THE ROAD TO LOVE.

Otago Witness, Issue 2892, 11 August 1909, Page 70

THE ROAD TO LOVE.

| ! By MADAME ALBANESI,

ftnd run across the grass fb greet hiri*. Ellen remarked this. " Lady Evelyn is dying fo com© and fcpeak to you," 6he said. And Varley laughed and waved his iiand to th< girl in the distance. "Shall we have a little stroll?" Be laid* As they walked out of earshot he added : "Now, are you not going to let me tell you what a wonderful little creature you are? Surely you ought to be very proud, Miss Milner. See what has been accomplished since you have been here !" "I. wish I could think that I had done lasting good," said Ellen involuntarily. "Rome was not built in a day," Varley answered. " The marvel is that you have done -what you have done. If Harry has i3iese kind of surroundings there will be j no more wandering abroad for months. Mow that you have succeeded so well "with the wife you must turn your hand on him. I believe he has a real sense of duty, only it has been sleeping all this Jtime." "I am sure Lord Norchester has a true Sense' of duty," Ellen said. The colour rushed to her cEeeks as she spoke, and she averted her face, for she did not want Varley to see her blush. Hie eyes and his sense were quicker, however, than her movement, and that rush of colour provoked a sudden turmoil of uneasy thought. They drifted into business; he told her that he thought he could be of some help ; to Barneith, and then he spoke of Miriam's father. ' "I" agree with you," Varley said ; H ib i is most important that old Cottridge ' should be got away from here. As long j as he remains the old scandal and gossip will be kept alive." "It is not so much the harm he does to others," said Ellen, "as the harm he ' does to Miriam. I have seen him ; he ' certainly is a very disreputable old man." " There is only one way to manage him," said Varley. "Harry must stop giving him a penny so long as he remains in the village. I have always been so sorry that Mis Cottridge did not live; she was a most superior woman. Miriam has her beauty, but not her character." They were both glad to talk on impersonal subjects, for against the will of both a certain restraint had . arisen between them. As they turned to stroll back to ( the others Ellen said: " I think in a little while I shall be leaving here. Lady Norohester has no longer' any need for a companion." " You must not stay an hour longer than you wish," Varley said, quickly. "When you feel that you are ready to go I suggest, Miss Milner, that you should stay for a time with some of your father's relations in Ireland. They are not rich, -.but they are of a very different calibre to the Barneiths. I feel sure you would not- have any disagreeable experiences ■with them. I must tell you," he added, "that I have been in communication with some of your couisins, and their letters have pleased me very much. A short stay at any rate might be advantageous." Ellen thanked him warmly. "How kind you are!" she said. "I don't Tinow any of these people except by name ; but after all they belong to my father, and that should make them very nice. I am grateful to you for this suggestion because, as I have just said, I do not think I shall stay here very much longer." Unremarked by either of them they had "been overtaken by Lord Norchester, and as j he joined them he heard this speech. "You are going away?" he queried quickly; "but not immediately?" "I am persuading Mjss Milner to go to Ireland and make acquaintance with some of her relations," said Varley, very easily. "Oh, yes, of course you would like that, Wouldn't you?" the younger man said, looking across at Ellen; then he added: "Here comes Evelyn. You must make her spoil that game, Dick," he added. "What a kid she is! Just as crazy about the things she used to like as sh< was when she was two years old. She was always fond of Dick," be added, as Lady ! Evelyn and Variey, shaking hands, dropped a little behind, then very quickly t and almost" under his breath Norchester added: "You aTe not going away, Miss Milner, are you? Has— has anything happened? I mean anything to make you ■wish to to away from here?" . Wifch a S r«at effort Ellen answered mm \rifcb. a smite : "Nothing has happened, but, you know, I can't stay here for ever, Lord Norchester I came to be a companion to Lady Norchester while you were away; now that you are home " "Please don't go," h» said!. You— • you've made such a difference here. I "don't know what Miriam would do without you— or any of us. As for myself, I owe you a debt of gratitude which 1 shall never, never b& able to repay." Ellen tried to answer him, but something more than confusion put an unusual sense of restraint upon her. She changed the subject when she spoke. "I saw you playing tennis just now. You managed very well ; still I think you ©ugh* to keep that left arm in a Gling. i Dr Martell might not approve of so much I exercise." "It feels nearly well, and I am so glad to be doing something; staying upstairs , Sn my room was pretty dull business. Of | course, you know," Lord Norcbester added ; ■with a little twinkle in his eyes, "I could | have come down much sooner, but I had to play out a- _ little game I had started! " They were strolling on when Miriam suddenly called to her husband. Her voice had a harsh, ugly note in it, a note which. Ellen knejjr_ only too_ well, and feared in consequence. "Lady Norchfisbei' wants you," she said ' Irurriedly. "Please go." I He -went immediately. She dud not •watch him, nor did she hear what passed between them — his wife and himself, but ehe was quite suT-e that it was not of a pleasant nature. A sense of wnliappiness , suddenly weighted Ellen's heart, and with U. came a sense of unrest ' '

"The- sooner I am away from here," she said to herself, "the better. I have done all the good I can do now, perhaps I shall do harm if I stay longer." She withdrew from the garden* &od went slowly into the house. Whilst he was talking to some of his guests Lord Norchester watched her go, and longed to follow her. He was burnr ing with resentful anger j^ Miriam had not chosen her words well. "What do you want "to go walking up and down with" that girl for?" she had asked him — "just to make everybody talk? Aren't there lots of others here you can flirt with? She' 6 only my companion, you might remember It's lake her cheek ta tack herself on to you." He scarcely knew how he had restrained himself to answer her. There had been a pause before he had been able to find words, then he had said, with a little shrug of his shoulders : "My dear Miriam, when will you learn a little common sense? And when will you be tired of making these ridiculous, absurd scenes? If I am to ask your permission each time I want to speak to anj T body, things are coming to a pretty pass !" There had been no more sadd between them, but in a very little while everybody present realised that something had upset Lady Norchester ; indeed, she did not wait for tea to be served, but flounced off and left her guests to be looked after by Lady Evelyn and Norcbester. His sister stole- her hand into his for an instant. "Dear Harry," she said", "don't look so Bad." He only pressed her hand, however, and released it. Another time he would have broken orot into a sort of boyish vexation ; but Norchester was ceasing to be a boy : the seriousness, the tragic significance of his marriage was only just coming to him 1