| Show TE loves of the irhe LADY ARABI LLA by MOLLY ELLIOT SEAWELL copyright IWO 1000 worrill C SYNOPSIS at 14 years of age admiral AtIn itral sir peter nephew It ichard ulyn olyn yell fell deeply in u lovo love at first sight with lady batly arabella stormont ont who his attentions the 1 lad a d tin an orphan was given a 0 berth na as m ald 1 on the he ajax ayt by ht his s i inele giles V vernon rn on how ot of sir thomaa h 0 m m vernon b tho the h boys boya pal thoy they attended a n theater where nephew saw lady indy arabella vernon met lip overton next in line for sir thomas vernona Vor vernons ver nona estate they started ft a luel which was wan interrupted vernon overton and hawk 1 D haws found attracted e d by pretty lady arabella Ar tho the ajax in ili battlo de debated fated brench Ps in tho aled mediterranean I 1 terra n call ItI charli glyn kot got 4 2009 2000 prize money ile ho waa ivas called h home by indy boidy as aa lie ho was about to blow in his parn barnings ings with vernon CHAPTER IV continued and that night I 1 mado made a strange and terrible discovery lady arabella was a gamester of tho the most desperate desp prate character in ready money in tiney as far its as tier hor allowance as a minor permitted anil ana in pro nAses to pay alien sho aho came into hr alvar fortune as an tar far as such promises would bo be accepted dut but they were not iauch favored by tho the gentlemen and ladies who played with tier heri for the chuncha of hor her marrying before tier her majority were fie BO great that hor her 1 I 0 ua were not considered of much value and found few faw tatters even when whan accompanied accaro accoro panted by lady marabellas Ara bellas bollas most moat brilliant smiles for your true gamester la is impervious to smiles or frowns hison to beauty in hi short all his faculties aro are concentrated on an tile the odd trick A groat great mob of alne people camo came and there was a a supper and many wax lights and all tho the accessories of a fashionable rout I 1 wandered ande fed about knowing no one but observant of all I 1 noticed that a very clover device was hit bit upon by lady Ar arabella and athars who like high play which lady disliked very much the stakes were nominally very small lint alt in reality they were very large shillings actually signify signifying ink pounds all of the people who practiced this were in one of tho the lower rooms while sir peter who was allowed to play sixpenny whist and those who in good faith observed vea lady hawkshawe Hawk wishes wore were in a room to themselves I 1 must not forget to mention among tho the notable things at this rout lady hawkshawe Hawk shaws turban it was a construction st of feathers flowers beads and every other species of ornain ornament ont tile tho whole capped with tho the celebrated tiara alch had bad been bought from the tha portuguese and tho the diamond necklace beamed upon tier her black velvet bosom sir peter seemed quite enchanted with tier her appearance as she loomed a head taller than any woman in tho the rooms and evidently considered her a combination of venus and minerva not that the pair ceased squabbling on that account I 1 think they disagreed violently on oa every detail of the party and sir peter was routed at every point among those who didiot play was daphne then quite as tall as I 1 and well into tier her sixteenth year I 1 could not but acknowledge tier her to be ba a pretty slip pt a girl gill and we sat in a corner carner and I 1 told her about our bloody doings on the ajax until sho she stopped her oars cars and bogged me to desist I 1 regarded Da daphne liline with condescension then but I 1 perceived that she was sharp of oe wit and nimble of tongue much more mord more so than her cousin lady arabella 14 after a while I 1 left daphne and went back bach to watch lady Ar arabella I 1 soon saw that slie site was a very poor player anil and lost continually but that only whetted hor her appetite for the game presently a gentleman entered catered and walking abent listlessly although ho fie seemed to ile hs known to everybody present pros nt approached me it was capt overton as handsome as distrait as s on the first and only time I 1 had seen him bini much aluch to my surprise ha be recognized pe ine and carno came up and saoko to me making ma ine a very handsome comell ment upon the of the ajax and to la ray my csc rutn mr varnon vanon hero here to he baked I 1 replied I 1 supposed not habad ho had received tie no card chati wo we had parted that morning and I 1 knew of nono none since 1 I 1 shall bo be very ry glad to meet leitru sald said overton 1 I think him a line fellow in spite of pur disagreement I 1 see lee you art ar riot not Pr praying flying 1 I have no taste for play strange to say i do not try to acquire it it hp ho said it to 19 wrong you may depend upon it but indulgence in it makes many be love it to he be right every time you look at a sin it gets gels better looking I 1 was to hoar hear sin mentioned in thos the society ocl et y bt bf such elegant and well bred sinners as an I 1 saw around nio mo who never alluded to it except officially Ilcia fici ally lly as it were on sunday when they all declared themselves miserable sinners for that occasion only overton thon then sauntered over toward lad lady arabella who seemed to recognize his approach by instinct she turned to him her cards in her hands tin and flus flushed lied deeply lie he gazed at tier her sternly as aa it if in reproof and after it a slight remark or two moved orf off to her evl vi dont dent chagrin daphne being near me then I 1 said to tier her with a forced tough laugh what Is the meaning I 1 beg you to tell me of the pantomime between lady Ar arabella and capt overton Ov erion daphne hesitated and then said bald capt overton was onor one of the alio gay ost eat men about london until a year yea r or two ago silice then it la is said bald he has turned AIe Afe it Is belleve believed he goes to mr We aloys meetings although lie ho hag hafe never been actually caught there ile iio lives plainly andi some borne say bay ho he gives his means to the poor lie he will not go to the races any more nor play and ho he does not like to a BOO arabella play what has lie ho to do with arabella nothing that I 1 know of except that sho bile likes him ile he does not like to see any ono one play now although lie ho gamed very high himself it at ous one time I 1 had seen no particular marks of interest on Ov Over ertons toils part toward lady arabella Ar aballa but watching her lier I 1 saw in n very little while tho the deepest sort of interest on her part toward him she oven even loft left tho the card table for or him and kept fast hold of him I 1 recalled tho the way she had striven to attract hla his attention at tho the play that night more than two years yeara before and my jealous soul was illuminated with the knowledge that she wag infatuated with overton and I 1 was right sonic some time afterward whom should iseo I 1 seo walking in ili but giles vernon lady received him most moat graciously I 1 wont went up to him and asked ilow how camo you here did you think hank dicky that I 1 meant to let you hoop up a close blockade of the lovely Ar arabella no indeed I 1 got a card at sovan seven this evening by working all day for it and I 1 mean to recon reconnoiter notter tho ground as well as you I 1 thought when lie ho saw lady arabella with overton that oven even giles vernois vernons Ven Ver ions assurance would bo be equal to accosting tier her ile ho marched 98 q be 1 11 0 f I 1 could ifould not but acknowledge her to be a pretty slip of a girl himself up tip with all the coolness in tho the world claiming kinship boldly with overton who forbear smil smiling lug and immediately began to try for favor in marabellas Ara bellas eyes but here I 1 saw what I 1 nover never did before or since with giles vernon a woman who was utterly indifferent to him and actually seemed to dislike him she ghe scarcely noticed lil him at first and when he be would not bo be r rebuffed was so saucy to him that I 1 wondered lie he stood for it for a rai nute dut but stand it lie he did with the evident determination to conquer her indifference or dislike whichever it might bo be overton seized the excuse of it giles I 1 approach to escape escalo and left the house which did not cause causa lady arabella to like giles any bettor better sho she returned to the card table giles with hw and by be tile tho exercise of the most exquisite te ingenuity ho he managed to lose same som money to her ber which somewhat re e stored her good humor at last tho the rout was over oer and soon after inid nIght all had gone I 1 was shown to a bedroom bedi oom with only a partition wall between me 1110 and sir peter and I lady efly so I 1 had tho the benefit of tho the nightly lecture lady hawkshaw gave sir rotor peter with tho the most unfailing regularity on this particular night they came nearer freeing than usual both of them dis CUSSIN 17 anxiously lady marabellas Ara bellas lilar majhed lied fondness for play and ana lady hawkshaw told of oc a lato late escapade of lady marabellas Ara bellas in which a certain ace of clubs club was waa by her tho he sald said are ace of clubs being fashioned out of blach court plaster and white cardboard when de detected tooted lady aribella professed to 0 o think the bhole thing a 1 joie joho but as hor her adversary adver oary at the time was ft a very ery old lady whose eyesight was notoriously defective fec tive it toor all aft ot of lady ara bellas wit and youths youth to carry it oft off successfully which however she did As for tier her trinkets lady arabella was always buying them khein and always taking A distaste to them so BO sho alleged and lady suspected they took the place of si shilling billings at the card table sir peter groaned at this and remarked that the earl tier her father wa was the he worst gamester lie he know except her grandfather I 1 do not remember any more mafe I 1 tried to avoid hearing what they were baylar A but every word was distinctly audible to me liptai until at tills this point I 1 toll aal asleep co and dr dreamed earned that lady hawkshaw was appointed to command the alax and I 1 was to report on board next day CHAPTER V I 1 spent several weeks in sir peters house and strange weeks they wore wera in many respects I 1 never had the least complaint tom plaint to make of tho the kindness of sir peter or lady hawkshaw except that lady hawkshaw insisted on la in vesting my money all except ten pounds she gave me charging me to lie be with it but sir peter secretly lent me a considerable sumi sum to be repaid at my majority sir peter was actively at war with till ell the womenfolk in tile the household from its his lady down except little ne tie he assumed to conduct everything in a large town house la ia berkely square exactly an aa it lie he were werd on the ajax 74 lie ile desired to have the lazy london servants called promptly at two belts bells five in th tho e morning morne and to put plit them to holys holy holystoning t stoning and swabbing off the decks as lie ho called it of course the servants rebelled and sir peter denounced them thein as mutineers muti and would have dearly liked to put them all in double irons ho he divided the scullions scull ions and chambermaids into watches and when they laughed in threatened them with the articles ot of war lie ho wished everything in the house stowed away in the last compass possible and when lady Hawlish aw had tier her routs sir bir peter watch in hand superintended super intended tho the removal of the fur from the tha reception rooms which lie ha called clearing for action and discharged any servant who was not smart at his duty ile he had a room which lie ho called hla his study fitted up with all the odds and ends buds ho he had collected during 40 years in the navy and hero ho he held what might bo be called drumhead drum artim head co court u rt martiale an and 1 1 i its dig rated the domestic staff fined them swore at them and bitterly regretted that the land law did not admit of any proper discipline whatever it may be lina imagined ined what a scene of discord this cre created atod a though although sir poter peter was of so kind hind ikid and generous a nature that the servants took more from him than from most masters and indeed rather diverted themselves with his fines fides and pun punishments punishment ishmen ts and when ivhon dismissed declined to leave his service much to his wrath and chagrin the acme acine was reached when lie ho attempted to put the cook in the brig as he called a dank cellar which ho he determined to utilize tor for mutineers muti as on board ship the cook a huge creature three times as big as sir peter et r boarded him I 1 in n disown hla own parti cu I 1 lar r flen don and brandishing a rolling pin that was quite na as dangerous as a cutlass announced that she bhe would no longer submit to be governed by the articles of war as administered by sir peter she was sustained by h a vociferous cit ci chorus of housemaids house maids and citchen girls who flocked behind her the men rather choosing to remain in the background and grinning sad to say admiral sir peter hawkshaw C B was conquered by the virago with the rolling pin and was forced to surrender to the mutineers muti which he did with a very bad grace giaco at that juncture lady hawkshaw hove in ili sight and hearing bearing down upon the company from below stairs dispersed them all with one wave of her hand sit peter complained bitterly and lady hawkshaw promised to bring hi ing thorn thein to summary punishment but she bile warned sir peter that its his were becoming as aa intolerable to her as to tho the rest of the family and sir peter after a round or two for the honor boner of his flag hauled down his colors 1 this became especially necessary as aa his retirement was at hand band consequent more upon an obstinate rheumatism that fixed itself upon him than his age thero there was dou doubt bt whether ho he would get tho the K C B D which ho he certainly well deserved on an his retirement I 1 thero there was some sort of hitch bitch about it although after the capture r of the two french ships ho he had been promoted to the office of admiral lady hawkshaw however went flown down to tho the admiralty in a coach with six horses and three footmen and four out outsiders outriders riders and marching in lipon the first lord opened fire on him with the result that sir peter was gazetted it C B the very next week little daphne who had always submitted to sir peters whims did so more than ever after he had been vanquished by the cook and sir peter swore twenty times a week that daphno daphne half had the stuff in her to make ra soa sea officer of the first order TO BE CONTINUED |
