FIEL'S DELICATE CASE.

Waikato Times, Volume II, Issue 103, 28 December 1872, Page 3

FIEL'S DELICATE CASE.

WiriiH Mrs Kiel was a bride, the spectators agreed that she was a pretty and girl, who would make a line woman when she came to fill out. But blio never did fill out : 011 tho contrary, Time, that stolo her years away, r .»"•>!> 1 h" of plu.npn -ii too; at) I after thirty anniversaries 0 thai, ■vird.linjr. I.iy, s :c wis cjusi lorably more lender t itin at »;a ting. She wore curls, and a b'aek bind rojn.l lie • forchea I, and mil tens—tot knowing t.iat thiye tilings ha 1 long ceased to make lu:r attractive, and, on a first introduction, would have struck you generally as being somewhat of a guy; but a bolter wile you would scarcely find in all Engfand, and that is infinitely more important than comeliness and tastef.il attire, as you will own before you have bojtt married a quarter of a century. Excellent at all times, Mrs Kiel culminated at meals. Call no man happy t ill you have seen him at, breakfast: a natural Titabilitv in Mr F.cl's disposition ha.lboen almost entirely ■to Iby litLle soothing cum forts and tit-bits. He was a .icitrr, w tli an ofllce in London, and a aemi-detached villa i the suburbs, who had to leave the latter at nine to reach u) former by ten every This necessitated breakfait at eight, but even at that early hour Mrs Fid saw to overy detail herself. It would have shaken a confirmed bachelor to have seen her table ono spring morning a few years ago — the linen so white, and the tea so black, the watercresses and radishes ho fresh, the marmalade and apricot jam ao daintily set out, the eggs so new looking, the loaf so brown and crusty, the dry toast so crisp and thin. And when sho heard the tread of her husband's foot on the staircase, and the flourish on his nose which invariably heralded his approach, she rang the bell for the appetising little covered dish, which matched and fitted the slop-basin, to be brought up. This contained frizzled slices of ham or bacon, delicate and curled, a sausage, a kidney, or the savory thigh of a chicken. May such be your only domestic broils! A hale neat man, with aliar. i grey eyes, and a very good opinion of himself, entered and looked at his letters, selecting and opening ono at once. 1 Well, Martha,' said ho, 'the Chip-chow has arrived at last.' ' You don't say so ! Then Mr Dobyear will bo here present ly. Will he eomo to stay with.us, do you think?' ' I don't know. You ha.l better have a bud ready ; though 1 :t ho has not come to E:ii;lan I with the idea of shutting himself up with an old man and woman four m.lesfrom the Marble Arch. Still, as everything will be strange to him at first, he may accept, my invitation for a night or two.' ' This Mr Thomas Lobyear is rich—is he not ? 1 ' Will be, I suppose. At present, ho probably depends upon his father, who has given me very liberal orders, absurdly liberal orders, about Iti-n. Prom living so long among savage-;, the old man must have lost all idea of the value of m moy. However, there is plenty of it accumulating, and it does not matter to me.'

' D m't you t'link, 1 said Mrs Fiel, 'it would bo well to have Sarah home ?' Sarah, tho onl_; child of the Fiols, was at a finishing-school ut. Cld'Lon, but she was seventeen ami a woman. ' A'i. a'l, ah!' laugh'l the law er. 'At your match-ma-king, ol i lady? F.om wha I am advisrvl, he is proof against yo'ir a t.'in,>ts. Besides which, it would bo something like a lircach of trust: old I/jbycar has evidently got other views for It is son than marrying him at present —at anyrate to an Engl's'i worn,' in.' ' Why, ho would never go and match him with a heathen, with a ring through her nose like ft pig!' 'I don't know replied Mr Fiel, laughing; 'if he could discover a new weed or u fresh variety of black beetle by it, lie certa'n'y would.' It. wis of d a gury for Mrs Fiel when hor husband laughed, and a better when he replied to her observations, instead of looking deaf and grunting, which he generally did if who alluded to Ins clients or their business; for it showed that ho was willing to be pumped, and Mrs Feil's thirst for information was great, though it was rarely slaked. In the present instance, however, the lawyer thought he might require feminine aid in the task which he had undertaken, and was therefore not unwilling to admit his wife into his confidence. ' A'i,' siid -the, ' that was a curious idea for a rich man, to banish himself completely, and give up civilised life, for the sake of studying botany mid but.terllies in Ja ian. For a pur mm, 111 1 -d, it would have been explicable if he expected 11 in ko something of it in the end ; but from what yon say, Mr Lobyeiir has more money than lie knows what to d i w I 'n as it is.' ' Yes; I c viis well oT originally, and got a good porperty through lus wife besides.' ■ Alt, poor mini ; 1 daresay grief for her death gave him a craze.' 'Fudge!' exclaimed M r i"'ii 'I, somewhat rudely. 'Tic was g'ftd en >u ; ;h lo he IVce to go hunting on his favorite hobby. I; i.ie hid lived another year it is my opinion that he would have b died and left her.' ' Ah, well,' saul Mrs Kiel, ' it is a fortunate thing for him, or at any rate fir this son, that ho llxed on so good a man of business as yourself to look after his interest.' 'Well,' rep'icd her husband complacently, 'considering that, the bulk of his property is in houses in a rapidly improving neighbourhood, and that tho tenants arc up to all sorts of dodges to avoid having their rents raised, perhaps an agent who was not sharp enough might miss an advantage here and there. Fur instance, there was an application for the renewal of n lease the other day, and I discovered that the tenant, who ha I been paying forty pounds a year, had underlet for the last three years at a hundred and ten,' ' Lor, how sharp you are!'

' Well, I win not. born in Yorkshire for nothing. I donot know of more tlnn one person who took me regularly in—that youn,' rnncil, To n Scott, who r )bbed me five years :igo.' ' Ah, t hut wns very shocking,' said the good wife soothingly ; ' but then, you know, tie way brought up in your own ollhv.' ' Why, Martha! Do you suppose, then, that ho learned dishonesty there ! I never expeete 1 an epigram like that from your mouth. I would have you to know that I could put at least, a couple of thousand a year in my pocket irotr. that L >bvcar property alone, without a chance of detection if I eh >se to be dishonourable.' ' I am sure I never meant to call you an epigram, or anv other name,' cried Mrs Fiel, astonished at this outbreak. ' I only said that ft breach of trust was easy for that Scott, beeaus > lie ha 1 been under you for sjme time, and probably had had opportunities.' 1 0' l, that is different,' sa : d her husband, cracking an egg. It was not a tender conscience which made Mr Fiel so touchy — for though priding himself upon his shrewdness, ho was perfectly upright and trustworthy—but. the thought of Tom Scott. There is this disadvantage in reckoning yourself to be cleverer than the rest of the world, that, if ever you are taken in, it rankles. So the remembrance of Tom Smith always irritated him. He had taken a fancy to the sharp lad, an 1 put. him in the office, where ho favored, encouraged, and trusted him more and more every year; and tho result had been a cui'iinj bit of roguerv an 1 ll'ght,. This was one consolation ; he had eaujht the scoundrel, who was sentenced to two years' imprisonment. Had Tom Scott got oif with impunity, his heart, would have been near breakiug. ' I suppose this young gentleman was quite a lad when his fa'her went to foreign parts T said Mrs Fiel presently, returning; to the ymmp-handlc. ' As he is not of age yet, I suppose ho must have been,' np'iel her husband, contimrng to flow. ' Was he educated in In lind before he went out to his father ?' ' I don't know. Mr Lob voir never mentioned him before. . have written regularly to advise him how his affairs stood, md he has from time to time briefly acknowledged my letters, d-'clarini himself satisfied, telling me to do what I thought best, saying where he wished his remittances sent, and now and then requesting me to un lertake certain commissions for him connected with, his pursuits, but not at all with my business. However, as he had always behaved very handsomely, I have done my best, to oblige him, and mean to do so still, though this present job is rather a delicate affair, and quite out of my line: what I call a regular piece of diplomacy. ' All ?' ' Yes. It seems that tho young man has inherited his father's fancy for a roving life, though not his scientific tastes. Ho has been livin? in Borneo for some years, sailing about with expeditions against, the pirates, and I don't know what all. Mr Lobyear, senior, went to China from Japan a yoar and a half asro ; and his son joined him at Hong-kong, where he intimated a desire to go to England for a while, and have a spell of comfortable living. The father was willing enough to let him do so, and gave him a letter of credit to me, and he started in one of the tea sailing-ships. But after he had sailed, Mr Lobyear, senior, received information from a friend that his son's principal reason for desiring to visit England was the hope of meeting with an adventuress, whose acquaintance he had made at Calcutta, and whom, in the ardour of first passion, he desired to marry. The lady ha.l other views at the time ; but had since smiled by letter on his suit ; and she is a most undesirable wife for him. This news having come to me by steamer, has of course long preceded the youngster's actual arrival ; and my mission is to prevent the marriage. This can be done with comparative ease while he is a mi ni- ; but he will come of a re in eicht months, and it. would be poor success merely to delay matters for that time. I hope to break it off altogether.' (To be continued,)