That Mainwaring Affair | Page 7

their
expressions of admiration of the house and grounds, while Mrs.
Mainwaring, of even more phlegmatic temperament than her husband,
remarked that it was a fine old place, really much finer than she
expected to see, which was quite an admission on her part.
"It is just as lovely as it can be!" said Winifred Carleton, coming from
the railing, where she had been watching the broad expanse of ocean
visible in the distance, and seating herself on a divan beside her cousin.
"I do think, Edith, you are the most fortunate girl in the world, and I
congratulate you with all my heart."
"Thank you, Winnie," replied Miss Thornton, a pronounced blonde like
her father, with large, childlike blue eyes; "but it will be yours to enjoy

as much as mine, for you will always be with me; at least, till you are
married, you know."
"That is a very reckless declaration on your part, for I am likely never
to marry," responded Miss Carleton, lightly. She was an orphan and an
heiress, but had a home in the family of William Mainwaring Thornton,
who was her uncle and guardian.
Isabel Mainwaring, reclining in a hammock near Miss Thornton,
smiled languidly. She was tall, with dark hair and the Mainwaring cold,
gray eyes. "You seem to ignore the fact," she said, "that our cousin is
likely to live in the exclusive enjoyment of his home for many years to
come."
"You mercenary Wretch!" retorted Miss Carleton; "are you already
counting the years before Mr. Mainwaring's death?"
"Isabel, I am shocked!" exclaimed Mrs. Mainwaring.
"I don't know why," replied that young lady, coolly. "I was only
thinking, mamma; and one is not always accountable for one's thoughts,
you know."
"But," said Miss Thornton, wonderingly, raising her large eyes, full of
inquiry, to Mrs. Mainwaring, "after our cousin has announced his
intention of making Hugh his heir, don't you think he will be likely to
extend other invitations to visit Fair Oaks?"
"Undoubtedly, my dear," replied Mrs. Mainwaring, "there will
probably be an exchange of courtesies between the two branches of the
family from this time. Though I must say," she added, in a lower tone,
and turning to Mrs. Hogarth, "I do not know that I, for one, will be
particularly anxious to repeat my visit when this celebration is once
over. So far as I can judge, there seems to be no society here. Wilson
has learned from the servants that Mr. Mainwaring lives very quietly,
in fact, receives no company whatever; and, I may be mistaken, but it
certainly seems to me that this Mrs. LaGrange occupies rather an
anomalous position. She is here as his housekeeper, a servant, yet she

entertains his guests, and her manners are anything but those of a
servant."
"Why shouldn't she, mamma?" inquired Isabel, rather abruptly."Cousin
Hugh has never married, - which is a very good thing for us, by the way,
- and who would help him entertain if his housekeeper did not?"
"It is not her position to which I object so much," remarked Mrs.
Hogarth, quietly, "though I admit it seems rather peculiar, but there is
something about her own personality that impresses me very
unfavorably."
"In your opinion, then, she is not a proper person," said Mrs.
Mainwaring, who was fond of jumping at conclusions; "well, I quite
agree with you."
"No, " said Mrs. Hogarth, with a smile, "I have not yet formed so
decided an opinion as that. I am not prepared to say that she is a bad
woman, but I believe she is a very dangerous woman."
"Dear Mrs. Hogarth, how mercilessly you always scatter my fancies to
the winds!" exclaimed Miss Thornton; "until this moment I admired
Mrs. LaGrange very much."
"I did not," said Miss Carleton, quickly; "from my first glimpse of her
she has seemed to me like a malign presence about the place, a
veritable serpent in this beautiful Eden!"
"Well," said Isabel Mainwaring, with a slight shrug, "I see no reason
for any concern regarding Mrs. LaGrange, whatever she may be. I don't
suppose she will be entailed upon Hugh with the property; and I only
hope that before long we can buy back the old Mainwaring estate into
our own branch of the family."
"That is just What your father intends to have done whenever the
property comes into Hugh's possession," replied Mrs. Mainwaring, and
was about to say something further, when a musical whistle attracted
the attention of the ladies, and, looking over the balcony railing, they

saw Hugh Mainwaring, Jr., approaching the house, on his return from a
day's fishing, accompanied by Walter LaGrange, a young sophomore,
home on his vacation.
The former was a typical young Englishman, with a frank, pleasant
countenance. The latter, while inheriting his mother's