ABOUT BLUE CLIFFS.
Before Mr. and Mrs. Alden Lytton had left Blue Cliff Hall they had made arrangements for the complete renovation of that old ancestral seat, to be carried on under the supervision of the Rev. Mr. Lyle.
And they expressed their intention to purchase and send furniture from London and Paris to refit it.
But the works were scarcely commenced when they had to be suspended for a few days.
Another death had occurred in the family circle.
Dr. Beresford Jones, after a very pleasant evening spent at Blue Cliff Hall in company with Mrs. Fanning, Laura Lytton, his granddaughter, Electra, and his great favorite, Mr. Joseph Brent, arose, saying:
"I will now retire to bed, and I recommend you, Electra, my dear, to do the same, as we have to rise early to-morrow morning to set out on our return to Beresford Manors."
And he kissed her good-night, bowed to the other members of the circle, took up his taper and retired.
The next morning he went away indeed, but not to Beresford Manors.
For when Electra went into his room, as was her custom, to kiss him good-morning before he should get up, she found nothing but his body, still warm, and with the face still wearing the happy smile with which his spirit had impressed it in taking his heavenward flight.
Her screams desecrated the holy room of death and brought all the household to her presence.
When they discovered the cause of the girl's wild grief, Mrs. Fanning and Laura Lytton together forced her from the room and took her to her own chamber, where they set themselves to soothe her.
Joseph Brent, himself overcome with grief at the sudden loss of one who had proved himself so warm a friend, set out on horseback to Wendover to fetch the family physician and the minister.
They were useless to the departed, of course, but they might be of some service to the bereaved ones left behind.
So Mr. Lyle and Dr. Willet returned with Mr. Brent, and remained at Blue Cliff Hall until after all was over.
And thus it happened that within one fortnight there were two funerals at Blue Cliffs.
On the day after that upon which the remains of Beresford Jones were laid in the family vault his will was opened and read to his relatives.
With the exception of a few legacies left to friends and servants he bequeathed the whole of his real estate and personal property exclusively and unconditionally to his beloved granddaughter, Electra Coroni.
And he appointed his esteemed friends, Stephen Lyle and Joseph Brent, joint executors of the will, trustees of his estate, and guardians of his heiress.
And to each of these executors he left a legacy of ten thousand dollars.
Folded within the will was an informal letter addressed to his surviving friends, and requesting that no mourning should be worn for him, no wedding deferred, no innocent pleasure delayed on his account, for that death was only a higher step in life, and that which to him would be a great gain and glory must not seem to them a loss and gloom.
Electra, with her gusty nature, wept vehemently during the reading of this will and letter.
But there was one present who, though he betrayed no emotion, was much more deeply moved than any one present. This was Joseph Brent.
In being appointed guardian, trustee and executor of the will, he had just received from Dr. Beresford Jones the greatest proof of esteem and confidence that any one man could receive from another. And when he thought of this in connection with his own woful past he felt deeply disturbed.
After the reading of the will the assembled relatives dispersed from the room, leaving the two executors to converse together.
When Joseph Brent found himself alone with his friend Stephen Lyle he gave way to his feelings and said:
"My heart is full of compunction."
"Why?" gravely inquired Mr. Lyle.
"Because I should have confided in the dear old friend who put so much trust in me. I should have told him my whole miserable past history. And then, perhaps, he never would have given me so great a mark of his esteem. And Heaven knows I fully intended to tell him before asking him to accept me as a suitor of his granddaughter, even though it had cost me the loss of her who is dearer to me than life. But I put off the painful task, and now it is too late. And I feel as if I had obtained the honors he has conferred upon me by a fraud. No less!" said Joseph Brent, covering his face with his hands.
"My brother, you are morbid on this subject. Certainly you intended to tell him before asking to marry his granddaughter. And most certainly it would have been right for you to do so, had he remained among us. But he is gone. And you are free from blame. If you must tell any one tell the girl you love, and who loves and trusts you, for it is now no one's business but hers and yours. Or, rather, because you would never do yourself justice, let me tell her how, once a poor, motherless boy, left to himself, lost his way in the world and strayed even to the very brink of perdition. And how nobly since that he has, by the grace of Heaven, redeemed and consecrated his life. And then see if she will not place her hand in yours for good and all."
"You always comfort and strengthen me," said the young man, seizing and wringing the hand of his friend.
And then they consulted about the will of the late Dr. Jones, and the arrangements to be made with his estates and the disposition to be made of his heiress.
"We are her guardians," said Mr. Lyle; "but neither you nor I, being bachelors both, have a proper home to offer her. Nor will it be well for her to live at Beresford Manors, with no one but her colored servants. Mrs. Fanning has invited her to remain here for the present, and really this house seems to be the best place for her just now. But, after all, the decision must be left to herself, and she must choose her own home."
Mr. Brent agreed perfectly with the views of Mr. Lyle.
And later in the same afternoon they consulted the wishes of their young ward, who emphatically declared in favor of Blue Cliff Hall as her temporary home.
The next morning Mr. Lyle and Mr. Brent took leave of the ladies and returned to Wendover, where the Californian again became the inmate of the minister's home.
But both gentlemen continued to be frequent visitors at Blue Cliff Hall.
On the Monday following the funeral the work was recommenced on the old mansion and went rapidly on—the three ladies, Mrs. Fanning, Laura Lytton and Electra, moving from one part of the house to another as the improvements progressed.
Six weeks after this they received the first cargo of new furniture for the drawing-rooms, which were ready for it.
And as the work went on, from room to room, they received more furniture to fit them up.
At the end of three months the work was completed within and without.
And the fine old mansion, thoroughly remodeled and refurnished, presented as elegant and attractive an appearance as any modern palace in the whole country.
And then, when all was ready for the returning bride and bridegroom, Mrs. Fanning received a letter from them informing her that on the Saturday following the date of that letter they were to embark on board the steamship "Amazon," bound from Liverpool to New York, and they expected to be at Blue Cliffs two weeks from the day of embarkation.
Yes, the happy young pair were on their way home, unconscious of the horrible pitfall that had been dug to receive them!