Westbrook

“ Westbrook is a very sensible woman, profoundly interested in what affects her daughter."
She shook her head doubtfully, as if the matter remained an insoluble riddle.
"However," he continued, "she was right, and I believe her opinion is in harmony with your own."
"Yes; I shall keep nothing back." The color all at once ebbed from her cheeks, leaving them white and cold. Her sensitive lips trembled, yet her voice remained steady and even, and she looked at him without a sign of confusion, as she made the simple statement: "I love Clay, Mr. Converse. Does that explain anything?" ”

“ During this time General Westbrook was usually in the United States. On one occasion Joyce accompanied him to Mexico, and De Sanchez fell madly in love with her.
"As you know," said Castillo, "the Señor Westbrook's one virtue was his regard for and pride in his family; for their sake had he resorted to infamy. He knew the Señor de Sanchez to be a rascal; he might do very well as a business associate; but deliver his cherished daughter into that rascal's possession? No. On the other hand, De Sanchez had that which could defeat the very object of the other's villany—knowledge of it. ”

“ Sloperton Cottage is almost alone, but there are a few neighbours, and there is the little rustic village of Westbrook, about half a mile westward. Westward was the poet's favourite prospect. He loved the sunset, and from a terrace in his garden he habitually watched the pageant of the dying day. Here, for thirty-five years, was his peaceful and happy home. Here he meditated many of those gems of lyrical poetry that will live in the hearts of men as long as anything lives that ever was written by mortal hand. ”

“ Dawe had some money in those days, and lived in a decent apartment house near Westbrook’s. The two families often went to theatres and dinners together. Mrs. Dawe and Mrs. Westbrook became “dearest” friends. Then one day a little tentacle of the octopus, just to amuse itself, ingurgitated Dawe’s capital, and he moved to the Gramercy Park neighborhood where one, for a few groats per week, may sit upon one’s trunk under eight-branched chandeliers and opposite Carrara marble mantels and watch the mice play upon the floor. Dawe thought to live by writing fiction. ”

“ Did Clay Fairchild, puzzled over Miss Joyce's excited and unexpected appearance, go to Doctor Westbrook's office seeking enlightenment, and were his unspoken questions there answered by the dead body of Alberto de Sanchez?
And now there was a witness who could establish the identity of the unknown woman. ”

“ General Westbrook was never a man to discuss his business affairs with any one, and there existed many reasons why he should not make a confidante of me; so I must tell you at the outset that what I heard of the name Del Castillo came to my ears in more or less of a surreptitious manner and without General Westbrook's knowledge. ”

“ Society never had seen Mr. Joseph Westbrook in just this mood before.
“Father did not recognize you,” said Ethel, after a time.
“No; I was introduced to Mr. Barrington at the Essex Club a week ago. I hardly thought he would remember Hustler Joe. You have just returned, Miss Barrington?”
“A month ago—from Europe, I mean; mother is there yet. America looks wonderfully good to me—I have been away from it the greater part of the last two years, you know. When I came home to Dalton I found the name of Mr. Joseph Westbrook on every lip. You seem to be a very important personage, sir,” she laughed. ”

“ She’s healthy and sound. Her heart goes as strong as a ninety-eight-cent watch. It’ll last for only a minute, and then I’ll step out and explain to her. You really owe it to me to give me the chance, Westbrook.”
Editor Westbrook at length yielded, though but half willingly. And in the half of him that consented lurked the vivisectionist that is in all of us. Let him who has not used the scalpel rise and stand in his place. Pity ’tis that there are not enough rabbits and guinea-pigs to go around. ”

“ I inquired perversely, [Pg 253] assuming a languid manner. “I don’t suppose he will have any particular objection to a grey dress more than anybody else.”
“But, Kitty, you don’t understand, he is an earl, and he has never been here before; and of course we must all look our best. You know what an earl is, I suppose?”
“I hope so,” I replied grimly; “but I am obliged to ask who this particular earl is, to have so much fuss made over him.”
“Why, Lord Westbrook—the patron of uncle Armytage’s living, and the squire of Westbrook. ”

“ With a movement that was again almost like prestidigitation, Adams had the door open, and there appeared the familiar, now puzzled, countenance of McCaleb.
"That's the man," Adams went on, pointing to Doctor Westbrook,—assuredly, direct enough now. "I charge Mobley Westbrook with the murder of Señor Alberto de Sanchez." With extraordinary adroitness, he placed McCaleb between himself and the physician. ”

“ He was a clean, neat city man of about thirty, and was engaged in writing up the Kansas war for the New York Tribune. Jim Lane also stopped at J. H. Talbott’s occasionally. Mr. Talbott first heard him make a speech in a grove at Pardee, and A. J. Westbrook was in the audience. Lane made some abusive reference to Westbrook, who made a movement as if to pull a pistol, but Lane shook his celebrated boney finger at Westbrook and defied him to shoot. At that time Atchison was controlled by the pro-slavery element, but the Free State men predominated around Monrovia and Pardee. ”

“ Yet when General Westbrook departed he seemed to be greatly disturbed—so much so that Adams says he had half a mind to follow him. It is true that the two conversed some time, but nothing appeared which would account for the General's agitation; the talk seemed to be merely chatty, pleasant, marked by smiles, and all that. It did not seem to occur to Adams that a man might 'smile, and smile, and be a villain' still; and, after all, it may be that the matter has to do with some property titles. But why enlist the services of Señor Vargas, a stranger? ”

“ I was quite sure that they [Pg 256] did not know one old master from another, any more than I did; but I did not say so; and it did not in the least matter to me whether Lord Westbrook’s taste in art was orthodox or not.
“Now, Bella,” said Bertha, jumping up, “we really must go and dress. I have my hair to curl all over again, and so have you. And, Kitty, make yourself nice, and put on your emeralds, for the credit of the family, there’s a dear. ”

“ De Sanchez, still holding the threat over the other, accepted a compromise because he was made to see he had to. The Señor Westbrook pointed out that his daughter was too young; that while such a marriage might be popular enough in Mexico, it would precipitate nothing short of social disaster in the States. ”

“ In Westbrook are the Walker Memorial Library (1894) and the Warren Library (1879) . The river provides water-power, and among the manufactures are paper, silks, cotton goods, &c. In 1814 Westbrook was separated from Falmouth and incorporated as a township under the name of Stroudwater, and in 1815 the present name was adopted in honour of Colonel Thomas Westbrook, who had distinguished himself in wars with the Indians. In 1871 Deering, now a part of Portland, was taken from the township. A city charter was granted to Westbrook in 1889 and adopted in 1891. ”

“ As for General Westbrook, Castillo protested that he had meant in the end to spare his life, but that the former had himself precipitated the tragedy. On the night the two met in the lobby of the La Salle House, Castillo overheard Slade cursing the General beneath his breath, and at once the idea dawned in his mind to use the abstracter as a tool. Irrefutable evidence of the one-time banking firm's illegal disposition of Don Juan's estate had been prepared by Castillo, and this evidence was placed in Slade's possession, leading directly to an outcome which neither could have expected. ”

“ But I knew as well as possible that he suspected me of “gallivanting” clandestinely, and of being now found out—I, I, who might be a tomboy and a scaramouch at times, perhaps, but would no more have done anything “fast” than I would have committed a theft or a murder, knowingly. Though my bitter mortification almost drove me into tears, I made a struggle for appearances, and answered him as calmly as I could—my voice sounding very tremulous and cowardly [Pg 268] in my own ears. “Yes, Lord Westbrook, I was there. It was the first time I had seen Richmond.” ”

“ We have been more minute in stating the facts than the importance of the case should seem to demand; but we deem the detail necessary to prevent misrepresentations which might obtain credence, to the prejudice of that magnanimity and justice which the United States, in all their intercourse with England, have ever strictly adhered to. The crew of the ‘Windsor Castle,’ brought in by the Privateer ‘Roger,’ were on Wednesday last put on board a small schooner, and sent down to Craney Island in charge of Mr. Westbrook, an officer of the ‘Roger,’ with a guard of eight United States’ soldiers. ”

“ Converse considered, regarding Miss Carter thoughtfully. Presently he stirred and sat upright.
"Like being rubbed with sandpaper, and pounded with a hammer," he mused aloud; then became attentive.
"Are you familiar with many of the voices—of the old patrons, that is?" he inquired.
"Yes, a good many of them. Some voices I recognize immediately; but, of course, to me the great majority are merely voices, and no more."
"I see.... Could you recognize General Westbrook's voice?" ”

“ Doctor Westbrook continued on out, not giving the matter another thought, while Fairchild went into the reception-room. The Doctor don't know whether he got the dagger then; as a paper-knife, the Doctor uses it only to cut magazines or books, or the little papers in which he puts up powders—and often, when it is not right at hand, he resorts to his pocket-knife, rather than hunt for it in the mass of magazines and papers that usually litter his table. ”

“ He became a Methodist preacher in ’40, and afterwards joined the Presbyterians, but withdrew about ’60, and has since written The Bible: Whence and What? and Man: Whence and Whither? In ’88 Dr. Westbrook was elected President of the American Secular Union, and has since offered a prize for the best essay on teaching morality apart from religion.
Westerman (W. B.) During many years, from 1856–68, an active co-operator on De Dageraad.
Westra (P.) , Dutch Freethinker, b. 16 March, 1851. Has for some years been active secretary of the Dutch Freethought society, “De Dageraad.” ”

“ Then, when the paroxysm was over she lay for hours in a swoon so nearly resembling death, that at last they thought her gone and the whisper that she was dead ran through the hall, down to the servants’ quarters, where it was told to Gertie Westbrooke, who had come to inquire for her.
“No, no, not dead; oh, what shall I do?” Gertie cried, as with a low moan she sank down upon the grass by the door, and covering her face with her hands wept passionately. ”

“ I shall still persevere. The fight will be terrible. Often I shall feel on the point of despair. Yet I shall win through. I feel it, Julian. I have the grit in me to do it. And meanwhile”—he lowered his voice, and seemed surprised that the orchestra did not strike up the slow music—“meanwhile, I shall ask Eva to wait.”
To wait! The colossal, the Napoleonic impudence of the man! I have known men who seemed literally to exude gall, but never one so overflowing with it as James Orlebar Cloyster. ”

“ There is a never-failing fascination in a man with a secret. It gave me a pleasant feeling of being behind the scenes, to watch Malim, sitting in his armchair, the essence of everything that was conventional and respectable, with Eton and Oxford written all over him, and to think that he was married all the while to an employee in a Tottenham Court Road fried-fish shop.
Kit never appeared in the flat: but Malim went nearly every evening to the little villa. Sometimes he took Julian and myself, more often myself alone, Julian being ever disinclined to move far from his hammock. ”

“ I was immediately all anxiety to set the scheme working.
“Will you be one of my three middlemen, Julian?” I asked.
He shook his head.
“Thanks!” he said; “it’s very good of you, but I daren’t encroach further on my hours of leisure. Skeffington’s Sloe Gin has already become an incubus.”
I could not move him from this decision.
It is not everybody who, in a moment of emergency, can put his hand on three men of his acquaintance capable of carrying through a more or less delicate business for him. Certainly I found a difficulty in making my selection. ”

“ It had had an occupant then, and who, she asked herself, forgetting 195Mary Rogers, until her eye caught sight of Gertie Westbrooke, whose bouquet of daisies and forget-me-nots fell directly in her lap and seemed a welcome to her. Then she remembered having heard from Godfrey that Mrs. Rogers was to be his tenant, and she knew this child with the bright flowing hair and eager face must be the same whose “God bless you” had been the only “God bless you” given her at her bridal. ”

“ The next link in the chain was a chap called Cloyster. James Orlebar Cloyster. The Reverend brought him down to teach boxing. For my own part, I don’t fancy anything in the way of brutality. The club, so I thought, had got on very nicely with more intellectual pursuits: draughts, chess, bagatelle, and what-not. But the Rev. wanted boxing, and boxing it had to be. Not that it would have done for him or me to have mixed ourselves up in it. He had his congregation to consider, and I am often on duty at the downstairs counter before the very heart of the public. ”