Vietnam or Thailand ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
Updated: June 20, 2025
In a meadow in the parish of Standon, near Ware, there stands a rough hewn stone, now protected by an iron rail.
Jasper raised his eyebrows; then, with a low bow to Lady Constance, and a gentle, deprecatory shrug of his shoulders, walked away. The girl waited till he was out of earshot, then turned impulsively to Lord Standon. "I hate that man," she said in a low voice; "and sometimes I believe he hates Adrien too."
"Dared to ask her," put in Standon, laughing a little confusedly. "Yes, it was a bit of cheek on my part, but 'faint heart never won fair lady, you know, and by Jove! if I hadn't, some other lucky devil might have slipped in and carried her off by sheer force!" Leroy winced; for he himself would have endeavoured to "slip in and carry her off" had it not been for his friend.
The old rector, who had known them both from childhood, made them man and wife, while Lord Barminster gave the bride away. She had chosen to be but simply dressed, and followed only by two bridesmaids sisters of Mortimer Shelton, who acted as best man. Among the few guests there, were also Lord Standon and Lady Muriel Branton, soon now to be wedded themselves.
"You can trust the Leroys to have the best of everything. They treat money like dirt, and bow before nothing but Royalty and women. Yet, with it all, there's no stauncher friend than a Leroy." "As Vermont knows only too well," muttered Standon dryly. "By the way, I saw Ada Lester in the Park this morning. Jove! Such furs!"
He had promised Jasper to come down to the Casket Theatre; and, however weary he might be of the tinsel and glitter, yet he never thought of making an excuse, or of breaking his word. He was about to set forth, when Norgate announced "Lord Standon," and though Adrien's greeting was as courteous as usual, the old genial warmth was gone.
But I swear to you that the meeting was unsought by me. I could not help myself. I do not know how all this has come about. I understood from Standon that that he was engaged to " "Muriel Branton," interrupted Constance softly. "He told me himself." For a moment Adrien stared at her in stupefaction. "If I had known we were at cross-purposes!" he exclaimed.
"What has Lord Standon to do with me?" she asked, looking him full in the face with steadfast eyes. He stared at her in amazement. "Is he not your accepted lover?" His voice betrayed his agony of spirit; and, hearing this, she relented. Holding up her left hand, the third finger of which was bare of rings, she said quietly, almost, indeed, demurely: "This does not look like it, does it?"
Standon saw his friend thus engaged he stood on the pavement and expressed his surprise with more force than elegance; whereupon Captain Bontnor went out and explained to him exactly how it stood.
Here, meeting and chatting with his numerous friends, the morning passed quickly enough; and when Leroy returned to his chambers again, Norgate was putting the finishing touches to the table already set for lunch. "Covers for four?" said his master, as he entered the room. "Who is coming?" "Mr. Shelton, Lord Standon, and Mr. Paxhorn, sir."
Word Of The Day
Others Looking