A Perilous Secret

l he had laid the alternative before hi

ne with Bartley, treated Walter'

m whether he owed nothing, not even a sacrifice of his prejudices, to

stake I venture to lay aside delicacy, and ask you whethe

d the Colonel, "wi

never give

rim Colonel; "but I se

and save you fro

sir? Why, she

euce s

a Cliffor

s news

lifford, and your own sister. An

not a trader; not

traders as the old coach proprietors were. They let their land, and so do you, to the highest bidder, not for honor or any romantic sentiment, but for money, and that is trade. Mr. Bartley is his own farmer; well, so was Mr. Coke, of Norfolk, and the Queen made him a peer for it-what a sensible sovereign! Are Rothschild and Montefiore shunned for their speculations by the nobility? Whom do their daughters marry

s, and my son shall not marry the daughter of a trader and cad who

that he feared to con

to despair. I leave you to reflect. Perhaps

the water, and did not write one word to Clifford Hall, except a line to Julia. "Left England heart-broken, the victim of tw

ernation at Clifford Hall brought

ogether, and Julia was

But Mary i

, "that I am the person

at have

d waiting would not alter it; and h

advise you if you have a

ess I would consent to

efused-ver

quence? I have driven the man I love away from his friends, as wel

To be married on the sly and to have to hide it from everybody,

worse

n knowledge or experience, and it has guided you straight.

pt to enter the female head along with the

o proper dress, not even a bridal veil fit to be seen! Why, it ought to be the great show of a girl's life, and she ought to be a

for breath

p it till further orders.' Then they walked a little further. 'Why, what is this? Two pairs of white gloves. Try the little pair on, and I will try the big ones. Stop! I declare here's a church, and the bells beginning to ring. Why, who told them that I've got a special license in my pocket? Hallo! there are two fellows hanging about; best men, witnesses, or som

n despair, and would cure himself of his affection if he could. She began to pine; the roses faded gradually out of her cheeks, and Mr. Bartley himself began at last to pity her, for though he di

like a change. "I could take you to the s

hen everything is going so prosperously? I think I shoul

talk to you of

"she would; and that's the onl

sing him, and regretting the insuperable obstacles, and if she

ough he was too proud to show it; he now found out that universally as he was respect

ch mortified the old soldier more than all. He was sole proprietor of the village, and every house in it, with the exception of a certain beer-house, flanked by an acre and a half of ground. This beer-house was a great eye-sore to him; he tried to buy this small freeholder out; but the man saw his advantage, and demanded ￡1500-nearly treble the real value. Walter, however, by negotiating in a more friendly spirit, had obtained a reduction, and was about to complete the purchase for ￡1150. But when Walter left the country the proprietor never dreamed of going again to the haughty Colonel. He went to Bartley, and Bartley bought the pro

lonel Clifford had a worse attack of that complaint than ever; it ro

daily, and his lawyer also was sent for, and was close

stablished by which the rival magnates also received plenty of information, though not always accu

*

or two longer, as he had a sore throat and fever, but nothing alarming. Three or four days later came

nd gave his reasons, which were really sufficient, and now he

in black, and looking almost a gentleman, was driven up to the farm by Colonel Cl

speculation, so John Baker was shown at once into her

d he, "we are in great

left his address, and m

unfeigned exclam

for this world, I do begin to blame myself. I never thought that he would have taken it all to heart like this. But, there, the only thing now is to bring them together before he goes. We don't know his address, miss; we don't

as any of you, and I have felt it as deeply as any father can, but never have I felt it as now. What! The father to die, and his son's hand not in his; no looks of love and forgiveness to pass between them as the poor old man leaves this world, its ambitions and its quarrels, and perhaps sees for the first time how small they all are compared wi

e dropped into a chair, his white head sunk upon his bosom,

e, at the door. Mary sprang toward him impetuously. "Oh, papa!" she cried, "

d I thought I saw a foreign postmark." He slipped back into the hall, brought in se

the least agitation or the least loss of t

letter open, and read

NOAILLES, MARS

rong; but it looks like quarrelling to hide my address from you. Only I do beg of you, as the on

ll death,

is he?" Mary told him. "Well, write him a telegram. It shall be at the railway

ram: "Pray come to Clifford Hall.

artley. And on perusing

much; leave him the o

rite a business telegram, and m

ectly-your fat

miss, and make you happy one day. I'll take it myself, as my trap is at

ut a smile almost of happiness came and tarried on her sweet face for the first time these many days; as for old John Baker, he

ich he was careful not to bestow on the young wags in the servants' hall: "Mrs. Milton," says he, "I am an old man, and

ely; and what

ray to God, and I hav

ad two stout partisa

*

s, and not demand accounts from Mary's trustee. So now he would have positively encouraged Mary in her attachment, but one thing held him back a little: he had learned by accident that the last entail of Clifford Hall and the dependent estates dated two generations back, so that the entail expired with Colonel Clifford, and this had enabled the Colonel to sell some of the estates, and clearly gave him power now to leave Clifford Hall away from

orns till this young man comes home; perhaps now wou

t's twenty miles, I believe, to w

he's staying with her sister G

u sure,

o me yesterday about her little p

ou allow he

dvance them civilly. That woman helped me to save your life in a very great danger, and for many years she has been as careful as a mother, and we are not, so to say, at daggers dr

but it was a grand place. There's a bea

d the bed properly aired as well as the sheets, and you shall go to-morro

x blandly absorbed it, and took the opportunity to say, "Of course it is understood that matters are to go no further between you and Walter Clifford. Oh, I don't mea

rt me than Mrs. Easton or anybody can; but I feel

gave Mrs. Easton the letter, and was duly installed in the state bedroom. She wrote to J

nxious, and remorseful, and was shown at once to his fath

u'd come. We've had our

's hand, and nothing was said between t

day, and, above all, nourishment at all hours of the night when the patient would take it. On the afternoon after his arriv