That Mainwaring Affair | Page 6

Hugh Mainwaring, including what was known as the "tower," and
had been added by him soon after he had taken possession of the place.
This part of the house was as far removed as possible from the large
reception-rooms, and the apartments on the second floor comprised the
suite occupied by Mr. Mainwaring. The first of these rooms,
semi-octagonal in form, constituted his private library, and its elegant
furnishings and costly volumes, lining the walls from floor to ceiling,
bespoke the wealth and taste of the owner. Across the southwestern
side of this room heavy portieres partially concealed the entrance to
what Mr. Mainwaring denominated his "sanctum sanctorum," the room
in the tower. This was small, of circular form, and contained an
immense desk, one or two revolving bookcases, and a large safe, which
held his private papers and, it was rumored, the old Mainwaring jewels.
Back of the library was a smoking-room, and in the rear of that Mr.
Mainwaring's dressing-rooms and sleeping apartments.
This suite of rooms was connected with the remainder of the building
by a long corridor extending from the main hall, but there was on the

south side of the house an entrance and stairway leading directly to
these rooms, the upper hall opening into the library and smoking-room.
From this southern entrance a gravelled walk led between lines of
shrubbery to a fine grove, which extended back and downward to the
western shore of the small lake already mentioned.
But the especially distinguishing characteristic of Fair Oaks since
coming into the possession of Hugh Mainwaring was the general air of
exclusion pervading the entire place. The servants, with the exception
of "Uncle Mose," the colored man having charge of the grounds, were
imported, - the head cook being a Frenchman, the others either English
or Irish, and, from butler to chambermaid, one and all seemed to have
acquired the reserve which characterized their employer.
Comparatively few servants were employed and few were needed, for
never, until the present occasion, had Fair Oaks been thrown open to
guests. Occasionally Mr. Mainwaring brought out from the city two or
three gentleman friends, whom he entertained in royal fashion.
Sometimes these guests were accompanied by their wives, but such
instances were extremely rare, as ladies were seldom seen at Fair Oaks.
In the entertainment of these occasional guests Mr. Mainwaring was
frequently assisted by Mrs. LaGrange, known as his housekeeper, but
in reality holding a position much more advanced than is usually
implied by that term. Among those who had been personally
entertained by Mrs. LaGrange, this fact, of itself, excited little comment;
it being evident that she was as familiar with the fashionable world as
was their host himself, but surrounding her was the same dim haze of
mystery that seemed to envelop the entire place, impalpable, but thus
far impenetrable.
She had come to Fair Oaks some fifteen years previous to this time,
dressed in deep mourning, accompanied by her infant son, about three
years of age, and it was generally understood that she was distantly
related to Mr. Mainwaring. She was a strikingly handsome woman,
with that type of physical beauty which commands admiration, rather
than winning it; tall, with superb form and carriage, rich olive skin,
large dark eyes, brilliant as diamonds and as cold, but which could

become luminous with tenderness or fiery with passion, as occasion
required. To those whom she sought to entertain she could be
extremely charming, but to a few even of these, gifted with deeper
insight than the others, it seemed that beneath that fascinating manner
was a dangerous nature, a will that would brook no restraint, that never
would be thwarted; and that this was, in reality, the power which
dominated Fair Oaks.
After years of mysterious seclusion, however, the beautiful home of
Hugh Mainwaring, while maintaining its usual reserve towards its
neighbors, had thrown open its doors to guests from across the water;
and on the particular afternoon of the conference in the private offices
of Mainwaring & Co., there might have been seen on one of the upper
balconies of the mansion at Fair Oaks a group of five English ladies,
engaged in a discussion of their first impressions regarding their host
and his American home. The group consisted of Mrs. Ralph
Mainwaring and her daughter Isabel; Miss Edith Thornton, the
daughter of William Mainwaring Thornton and the fiancee of Hugh
Mainwaring, Jr.; Miss Winifred Carleton, a cousin of Miss Thornton;
and Mrs. Hogarth, the chaperone of the last named young ladies.
Understanding, as they did, the occasion of this their first visit to the
western world, and being personally interested in the happy event so
soon to be celebrated, they naturally felt great interest in their new
surroundings. The young ladies were especially enthusiastic in