CHAPTER XVII. MR AND MRS RUGGLES COME TO PHILADELPHIA.

Te Aroha News, Volume V, Issue 213, 30 July 1887, Page 7

CHAPTER XVII. MR AND MRS RUGGLES COME TO PHILADELPHIA.

Mr Robert Gordon's house was at last completed, furnished and ready for occunajic'"- and a veritable palace of luxury a,nd eleganoelfc wa^j tbO: , The feite upoii tohton it had been built was unexceptional, while the grounds had all been laid oub with exquisite taste before the house wdft erected. There Were long, smoothly gravelled walks, overarched with wide-spreading, luxuriant trees, leading up to it. There was & beautiful lawn, green and as smooth as Velvet, in front, and this was ornamented With choice shrubs, lovely beds, and here &nd there a fountain and choice pieces of gleaming white statuary. Wide marble steps led up to the spacious mansion, and the grand entrance hall, whose rich and elegant furnishings ga\e but a faint idea of the magnificence awaiting beyond.

On ono side of this was the grand drawingroom, extending the whole length of the house, and furnishod with almost royal splendour. Opposite were a receptionroom, tho library, and dining-room, all marvels of luxury; while beyond there was a spacious conservatory, filled with choice plants and exotics. An imposing stairway of carvod oak led to the looms above, which were arranged en suite, and which were also as rich and beautiful as money and good taste could make them. Ruby's apartments, comprising a parlour, bedroom and dressing-room, were upon the south side of tho house, commanding a delightful view of the Schuylkill and Fairmount Park, and were lilted up with a daintiness just suited to the lovely girl. The family moved into the luxurious abode about the first ot December, and Mr Gordon and his wife planned to give a grand house-warming not far from Christmas time. "Robert, let us send for Mr and Mrs Ruggles ; it would be something grand for them to be at such a party,*' Ruby said, when they were making out their list of invitation?. Mr Gordon laughed and glanced at his wife. " Ebtelle, what do you say to Ruby's proposition ?" he asked. " Don't you imagine that they would feel rather out ot their element?" Mrs Gordon inquired, raising her eye- brows, while her lip-s curled with a smile of scornful amusement. " People like to get out of their element, sometimes," her husband responded. "They treated us very handsomely when we were at Redville. If you have no serious objections, it might be as good a time as any to return their hospitality and show them something of the city ; besides, Ruby seems anxious to have them here." "Oh, Estelle, let them come," Ruby pleaded. " Nhey are \ery nice, harmless people, and I u ill manage not to let them be conspicuous at the reception to annoy you with their rustic ways."' " Veiy well,"asPeiteclMisGordon. " But mind, I shall hold you to your promise. They will be your guests, and you must entertain them.' 1 She was a woman who had a great reverence for gold, and she felt that even the rustic Ruggles could be endured foi a time, since they bade fair to become, if they were not already, one of the wealthiest families in the State. Ruby was delighted at having gained her sister'd consent. She knew it would be a red-letter day in their lives, so she directed their invitation, and wrote a kind letter to send with it, in which .she begged them to come a week befoie the grand reception, and make them a little visit. She was quite diplomatic in tin's movement, for she thought it would give her time to pee that they were propeily equipped for the occasion, so that her sister's fastidious taste need not be offended, nor they rendered conspicuous anionjr their guests by any eccentricity of costume. An answer came very shortly, accepting her invitation, and mentioning the day on vhich they would arrive in the city. One other favour Ruby had craved of her brother : but she did it with dropping lids and a flush upon her cheek". It was that he would send Walter a card for their house-warming. " You're too 'ate, my pet," he said, laughing, and patting the ro««y cheek nearest him. " One has already gone to our fine young aichitect." " Oh, thank you, Robert, for remembering him. I would not like to have him neglected. lam sure it will be a rare pleasure. '' "A rare pleasure to whom, petite V quizzed her brother, with a twinkle in his eyes. " Why, to Mr Richardson, of course," Ruby retorted, but with a blush which betrayed that it would he a pleasure in which she would share. A week before the grand reception Mr and Mrs Ruggles arrived, and weie kindly and graciously received by the Goidons, the fastidious lady of the house not excepted. Mrs Gordon, after giving the matter some thought, had concluded that it would be policy to extend every possible courtesy to them. She knew that they were relatives of Edmund Carpenter — who, in her own mind, she had decreed should marry Ruby, if any manoeuvring on her part could accomplish such a union. They had no children of their own, and, since they had taken such a fancy to her beautiful young sister, their great wealth might possibly be thus added to their family. Accordingly, she surprised Ruby by being very gracious to them. Mr Gordon, having no such mercenary calculations, was most cordial and genial simply out of the nobility of his great heart, while Ruby betrayed genuine delight in her welcome. Mrs Ruggles was very becomingly arrayed in a modest but rich travelling costume of fine, dark-grey cloth, while her husband looked really neat in a new and becoming business suit. The house-warming had been set for the 21st, and Mrs Ruggles confided to Ruby at the outset that she must have a dress suitable for the occasion, and asked her advice and help in obtaining it. " You are not to count the cost either, Miss Ruby," Owen Ruggles interposed. " I want mother to do you credit, so you just get the best— what you would want your own to wear to such a party." Ruby'seyestwinkledat these instructions, for she remembered Estelle's fears regarding eccentricity of costume, and she resolved to give her sister a surprise such as she had not had for many a day. " I will take you to my own dressmaker," ehe said. " She will tell us just what you need, and we will have her make it." So a private consultation was held with the fashionable modiste. A handsome black satin was advised, and Ruby enjoyed herself hugely in purchasing it, together with some other really nice adornments for the approaching festival, " Father is going to have a new suit, too -made to order at Wanamaker's" Mrs Ruggles confidentially informed Ruby ; and the latter could hardly wait to witness the astonishment which she knew this new departure on the part of the farmer and his wife would occasion both Estelle and Edmund Carpenter. That gentleman was still very marked in his attention for Ruby, but she seemed _ to feel more and more of aversion toward him, and shunned his society upon every possible, occasion when she could do so without actual rudeness, Tne week that followed the 1 dtrivn] of her guests was a very frusy and pleasant one, for she took them to Ml the points of interest in the city, visiting churches, art museums, the Mint, picture-galleries, etc. , during the day, and going to some conceit or theatre in the evening. Walter had called soon after their arrival, and had been invited to make one of the party whenever he could spare an evening 1 . This was a temptation and privilege he could not resist, and he was thus thrown much into Ruby's coveted society, where he was made to feel both welcome and useful "You will be with its here to-morrow evening," Ruby said to him on the night before the 21st, as lie wa« taking Ms leave

of her after having escorted her party home from the theatre. ♦' Yes, I had planned to come for a little while," he replied, with quickened heartthrobs, as he looked into the lovely eyes raised with such eager questioning to Lis. " For a little Ayhile !" she repeated, in a disappointed tone. " Oh, I hoped you would come early, and stay through the whole. We are to have a delightful time. You know the stable in but just finishedall but the stalls and boxes — and Robert has had it beautifully decorated, and an awning extended from the house to it, and we .are to dance theie. You dance, do you not ?" "I used to." " And is the experience so far in the dim past that you have forgotten how?" Ruby asked, archly. "No, indeed, and I enjoy dancing very much ; but my life has been .such during the last few years that I have had no opportunity to exerci.se my accomplishments in that line." "Then a little tripping of the 'light fantastic ' will refresh your memory and do you good." "But I fchall be a stranger to almost everyone here." "1 believe/ did not find it such a formidablo undertaking to get acquainted with you," Ruby retorted, with a light laugh ; "and I know scores of young ladies who will make charming partners after an intioduction. 1 fchall expect you to present yourselves in season for the iirst quadrille." "I promise, upon one condition," said Walter, in an eager tone. "And what is that?" " That you will dance it with me." A ripple of colour stole into Ruby's cheek, and her eyes dropped an instant as she met his glance. Then she drew back and swept him a charming little courte&y, saying : "With pleasure, Mr Richardson. lam delighted to have secured your presence upon such easy terms." "Thank you,"' Walter simply returned, but his eyes told her that he longed to give utterance to much stronger language, while the clasp of his hand at parting had a lover's lingering touch in it. (To le Continued.)