CHAPTER XLVIII. Unexpected news.

Otago Witness, Issue 1861, 22 July 1887, Page 30

CHAPTER XLVIII. Unexpected news.

Thus were' all Sif John's plans and wishes set aside by the determination of an obstinate and decidedly selfish young woman to have her own way. He got her telegram from Malta and her letter from Brindisi, such a sweet, preiitily-worded dutif nl letter, for the rtto'st part the work of Rossitur's fertile brain. €Jbi»posi'tion was generally an arduous task to ycong Mrs Erskine, and it was never more difficult than immediately after her arrival at the ItaWaW port where she was met and welcomed not only by her friend Victor de Louvain, but also by his sister, who had accompanied him from Sorrento.

But in the letter that reached the Chase announcing the arrival of the little, partythere was no mention made of their' kind and thoughtful friends.

Sir John was in a pretty fume when he found that he must wait until spring to, see his son's widow and her boy ; and endless were the woes he poured into the ears of his friend Dr Murray on Dhe subject. But the dioctor,' like a sensible man, contrived to put "Mis John's- apparent; wilf ulness in a reasonable ligfrt. Me £?aid it was not possible to expect her to enter fnslly into her father-in-law's impatience to 1 embTace his grandson, and to welcome the widow of his lost son.

"She naturally wishes tc spend a few months in .perfect seclusion, poor thing," the good Rector said. "She shrinks, you may rest assured that she shrinks, from the excitement inseparable from her home coming under these sadly altered circumstances. It is just as well for you to humour her, Erskine. Just as well. Her heart must be sorely bruised and bleeding, poor girl; and nothing will help her as much as quiet." " But she will be so lonely I and think of the smells f " Sir John persisted ; but he felt that the ground was being cut from under his feet.

"Oh 1 the smells are exaggerated ; and believe me, loneliness is just what she- is pining for, or she would have come home at ( once, and the time will soon pass. I , am sure her rooms at the Chase are not ready for her yet, although you are in such a hurry ; or those wonderful nurseries for Master Jack. You are not thinking of buying a pony for him yet I suppose 1 By the way, how old is he?"

" He was born a week or two before Letty was married ; he will be two years old when he comes home, if she brings him in March. I think if I give in about the winter, I ought to insist upon March." , " What about the east winds after Italy ?"

" Oh — bother Italy ! I wish there was no such place ! And you' know we hardly ever have the east wind in Stoneshire. Oh, no I I must insist upon March ; and then we can have a nice quiet summer here. Amy will not care to see any company, of course, except just a few old friencfej and Herbert Otway I know wants to make her acquaintance."

" I saw him, by-the-bye, when we were in town last week," said the Rector. "He wanted us to dine with him at Rutland Gate, but we had not time. That is where he took the house when he married, I suppose 1 "

" Yes ; that is the place. I wonder," after a pause, " what could be done to reconcile those two."

"I am afraid the thing has gone too far now," answered the Rector. " 1 cannot help thinking that if he were in love with her still he would not go on month after month in this way. Jfr is unnatural, to say the least of it. By-und-bye you will see he will propose to have the marriage annulled. A friend of mine whom I met in town, and who knows him very well, told me the other day that he has lately been left trustee to a very handsome widow who is supposed — mind, I only say supposed, to have jilted him for the rich man she afterwards married, and who has now left her with a pot of money."

"Is her name Ogilvey 1 " cried Sir John.

" Yes ; that is it. Do you know her 1 "

" I surprised her once in his chambers, and he said she was a client ; it was before he was married, of course. Now, Murray, not a word of this to Letty. Let us wait and see what happens." During the winter there were letters once a fortnight, and sometimes oftener, from the Villa Lucia at Sorrento. They were not very long letters, nor were they specially interesting, for by her own account Mrs John Erskine led the quietest and most uneventful of lives. The weather was charming, but still the climate of Italy did not quite come up to its reputation ; and it was curious, and rather provoking, too, that the winter in England should be so unusually mild that year. There were no English families at Sorrento that season with the exception of a consumptive clergyman from Yorkshire called Beauchamp Jones and his wife and two very plain daughters. Mrs John understood from Rossitur, who had picked up a little Italian, and had heard all about; the family from the

la'uftdrs3s»-9? afl^oipieih the world, |hatthe Jones*' 1 poor people,' b'^tf ■ left peven other daughters at home in the Yof^hftre Bectory, Little Jacky was growing very fas^'nfe" dear grandpapa would be glad to hear ; bdt he was not like either his darling father or her, and he was slow at speaking ; and so also was, Rossitur's boy, little Georgy Pottinger. Mrs John wondered if being born in India had anything to do with it. . Jtlst after Christmas there was rather a lopg fereak in the correspondence, and when &i lash a fetter cattle, it was full of the tragedy thatMQ ffibttt^bammed' at Lady Judith Foster's' wedding,- ( AT^c'e hsfd jwrtoen to her sister, Bella, and told AW, all ab*6t(fc their brother's attempt upon his life in the' church! while he was in the act of playing the wedding party down the aisle, and of his illness, recovery, and engagement to Ellen Balfour, the schoolmistress."

" Rossitur is in despair !" Mrs John concluded, " not only at the commonplace ending to it all, but also because he is throwing himself away upon such a girl ; and they have actually made up their minds to go to Australia ! He has got the post of organist in one the Melbourne churches." " I think," said Letty, when the letter was read, " that Amy might not treat us to the Stillingfort news. Does she imagine that we do not know all about Judith's marriage. By the way, the Millbahkes were at' Naples the other day, and they are in Rome now."

The end of February came and then Mrs Erskine, of her own accord, fixed the time for her arrival in England, and Sir John could not contain his joy ! Letty and Miss Lambton did not anticipate the coming of the young widow and her son with such lively satisfaction ; and although they did not speak of their doubts to one another, each was convinced in her own mind that Mrs John's presence would have the effect of breaking up once for all the quiet home life of the Chase.

Another letter somewhat quickly followed the one wherein Mrs Erskine announced that on such and such a day she meant to start for England ; and it contained news so unexpected, and of such importance to all concerned that it will bo given in the writer's own words.

"What do you blank, dearest Sh John, Letty, and Annt Louise 'I , Can you believe it? ROSSITUR HAS LEFf ME I!! lean scarcely believe it myself although I am on the spat, but she is gone I Actually GONE ! ! I And what I am to ) do without her Ido not know. I never expect to have my hair properly dressed again, and as to finding any of my things — it is hopeless ! We had a disagreement and she said she wished to go, and of course I could not ask her to stay, and so she went ! I consider that she has treated me in the most heartless and ungrateful manner after my years< of kindness, and the way I stood by her, I may say fought for her, when she very nearly got into a serious scrape just before her marriage to that poor Pottinger! And what a bad wife she made him, but that is neither here nor there, is it ? My poor darling never liked her, I must vsay that ; and if he had had his way she would not have been with' me very long after I married. But he saw how useful she was, so he never interfered about her a second time. Oh, my darling husband ! If I only had you now ! Well, it all came about in this way. I had my Ayah here all the winter, and she took the entire fcharge of the two children — mine and Rossitur's — but when she went away (I sent her back a fortnight ago) I proposed to Roseitur that, as soon as we got to England, she should settle her boy with her sister at Stillingfort, and then come back to me and act as my maid and little Jack's nurse. Now, Was there anything very unreasonable in that ? She could have done the double work perfectly, and I did not like to arrive at the Chase with two servants in my train. But my lady was highly offended at being asked, and said she would attend upon me as usual, but that she did not like taking care of children, and would have nothing to do with my darling pet. I got a little vexed, perhaps, but she was really very impertinent (as she can be when she likes), and the upshot is that she went the very next day. But where she went to I have not the faintest notion. lam afraid she is up to no good, ior I noticed a curious change in her of late. 1 " Now, as soon as I get to London, I am going to look out for a nice, steady girl, who will act as my maid and Jack's nurse. He is getting bigger and older every day, and he will soon be past nurses ; besides, I am sure dfar'Letty or jAunt Louise would not mind looking^affcer him sometimes when the girl was engaged \s ith me ; or there might be a housemaid without much to do (that was what I said to Rossitur), and I really do not want so very much done for me, as you will see. I am very curious to know if that woman has gone home. Could you find out quietly by and bye ? lam sure she has not ! She is very deep. My darling Jack always said she was very deep, and I am sure now he was right. As soon as you get my telegram from the Grand Hotel to say I am there, come up at once and take me home. I feel I sliall never be happy until I have seen you all.

Sir John looked quite radiant as he finished the letter. "I must go and tell Murray," he said.

" What do you think of the latest news ? " he exclaimed, as he walked without ceremony into Dr Murray's study. " Amy writes to say that Rossitur ia gone. Think of that. Rossitur is gone.