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ps «LORD LISLE'S DAUGHTER, =~ | a
icalous, Rita! Well, your quict shall not be
isturbed yet. You tell mo Daisy is with her
friends at Forence. We may sec her there, and
then we can arrange. I must leave you now.
am going over to Grafton Hall. Tell me, may I
consider the matter settled? Are you willing to
go abroad ?”
“JT shall like it above all things,” sho said,
CHAPTER XIII. OF
Tue year passed rapidly enough. Atits close
Margarot was barely recognizable. All that
civilization could do for her was done. All
trace of the cottage education had diaappoared ;
the musical voice had become clear and distinct
asa silver bell; all little eccentricitics of speech
and manner had disappeared; her languaye,
even, had becomo remarkable for its elegant
Lal
gayly. ‘‘I shall yoon learn all about the great .
world, para.” simplicity and force.
Lord Lislo left her sitting under tho grand} The half-conscious manner had disappeared
and a graceful dignity had taken its place. Mar.)
garet had spared no pains. She read, and,
above all, listened to the conversation of clerer
and talentedmen. She wasso quick, so aptin all
imitation, that nothing escaped her. .The names
of greal men and great works wero no longer a
old cedsr-tree. As he went down the broad
oath he.turned to look once more at her. She
yas smiling at him, and he thought in all the
world there was nothing so bright and beautiful
as his daughter’s face. When he disappeared
from among the green trees the smile dicd
away. the brightness all faded. “A look of care | dead letter to her; she covld conveérae intelli-.
and anxiety came over tho dark eyes. gently and well.. Her wonderful beauty had
“T must do something,” sho said. “She must] been carefully cultivated also. Few would have
not come here! No human eyidence can bo} recognized in the queenly girl, whose magnif-
brought against mo; but that face will strike} cent face drew all eyes, the rustic beauty
every one! Shoe must not como until I am safe | who had listened so eagerly to Ralph Ashton’s
~until I am Philip Lisle’s wife! Nothing can | praises. :
matterthen!? = 64 aoe Lord Lislo was moro than satisfied with that
While the birds sung and tho fair flowers | one year’s training.
bloomed—while the sun shone; and the soft} News came often from England. Mrs: Wy-
summer air whispered of love, peace, and hap-| verne found plenty to do in managing the Hall.
piness, she sat thinking, scheming, and invent-} Philip was Dusily engaged in the care of the
estate. Lord Lisle wrote, pressing him to join
them at Rome, and spend some months with
em.
“Do come, Philip,” he wrote. “TI want you
to see what progress Rita has made. I want
to know what you think of her.”
They went to Naples, and from there Lord
Lisle wrote a most kind letter to Daisy, press-
ing her to pay them a visit.
~*YTwant you to live with us,” he said; ‘‘to-
be as one of my own children;- to be Rita’s |
sister, as you have always been. Come and
stay with us for some months first, and then we
can decide about the future.” |
And Daisy, in reply, said that in two months
the term for which she had engaged herself to
the Denhams would expire, and then she would
ladly rejoin her sister. Philip’s letter reached
Na jes the game morning, saying he should bo
with them during that week. —
He came one beautiful evening, when the sky
was cloudless, and tho waters of the bay, half
blue, half golden, rippled and broke musically
upon the shore. Lord Lisle had gone out, and
Mrs. Marche was engaged when he arrived,
He was ushered into a room that seemed to be
all sunlight and flowers. Ho saw there a dig-
nified and beautiful woman, who received him
with exquisite grace. He cried out in amaze-
ment: “Miss Lisle, how you have altered! I
did not know you.” . :
Nor could he cease from wondering. His
eyes wandered from the peerless face to the
magnificent dress. In his cars tho musical
yoico lingered like a spell. Could this be the
young girl he had found in tho little cot-
tage at Queen’s Lynuc? Rita saw and noted
fr
i
|
i
3
‘ ing. :
i She had succeeded beyond her wildest hopes.
i Her fraud had been a complete success. There
| came to her no remorseful memory of the dying
| mother whoso trust she had betrayed; no.com-
punction or sorrow for the gentle girl from whom
} she had stolen home, love, and everything else.
| '. She sat through the summer. morning busy
i with two thoughts.. One was how to keep Daisy
} from Lisle Court; the other, how to win the
j heart of Philip Lisle. The whole ambition of
i her scul was centered in that one idea—she
: must be Lady Lisle — Lady Margaret Lisle!
i As sho murmured the name to herself a smile
Poa rippled over her lips, for she thought of Ralph
oof Ashtor and the vow he had forced her to take.
She thought of him without love—without any-
thing but contempt. The fierce, passionate love
he had lavished upon her-was forgotten or un-
a3 heeded. ‘She disliked even to think of that mis-
i - erable past.’ She was to be Lady Lisle!» ’
_ _ Lord Lisle did not delay in making arrange-
‘ments. Before the end of the week he had se-
cured the assistance of a clever, accomplished
jay, the widow of ono of his fellow officers, a
high-bred, refined woman, who gladly undertook
‘ho charge of his daughter.
Mrs. Marche seemed instinctively to under-
stand all that was required of her. “She was to
help the young lady to acquire a Polish and
Stace of manner that as yet sho had not. She
Was to teach those little mysteries of etiquette
that can only be learned from those accustomed
to good society. Faras lay in her power, she
i : Waa to cultivate her mind and intellect.
i AIrs. Wyverne remained at Lislo Court. Philip
Lisle thought it probable that he might join his
pawn tin ke ne
Sees ee aertstiem ice! amp yates
SEF
4
é
{
Uncio in Italy when he went there. Thoy were
© 80 to Paris firat and remain there a year.
During that year masters of all kinds were to
Anstruct Miss Lisle. She resolyed to devote her-
a to study and acquirmg tho polish of high
* . .
or me
his surprise. It was to her the most flattering
compliment he could have paid. She remem-
bared her first interview with him, when ho
had scemed to her something quite different
from the common raccof men.. His handsome
faco and high-bred manner, his careless caso
jeri debonair styte, had charmed and amazed