Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 40, Number 32, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 27 December 1907 — A CROWN OF FAITH [ARTICLE]

A CROWN OF FAITH

CHAPTER Vl.—-(Continued. 1 The pursuing Romeo had found himself looking right into the eyes of Lionel Ecigh—eyes which flashed indignant fire; yet the fair-haired gentleman continued to laugh boisterously. ; “What in the world brought you here to-night?" asked Lionel suddenly. “Are you not engaged to Miss Jane Wilkinson, fwtKr-wHf -h^Hso—Uiirty—thouaand."'# ; j;ear,_ *rbo lores you, and whom you did not noeet this evening, although the poor child (appeared on the wall!” “Poor little thing! Well, to tell you the truth, impecuniosity is to blame for Aequar at the ‘Black Wolf* last night, after the dinner? Well, that state is not changed. I !had relied on receiving a check this very day, and I received it not. .The postman pissed—actually passed the ‘Black Wolf,’ and left nothing within its ancient portals for man, woman or child.” “But what do you want with Miss iWycheriy?" “Want the same ns you do—l want to marry her. Colonel Wyoherly can give bia daughter- estates to the value of ninety thousand a year.” “Very possibly,” “I had seen this little beauty last Sunday, stepping into the grand W ycherly carriage, at the door of the abbey at Abbotshold, whither she had driven in to aervlce, attended by the veriest she-drag-on of a governess. Poor Jenny toppled from her throne in my faithful heart, where she had sat in state ever since last autumn. Then, when I found out that Ella Wycherly was rich in other gifts than ripe, red lips and roguish dark eyes, why, I did not despair when the postman brought no check. I walked over here, I reconnoitered; she appeared at a window, ■he called to me, and when I approached, she addressed me as ‘Mr. Calthorpe.’ Oh! It is the richest joke! Do you know who I am, my dear fellow? The old, crookpd Earl of Beryl Is my uncle, and Arthur Calthorpe is my twin brother; he does me out of the estates and titles only by the space bf one half-hour.. Fact !” And now Lionel remembered that when he had met Miss Wycherly with Mr. Calthorpe in the drive, he had been struck by that gentleman’s resemblance to some one, though he could not tell whom. “So she called you Calthorpe?" “She did, my dear fellow; and it strikes me you and I will find mine admirable brother in the way. The pretty creature Is fascinated with Arthur. Come on, now, to the ‘Wycherly Arms.’ There is cheerful warmth by the ruddy blaze; there will be village gossip, and village waggery to amuse us. and a little man who sings The Village Blacksmith’ so excruciatingly out of tune it’s worth a guinea to bear him.”

CHAPTER VII. Leila Leigh was French governess at St. Martha’s College. She had plenty of work from dawn till dusk in these abort Xovember days. She had tfreakfast, classes after breakfast; half a dozen music pupils; she gave lessons in water colors, she taught embroidery, she toiled incessantly; but, after the 6 o’clock tea, her time was her own. Then she might writeGetTers. or read novels, or sew for herself, or practice on the piano or Hie harp. On both instruments Lionel’s beautiful sister wa.s a proficient. On the evening when the attempt at an elopement from the sacred precincts of St. Martha's was frustrated by the opportune arrival of Messrs. Cummington and Howlex, Leila was not writing letters nor reading fiction, nor trimming hats. She sat idly enough before a bright fire, which glowed on the hearth in her small apartment —a neat little rodm, where the plainness of the school furniture was clothed and adorned by the fine taste and delicate handiwork of the poor little teacher.

By 10 o'clock everybody ia St. Martha's was in bed and all the lights were out. It was 7 o'clock when Leila sat before her cozy fire. Her cheeks wsre Hushed, bet-eyes shone, her heart beat fast. In her hand was a note received that day. It was not signed, but there was a monogram at the top, and a coronet. The note came from Beryl Court. The writer of the note was Arthur Calthorpo, heir to the Earldom of Beryl. Tears fell upon that little note. Leila read it, folded it np, read it again. - then -sat looking into the fire.. All at once came a little, sudden rap at the door. “Come in," said Leila; and there ran in a little, white woman about twentyaeven, with heavy plaits of blown hair, and wearing a green dress. “Oh, Miss Gregson!” said Leila, getting up and offering the little lady a chair. “I am sorry. had forgotten all about It.’* “Nevertheless, dear, you must tell me this story; I am sure there is a great deal in it. I am writing a novel, and I feel convinced there are the elements of a plot in the strange history of your youth and your handsome brother,'’ Miss Gregson took out a pocket book and pencil, prepared to make notes on What Leila Leigh had to relate. Leila looked down at the little note folded in W.«jrftnd. then once more at the, fire. fßen she began her tale; “Mamma died the day I was born, and her loss saddened all my father's life, wrapped him in 'a glotni from whP% he never emerged for a Hqjyle day. Mamma died in Normandy, in a little village called St. Pierre des Montague*. I was pu* out to nurse with a family of *OO4 Norman peasants, and papa went away with my brother Lionel. When 1 was seven years old, papa came back to St. Pierre des Montagues with Lionel. After awhilt I went home to Chateau MVeauville, a gloomy old mansion four miles ovdF)of §t. Pierre. “My father took (possession of Chateau Moreauville —that is to say. he rented it from the proprietor, who was absent in Italy. Papa was tired of wandering •round the world. He was a writer of •cientific and philosophical subjects, and |ke earned a few hundreds yearly. Home of this money be saved; but be was very anxious about the education of hie chil-

dr?n, and verxf ambitious that Lionel should shine ip some department of science or literature. He was taken with an illness, a slow fever, not violent, but lingering. prostrating. By- dint of care and watchfulness, he began to recover. In the midst of October, just when the forest was golden, and the scarlet geraniums, which ran wild in the uncultured gardens, were abloom and ablaze, papa came down intb the drawing room. We had a large fire, and we crowded about it —Lionel, papa and myself. How pale and gaunt was that dear face which we loved so tenderly, and yet which always seemed to me awful, with the shadow of a secret, which looked out now and anon from the depths of his! mournful eyes Suddenly he spoke. “‘My children, I have dose you an injustice. W’hen I die there will not be more than five hundred pounds left, after my debts are paid, and neither of you |have finished your education. I had hoped to live until] Lionel was a man; then I would have ; told him the story of his mother, and I would have asked him to renounce land, gold, title, for her sake.’ “ ‘Title!’ cried Lionel, starting to his feet. ‘Oh, father, who are you?’ “Then papa struck the gold-headed stick vigorously against the iron grate. Strength seamed to come into his feeble hands, _fi_re : seemed to flash out of his sunken eyes. “‘Ah!’ he said* shaking his head and lookfrig sarcastlaj|ly at Lionel ;‘I would not trust you. A title, thirty thousand a •year, an English mansion, a deer park, a house in Mayfair, a seat in the Upper House. Lionel—Lionel, could you renounce all these because your father is a Republican at heart, and would fain have you despise them? No, lad —no. I will tell, you nothing now. I may not die yet a while. Before I go, you may be wiser—you may value other things before these world’s gauds?* “And weeks passed, during which the subject was not resumed. Winter came on, and papa seemed better. We drove out once or twice. At last the snow fell in silent, swift fashion for two days and nights, find all the park and country was one wide white sheet. It was piercing cold. Gavotte made up great fires in the hall. One evening I went and lay on a rug, full in the blaze and warmth, and I fell asleep. When I awoke the hour was late ; the fire had dwindled to a few red embers; the cold was piercing. My father was pacing the hall iength from end to and, and with him w r as another person. I was, .superstitious. As a girl of fifteen I had read German legends until I was half afraid to go to bed ; and now, while I watched my father come into the faint light of the dying embers, I was thrilled at the sight of a tall man—an utter stronger, who wore a long cloak and close skull cap. I could not see much of his face; but his voice was the sweetest, the strangest, the saddest 1 have ever heard in my life. It was not a young voice; 5 the man in the cloak was not a young man. He and my father stood close to me without perceiving me where I lay, covered with an old black shawl, looking like a blot of shad#’\v on the floor. “ ‘I must not wrong my children,’ said pai>a ; ‘but I do not wish Lionel to have the box or the parchments till he is twenty-one. At the same time, you must tell them—tell them both when I am gone that there is a title, and that there are lands. You know everything, and you must explain.’, “ ‘Where is the bos?’ said the sweet, strange voice.

“Without answering anything, my father began to move a way toward the, other end of the huge hall. The tali man in the cloak went with him. I watched them without stirring. I saw them pace down the length of the vast apartment until their figures gleamed in the faint light which streamed through the painted window, like ghosts or the shadows of men. My heart beat fast. A title —estates! It was true, then* this vision of splendor which had shone out for a moment from among the thick clouds of n r a eventless life? AH papa’s teachings had not quelled the natural petty ambitions in our young, warm, human hearts. 1 had fancied that It would be my fate, when my education should be complete, to teach in a school, or go into a private fatally as a governess : but now another career opeued before me. I should wear diamonds and go to court. Lionel would make wonderful speeches in the English Parliament. “Who was that odd man in the eloak v who seemed to know so much, and in whom my father confided so completely? I waited'anxiously for their return. Slowly along the vast hall, with measured steps, came my father and the mysterious man, and presently they stood once more in the red glow of the dying embers, close to where I lay under the black shawl. “ ‘Then the box containing the certificates of your marriage and of the births of your son and daughter is in that large black chest close to your" bed's head?’ said the man in the cloak. f* ‘lt is there, nad I feel very ill; I have not long to live. I will give you the ke f V of the chest. When you hear of my death, come here and unlock it, and you will l?nd an oblong silver casket and an 014-fasliioned Maltese cross of yellow topaz set in gold, with a portrait of Leila, nfv bride,painted very small on ivory in the center. There il%i necklace of gold attached. Give that tfcpd the cross to Leila.’ “After that they paced off once more ti> the end of tn? hall. Presently I saw tliem returning; but they did not stand the third time close to the tire. They passed it, and as soon as their backs were turned toward .me, I rose nois l«tj>ly and escaped at the other end of the hart. The uext day I looked for the stranger at the breakfast table, nut be was not there. I d.d not dare to question papa. I never saw nor heard a word of the stranger from that day to this. , , “When Lionel returned I told him my tale. He said he thought I must have had a dream before the hearth in thf great hall; but the result proved jh.it tc*be impossible. Let me hurry over the recital of the moat unfort umU event of my life

- in as few words as possible. One morning, in early spring, when the primroses in the park “of Moreauville were blooming in knots of pale gold, under the shadow of the great laurels, when blue crocuses and violets glowed aloHg the terrace walk; when the morning breeze was brisk, and the sun -was bright, papa was found dead in his bed at Chateau Moreauville. We thought not of the -black chest, nor of titles and estates then; we mourned for him. “We have never ceased to mourn for him. H« "was buried- in the little cemetery at St. Rierre des Montagues. Then we opened the black chest. We never found the key; but Lionel forced the lock. -We found my father’s will, stating where the few hundreds were deposited which he had gained by literary-effort; and giving directions for the mggby to be used for our education. There were a few rings and earrings of gold, set with pearls and amethysts; there was, above all, the cross, with the likeness of my mother in*the center, which proved that I had not dreamed while I lay before.the fire; but there was no silver caaket, whi!<v as for the stranger in the red cloak, he never appeared agaii.” ; “I would find him out!” cried Miss Gregson, excitedly springing up and walking about Leila’s chamber. “Are you to toil as under-teacher for a paltry twentyfive pounds a year, and is your handsome brother to be snubbed by a lot of manufacturers, when he is a real lord, an earl, and English nobleman? If he could only find it out!” , “If he could only find it out!” echoed Leila.

CHAPTER, VIII. The days rolled on, and the brilliant 7th of December drew nearer and nearer —that seventh of the month, when the splendor of Beryl Court was to blaze forth over the whole wide county. Never had such magnificent preparations for a fete taken place within the memory of one single inhabitant in that part of England. -Arthur Calthorpe was a young gentleman with artistic tastes and a love of lavish expenditure. He was heir to the earldom; and his old uncle refused him nothing. He it was who gave the orders, and devised the decorations, and busied himself with invitations to the numerous guests. December came in, hard, bright and frosty, with icicles on the trees, and skaters on the pond, and a clear, piercing, rarified air., There was excitement in nearly every house within ten miles of Beryl Court. The dootors’ daughters and the clergyman’s daughters were all invited. Young hearts beat, and young eyes sparkled; tongues, young and old, chatted volubly. -y-" The day arrived —Wednesday, Decern* her the ,7th. It was early in the afternoon. The Wycherly party were invited to dinner. Dinner was to be at six; the ball was to begin at eight. Ella Wycherly stood before a long cheval-glass, dressed for the dinner and the ball, tier mother iraxD devised irer costume for her. Her skirt was of rich white silk, brightened by gleams of a delicate rose color. Ella wore rubies, Wycherly heirlooms, but they had been exquisitely set in gold. A band of rubies confined her dark brown hair. The beautiful face, with its flushed cheeks and flashing eyes, looked discontentedly enough at its own reflections in the cheval-glass. ‘‘Silks, laces and jewels!” said Ella“I hate being loaded wdth valuables in, this fashion, Sistine. If I might have chosen my own dress, I think I would have chosen white crape 0 , with a trimming of ivy leaves; and I would have had ivy leaves in my hair. My only ornament should have been that brooch, with a large emerald which I saw in mamma’s jewel case. I hate wearing these family jewels and the family lace.” In this mood Ella entered the Wycherly carriage, with its fur rugs and foot-warm-ers, and all its defenses against winter cold. The carriage held four—Colonel and Mrs. Wycherly, Ella.and Miss Worthington ; Dr. Dundas sat on the box. Eighty g&estk sat down to dinner that day at Beryl Court, and from the first moment that she appeared Colonel Wyeherly's heiress, with her beauty, her vivacity, and her family jewels, was installed as queen of the fete and belle of the ball. Dancing commenced at eight. The ballroom at Beryl Court was vast. Shrubs and exotics covered the walls from ground to ceiling. Here and there, amid the bloom and greenery, gleamed an euonnous mirror, in massive golden frame. Chairs anil couches of light-green satin were placed against the walls for the accommodation of those who did uot dance, and on a raised dais, hung with green velvet and gold, stationed a full military baud. (To be continued.)