Stapleton

“ Stapleton at once. You can tell him, if you wish, how it came into your possession. He will be furious, of course; but he must understand that the capture of these scoundrels is quite as important to the city of Paris as the recovery of his son. We have done our best, and failed. We must try again."
[152] "Richard was at the Porte de Versailles," remarked Grace, quietly. "He tried to stop my car." ”

“ There can be no doubt that Stapleton exercised an influence over her which may have been love or may have been fear, or very possibly both, since they are by no means incompatible emotions. It was, at least, absolutely effective. At his command she consented to pass as his sister, though he found the limits of his power over her when he endeavoured to make her the direct accessory to murder. She was ready to warn Sir Henry so far as she could without implicating her husband, and again and again she tried to do so. ”

“ Leave her in quiet possession of the road, and we take an air-line over her back.’ ‘Suppose she took a stupid notion to get out of our way just as we are in hers?’ said Mr. Stapleton. ‘I don’t suppose anything of the kind,’ said my master; ‘we shall be too quick for her.’ [65] With that they put spurs to their horses, but it happened that Mr. Stapleton’s horse got the start and was a little ahead. He cleared the cow well enough, but, unluckily it gave her an impression that just where she was it was a poor place to be ”

“ A friendly biographer, supposed to be Denzil Holles, describes Stapleton as a man ‘of a thin body and a weak constitution, but full of spirit,’ adding that he was ‘quick of apprehension, sound of judgment, of clear and good elocution’ (ib. pp. 3, 5) . Robert Baillie styles him, ‘after Holles, the second gentleman for all gallantry in England’ (Letters, iii. 19) . The Sutherland Clarendon in the Bodleian Library contains four engraved portraits of Stapleton.
Stapleton married twice: first, the widow of John Gee, of Bishop Burton, Yorkshire, 1627. ”

“ Stapleton, who knew his world, had purposely advertised his ball with a view to what he called “roping in” these people by making a great [Pg 113] to do regarding the many well-known social representatives who would be present, in addition to theatrical stars and other more or less Bohemian folk. ”

“ It is something to have touched bottom anywhere in this bog in which we are floundering. We know now why Stapleton looked with disfavour upon his sister's suitor—even when that suitor was so eligible a one as Sir Henry. And now I pass on to another thread which I have extricated out of the tangled skein, the mystery of the sobs in the night, of the tear-stained face of Mrs. Barrymore, of the secret journey of the butler to the western lattice window. ”

“ He felt that he must see Duvall at once.
In fifteen minutes he was at the house. Mr. Stapleton was waiting patiently in the library for the telephone call which would announce the hiding place of his boy. With him were Mrs. Stapleton and Monsieur Lefevre.
The poor man and his wife were in a pitiable state, their eyes glued to the clock which stood on the mantel. It was marked twenty-six minutes past eight. "Only four minutes more!" gasped Mrs. Stapleton, through her tears. "My God! why don't they hurry?"
Her husband endeavored to console her. "They may be a few moments late, my dear. ”

“ There are lonely houses scattered over the moor, and he is a fellow who would stick at nothing. You only want to get a glimpse of his face to see that. Look at Mr. Stapleton's house, for example, with no one but himself to defend it. There's no safety for anyone until he is under lock and key."
"He'll break into no house, sir. I give you my solemn word upon that. But he will never trouble anyone in this country again. I assure you, Sir Henry, that in a very few days the necessary arrangements will have been made and he will be on his way to South America. ”

“ Thomas Stapleton was born at Henfield, in Sussex, in the year 1535, and was educated at Winchester and New College, Oxford, of which he became fellow. When Elizabeth came to the throne he was a prebendary of Chichester. He soon retired to Louvain, and was afterwards for some time catechist at Douai, but was recalled to Louvain, where he was appointed regius professor of theology. He died in 1598. Stapleton is unquestionably the most important of the controversialists on the treatment of the Catholic and Protestant Rules of Faith. ”

“ He was tall and somewhat heavily built; but what at once attracted Grace's attention was his heavy black beard. She recognized him at once as the man who had broken into Valentin's room to steal the cigarettes, and had later driven the car which brought her back to Paris after her abduction.
He was speaking to Mr. Stapleton in a quiet and assured tone, as though discussing a topic of no greater importance than the weather.
"Mr. Stapleton," he said, "I have your son in [165] my possession. He is quite safe. ”

“ On the morning after the death of the hound the fog had lifted and we were guided by Mrs. Stapleton to the point where they had found a pathway through the bog. It helped us to realize the horror of this woman's life when we saw the eagerness and joy with which she laid us on her husband's track. We left her standing upon the thin peninsula of firm, peaty soil which tapered out into the widespread bog. ”

“ An hour later, Grace left the Prefect's office in a taxicab, having arranged to have her baggage sent to Monsieur Lefevre's house, where she was to stay while in Paris. Her previous acquaintance with Madame Lefevre made this an ideal arrangement. She was to pose as a friend, in Paris on a visit.
She ordered the driver of the taxicab to take her to Mr. Stapleton's house in the Avenue Kleber.
She found Mrs. Stapleton to be a very pretty [51] and stylish woman of thirty; whose beauty, however, was sadly marred by the intense suffering through which she was passing. ”

“ Stapleton know that you will do as you say?"
The man shrugged his shoulders. "That is a chance he must take. If he does not believe that the child will be delivered to him, provided he pays the money, he had better not pay it. But if he does his part, I shall do mine—and this I swear by the memory of my mother!"
Grace shuddered. A wretch of this sort, talking about the memory of his mother! "Very well," she said quietly, "I will take your message."
"Good! You will not leave here, of course, until it is dark—tonight. You will be blindfolded, and conducted to some point in the city. ”

“ Come now, Watson, didn't you think yourself that it was the cry of a hound? I am not a child. You need not fear to speak the truth."
"Stapleton was with me when I heard it last. He said that it might be the calling of a strange bird."
"No, no, it was a hound. My God, can there be some truth in all these stories? Is it possible that I am really in danger from so dark a cause? You don't believe it, do you, Watson?"
"No, no."
"And yet it was one thing to laugh about it in London, and it is another to stand out here in the darkness of the moor and to hear such a cry as that. And my uncle! ”

“ Both Sir Henry and I were concerned at their situation, and it was suggested that Perkins the groom should go over to sleep there, but Stapleton would not hear of it.
The fact is that our friend the baronet begins to display a considerable interest in our fair neighbour. It is not to be wondered at, for time hangs heavily in this lonely spot to an active man like him, and she is a very fascinating and beautiful woman. ”

“ She would have nothing to do with it, and for a time Stapleton was at a deadlock.
“He found a way out of his difficulties through the chance that Sir Charles, who had conceived a friendship for him, made him the minister of his charity in the case of this unfortunate woman, Mrs. Laura Lyons. By representing himself as a single man he acquired complete influence over her and he gave her to understand that in the event of her obtaining a divorce from her husband he would marry her. ”

“ He wants you to go ahead of him. There's a fast boat leaving in the morning. You could take that. We can have a conference tonight. It will mean mighty quick work, though." He glanced at his watch. "After six now. There's no train till midnight—the sleeper. But Mr. Stapleton told me to charter a special. We can be in New York by one o'clock in the morning, if we start right now." He looked at Duvall in eager expectancy.
The latter frowned, his gaze wandering off to [16] the distant fields, where the newly plowed earth reminded him of his plans for the morrow. ”

“ As I approached the hut, walking as warily as Stapleton would do when with poised net he drew near the settled butterfly, I satisfied myself that the place had indeed been used as a habitation. A vague pathway among the boulders led to the dilapidated opening which served as a door. All was silent within. The unknown might be lurking there, or he might be prowling on the moor. My nerves tingled with the sense of adventure. Throwing aside my cigarette, I closed my hand upon the butt of my revolver and, walking swiftly up to the door, I looked in. ”

“ Before 1360 Stapleton married Alice, widow of Sir Stephen Waleys of Helaugh and daughter and coheiress of Sir John de St. Philibert. He inherited Carlton and Kentmere from a cousin, and in 1376 bought Wighill, where he died on 25 July 1394. His will, written in French, was dated 16 May the same year, and is published in ‘Testamenta Eboracensia’ (i. 198 sq.) . He directed that his body should be buried at Helaugh priory, beside his wife, who had died before him; he left directions for a sumptuous burial, and made many legacies to friends and kinsfolk. ”

“ From there, you can make your way to Monsieur Stapleton's house." He rose, and went toward the door. "Make no attempt to escape. It will be useless. Any attempts on the part of the police to interfere with the plan I have outlined will result in nothing. Food will be sent in to you at once. Good morning."
[70] It was close to ten o'clock that night, as nearly as Grace could judge, when she was led a considerable distance blindfolded, to a closed automobile, and driven away. She could form no idea of her whereabouts. The car continued on its way, for over an hour. ”

“ Stapleton looked at me with a curious expression in his face.
“Queer place, the moor!” said he.
“But what is it?”
“The peasants say it is the Hound of the Baskervilles calling for its prey. I've heard it once or twice before, but never quite so loud.”
I looked round, with a chill of fear in my heart, at the huge swelling plain, mottled with the green patches of rushes. Nothing stirred over the vast expanse save a pair of ravens, which croaked loudly from a tor behind us.
“You are an educated man. You don’t believe such nonsense as that?” ”

“ STAPLETON, AUGUSTUS GRANVILLE (1800–1880) , biographer of George Canning and political pamphleteer, was born in 1800. He was entered on 18 Sept. 1814 in the register of Rugby school as ‘son of John Stapleton, esq., and ward of the Rev. T. Yeoman, Barnstaple, Devon, aged 13’ (Register, i. 120) . It has, however, been said that he was ‘a natural son of Lord Morley’ (Jekyll, Letters, p. 226) , i.e. of the first Earl Morley, the intimate friend of Canning. ”

“ Cast: Carroll O’Connor, Jean Stapleton, Rob Reiner, Sally Struthers, Brendan Dillon. © 1Mar72; LP40559.
Archie is worried about his job. Credits: Producer, Norman Lear; director, John Rich; writers, Norman Lear, Don Nicholl, Bryan Joseph; music, Roger Kellaway. Cast: Carroll O’Connor, Jean Stapleton, Bob Reiner, Sally Struthers, Holly Irving. © 12Mar71; LP40449.
Archie sees a mugging. Credits: Producer, Norman Lear; director, John Rich; teleplay, Philip Mishkin & Don Nicholl; story, Henry Garson. Cast: Carroll O’Connor, Jean Stapleton, Bob Reiner, Sally Struthers, Val Bisoglio. ”

“ Especially is Christian hope absolutely necessary for the leading of a Christian life, and no man would take upon himself that burden, if he did not confidently expect a crown of glory beyond, sufficient to repay him for all the things endured here below for conscience's sake. Hope is a star that beckons us on to renewed effort, a vision of the goal that animates and invigorates us ”

“ FAITH is the edifice of a Christian life. It is, of itself, a mere shell, so to speak, for unless good works sustain and adorn it, it will crumble, and the Almighty in His day will reduce it to ashes; faith without works is of no avail. The corner stone of this edifice is the authority of the word of God, while His gratuitous grace, our intelligence and will furnish the material for building. ”

“ And the sage over his books, the wonder-worker at his task, the apostle in his wanderings and labors, the very martyr on the rack is no more sure of having charity than the most humble man, woman or child in the lowest walks of life who loves God too much to offend Him. ”

“ A vase of flowers, a lamp, a. burning candle before the statue of a saint is a prayer whose silence is more eloquent than all the sounds that ever came from the lips of man. It is love that puts it there, love that tells it to dispense its sweet perfume or shed its mellow rays, and love that speaks by this touching symbolism to God through a favorite saint. ”

“ There is no charity outside the idea of God. Philanthropy, humanity is one thing, charity is another. The one is sentiment, the other is love—two very different things. The one supposes natural motives, the other, supernatural. Philanthropy looks at the exterior form and discovers a likeness to self. Charity looks at the soul and therein discovers an image of God, by which we are not only common children of Adam, but also children of God and sharers of a common celestial inheritance. Neither a cup of water nor a fortune given in any other name than that of God is charity. ”