VIOLET LISLE; OR, A PEARL BEYOND PRICE.

King Country Chronicle, Volume VI, Issue 462, 4 May 1912, Page 2

VIOLET LISLE; OR, A PEARL BEYOND PRICE.

All Rights Reserved.

———.— By the Author of "All or Nothing, "Two Keys," etc., etc.

PART 28. l CHAPTER XXXV. A BARGAIN. " The marquis and I have met before," said Violet, bowing coldly. "Yes," answered the marquis, smiling, cordially. " The last time I met you was at the house of Ladj' Westall. Of course, you have now a bandoned the —" " Lady Westall ?" interjected Violet, quickly aware that she was in' no position to make an enemy of this man. "Oh, no ; I have no dearer friend than Lady Westall." "You have the pleasure of that lady's acquaintanceship, then ?" said Lord Grantliorpe with a smile of gratification. " Oh, yes," answered Lord Coldenham slowly, and looking intently a 1 Violet so that she might fully understand the situation. '"I knew her when —"

Violet flashed a glance at him that meant, " You would not d.are !" but she realised in an instant that he would dare, and almost without her own act, her lips formed the words that should prevent her father knowing her friend's story. " When I first met her," she interrupted and looked full into the eyes of the man ; then without a word there was a treaty of armed neutrality made between the two. The terms of the treaty were —"As long as you keep silent I will do the same."

When the Marquis of Coldenham had first heard that the earldom of Granthorpe had fallen into the hands of one oi the younger branches ol the family,, he had not given it a second thought ; but one day he had learned accidentally ; that the new earl was no other than Melville Lisle whom he had met at Penarth, during the unpleasant episode of Guy Darlington's elopement with Violet.

That Melville Lisle should have become the Earl of Granthorpe was bad enough, but it was worse to hear that his daughter Violet, was creating a sensation throughout the country and was being talked of as the coming belle at the next Londoi season.

The little matter erf the receipt foi money which Violet had never known anything about had not greatly troubled the unprincipled nobleman for some time owing to th|e fact that he had the best possible means of knowing that Guy had been persuaded of the truthfulness of it, and that that obstinate young man was fully determined n."ot to return to England. Long immunity from any alarm on that score had, moreover, given him a feeling of security that had been rudely disturbed by the news that Violet was now one of the wealthiest ansd most sought after heiress in England. He knew nothing of the singular acquaintance formed between Violet and Lady Darlington, and his immediate fear now was that the proximity of Violet to Lady Darlington would result in. some sort ol intimacy which would -'likely lead to the exchange of confidences. He had taken it for geanted that Lord Grsinthorpe was perfectly well aware of what Violet's past had been ; bu;c hie had equally taken it foi granted that the gentry of the coun try knew nothing of it, and that Violet wouM be extremely anxious that her story should not be made public. But even if she, in her independence of spirit were indifferent, he knew enough of Melville Lisle's pride to have no doubt what his feelings would be. &o "his plan had been to go down to the* country and make terms with Violet whereby she would consent tc keep silence about him in consideration of his silence concerning her. He had, not hoped for anything more, and his' delight was great, therefore, in seeing as he did in a moment thjai Lord Granthorpe had been kept ii ignoramce not only respecting Violei but ateo as to Lady Westall's past. He b«d noticed the tone of respect used by Lord Granthorpe in speaking of Lady Westall, a - ,nd the look of apprehension cast by Violet on her father the moment there was an: mention of Lady Westall. His course was clear en-ough to him from that instant, and 'chere was a smile on his face as he echoed Violet's words.

" Yes, when Lady Violet first mcf her," he said.

"We are every tfiay hoping," remarked. Lord Grargtthorpe, his slight dislike for Lord Caldenham • fading before the fact of hit; acquaintance; with 'Lady Westall., that she wil' honour us with a visit".. She anc my daughter are gireat friends, and . am most happy ithat .it is so. Whave, indeed, the Highest' regard for Lady Westall." All of this eulogy*, which was per fectly proper, but r»ot- entirely ncces sary, made Lord Coldenham opei bis eyes with a peculiar look at io let. She winced at' tlie expression and at the intimatic m conveyed in i that there was este iblisfrecl a serrcr confidence between them " hue. ehf could see nothing before her but en durance of the hatef al boral.

It will be unrlerst pod that hor dis like of the unscru; p-ulous Tvoblcmnj was less because £ she had come t( question his sincerity towards her than because she t fid learner! fron Lady Westall of his worse than r rl " fidy towards her, 1 hid to think tin he dare now mak,e u tse- of Lady Wrst all's pitiful story -as a weapnn tr coaspel her to £ m . appearance c

| friendliness Towards him, when nil

the misery that had ever lief alien her friend was due to his wicked machinations !

Knowing nothing of his reasons for any sort, of reticence on her part concerning what had taken place between liira and her, she could see iti h's present conduct only some bidder design bearing against the furthei peace of Lady Westall. It was 1101 his purpose to leave her in any ignorance of what- he expected of her however, and he sought an opportunty, later in the evening, of engrossing her attention long enough to whisper unobserved : " Kay I have the honour of calling upon you to-morro«7, Lady Violet ?" "Is it necessary ?" she asked coldly.

" Oh," he answered indifferently, you must be the judge of that. I suppose we understand each other. I will call upon your father if you prefer. He will, no doubt, be pleased to talk with me about Lady Westill."

" I shall be at home during the morning," she rejoined, briefly ; and tie bowed and left her.

Had it been only herself that was threatened \solet would have treated Lord Coldenham with the scorn and contempt he deserved ; but she could aot do anything to. bring disgrace and sorrow to both Lady Westall and her father, and therefore she permitted an interview with the marjuis.

The. remainder ,of the evening was spoiled for her, although she had too much pride to allow it to appear palpably. She remained at the ball, lancing with and charming her numerous admirers, until it grew late enough to make her departure seem devoid of peculiarity. Then she caught her father's eye, and when he came to her side, prevailed upon him to take her home, notwithstanding the chorus of protests from many. Her father's devotion to her and the desire to please her were so great, and he was so full of tenderness towards her, that r she was strongly tempted that night as they drove home, to franklj tell him all the story of Lady Westall and herself ; for the feeling came over her, as it had often done before—only more strongly now —that it would be impossible to keep it from him always. If he had only shown some signs of wavering from the pride o! caste which had always held him so firmly ! But no ; gentle as he had become towards her, she was certain that he would not stand the test of such a revelation.

It made her wretched to think of having secret relations of any sort with a man she so despised as Lord Coldenham. She had already disliked and detested him for what hh had done towards Lady Westall and now after arriving at his years, when his hair was almost white it gave her a shock to think of him as still animated by infamous motives, for she could see that fear for his reputation was what caused him to do what, indeed, was distasteful even to him.

She passed a restless night and rose 1 in the morning 1 with so much of her fatigue and nervousness showing in her eyes and pallid cheeks that her father asked her at once if anything was wrong with her health. And when she answered no to thlnt and continued to look anxious and weary, he wished to know if anything had occurred to damp her spirits. " Nothing much, papa," she answered to ,that, rather petulantly. " Please don't ask me. It is nothing of consequence, and it will soon pass away." It was not usual for Violet to be irritable, and her father, with that new-born solicitude of his became more anxious than he would show ; but he watched her the more carefully that he felt'she had something on her mind that she would not share with him. It was singular, indeed, to see the man who had held his child in check and in awe of him during her childhood, now putting into his treatment of her a tenderness that seemed as if it might be the accumulation of all that he had voluntarily deprived himself of during those years. It was as if his heart being once opened to soft impressions was constantly hungering for more. However, he made no discoveries by his study of Violet and saw her wander about the garden, aimlessly, after breakfast until she seemed tc tire of that, and then went to hei own room, and sighed to think that he had lost the right to insist on sharing her troubles however slight they might be ; for it never occurred to him that she could be harbouring any trouble of serious magnitude.

It was about eleven o'clock that Lord Coldenham rode up on his cob and handed it to a groom. He jvai ushered into the east reception-room and Violet was summoned ; although it was hlardly necessarj, for, in the uncertainty of what he had to pay tc her in private, she had been waiting with nervous dread for his coming and had seen him as he rode up .the long drive. He rose and bowed with an exag geration of respect when she entered the room, or, at least, it seemed sic to her, and she returned his salut* with the coldest possible manner. She was the first to speak ; for she wished him to feel that she was in n< mood for any sort of convcrsatior except what might be absolutely necessary.

"You permitted yourself to threaten me. last night in case of my refusal to see you this mornirnr. Tt is quite true that I did not Joo'X for any nicety of feeling or honour in the "r quis of Ooldenham, and v.ts hnr.'lb surprised to have him treat me as nc gentleman should ever treat a lady : hut I have wondered what you supy.oscd the extent of your power to he. th-st you dared to use a threat which iviis as enigmatical as it was unman iy-"

"Your ladyship is severe." lv ivered, with a momentary iin»h of auger ; " but. 1 cannot believe yon In bi is ignorant as" you wish to sivm.'' "Let us waive that, point." nrr-v.-cr-Hi Violet, so coldly that it, was cviiont. that, ho her feelings what t.hcy night. she had them under perfect xmtroi. And, indeed, that was the fact. She lad been nervous during the trying period of waiting for —what she knew lot ; but now that she found herself in the presence of a man whom she jcorned, and for whom she had no fear whatever for herself, but onls dread for what suflering he might lave it in his power to cause those yhom she loved, she felt herself rise so superior to him that it was more ;asy for her to show her contempt md dislike than to hide either.

" I am quite willing to waive the Doint," answered the marquis ; " and since you seem prepared to plunge at Dnce into the subject which brought me here, I will also waive any unnecessary preface."

Her calm contempt for him had rather unnerved him ; for, like all who have anjthing to conceal, he was lot certain how much Violet had disjovered that would put her out of his power. He was prepared to fight tc the last, however, and was for that reason the more easily angered. " Any preface would be unnecessary," answered Violet. " X presume ts only object would be to prepare ■no for some baseness on your part, and I may as well assure you that it s entirely needless to lead me up to that, since I am already prepared to expect nothing else from you." "It is evident," said. Lord Coldennam, angrily, " that the variations in your life have deprived you of that sweet and ingenuous innocence foi which you were remarkable when you induced Lord Darlington to elope with you." " That also we will waive," answered Violet flushing indeed, but not giving way to anger and bittei recollections that swept over her at lis reminder. " You, more than anyone else, know how characteristically base it is of you to say such a thing ; for had it not been for my innocence you would never have been able to make a victim of me to fur ther your own paltry purposes. Yes. let us waive that."

Here was an opportunity to learn how much of his action at that time she was aware of, and he was too astute even in his anger at her, tc lose the chance.

",You are in a mood to accuse recklessly," he said. " May I asls upon what ground you impeach my motives on tbe occasion to which you refer ?" " I have no desire to enter into a discussian on that matter, which, sc far, as I am concerned, is for evei buried ; but I will s&y that I have learned since that your chief concert at the time was not, as you hypocritically pretended, either for me 01 for Lady Darlington, or for Lord Darlington, but for your daughter." Even Violet, who was too free from deception to be an adept in its signs in others, could not fail to notice and to be surprised at the expression of relief that passed over Lord Coldenham's face.

" I am quite willing to admit it," he said, quietly. "As a parent it was my duty to thinli first of the welfare and happiness of my daughter. It would have been better for 50U had your father been as solid tous of your welfare." "My father was too much of a gentleman to stoop to any sort ol hypocrisy, double-dealing, or interested action. But let us leave the baseness that is past and come tc that which you contemplate for the present." It was incredible that Violet Lislt could bring her tongue to the utterance of such cutting words ; but alas! she had been embittered by her unmerited sorrows, and was, moreover full of anger towards the man whe had compassed the social ruin of hei dearest friend, who had destroyed her own happiness,' and who now sat before her, prepared to perpetrate sorte further wrong, unless she could see the way to prevent it ; anid should it refer to the exposure of Lady Westall's past, she was as yet unable tc see what she could do, unless yield tc whatever he should demand, or tc boldly defy him. For herself, sh( was so weary of the deception she was practising, harmless as it and springing from a good motive\ that she would willingly have defied him to his worst. But Lady Westal she could not deliberately see crushed by the reports this man could spread. ' " You are wrong," said Lord Col denham, his voice husky with anger, "to use such language to me. " 1 have it in my power to drive yof from the world you have entered."

" You cannot harm me," answered Violet, proudly. "If it were for my self, I would tell you frankly I would call my fathter and ask him to have you turned from this room and frcn: the house by one of the servants. 3 am not afraid of you at all. 1 kn-ow little of the world, and less o' its wickedness —the little I know ha: been revealed in your person—but am satisfied that you have something to ask of me, or you would ncvei Have taken all this trouble. I an waiting to hear what bargain jot wish to make. But do not forge! that I am no longer a helpless girl." (To be continued.)