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HomeMy WebLinkAboutLucknow Sentinel, 1892-01-29, Page 2v ' OKNOW P , • lin 04,57t.,$•!1:mottck, .146013'4134XT, &13. Soutb : Daily 3.210ti3PA • • 200 m. " .7S Allitke,C.110,24444e-tiZEL.“*" ' ediate poiuta S 900 .&B. North 1,0,19-p. m1" , Tuesdays and %. 300P111. FriclaYit (4111111. "°13"43. ..South 10,,03 .North 310p. or 4.3.9Pint• e ' tience of you foreigners QW ;r U Opola learn (Mr bar- \ el can t =dye, 'or me, I q6Filifiltelif ours. to satisfy my aces will be seen at the he Bruce. County Council , ay next. There are 119 fewer members of the present Board who bad notseatsin last year's Conn- t>y Council. "mamma Lep Broken lgr. Garton, a young man in the employ of Mr. Thos. Todd, of St. Helens, met with a serious accident on Friday last. While driving to the bush for a load of logs, be fell off the sleigh and broke his leg a few inches above the ankle joint. Royal Templars A full .attendance of the members of Luclrnow Council, No. 375, R. T. of T. is requessed next Tuesday even- ing at 8 o'clock sharp, as there is busi- ness of importance to be transacted. A good programme will also be gre- pared.—Mrs. A. M. Armstrongty • And with that he played on reek,lessly, doing his best to forget Donati's eye. CHAPTER, VI. " THE STORM BREAKS. e'coeteg. 'sed, that to believinT sows VI.. Part IL is mother? he walked For an many years resident of , Pod walker, son -k, -la%, Dir.- 'MO ; cora ort n despaie' this village, on Sun ay a" Mary Shepard, in the 84th y her age. The deceased lady w ..nimictiaTe,Ares....mamtvegro1/2110 ,E, n l.tsh Vh e eti was remains were taken to Gd alwaystolivIde, fel° all her friendsand Etcquainta interment on Monday last' from Naples, that Oyster Supper teidy. 4nt coloring and,. his John Webster's, on thell that the .4(17 An -oyster supper .w‘il" link West Wawanosh, on NEI cothte°r. hig 17aoduPleebne evening week, in honor of t,t. near connec- it would Stocker, ..who has taught school in th 11. He section for some years past. There was iiit: a large number pre'sent, including all '-': fal i'i, the elete from. St. Helens and sun. 1,, ce, rounding neighborhood. 34,A2t?c," :::i ig her ,I WaB is a popular young. man a Outhink of the yet you. all, and uow we can help her. If you love me, try to rest." But it was, too late. The Pheult and the agitittion had brought on meet thesignortee worst attacks Carlo hastily eummoned a servant, and the whole household came rushing together in a miserable confusion of helplessness. But the maids only glanced at their mistress' face and went away ; they would have left their own relations rather than have atayed in.a room where the Death An el already hovered. laia_terrihk_lonely watch, t a tar o anireifintraTITERrerta was English. The doctor had already been sent for, bat he left" his mother for a mo- ment and hurried toward the group of weeping women gathered round_An-ita. "We have sent for Father' Cristoforo, signor," said one, hoping for a word of com- mendation for her forethought. But Carlo took. no •notice, nor ,did his stern face soften. "One of you go Instantly," he said, "and fetch Miss Britton." Franeesca knew little of sickness nor had .she ever seen death, but she had, none of the Italian shrinking from a dying bed; in fact, every thought of herself was swallowed up in the one longing to be able to help Carlo. Cutting short the servant's tearful description of the signora's state-, she rushed out, not even pausing for a hat, and never stopped running till she reached ,the Villa Bruno. Then she pushed past the little group who would have detained her, knocked at the door of the salotto, and softly entered the room where, only a day or two before, they had spent such a happy evening. For a moment she stood amazed, able to think of nothing but the havoc wrought in so short a, time. Her lover knelt beside the couch; he looked ten years older than when they hi that morning. The signora, whose head rested on his arm, was haggard, ghastly, utterly changed, while the inde- scribable look of approaching death upon her face seemed reflected in the young face which bent over her. "Darling, is there anything I can do ?" eaid Franeesca when she had wiped the damp brow and reverently kissed the dying woman. " Nothing," he replied, "except to stay here. You do not mind ?" He looked up at her with questioning eyes, which yet were sure of their answer. " Oh, no !" she said. " I am so thankful you sent for me." A long sigh escaped him; he tried to stifle it, lest it should disturb his -mother, who lay with closed eyes. And after that the room was perfectly quiet, so quiet that Francesca could hear the ticking of her watch; hile the canary in the window, pecking the bars of his cage with his little pink beak, seemed to make a noise so loud that she wondered whether it would dis- turb the signora. At last there was a change in the wan face ; the eyes opened, and the signora looked up at Francesca with a smile. " Perhaps the beautiful face of the girl made her think of her own daughter, for the Smile changed to a. Wok of anguish as she turned her eyes to her son. "Don't forsake Nita—promise me—save her—try to save her." The words were , gasped out with an agony of tone indescribable. But yet it was not till Carlo's answer , was given that Francesca's eyes brimmed over ,with tears. I promise, madre mia—I promise." ' •His face was like the face of a Saviour, strong; pure and sweet ;' his voice ' was firm and clear. No one could have belied trusting him. A look of rest—even of hopefulness stole over his mother's lace. She lay still for a few minutes, then turned again to Francesca with a mist beautiful smile. "He has never given me one moment's - sorrow all his life,' aihe said. The words, which would be sweet to re- member in after years, which might bring in time to the lips of the son a reflection of the mother's smile as she uttered them, were, just then, more than he could endure. His fortitude pasts way; he. had little to reproach himself with, yet it grieved him now to remember that at times it had been ,a hard struggle to leave Naples and 'return to the quiet of Villa Brano, and that sometimes he had. perhaps lingered a little longer than he should have done at Casa Bella. Now his, days of service were over; she would no longer need his help. With a Cry which tore Francesca's neart he bent down, clasping the dying form yet closer as he sobbed out a passionate appeal: "Mother, mother, do not leaveane But the signora was past hearing, past speaking—only she felt his close embrace, and, feebly raising her left head, passed it behind his head with that gentle pressure —half caress; half support—which every woman knows how to bestow on a baby. And thus they stayed till the door opened', and the old priest and a little acolyte eritered, barely in time to administer the last sacraments. Then Carlo regained his Father Cristoforo, with a few kind words, went quietly away; from without there was a sound of bitter weeping ; but Carlo knelt On with, bowed head and peaceful heart, ard the eignora's face was stamped with that calm majesty of death which Francesca had never before seen, and the oane.ry,in. the window still sung his song of praise. CHAPTER VII. "NO ONE BUT ToU.• "You like to behold and even to touch the Crosf3 but, alas! wheu the command comes. to you to bear it1"—Fenelon. mr4nm°ra ceseratriKeaff 45-40FTErplltdri and had more than once witnessed- the passionate demonstrations of sorrow in a bereaved household; nevertheless, it was something of a shock to her to leave the quiet roym of death and to' go to Anita, whom she found surrounded by the weeping servants. They evidently took a melancholy pleasure in watching her violent paroxysms of glrYfeoLu could not tell --you could not know," said Francesca, feeling it hard indeed to find words to meet so terrible a grief, and weeping, too, for sympathy. She has been..so much weaker of late—unable to bear any shock—but how could you know? And oh, Nita, she must have been so glad that you came !" 1.1 • " " No, no," sobbed Nita. "1 might have ancesoa was in t stayed away, and then she would have for - greatly inippOnliovahe po ;help Anita. IV could notio611,0 to be the one to bring her 'these bad tidings ; he half thought of asking Father Cristofero to go to her ; then, ashamed of .shriaking frnm vaipainful task, he forced hproeitlottyairiihAld hoose,, att14611Inted thsa hill, turning over in his mind. a dozen differeet ways of approach- ing the subject, and feeling 'satisfied with none of them. There was something very beautiful in the devotion of this mother and son ; per- haps only Francesca and Clare knew how entirely Carlo laad given his life to the work his father had left him, or how wonderfully it had helped to mold his character. To a woman it is second nature to devote herself to an invalid, nor does it involve any very serious break in her life ; but to a man, obliged to go on with his daily work at the same time, the strain of attendance in a sickroom is infinitely greater. If he can live this life for ,,,,ears, it gives him an es- tablished habit of always ruling his life by the needs of another, and not by his own desires. , There were two gates to the grounds ot Villa Bruno. The one nearest to Naples was that which led into the stable yard, and Carlo, from force of custom, went in this,way, although he was on foot. He was surprised to see a hired carriage in. the yard • he wondered if possibly Frau Ritter had driven out to call on his mother, and paused on his way to the house to ask a Servant who was the visitor. "Oh, signor," said the girl, flushing up, "they say it is Madame Merlino!" ' With an exclamation which was almost a cry, he rushed on toward the house. His motherhadshsal no preparation whatever—. the shock might be fatal to her. And 'yet, surely it looked well that Nita should at once hurry home in this way? 'Surely that in itself gave the lie to Sardoni's assertion? .And then it flashed across him that Nita wOuld regard him in the light of the elder brother in the story of the prodigal son, and he prayed that he ,might ,be his direct. opposite. Flinging open the front door, he hurried on, pausing for an instant outside the salotto. There was a sound of voices; he hastily en- tered, glanced quickly toward his mother's couch, then 'toward his sister, who had risen at sight of him with a look so frightened and timid that he longed to reaesnre her, as pne longs to still the fears of a terrified child. "Why, Nita !" he exclaimed, kissing her repeatedly, "I have been trying to find you at Naples, but you were before me after all." Something inthe tone of his "Ben venuto," and in the many untranslatable Italian phrases with which he greeted her, brought the tears to Anita's eyes. She watched intently while Carlo bent down to kiss his mother. - "You are cold, madre mia," he exclaimed. "Von are faint and overtired." ' "Ah, it is my fault !" cried Nita, vehe- mently. "Ib is I who lu ve tired her and brOken her heart !" He saw that there would be no quieting her just then,, and took the law into his own hands. "You must rest a little," he said "you, too; are tired; and then, after dinner, mother will be fit to talk again. See, I will show you a room-athe place is a little altered." With some difficulty he enticed her away, but no sooner were they alone than her tears again broke forth. "Oh, Carlo, I am afraid I have been too ninch for her," she exclaimed; "and yet— and yet—I wanted So to come." " Yes, yes, I am so glad you came ; only we must be careful," said poor Carlo, dis- 6 gotten." Unseated in Londoni Iv" gesture so thrh.fen- trtkre recoiled a pace, ••ir.49tri . seated at the pian �I , ' ,teawites Under rose-colored sha es its:J.110 7 little oasis of light. She was trying (War 19r:" favorite of all Carlo's songs, " Dio otigente " but broke off with a little cry of surprise and delight as he came toward 90, one but an Englishman would " Never, for she loved you," said Fran- cesca. " Her last words almost were of " Be silent !"ho thundered;" how dare you. Oh, if you could have heard how she you couple my sister's. name with the name of that brute 9.," " begged Carlo not to leave you 1" But at this Nita only wept the more. , • „...)Risi-dgkrkf-eyes-were alt ablaze with anger. " Carlo will hate me," she cried. " Oh, the truth of his own word, but because he let me go ! let me go ! Tell them to put in e-drie'd -"`Ilid brings me all I wish is in order that those two names may not the signora thal he would always take care buther words drove everything else from with just cause lie coupled together all the of you. ' world over that I Speak to you plainly," Something in her tone quieted Nita. She ler tho. realcare and anxiety which were f The glow h °cif left had• faded from Carlo's lay musing over .the words, wondering if, in inlaid, and he sang perhaps all the better oppressing him; certainly he sang as she ace, an a eft h in unusually, pale. Heindeed, her brother knew all and would. yet , salnever before heard him sing. turnedaway with a'groan as Sardoni ended:help her, trembling with fear at the thought "Fiala is right" she said at the close - , Vaguely as he . had dreaded his sister's brushing away the tear's from her eyes; arrival, he had never dreamed that it would "Nature meant you for a singer: you were be so bad as this. Valentino then, and no one else." "Her husband ?" he said at length. Carlo did not speak ; she looked up at " Merlino is a brute, but many degrees thafs merssafai•iiiiIari Satdom was silent, not because he doubted the horses. I can't stay here any longer." tbin ' was obliged to, pause and admire."He does not hate you, he loves you," "1 See you are the brother whom Madame said Francesca warmly. " He promised ssl Was just longing to hear you sing Merlino needs " he said, quietly; " and it aile had not felt in a singing humor, him quickly, and again saw that look of • better than Pomerio. 'Tis a sort of lion care which he had borne back with him and unicorn business, with your sister for from Naples. crown. But you spoke as though you knew "My darling," she said, making room Comerio ?" for him op the ottoman beside her, " you "1 only know what report has to say of are keeping something from,. me; you are replied Carlo. "He was singing unhappy. Carlo mio, and yet you will not "" here five years ago • hi.S wife and children, • "'Yes," he Said, sadly, "1 must let yOu I believe, still live l'aere." • let me know." "Report says nothing of him that is not know • that is *hat 1 came back for. You strictly true.". iv:member. Nita ?" " But how is it, then, that Merlino is so " Your sister ? yes r what of her ? Has she vvritten ? blind to his own interests as to keep him in " NO ; but to -day in Naples, as I walked his troupe ?" down the Strada S. Trinita, I saw that she " I can't say, unless it is that tyrants believe in their own superiority. And then, was to sing the week after next at the •-31-6rcif,dlinte- " , top,Cemprio is such A wily devil, he always _ _ manages to keep. in Merlino's good books. • Francesca looked startled. All in a There has never been the least apparent • minute it flashed upon her that the perfect peace of their betrothal was disturbed, and reasOn for getting rid of him ; and, besides, that he can afford to cancel an engagement. ' She knew enough of Nita's story to be • that it could never return. Merlin° la not so everburdened with wealth . aware how painful -it would be for both Italian opera is not such a paying concern ' prima donna of a Neapolitan theatre ; but " I must try to see my sister," said in the news. " Then if you see her allow me to sug- "She may be sorry, and come to see you," gest that you do not call on her here, where she suggested. "Oh, surely she would come ten to one you will fall foul of her husband ; back toVillaBruno when she is so near to and if you write, do so now and intrust the Was Naples ?" letter to me, for Merlino watches her cor- But Carlo was not hopeful. She listened respondence with lynx eyes, and does not to all ,his doubts and fears with lender scruple to open overy letter." womanly sympathy. She was no spoiled Carlo uttered an impatient exclamation child, caring only for the pleasure .of her of disgust. Every sentence which the betrothal' • perhaps, indeed, notwithstand- Englishinan let fall sebmed to reveal to him ing the ruffled peaee, she had never been BQ a fresh glimpse of the intolerable life which • happy as she was that evening, when Carlo poor Nita was leading. He accepted the told her his troubles, and then, with his arm pen and ink which his companion offered Signora Donati and Carlo tohave her as the as people think." shetried hardto see gleams of possible good Carlo, with a sigh, " or write to her." d his ered sweet words about him however, and, drawing roun her, w p the comfort of telling her. Francesca quite agreed with Enrico that it would be better to say nothing as yet to the Signora Donati ; and even in her anx- iety there was keen pleasure in feeling that she had a right to share her lover's cares. t d a S chi and Carlo as T e nex ay w s un y, a chair to the ta.ble, began with deepening color to write. Sardoni glanced at him from time to time. He had taken up a newspaper, and made as tho-gh he were reading it, but in reality his mind was full of his Italian visitor. Carlo's face was almost as easy to read as a book and. Sardoni could not help feeling - usual, drove in to the English Church svpith sorry for him. He had just witnessed one the Brittons. But after the service he left of the most painful sights imaginable, that them, pleading an engagement, and went of a perfectly unsullied nature being brought off to see if Merlino's company had arrived. for the first time into near connection with The Palazzo Forti was in a gloomy side a net -work of evil. There was something. street; he entered the courtyard, and found too, in the implicit trust which Donati had his way up a very dirty stair -ease to the reposed in him which appealed to him third floor, where he rang and enquired strongly. What a wretched position to be whether Madame Merlino had arrived. An in ! Powerless to help his own sister with dinner, in the affirmative from a bright-eyed out trusting to. the help, and believing in little servant made his heart leap into his the honesty, of a stranger and a. foreigner t throat. He had not expected it. He , had Carlo in the meantime had , finished his walked to the old Palazzo in the firm con- letter, and, 'folding it up, handed it un- viction theft, his sister would not yet have sealed to Sardoni. •, reached Naples, and to be told that she was The Englishman put it in his ,pocket - actually close to him took away his breath. book, remarking, as he did so. For a He hesitated a moment.. perfect stranger you trust me with a good "Is she within ? can I see her ?"„ he in- deal, Signor Donati."' C I looked troubled as it' flashed across quired. .4h4g4 . Ihim from his mother, and much alarmed BA I he recollected how white and weary the in- valid had looked: " There, you will lie (Iwo and rest till dinner time, will you noti" . "But I ought to go back," sobbed Nita. c" Not yet," he said; "you must dine first. And now promise me to rest. There, I will net stay longer; I am a little anxious —she is not strong -,-.you know." d little d btful but him how unsuspiciously he hasbbelieved the tracted at the thought that Effie was keeping composure, stung into calmness by a sort of The servant seethe a Oa said she would ask; and, taking Carlo's card, she disappeared, leaving him in the door -ay. • In all his life he never felt tio -uncomfortable. He had never known Anita well; her convent education had made her practically a stranger to him, and now years had passed since their last meeting, , and between them was the shadow Of her wrong -doing.. Then, too, he was net even sure whether he should, see her alone; her husband might be there • and Carlo being Italian, and hot,temperecf, was not quite sure how' the sight of Merlino might affect him. He breathed quickly as the servant returned. ' • "Would the siznor step this way for a minater fierateag hi a teeth; he followed the maid down a pail:ago., and' was ushered into r, It.nrt conifertless-fcroking room. He lirkt* and relieved to find within it nt;et&aar bia sister nor Merlino, but a • ykrung Easallfanna-au of about ' eight-and- twensy, with fair hair and mustache, arched eyebreasa. awl keen light blue eyes, in - which there was no mistaking the sparkle of genuine ; bet the face was a reitless one, and the expression of careless good humor was sometimes slightly tinged with bitterness,. He bowed, then glanced again at the visitor with undisguised curosity, • ' " You are Madame Nlerlind's brother, I , think !" • Carlo assented • "I should have known yetianywhere, the likeness is so strong." " I speak English, if you prefer it, sir,"said Carlo, noticing that, the stranger's Italian was far from fluent, "--'*""'INT-113+141-;"thart--V414,-. AV^ -ertgreas. reliefs stranger's words. It had never occurred to him that Sardoni could possibly have .any reason for, misleading him. 110 1001Edd at him searchingly. "But then yen iire an Englishman," he said, in a tone of relief. 't. Sardoni Sardoni laughed. "That is a compli- ment to my nation which I shall not readily forget. , But look here "—an expression of reat bitterness stole over his face—" there are many of my own countrymen who would snap their fingers at my word of honor." Carlo again looked him through and through, and, as he looked, the blue eyes seemed to grow less hard, to appeal against that ,harsh opinion which had been just mentioned. "Oh, as for that," said Carlo, with the expressive gestures of a Neapolitan, "that just nothing at all to me. I trust you, signor." ardoni smiled and grasped his hand. "I'll not betray your confidence," he said. And with that the two men parted. Carlo went down the dirty stone stairs, looking pale and harassed: Sardoni, with a fleshed face, returned to his newspaiper, but still did not take in one word. " He trusted me," he thought to himself —" he really did trust me. Oh, God ! if I could only change natures with a fellow like that 1" Then as some painful recollection brought hot tears to his eyes, he sprung up, and flinging aside his newspaper strode across to the piano and began- to play a waltz. " You are a fool, Jack ! a fool! a fool Why should th t Italian make you • .t hink of it - Artriere.countriftedinnoCent He tore hirnsel anL returned as fast asrpossible to the stdotto. Itianiother's, face Was hidden; he could hear her low, • gasping sobs. " "Madre raja!" he cried, and there was • anguish in his voice, "oh, do not give! way 1 She has come back to us, carina. All will be well if only you will take care of your- self." " I must tell you—" she sobbed. "Not now," he said= • "not now, mother. •Indeed you must be quiet, or—" " I must speak," she said ; " it is killing me! I must speak now, that you may promise rne to save her." "From her husband?" he asked, anxious to find how much she knew. " No, no ; from one she loves. Dot't look like that, Carlo—her husband was so sterni and cruel, and she was afraid of him, and --the man was kind." Icind 1" ejaculated Carlo, with scorn indesicribable. " always tried to shield her from her hnsblLnd, and then, when they were leaving America, she was in debt mid he ,leryt her money, and.—" " Enough, darling, enough," he said, with tend mess which contrasted strangely With bias!. stekenlation. "She came and told bitter resentment that an outsider must usurp theselast-sacred moments, tend: that he, heretic and alien, had no part `Or lot; in the ceremony, and would be expected to leave the room. But Father Cristoforo, who was a son first and a churchman after- ward, read his thoughts at once. "Stay, my son," he said, with so kind and fatherly a look thaCarlo's bitter thoughts'wera banished, and he kept on still supporting his mother. -Francesea_knelt top, on the other Nide ef the coueh, but she could- neither pray nor. feel; she watehed the scene like one in a dream. The sunshine Streamed in through the window, lighting up the white, un- conscious face ot the signora and the grief- ' stricken face of her son, the 'rich vestments and tonsured head of the priest, the curious, roving eyes of the acolyte with his little silver -toned bell. But Francesca was still numb from the exceeding pain of watching her lover's agony. Now he was paceful . once more; his thoughts were raised above the pain of the parting, but her thoughts would not follow. The monotonous voice of Father Christoforo, as he intoned the service, seemed only to increase her dull stupor. It was not till the canary in the window broke out into a sudden bin* of 'song that her heart seemed to awake once more and join in the familiar words, " 61oria in. ethrelsis Deo. Et in terra pax hominibus." And then, as once nore the service became unintelligible to her, she bent her head, and prayed on with fast flowing tears, "God 1 I thankThee that she is spared tlie pain—that it is only left for us." ,Whenaliaanekedatp oneseanpreall was over, of meeting him, and yet trembling still more when she thought of going back to Naples to face temptations too strong for her. Francesca watched her tenderly, aware that some conflict.was going on in her mind, though wholly ignorant of her story, and far too young and innocent to dream of the meaning whieh lay in the dying words of the signora. Nita was in trouble; and in sortie sort of difficulty, and Carlo had pro- mised to help her. Francesca did not curiously wonder what the difficulty might be, nor did she for one moment doubt Carlo's power of saving her. She accepted eyerY- thing with the quiet confidence of. a child who is vaguely conscious that there is trouble in the. house, but is quite certain that its elders will soon make it all right. Looking at Nita, she saw how strong a• likeness existed between the brother and sister; and even if she had uot felt drawn toward her before by her loneliness and her grief; this would have appealed to. her.. The fine profile and the warm bright color - ing were exactly alike b,ut the mouth WaS disappointing, and had the same weakness which had slightly spoiled the expression of Signora Donati ; while the eyes, though large and beautiful, were lacking in soul, and might almost have been the eyes of a doll, so little did they vary. But yet, as Nita lay there in her grief and self-reproach, trying tomake•up her mind between two evils, wondering which fear was the least intolerable, there was something about her which pleaded for pity. She was so young, so weak—a Parasite by nature—she seemed ready to cling to anything, no matter what it was, so long as it had the strepgth which she' lacked. ,.` She was afraid of sleeping sin the same ,house as her dead mother, but then she was yet more afraid of confessing to her husband where she had been. She dreaded meeting Carlo, but she still more dreaded meeting Comerio. All at once it occurred to her to wonder who her companion was. "1 have forgotten your name, signorina," she said, looking into the sweet, pure face above her; "buts I think you mist be Carlo's English playmate from Casa Bella ?" " Yes ; 1 am Francesca Britton," she re- plied, quietly, not liking just then to speak of her happy betrothal. "Ah 1 how shocked I was in theold days at the games you and he played together 1" said Nita, wistfully. "And now—now it is I who have shocked you all. But you were quite right all, the time. I have seen American life since then, and if we Italia girls had something of their liberty thele would not be so many broken hearts amoniN, The words reiranded her of grid, and she again burst into tears., "Let me fetch Carlo," said Francesca. "He will 'comfort'you as no one else can. Oh, you must not say you are 'afraid of him ; that is only because you have forgot- ten. And I may tell him that you will stay, may I not ?—you could not leave him all alone." Nita sobbed out something inarticulate, which Francesca took for a consent, and hurried away in search of her lover. She fond him in the salotto, but the body of the signora had been carried to her own room, and Carlo, looking broken-hearted, 'was trying to write a letter to his uncle to tell him the news. Softly passing her arm round his neck, and with her cool cheek leaning against his heated brow, she stood by him for some moment's in silenee. "1 must go home, my own," she Eiaid, at Ilength. "Father .wilihaste.come , haelsr and will not 'know Where -1 am. May 1 him to come in and see if he can help / in any way ?" Carlo thanked her. Ile felt dazed and bewildered; he thought it would be a com- fort to have the help of the kind-hearted , 1 Englishman, who delighted in managing other people's affnirs. "And then there is Nita 1" he exclaimed, with a look of perplexity. That promise which he had made returned to him. It lay • like a heavy weight.om.his burdened mind; he had promised to save her, but how t) perform, that promise he had not an idea. "It was about Nita 1 wanted to speak to you," said Francesca. " Shia said at first that she must go back to Wsples at once, and seemed to dread meeting you. But I • think—I really think she wonl 1B:8:rye:aft you d went to her and let her see IDA you care nof or ho el: e thi tyouano . She ci8in teelMrifobired * her, (J1 -lo mio." te unek. • • ero kn. centrinnm. ( • ! Tom—How could . Bi niter drem:rry woman or no family Jack—He didn't, - she was a wide* with three 014 1 "! , rss.aarasasagArl',2! 4 to+,