An Ambitious Man

Added to these causes of dislike, the Baroness was, like many

wealthier people, excessively close in her dealings with working

folk, haggling over a few cents or a few moments of wasted time,

while she was generosity itself in association with her equals.

Mrs Connor, therefore, felt both pity and sympathy for Miss Dumont,

whose position in the Palace she knew to be a difficult one; and when

Preston Cheney came upon the scene the romantic mind of the motherly

Irishwoman fashioned a future for the young couple which would have

done credit to the pen of a Mrs Southworth.

Mr Cheney always had a kind word for the laundress, and a tip as

well; and when Mrs Connor's dream of seeing him act the part of the

Prince and Berene the Cinderella of a modern fairy story, ended in

the disappearance of Miss Dumont and the marriage of Mr Cheney to

Mabel Lawrence, the unhappy wash-lady mourned unceasingly.

Ten years of hard, unremitting toil and rigid economy passed away

before Mrs Connor could realise her ambition of becoming a landlady

in the purchase of a small house which contained but four rooms,

three of which were rented to lodgers. The increase in the value of

her property during the next five years, left the fortunate

speculator with a fine profit when she sold her house at the end of

that time, and rented a larger one; and as she was an excellent

financier, it was not strange that, at the time Joy Irving appeared

on the scene, "Mrs Connor's apartments" were as well and favourably

known in Beryngford, if not as distinctly fashionable, as the Palace

had been more than twenty years ago.

So it was under the roof of her mother's devoted and faithful mourner

that the unhappy young orphan had found a home when she came to hide

herself away from all who had ever known her.

The landlady experienced the same haunting sensation of something

past and gone when she looked on the girl's beautiful face, which had

so puzzled the Baroness; a something which drew and attracted the

warm heart of the Irishwoman, as the magnet draws the steel. Time

and experience had taught Mrs Connor to be discreet in her treatment

of her tenants; to curb her curiosity and control her inclination to

sociability. But in the case of Miss Irving she had found it

impossible to refrain from sundry kindly acts which were not included

in the terms of the contract. Certain savoury dishes found their way

mysteriously to Miss Irving's menage, and flowers appeared in her

room as if by magic, and in various other ways the good heart and

intentions of Mrs Connor were unobtrusively expressed toward her

favourite tenant. Joy had taken a suite of four rooms, where, with

her maid, she lived in modest comfort and complete retirement from

the social world of Beryngford, save as the close connection of the

church with Beryngford society rendered her, in the position of

organist, a participant in many of the social features of the town.

While Joy was in the midst of her preparations for departure, Mrs

Connor made her appearance with swollen eyes and red, blistered face.