An Ambitious Man

"And it's the talk of that ould witch of a Baroness, may the divil

run away with her, that is drivin' ye away, is it?" she cried

excitedly; "and it's not Mrs Connor as will consist to the daughter

of your mother, God rest her soul, lavin' my house like this. To

think that I should have had ye here all these years, and never known

ye to be her child till now, and now to see ye driven away by the

divil's own! But if it's the fear of not being able to pay the rint

because ye've lost your position, ye needn't lave for many a long day

to come. It's Mrs Connor would only be as happy as the queen herself

to work her hands to the bone for ye, remembering your darlint of a

mother, and not belavin' one word against her, nor ye."

So soon as Joy could gain possession of her surprised senses, she

calmed the weeping woman and began to question her.

"My good woman," she said, "what are you talking about? Did you ever

know my mother, and where did you know her?"

"In the Palace, to be sure, as they called the house of that imp of

Satan, the Baroness. I was the wash-lady there, for it's not Mrs

Conner the landlady as is above spakin' of the days when she wasn't

as high in the world as she is now; and many is the cheerin' cup of

coffee or tay from your own mother's hand, that I've had in the

forenoon, to chirk me up and put me through my washing, bless her

sweet face; and niver have I forgotten her; and niver have I ceased

to miss her and the fine young man that took such an interest in her

and that I'm as sure loved her, in spite of his marrying the Judge's

spook of a daughter, as I am that the Holy Virgin loves us all; and

it's a foine man that your father must have been, but young Mr Cheney

was foiner."

So little by little Joy drew the story from Mrs Connor and learned

the name of the mysterious father, so carefully guarded from her in

Mrs Irving's manuscript, the father at whose funeral services she had

so recently officiated as organist.

And strangest and most startling of all, she learned that Arthur

Stuart's insane wife was her half-sister.

Added to all this, Joy was made aware of the nature of the reports

which the Baroness had been circulating about her; and her feeling of

bitter resentment and anger toward the church committee was modified

by the knowledge that it was not owing to the shadow on her birth,

but to the false report of her own evil life, that she had been asked

to resign.