The Smile of the Stranger Read Online Free PDF Page A

was. And for a mother to go off and desert her own baby—that appeared hardly possible; it was the most strange, unnatural thing she had ever heard. She had always supposed her mother dead. She added tremblingly, “Did you divorce her?”
    But to this question her father replied, “If you do not mind, my dear, that touches upon topics which are a cause of such anguish and horror to me that I prefer not to recall them. I would rather not speak any more on this subject at this time. In England—when we are rested from the journey—I will tell you the whole history.”
    “Oh, dear Papa! Indeed, I would not give you pain for the world! Pray do not think of—of telling me anything that you would rather not! I am only sorry to have distressed you so much as I have. I had thought that I ought to know something of our circumstances in case—in case you—”
    Her voice faltered to a halt.
    He said calmly, “You were very right. And I can tell you also that a year ago—when France declared war on England—I wrote to your grandfather, explaining that—that I was not in the first degree of health, and that if I were to fall ill, or die, it would greatly relieve my anxieties about you if I could be assured that he might be willing to offer you a home—since you are the only thing in the world that I cherish.”
    “You wrote to my grandfather a year ago?” She was amazed. “You never told me!”
    “There are many things that I do not choose to tell you, Puss.” Her father pinched her cheek.
    “And did my grandfather reply?”
    “He replied—somewhat stiffly, which was to be expected, but without recriminations. He said that he was now alone, as your grandmother died five years ago—which I had heard—and that we might come to F l intwood—either or both of us — whenever we wished to do so. He was not cordial—he did not say that we should be welcome —his phrases were formal—but he said all that was proper, and intimated that we had a right to come; that he would not bar his door to us.”
    Juliana, with her chin propped on her fists, looked thoughtfully at her father.
    “His letter was so unwelcoming that you did not wish to accept his offer,” she deduced. “Or at least you wished to postpone accepting it as long as possible. Am I right, Papa?”
    “You will think me selfish, my love, I fear, but I did greatly wish to complete my Vindication of King Charles I before removing to Flintwood. Your grandfather was always so wholly unsympathetic to my writing. And we have been happy in Florence, have we not? I know I should have been considering your interests—”
    “ My interests? What have they to say to anything?”
    “Why, as a young lady of respectable birth, you should be learning to move in Polite Circles, instead of keeping house in a tenement and cooking on a brazier in Florence. Your aunt would be scandalized, without a doubt—”
    “Oh, have I an aunt?” she said, all curiosity.
    “My elder sister Caroline. She married a baronet and has two daughters; I daresay she will be prepared to bring you out in society, for she was used to go to all the ton parties; her husband, at one time, was on the fringe of the Carlton House set.”
    “What is that?”
    “Oh, the Prince of Wales and his friends. My sister Caroline was always the most empty-headed fool possible; I doubt if time will have improved her. I believe her husband turned from fashionable circles to political ones—but with as little distinction, I imagine. He was always a dull stick.”
    Her father ’ s tone was so impatient that Juliana did not pursue the question of her aunt ’ s family.
    “Does my grandfather know that you have written several historical works under the name of Charles Elphinstone? That your life of George Villiers received wide acclaim?”
    “I fear, my love, that your grandfather is not to be impressed by the writing of books! He has rarely opened one in his life, unless it might be a history of some military