The Story-Teller.

Ellesmere Guardian, Volume X, Issue 952, 14 October 1891, Page 4

The Story-Teller.

[A MAGNETIC AFFINITY, „. {Continued.) ■ 1 Let her go,' exclainb'ed Lord; Devoy, j suddenly putting down the paper lie was leading^ abdfispeaking gomewhat sharply, ; with all a ijnan's impatience at the protraotecf colloquy. ' The girl knows her business best!' . ' I ' Yon- may .leave the room ' said Lady Deroy, shor lj.ii ■■„.■; /1; n ',./.'., A few moments of tense 'stillness en • euediT l^e, lady was, both/ ruffled and ptrangly hart, conscious as she n ad been nil along of her good motives m tlius counselling the &irl. 1 Howard— l fancied yoa spoke roughly to me just now m the presence of my servant , but surely lam mistaken ?' 'No dear, not roughly"; po&siblv Srifb pome impatience, for which I sincerely nsk your pardon. Why A my'r--he i ose proipptly.and threw the there was a suspicious moistar?!)in.< Ibe.p1 be.p fjes, then he kissed . her^f fifty !.^e,wr^ wife; ; why trouble yourself aboufr'the girl*?-; There are plenty more to be got;' K1 »■•■■■■■''■< ' But Howard, I took. a great interest m her ; that old woman who keeps the sweetmeat shop m >a tlj«?r v^UijgG U her mother. i .Sjie.is ..the_ widow of a non commissioned o^cer >; the /woman lierpelf is superior to -her surroundings, and gho was so overjoyed when I jiromised to take the pirl mid train her, lvi I cannot understand this wild t'osire to leave her home -for London — surely to her a foreign, place??'^ „,/•*, -„, Lord Devoy ' shrnggefl 1 hfa 'ghbulJers good-humpureilly,,but sa^l notjiinji:. ' T-lie^girl i p^ij.h^psls^VQ^pre'ty for 5 a servant,' continnerfjj^ |atly.s.h'ip thou^ ti 1 fullyj . .' lt |}Ut ,. ; h?r, e , j 4 n - j' I ,^ q.ui«t | lace little harm could feoine «o' Her m her girlhoo^ 'Bftd^flter etie' kbnld merry «i\a settle Apyn , here for good . Bu t Land on —and lier yr.u'th without friendly guirJs ance/^a^d liady, Devoy lifted iier. handr exprcsßively. • We won't discuss it. furtlier, Amy/ he replied quietly. . ' I'm riding over to Bowles' farm before lunch ; au revoir. 4 And he stooped and kissed her and left the room. A later conference with Mrs Thompson, however, elicited nothing beyond the astounding fact that the girl had announced her determination to leave and had point-blank declined to accept any written testimonials as to her character. As a servant, the career of Phoebe Summers ended on the day ehe left Deemster Court. During the time she retained there loth La< y .Devoy and Airs Thompson, with kindest »act, did all they could: ta dissuade^ the girl from her;strang« determination. i But without •vail. Indeed, before the week was up hearing La'ly Devoy.i/iuten'led to send for her mother, the girl disappeared one mornir|^,J^ayin|" her few pogr : ;b«long ings behind her. ' V ■ It was ascertained that after walking a short way, she, had travelled the rest of the distance ' m a carrier's cart to. Che|teßb.ain,,h»d got some dinner at a sraallijbopitiin.Etigh- street, and taken the train for London. What Deemster vill¥gi6*^nd; its-'Selfwconstituted inquirers: did f not ascertain was, that when the serym^j^'aid Arrived at Paddington station •' private brougham was waiting fos,jber,jsrbich .conveyed her to a wellappointed little house m tot John's Wood that was her very own by deed of gift. ' family wer« preparing to. leaV'e 'Deemster Godrt the second week m May for the season m town. -To expbange the eonntry-side, with its flower-stiewn fields, its woodland trac cry of green and gold, for the darker, dingier hues of London pavk9, the ennobled brick and aristocratic granite of Belgravia. But then a season means so' much, especially te the female world : the renewal of wardrobes and friendships nw Uions' to be met, new plays to be seen, scandals, hushed up or hinted at, promulgated or severely, crushed, as circumstances dictated ! the revelotions of ' high'toned ' gaming transactions best left m the dark, and probably such desirable darkness might generally be attained but for tbe intense' human itching of feminine fingers. ' Then there are sons to be seen to~ and' maids' to be married ; with other ; dis'traclive ; -items too numerous to be mentioned, but all comprised m a London, seasp^"',.. irr 7 .Basil Bradleigiir was pfl^en .over at Deemster Court, and was made very welcome by Lady Devoy:; who popular theories notwithstanding, thoroughly liked her husband's old friend. Manly to men and chivalrous to women, he proved, indeed, a charming companion to all, and m him Lat?y Deyoy found a willing coadjutor m her gentle effort to make the Deemster folk a set of happy model villagers. Nothing had distressed her so much for a long time as the fligut,Qf Phoebe Summers and th« heartrending sorrows she witnessed wneu she undertook personally to tell the girl's mother down at the villege shop . *My bairn, my bairn,' wailed the old Scotchwoman. 'Th,ebib o' sunshine m my life, my leddy ; to ha' left me with na'ej a word. . I donna think but what she was ta'en awa.' t <Jfo*in.oj think that ;it was jusfc whim, and she'll come, back ijp jou:.'^;\ if r ■;>■'■■ ;« \, ; ; ! • Ye mean kind, my led'dy ; but' ye' re all your children about ye, an' I'm reft o' mine. Saebonny she was, like music to the house. Don't I mind, her a little child siugin' frae the play-books m her ■ pretty way?'

(Continued m our met urn.) J