VIOLET LISLE; OR, A PEARL BEYOND PRICE.

King Country Chronicle, Volume VI, Issue 461, 1 May 1912, Page 2

VIOLET LISLE; OR, A PEARL BEYOND PRICE.

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By the Author of "All or Nothing," "Two Keys," etc., eta. PART 27. Why might she not bridge ove the chasm that seemed so suddenly to have opened between these two, whose happiness was sufficiently dear to her to mat&e her sorrow in its undoing ? Why should she rest satisfied with thinking that their love could not go beyond a mild affection ? How selfish her own grief had made her ! What an egotist ! Thinking always of herself—putting herself before everything ! But what should she say ? what do, now ? Something at least to rob Lady Westall's departure of its seeming rudeness.

" She knew you were certain to be very much occupied with your own affairs, piapa. You know how considerate she always is. She spoke to me of it." No sooner had Violet said these few words than she was glad she had done so ; for the puzzled frown left her father's face at once. " Perhaps I shall see her during my stay in London. She will go to her own house, I suppose," he said. " No-o," answered Violet, doubtfully ; " I was to send any communications to her solicitor. You might call there to-morrow, if you have the time."

" Yes, yes, so I might. Yes, certainly " and it was clear from his beaming smile that he cared enough for Lady Westall to rejoice in th« thought of seeing her so soon. Then a new thought came to Violet and she said :

" What are you going to do now, my lord ?" It was said playfully enough, but had a sufficient tinge of seriousness in it to please Melville Lisle to whom his title was the proudest possession he had in tne world —more to him than the immense wealth that went with it ; though he was quite able to appreciate that at its full value too.

" Whatever you would wish, Lady Violet," he answered with a response of mirth that sat very well on the man who had hardly jested in his life before.

" Then you shall sit here and listen to a homely little ballad that has been running in my head. I will sing to you of the gentle lady and the squire of low degree, and you shall applaud my singing, whether you admire my sentiments or not." Melville Lisle had seen very little of this playfulness in his daughter, either before or since their reunion ; for in the early days lie would have frowned upon it and scorned it as a vulgar thing, and since then she hac not had the heart for it ; but now there was a purpose in it, and she surprised herself in finding how readily it came to her. " I shall begin," he said, as gallantly as to a princess, "by admiring the songstress, and after I have admired her singing I shall end by admiring her again." Violet patted him affectionately on the arm and went to the piano. He knew nothing of what her voice was, for she had sedulously concealed her accomplishment from him lest it should come out in some way that she had studied professionally ; but she had less fear now, and, with some sad thought of her own story she thrilled him through and through with the melody of her voice and the sweetness of the story of how " the gentle lady loved the squire of low degree."

He sat in silent wonder for some minutes and she ran her fingers softly over the keys, until lie said to her. " I never heard anything like it." " The story, papa ?" " No, the singing." " Oh ! but what do you say to the lady who condescended so far ?"

" Why I suppose there would be no harm in it in a song ;'but it would be unwise in real life," answered Melville Lisle without hesitation.

" But if she loved him, and he lacked nothing but birth of being her equal, how then ?" " Oh," he answered, indifferently, " there may have been a time when an alliance of that sort would not have been objectionable ; but now, it would, of course, be quite out of the question. You are not thinking," he said suddenly, " of yourself and Lore Darlington—l mean reversing the case ?"

The question startled and annoyed her, and she answered with a proud lifting of the head : " It did not require that you should be the Earl of Granthorpe i'oi me to feel that I was the equal in birth of Lord Darlington or any other." His eyes sparkled approvingly at her words. " Certainly, certainly—quite right,'' he ejaculated. " No," said Violet recovering herself and reverting to her first ilea, " what I had in my mind was a curi ous and interesting story I brnrcl recently, Would you care to hear it?' " It would be a pleasure," bo stH. looking with gratified pride at the perfect creature who sat looking onr nestly at him from the piano stool. "It is about a nobleman," said Violet, " who fell In love with a lad] of his> acquaintance. He admirerl hei very much, and she admired and loved him. And there was reason 01 both sides ; for he was a gentlemai of excellence in birth, breeding an< fortune, she was equally a lady but—a"d here is where the romance of it enters the story—she had once bcei ".ufcvtunatc. Her father had died leaving her nothing and she had beer obliged to support herself, thougi

itterwards she had gained wealth ind position. Would you think the -entlcrnan would be justified in withrawing his suit for the lady's hand c.ca':se lie learned that she once had nrncd her livelihood ?" ' ''crtainly not," answered Melville Lisle. • rn <rlad to hear you say that." said Violet for you would know ■ o perfectly what a gentleman should o umlcr given circumstances." This was flattery of the subtlest 'nd and Melville Lisle bowed with a mile. "Of course," he said, "it would 'enend somewhat, upon what, she had lone in the of —of " he disliked to use the word work, so he •.instituted labour— "of labour. Governess now or—or. Did you hear ■hat was the nature of the occupation ?" " Yes, for it hinged on that in the story I speak of. But what could it natter, papa, so long as the work as honest ?" " Oh, my dear ! Of course, you cannot realise what the possibilities are when a woman is—that is—" he .ippened to think of the opportunity •e had given her to realise that very .hing and he hastened to say, "that s, there would naturally be many jerfectly honest ways of gaining a ivelihood, which would yet, nevertheless effectually prevent a woman eturning to her original social stats. What had the woman done in the case under consideration." " She had been a governess first." "As I have intimated, a perfectly •efined and respectable calling. Natlrally a nobleman would prefer that 10 such association should be connected with his wife's past ; but if he oved her—love is a great leveller inteed—that should be, shall I say, •ondoned."

" But after that, owing to the :ruel calumny of n. man who was at;racted by her great beauty she was driven to London, where it finally be:ame a choice between starvation and i chorus girl."

" And she became a chorus girl ?" lemanded Melville Lisle in a tone that implied that her choice should lave been starvation. " Yes." " And the nobleman could not sring himself to overlook it ?" " I believe not."

" Certainly not. How could he ? [f he could forget himself he would lot be justified in forgetting his posterity. The bearer of an old name and title, Violet, is under heavy responsibilities not alone to the present md the future, but even to the past, vhence it has come to him."

" Ah, yes, papa," Violet insisted, doping to draw something from him :hat would promise better things for ler friend, " but we are speaking impersonally now. Take it home to yourself. Suppose the case yours, md yourself in love ; could you ihrow aside a woman every way svorthy because of the one unfortunate accident of her life ?" " The case could not be mine, Violet," he answered, with a serene loftiness " and it would not alter my decision if it were." " Then," thought Violet sadly, " 1 tvill write to Lads Westall, and she will avoid you. She was wiser than [." CHAPTER XXXIV. AN ARMED NEUTRALITY. " Who was it just drove away, Violet ?" " The Duchess of Bwminlster, papa." " And were you going anywhere now, my dear ?" " I was going to try that pair of bay ponies you would insist on getting for me ; but is there anything you would like me to do, if so I shall be pleased to do it for you." " Oh, no, nothing," he answered a little nervously. "By the way have you heard recently irora Lady Westill ?" " I received a letter to-day." " Doss she say anything about coming ? You gave her my —our invitation, I suppose ?" " Yes, papa ; but she seems to think it will not be possible just aow."

The Earl of Granthorpe and his daughter had been at Granthorpe Castle for nearly a month now and although there had been an. unceasing round of distracting duties and gaieties all of which the newly -inheriting peer had taken part in with religious faithfulness, he hod rtot ccused to urge Violet to induce Lady Westall to join them. On tbis occasion h< walked to the. window uneasily, and then returned and said., .abruptly :

" Have you any reason to believe, Violet, that. Lady We;stall is offendec at me for anything ?"i

" No reason at all, ;papa, and I am quite certain that shj; is not. offended."

" I did not know but T had in some way given her o.ffencc —a thing I would be sorry to do. I remember that I was very z inch over>'omc by the news that c»~ Ie- to me the last day I saw her ; but 1 haven ' been able to recall auy-'t hing I said oi did that could have gi ; " en offence.' "Oh :papa, I think I can assure you positively that sh--r is not in the least offended. She .al* as 0l know, sends you kind u> Q d courteous: messages, and I aai certain she thinks as highly as ever she did ol you," answered Vi : oiet.. who founo herself in no envialjie between the two pers-ons.

The earl walked' up ana down the drawing-room, and, wit'B a n increase of his nervousness astied ' "Do you know of—of v reason why she should not. coem anything- connected with —ivitl: fr. e ? Oi let me be quite frank:, Yot' knov what my sentiments towards Lad\ Westall are. Do you think ghi l slls pects them, 3 nd is avoiding,' n. ctc 3pare me the pa'in of—o-t anHd^\ ee r se answer ?"

" 01). pnpa, how r.-ri I s;V 7 ?>1 y relief is that flip cnros as much for ron as you do fur her." " I think, my dear." said the carl, positively, but, with a hoiu 1 -l.nied roliur, " thiit I will ;:o to Ravensroft." " Not. to-d.iv/' paid Yiolet, in a .rem or. " No. I shall remain to j;o to the Tall at the Countess Harlcigh's tori ;:ht. Have your gowns come from \iris ?" " Yes, and thoy are marvels of vorkmanship and expense. You ar? in extravagant parent, my lord." " And you are the most lovely as veil as the best of dauphters. By he way, did I not see I.ady Dsrlingon here this afternoon ?" " Yes, papa ; she is at Darlington At the first Violet had been very shy of going among the people, many if not all of them must have studied ler through their lorgnettes from :heir boxes at the theatre ; but to jlease her father she had overcome ler dread, and had gone with him •verywhere, with the inevitable result of becoming the rage. The balls, dinners, riding parties, picnics, awn parties, and other entertainments that were immediately given in her honour were but a small sign of the furore she had created in the •anks of the county nobility. No jne recognised- her as the singer whom they had importuned to sing it their houses in Loadon, and\ all worshipped her as the wealthiest leiress and the most beautiful wonan in England ; for those who met ler did not scruple to declare her to )e that.

The earl had already come to look on her as a precious possession ; but ie could not fail to be affected by ;he sensation she created wherever ?he went, and his pride in her was soundless. He performed his social luties, indeed, with the stateliness and punctiliousness that were to be expected of him ; but he was never so much engaged that he was not in i position to watch Violet's triumphal progress.

It was thus at the ball at Lady Harleigh's that night. He was talking to Lady Barminster, punctuating her vivacious flow of small talk with courtly smiles and nods, but all the while looking at Violet with a pride that would certainly have surprised her old self, had it been able to rise" up and see him in bis new phase.

"As I was saying," the Duchpss went on—Then her grace paused and turning to a new-comer, said : " Why, my dear marquis, I have not seen you since the season began ! Permit me and she looked from the Earl of Granthorpe to the Marquis of Coldenham with the intention of presenting them to each other " Your grace," said the marquis, suavely, and with a bow, " I have met Lord Granthorpe before."

" Yes, we have met before," said the marquis suavely, and with a bow the earl gravely though without the least show of feeling which indeed he lid not have.

"I. hope," said Lord Coldenham, with an inclination of ,the head, " that you are as pleased as I am with this opportunity for the renewal of our acquaintance. I, too, from our interview, formed such a regard for Mr. Lisle, that it rejoices me greatly; to meet now the Earl of Granthorpe."

This may have been an intimation from the marquis that he had not forgotten the humble surroundings in which the Earl of Granthorpe had last been seen ; but if so, it completely failed of any purpose ; for if there was any difference between the plain Mr. Lisle and the noble earl it lay in the greater modesty of the latter.

" You are very kind," said he, '* and I hope that the Earl of Granthorpe will not fall short of the high ideal set him by Melville Lisle." " I see," Baid the marquis, changing his form of attack, " that your daughter is making the success that her friends always believed she would."

Then a flush tinged the cheeks of the Earl of Granthorpe ; for the words recalled to him how unappreciative he had been of the graces of a daughter whom he loved more every day, and whom he had driven from his door like an outcast. , It was never a pleasant thought to him and it was less so now, that it was suggested to him by a man who was cognisant of his conduct at that time. He had too much presence of mind, however, to be thrown into confusion, and answered, steadily . " Yes, I think I have a right to bo proud of her. Let me present you to her. She may have forgotten you. By your leave, duchess " and 'he bowed to her grace, and turned with the baffled marquis towards whore A iolet was the centre of a rapturously admiring circle. Fortunately for Violet, she had chanced to glance towards where her father was standing. and had seen the man who had played so important a part in her wretched past. The colour forsook her face for a moment but her pride came to her rescue and •she schooled herself to hide any e:notion that might stir her hear!. "i her she was obliged to meet ihe !i?■ >t c ■ 11; , as she felt instinct iveh she must presently do. Tn consequence "i this forearming of herself, she was enabled to look un unconcernedly when her father, with the marquis by his side made his way through her Ihi on;: oi a dmirers. " Permit; me," said the Karl. " to TC-sent the Marquis of Coldenham.' (To be continued.)