out of the station. In two strides he was at die carriage door, bat porter was before hint and, with a nmning effort, banged and fastened it By the time be could re-

when she would have snatched it, si

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open it the engine had attained such speed that 0 would have been foolhardmess to jump out. He had one glimpse of what he believed to be Pa mela standing with a bewildered air upon the platform. He threw himself back upon a seat "Great heavens," he cried, distracted. "What does it mean? Has she gone suddenly mad?" He caught sight of a small triangular note upon the seat before him. . He tore it open and read, written in a tremulous hand. "I shall leave you at the junction. Why didnt jew tell nw the truth, John? I have waited until the last moment, and if you had only spoken I could have forgiven everything could have loved you even in spite of your having so wronged me. I cared enough for you to marry you to save your honor. The truth about the will was leaking out. Now nothing can be said. The money is honorably yours. But I cannot he th wife to one I cannot respect You will nevensce ma again. He broke out into passionate, exclamations. "Oh, did ever a dear, romantic little wonsaa f&ntt and write such rubbish?" he exclaimed. "As though I will leave a stone unturned "before I find. her.' As though I will not find her and that soon. For two whole hours, until, indeed, he stopped at (hat spot chosen for the honeymoon,, he paced tbf carriage like a madman. , "What a fool an utter fool I was not to teS her everything," he brooded. What would she do? Wool she return home? He could not think it She would not face her old friends and resume the old life in this new, anomalous position. When the traintat length stopped he had fumed himself quiet. He got tout and ' collected his baggage her baggage also. He took the " next train to the junction. Almost he expected to find her waiting for him on the platform, repentant, lonely and unhappy. But she was not there. ' x Had she been weak enough for this she would havw -been too weak to do the thing she had done. When Pamela slipped out of the carriage she had not left everything to chance. She had made her plans, and her single dread was lest the ruse of the faintness and the search for the flask should fail m aiding her flight Her one hope was to escape without a word of explanation between them. Should he begin to per suade her she was afraid of herself. She was assured that should she be persuaded, her judgment of him and her forfeited self-respect would stand forever -afterward between them and happiness. Better a thousand times to leave him now, while her contempt for his conduct was softened by love for himself. For, looting into his honest eyes, the truth appeared impossrtli. Answering an advertisement, she had accepted a position-as governess. She had been well educated nfficiently well'at all events to teach the twelve and fourteen year old daughters of the mother who wrote to her. -The salary was small pitifully small but sn an exaggerated heroic mood she reflected that notUag would ever again be of the slightest conseejuence, aiace ' John had. failed her. She secured the baggage containing her modest out-. fit; far different from that bridal one with which John presently ruefully returned. She took the swat train -to Eldom, where her young intending pupil lived When at last she was seated in the long, old-fashioned drawing-room of a comfortable, pretty house and -had begun to feel that here . at last was a haven of . refuge, her new employer soon dispelled the ilhuaoo. She was a brisk, gaunt woman with suspicions eyes, and these scanned and scrutinized the new governess with no approving looks. After a few conventional remarks, she left the room. She returned in a few minutes and stood with a determined air before Pamela. "I am sorry to say," she informed her, frigidly, "that I fear yon will not suit me. I require a simple, quiet young woman to train my two girls in an old-fashioned, quiet fashion. Your appearance, your dress" her suspicious eyes ran op and down the poor bride's beantxfnl travelling gown. She spread her hands significantly. She took out her purse. "Allow me to return your fare. I am sorry." she added, melting somewhat before the girfs blank, shrinking face, "but it is best to deal frankly with you. And yon are .not at all suited to the position I have . to offer." Almost before she could collect her thoughts further than indignantly to refuse the proffered fase. Pamela found herself once more at the railway station only m time to take the last train back to the home she had left in the morning. , "Good gracious. Pamela," her aunt began when the poor bride fell, worn and weeping; into her arms. Two days later she sat in tb- old and weU-loved garden the dreariest weariest girl In the world, trying to face the situation. It was impossible for her to remain here. John would presently return ; the neighbors would discover her. She shuddered, deciding upon offering her services again as a governess. Her first experience had been unpromising. She was rational enough, however, to blame nobody but herself. Who in her senses would have presented herself in such a capacity ear bed in bridal attire? In her agitation convention had been overlooked. Next time, she determined, her dress should not certainly err on the aide of magnificence. . " AH of a sudden, as V drratnilv oondered. John leaped the fence, as, months before, while he was stSt emrajred to Lilian, he had leaped it and carried her oft riding. In a few strides he had her in his arms. He kissed her passionately, rapturously. Then he took her two hands and, holding her from hfro, reproached her. "Pamela. Pamela, how conld yon treat me so cruelhr What I hare suffered t Why didn't you speak, dear? That confounded will wrsn't worth the paper it was written on. My great-erandfather mast have been a feeble, fickle sort of chap. Before six inontlis vcfV out he had married another woman and had made an other wflL There was tn Interval for kisses. Then: "But. John, fearest." sh- faltered, "when the irmihlt at with Lilian, why didnt you speak?" He looked confused. He laophed, embarrassed. Then he said: To tell you the truth, Pam, I hadnt the fHstest desire to convince Lilian of anything but that she had excellent reason for throwing me over. You seel had found out then who it was I really loved." Another interval for Iriswe. Then "But John, near." she Began again. "Why dSduH yon. at an events, tell user" 1 wasn't sure what yoo nrieht do," he said, "and ! T0B.te? I lodged von rightly. It was an exeeCent opportunity for a quixotic, generous, darling little womar to save me from disgrace. And I wanted yon at al cow." , They resumed their honeymoon. - -