IT WAS A LOVE MATCH.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 6081, 23 February 1891, Page 4

IT WAS A LOVE MATCH.

CHAPTER XIV

THK HEIB. It was a bright, crisp morning in September, early in the month, that two gentlemen arrived in Boston by the Fall River ronte from New York. The first, he _ who took the lead, as though best acquainted with the oily, was a staid-appearing, well dressed— But why waste words, it was the self-same individual whom we have known as Alexander Hugo ; but upon his luggage appeared now the name Alexander Compton, and that name he was undoubtedly entitled to wear. Various other cognomens which he had been found occasionally to assume from time to time, biid been none by his inheritance. We know him, because we have been cognisant of his secret movements ; but those who have casually met him upon the street, or in the dens and cribs where the " tiger" lies in wait, will not recognise him in this, his proper guise. He had been lurking in Boston under a veil, and for a purpose, as we know ; and having, as he is sure, struck the ascending plane, he appears upon the scene to accept the benefits of the good fortune. And he has brought with him Mr Zenas Leffington, a lawyer of New Orleans, who, for a consideration, had lent himself, body and soul, to the work. He had met the lawyer in New York. This is Mr Leffington who now bears Alexander Compton company. He is a man of sixty, or thereabouts, sharp-faced, keen-eyed, and well-looking. If there has been any deep villainy, he has evidently had nothing to do with it. He does not look like a man who would knowingly or willingly take a hand in a game of open rascality. But he is a lawyer ; and he ia nervous and persistent; and with a basis of right upon tha side of his client, he would not be likely to waste respect or consideration upon the feelings of opponents. We may say here, without betraying tmy confidence, that Zenas Leffington did not know that any villainy—any direct infraction of the statutes—had been committed. He knew only this: That the Comptons had been engaged in looking after their interests in Boston, while he had been gathering evidence in and about New Orleans. He knew that Caspar had, in a manner not strictly legitimate, gained entrance into the service of Rachel St. Clair's attorney, but that was in his estimation apiece of strategy pardonable either in law or war. How much he might have suspected, had he been inclined to suspect, we cannot say; but it was not his business to suspect his clients so long as they gave him a fair pretext, and what was, perhaps, fully as |important in his eyes, a plnmp retainer, with promise of golden increase in case of successful issue. Caspar Hugo (we must still know him by the name he has thus far worn to us) had received a telegram announcing the proposed arrival of his father and the lawyer, and, by previous appointment, he met them in a private apartment near the railroad station. The first business, after having assured themselves that they were secure from observation, was the examination by Caspar-of papers and verbal evidence, brought by Leffington. "It is enough ! The chain is completenot a link missing !" cried the young man, rubbing his hands exultantly. '' The chain upon our side is complete," admitted the lawyer; "but how is the business here ?"

Caspar explained the whole matter as it then stood. Had Leffington chosen to suspect the concealment of a will, he might have gone on and suspected much more; but, as we have already remarked, he did not deem it any part of his business to suspect his clients. He had not been retained for that purpose. He listened very patiently to the end, and then said : " I think you have a clear case. No flaw appears upon the surface ; and if nothing now transpires to interfere, the court cannot do otherwise than give you the property. And now," pursued the man of law, addressing Caspar, " let us understand one another perfectly. You are to retain your assumed name through the business ?" " I must," replied the clerk. " There is no telling what wild things might be suspected were I now to discover myself When I found how close and reticent old Halford was, and how jealously he guarded the secrets of his clients, I was forced to resort to stratagem; and as it is fair to judge an act by its motive, I feel that since I only sought my inherent rights, my method of procedure, forced upon me by necessity, cannot be considered culpable. Not a soul in New England, ontside of this present trio, knows me for else than I have appeared. My father will enter upon the stage as an utter stranger. I propose that, when we leave this apartment, we forget that I have ever known or seen either of yon. You have come hither in answer to legal summons, and you will directly seek my counsel and guidance." A moment's pause, and he added with a amile: "I shall trust my father to claim and receive the property. He will not play me false." " And could not if he would," said the parent, with an answering smile. It is not my purpose to enter into the details of the legal proceedings which followed. We need only state what came to pass of important result. Alexander Compton, hailing from New Orleans, and accompanied by his lawyer, laid claim to the estate of the late Rachel St. Clair, and presented to the Probate Court his credentials. Mr Leffington was his legal counsel, and was properly introduced. Alexander Compton was a man of the world, and knew how to make himself agreeable; and to the probate officers he showed his very best face. He appeared a meek and pious man, though he did not overdo the thing by verging upon sentimentality. For himself he cared not so much as for his children, and for his prospective grandchildren. Zenaa Leffington was already known to the Court by reputation; and it was fortunate for the Comptous that they had secured the services of a lawyer who had, at least, a fair record of success in his profession to recommend him. First, Mr Leffington produced an attested copy of a will made by Victor St. Clair, husband of Rachel, said will having been duly acknowledged by legal authority and admitted to probate. The will was in two parts. The first had been made shortly after the marriage, and was a simple bequeatkment of everything of which St. Clair might die possessed to his beloved wife Raohel, without restriction or reservation of any kind. After this, his child Pauline had been born, and he had added a codicil. This codicil, however, did not seem to reflect so directly upon the child as upon a sister, who was at that time married and living near him. Though the birth of the child afforded the opportunity, the occasion was embraced to express a remembrance of this sister, not by direct bequest, but in a contingent which would seem to have been meant as a hint of his wishes to his wife.

This codicil did not in the least alter the spirit of the original will. It still left the wife free to hold and to dispose of the property ; but it provided that if, while living, she should not otherwise will, the property should, in the event of her death, go to his ohild. But, further, m case of the death of Rachel iatostate, and the death of his child without issue, the property should go to the issue of his sister Theresa; and, failing all these, it should be taken and held in trust by the city of New Orleans for certain charitable purposes which were specified. The will closed with the following—the original being in Victor St. Clair's own hand—and Mr Leffington callod especial attention to it, as showing how strong and permeating was the devoted love which had been able, even in seeming, for a season to blot out the due remembrance of a sister: t " And yet I do declare it as fully in acordancs with my will and pleasure, that .my beloved wife Rachel, may, if circumstances shall so inclino her, bequeath said estate, both real and personal, iv whole or in part, to whomsoever it may plea.se her ; and her act shall be held right and just before God and man. Thus do I manifest how truly I love and honor her." The court being satisfied of the nature of Victor St. Clair's will, Leffington proceeded, in behalf of his client, to make known the further grounds of his claim; and, by abundance of ovidence, with other evidence that could be had if wanted, he proved as follows : Theresa St. Clair, the sister of the testator, married, in New Orleans, Jasper Murdoch. Of their issue, two daughters, Theresa and Eveline, lived and married. Theresa married a James Hugo, and died in giving birth to her first child. This child, the only issue of Theresa and James Hugo, lived to manhood, and was named Adolphe. He wa? an unfortunate fellow, Badly dissolute and intemperate. " And," explained Leffington, " his friends gave him up as dead long ago. They once recoived information direct that he had been killed in a druuken affray at Vick3burg. But. from recent events, it would seem that the poor man had lived to wander this way, as wo have no doubt that he was the man who was found dead upon the railroad track not long since. He must have been in search of Madame

Rachel, probably for the purpose of obtainin «• money. Touching his assault upon the girl Christine, I can offer no explanation, because I know not the exact circumstances I have no doubt, however, that he was a desperate fellow; and if ho had planned a bold stroke, he would undoubtedly have struck had it been in his power." The coincidence of tho agreement oi Caspar's family name with that of the dead ruffian was not at this time particularly noted. It had been spoken of before, and had become an old story. Mr Leffington then proceeded with his development : Eveline, the second daughter of Jasper and Theresa Murdoch, mairied Pierre Compton. They both died within ten years after their marriage, leaving two children, one of whom alone lived to grow up. That living child of Pierre and Eveline, named Alexandkb, is now before the court, claiming the estate of Victor St. Clair through direct heirship derived from his maternal grandmother. The evidence in this direction was submitted, and it seemed a clear case that, barring claims from the other side, Alexander was the true and lawful heir. And how was it with the other side ? 1 !TO BE CONTINUES.I