The Marriage of Felicity

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10630, 8 May 1912, Page 2

The Marriage of Felicity

OUR QERIAk.

BY'ALAN ADAIR. Author of "The Earl's Wife," "The 'Bride of John Middleham," "His Ether's Son," "Bertram's Folly," etc.

CHAPTER II— CojitimwL Mrs Mouutjoy's heart went out to the lonely girl, and si if decided to keep lK!i; as long as she- would .stii.y. Another woman might lnivi' paused to eo-istdcr whether this slip of a girl would put her own buxom daughters at.a disadvantage, l>ut Mrs Mountjoy' was not a woman of that sort. '.'Tarn sure I would bo only too glad it" on? of my boys would take a fancy to !u-i\' 'said Mrs Mountjoy, but the you.UA.U'eu had already bestowed their aft ?:'i : oris elsewhere. Uatricia had been two months it 1 Mrs Mouutjoy's when she'met Edward Skortott. He had to take her in to dinner, and it was love at first sight with him. Strangely enough it never ■ occurred to Mrs Mountjoy that Edward would marry a slip of a girl without fortune. When t-'ioy arranged their places at the dinner table it was the merest of chances that Edward was to take her in. Not that it would have mattered, for the ironmaster had, with characteristic promptness, made up his mind the moment he saw Patricia. In her simple black dress, that contrasted so vividjy with he.r delicate white skin, she looked what she. was—the last del icate blossom of an ancient tree. But there was something in her ■ henrin"" that appealed to Edward Skeleton. The figure might be slight, her abundant hair covered a hear 1 erect and held high, and her deep blue, eyes had that far-away expression, in. t'heni that is often seen in those whoso tenure of life is weak. /She was to him the- ideal woman, and he vowed that ho would win ner. Skelton. lost.no time. The next day he sent her a big bunch of crimson roses, they .having talked of roses together. Patricia's, delicate face was alight with pleasure as she held the hothouse blooms and looked at-the Card attached to it. Sho wrote him a sim•ple, unaffected letter of than us, and signed herself, "Yours very truly, Patricia. Strachley.' ' ;

' "She shall bo 'mine very truly' — more truly than she thinks for!" Ed■ward said to himself, as ho uissJd the signature ;and-when he'went to see the Mouutjoys again he singled Patricia, out in .so marked a manner that Mrs Mountjoy became aware of it. The good lady was delighted. She called Enid to her and told her in confidence what she thought was , likely to libppon. "It will ho the making of her. Ed-ward-will-keep her alive, if anyone can. He has the wealth to do it, and I am sure ho will be devoted to her. Then I shall'liave her quite near me, and will be able to watch her," added the kind woman.

And so tho idyll was fulfilled, and in. a short time Patricia became Patricia Skelton. It had beeu a love match on her side as well as his. She loved. Edward as truly as he loved her, and the only drawback to their happiness ,was her extreme delicacy, which made all she wanted to do a matter .-of-im-possibility... ■ ~ From the .beginning of their married life Patricia, lost ground. Edward ■would inot'see it. He would not compare the things she was able to do one year With the things that were too much for her the mext. He was wilfully, pathetically blind, and the end of'the fifth year found him, looking forward with the keenest delight to her prospective motherhoods "I shall haye,*fo pourout a libation to tho gods/ he''said one day, to her in jest —"when I have a wife'and a. child." ■'""■ ; ■"'■ ' :

She did not -.answer except by look-. jng at liim fondly, 'but there way somethiug in her .look that alarmed him. "Wl)atisit?"heas|ecl. ' v "Only thatl am'..ridfc strong, dear! 1 neVcr was,' said Patricia. There seemed a note -of wanning in her voice. J-Io recalled the phrase over and over again. What had she meant by it? One day, driven by fears, ho asked her. "We must not ask too'much!" she said. "Whatever happens to me, .1. 'have had five years -of perfect 'happiness, and that is more than most women enjoy." ' . Patricia's little girl was born early one 'Sunday morning, and three weeks after Patricia. j)re.athed her, last, softly, and gently as she 'had lived. Three days before she died her husband had ..been told that the tihr■■ad of life was wearing very thin, lint he had grown so accustomed to Rearing this t thatiie. had hoped-on. Then suddenly tho thread snapped. ■' '■.'•.;'■ Edward Skciton buried Patricia very unostentatiously'. The child at first counted for nothing. Patricia had ' een all in all to Edward. She was his ideal of, refinement, his ideal, of ■womanhood. Ambitious on his behalf, she spurred him on to things that otherwise lie would .never Jiave dreamed of doing. And now she had gone! The child was named Felicity—an old Strachley family .name. Men wondered why Skelton had hot called his daughter' by his wife's name, but they would not havo wondered if they had known him better. There had been only one Patricia in the world for'him. ■lint when the child grew a hit older 1 Skelton began to take notice of her. Fovone thing the delicacy she inherited From her mother made it'impossible, to forget her. It was always a doubt whether each, winter would carry her off. She had to flee from, the cold of the North, every year. Tho child, however, struggled on to girlhood, and year by year the bonds between her and her father became

stronger. As she grew more and more ] companionable his love for her incroas- i cd. .She had a wanderfully unspoiled nature. Her gentle : iand tender KeuiiJ canto from her mo.ther;. from her father slic inherited brains. At tiines it seemed, as. if it were only her love, for tier father that kept her alive. ,Sne willed to live, because she did not care to leave him desolate. U was as though she knew that he could not survive a second bereavement. But she could ; not infuse ambition into him—that was buried for good and all in his wife's grave. He threw himself with ardour into many schemes for the betterment of the condition of the poor ' around him, and he lived a noble and useful life. ,

So the years crept on, now slowly. now quickly, with nothing much to differentiate one from the other. Felicity was debarred from doing most things-th.it other girls do but there were compensations. She had a weiifurnished mind, a good judgment, and she was very musical. Her face, a small oval,'had her mother's Irish eyes —her .hair, a light brown, was silky and plentiful; her features, although small; were good. She was pale, but it was an*agreeably clear pallor, and she had that rare quality "distinption.*' Her figure was slight and graceful. Skelton was immensely proud of her. There was nothing he dreaded so mucins that young men should cast admiring glances at his ewe lamb. As she was >an heiress young men were not wanting. "Of course I want you to marry," Skelton said to his daughter on one of the occasions when .a suitor had cone forward and had ben refused. "But Iwant you to remain with me a, few years longer—l want to be sur ( e of your future husband. I do not mind if he is poor. What I want is the right' man-—the man who would take care oi my daughter when,], am gone." Felicity'.'laughed, "as she always did when her father spoke to her of young men. She -was as yet heart-whole. ~' Life at Ettringham passed very I Quietly,'until one day the member of I Parliament suddenly died, and the j whole town was in a ferment. The peo- ) pie of the North oiever take an elecJ tion, even if it is a by-election,as quietly as they do in the South. Fe,li;city wanted her father to stand for the vacant seat.

"1 .should like you to be our r>.i mber now," she said to him. "I could take an interest in your candidature. Aivi with you in Parliament I could take an interest and read the papers when this miserable weakness" —-she touched her chest —"obliges me to go South. 1 ■■ "Do you really want me to contest this 'seat?' lie asked. His" face hM clouded.

She was very quick to read his thoughts.. .., { ';; ;, "Why not, father? Is there anything against it?' ' . '"■':'. :'.'.:"'

"Your mother" also wished me to seek political honours, and; 1 neye'r cared to think of it since, lost her." ~ "Would it pain you?" ' He hesitated. . ;

"Nothing that would make 'me prominent has seemed worth doing since she died,' he" said. "It is not as if you were always with me. I should be willing to givethe party all'the'help., I could, but I lack initiative. It seens" to mo to be" too much to ask-me to do at my .age. And .in the midst cf everything I might want to take yoa away. You don't go abroad with a nurso and a governess now, Felicity." She considered a few moments. •.-■.« fore, answering. ' "Very well, dad. It shall be as yo'i like. I know we may have to go ab j road at .a .moment's notice, but you j will take an interest in it?' "'I pledge you my word, thajb I will do all that I can!"' : "I think we ought to;' said Felicity. |Sho had a- great sense of the, obligations and duties of the riches and position, Accoidingly the candidate for Ettringham, chosen bv Skelton'-* party was invited to consider the Larches h.'s home when he came up to address tho constituency, and again when he began his electioneering campaign [The cadidate uas Mark Leighton. I CHAPTER HI. Pelham-Hewett did not of'eu | 'permit Mark Leighton to s.v how much she loved him. "I am prepeaied to make nHoo 1 ot mvself over him,' Uie said to he-el! many a tim. "hut there is no rea-oit why' hj" should know it.' (To he continued.)