Lady Trebor's Secret, OR THE MYSTERY OF CECIL ROSSE.

Patea Mail, Volume III, Issue 229, 20 June 1877, Page 4

Lady Trebor's Secret, OR THE MYSTERY OF CECIL ROSSE.

0 [By Mas. llakiukt Lkwis.] CHAPTER Xlll.— Continued. MVSTEKV. “ No, no,” said the widow, speaking by a painful effort, in a strained and husky voice. “It was the—the heat—a spark of tire on my hand—that was all”

She moved her chair back a little, averting her face from the red glow of the flames so that it remained in shadow.

There was a little pause. The countess’s mind had been diverted momentarily from the main current of her thoughts. The widow said huskily : “Ytm said the girl lived at Zurich ?”

“ Not at Zurich, but a little village in the Black Forest called Zorlitz. it is all out of the world, a hamlet where the peasants carve toys and raise and train singing-birds. It is out of the way of tourists. The villagers never leave their hamlet, and the visits of the bird and toy agents once or twice a year are the great events of their lives.” “ How happened Lord Glenham to go there ?” asked Lady Trevor, still in that strained voice, in which a sharper ear than that of Lady Glenham might have detected a rising terror. “Ho set out early in the summer, with Maldred Crafton, his inseparable friend, to explore a portion of the Black Forest. The desired to find some spot where the British tourist had not yet penetrated. They wished to hunt, to find adventures, to study the people. Some fatality took them to this secluded little hamlet of Zorlitz,”

“ It was indeed a fatality,” muttered Lady Trevor, inauclibly. “ Oh, Heaven, what does it all mean ? What does it mean ?”

She trembled with excitement, yet she was forced to appear calm. “ What did you say, my dear ? I did not quite catch your words.” “1 asked the name of the girl lie

loves.” “ Her name is Cecil Ressc. At least call her so. Her real name no one knows.”

Again Lady Trevor started, and her eyes were wild and her lips bloodless. Bhe put one shaking hand to her face. “ Is she English ?” she asked, in a whisper, speaking quickly to prevent the utterance of Lady Glenham’s surprise at her emotion.

Bhe is supposed to ho of English birth, but. Avho knows what she is? There is a mystery about her—a shameful mystery. I will tell you all, that you may understand why I am so bitterly opposed to my sou’s marriage with her. Bhe lias no parents—she never had any—no name, no friends, no position, no right oven to live,” Lady Trevor’s hands clenched themselves tightly together under the drooping ends of her white lace scarf, “ How did she happen to be at Zorlitz ?” she asked hoarsely. “ How old is she ?”

“ Her age is about seventeen, Gordon says, but youth is no criterion of innocence, Edith. The girl may bo a perfect adventuress even at seventeen—she is I Some years ago, I can’t toll how many, and it don’t matter, for the girl was but little more than a baby, a man appeared at the Zorlitz parsonage one dark night with this child in his

aims—- “ At the parsonage !” Lady Trevor repeated to herself, under her breath. “ He told tlic pastor that the child had no right to her existence, and begged the good man to bring her up in that secluded hamlet. The pastor’s wife accepted the charge, and the man dis appeared as singularly as he had come. Is it not a mysterious story ? The pastor’s wife named the girl after a former pupil. There you have the history of Cecil Bosse in brief. And my son has fallen in love with this girl, and would make her his wife. Do you wonder that I cannot bear it ?” “ I wonder at the earl. How can he have fallen in love with this girl, who was left at the pastor’s house, undoubtedly, only because that house had a light in it and was near the outskirt of the village?” demanded Lady Trevor, with flashing eyes and flushing face. “How could Lord Glen ham, cultivated, accomplished, thoroughly well-bred and well educated, how could he have fallen in love with this servant, brought np as a peasant ?” The countess looked bewildered. “ My dear Edith, yon mistake,” she exclaimed. “ I suppose the marquis has been telling you the story, and has got it all wrong. The girl is not a servant—” “ Not a servant ?” cried the widow, her voice ringing out sharply. • “ Nothing of the kind. I supposed her a kind of peasant, and Gordon explained to me that the pastor and his wife had adopted her as their niece, thanks, to her baby beauty.” “ But she must be ignorant ?” “ Not so. The pastor had been a tutor in a noble family for many years, and his wife had been a governess in the same family. His patron procured him the pastorate of the little church at Zorlitz, and presented him a very good library, as a recompense for his years of faithful service. The couple loved

children .ami had none of their own. Bo they adopted this girl and brought her up as a lady. They taught her English, French, and German, giving her a thorough education. The pastor’s wife t night her mu«ic, drawing, painting, and embroidery. No daughter of our own nobility has had better opportunities than this nameless creature has had. The girl is a thorough lady in seeming. How could you think that my son would fall in love with an ignorant-servant?” “ I beg your pardon, Countess. I thought she was that, and that her face was her only charm. You said she is beautiful ? ”

“ Gordon says so. I suppose she has a fine complexion and pretty ways. But having been educated as a lady she must long for a different life from that at ZorliU. With'her bad blood, she must be scheming. Bho has entrapped my son, and he declares that he will marry her or die unwedded If I refuse to visit Zovlitz, he intends to go back there himself next month, to see her and the pastor.” “He will go back ?” - said Lady Trevor, breathlessly. “ It seems that he asked the pastor’s permission to marry the girl, but did not speak to the creature herself upon the subject of marriage. He deems it Ids duty to tell this Herr Brocken of my opposition and ask his advice. I am very cruelly placed, Edith. As surely as Gordon goes back, the girl will snare him into a marriage. lam nearly wild with my troubles ! ”

The countess was too absorbed in her anxieties to notice her companion. Lady Trevor sat in shadow, her face white as death, her eyes cold and glittering, her mouth set in a hard and cruel expression. She looked wicked and terrible, as one struggling with an awful terror, and capable of committing almost any crime in her agony of desperation. She drew her breath hard, and her hands were locked together in a fierce grip that strained her gloves at every scam.

“ Lord Glenham will return to Zorlltz next month,” she said, huskily. “A great deal may happen in a month ! ” and her tone was terribly significant.

“ Gordon will not change, and in a place like Zorlitz she cannot find another lover. I see no prospect of comfort, Edith, I have hope that your influence and that of the marquis, added to mine, may effect some good—ah, here they come, my dear ! ” As the door opened and the gentlemen entered, both ladies regarded them anxiously, under cover of smiling unconcern. Lady Trevor bad not yet recovered her usual looks, but she bad drawn her little black-dotted vail over her face, anti slight as was the screen, it helped to conceal the change in her.

The old lord looked worn ami tired. That he had failed in his task, one look at his gloomy eyes, lurking sombrely beneath Ids cavernous white brows, could not fail to discover.

The carl looked troubled, but it was easy t© sec that his Jove for Cecil Rosse, and his faith in her, had not been in the slightest degree affected by the pleadings and expostulations of Ins friend. His fair and noble face was slightly clouded, but his manner was pleasant as ever. “ I think, grandfather, that wo are making a long visit,” said Lady Trevor, arising. “ Our guests will think us lost.”

“ Your guests, Edith, not mine,” corrected the marquis, moodily. “ I mn quite ready.” “ You will at least remain long enough for a cup of tea, will you not ? ” asked the countess, ringing the bell. “ Excuse rny seeming inhospitality. The air is crisp and chilly this morning, and a cup of hot drink will do you good.” Lady Trevor expressed assent, and resumed her seat. The countess ordered refreshments, and a tray was brought in, laden with wine and biscuits, and a tiny silver tea-kettle and caddy. Lady Glenham made the tea herself, and a little more cheerful conversation attended its consumption. Lady Trevor invited the countess and the earl, with the lady-guests of the former and the gentlemen-guests of the latter to dine at Castle Cliff upon the following day, and the invitation was accepted. “ I will remain to the dinner,” said the marquis. “ I had intended to leave for Inverness in the morning, but I will defer my journey a day longer. I wisli to run up to London for a few days, and shall be happy to perform any commissions for yon, Glenham.” “ Thank you, but I have none. Crafton is in town, and I expect him back in a day or two,” said the carl. “If you should happen to see him, you might mention to him that he is losing the very best of the shooting.” Lady Trevor again arose to take her leave. Her adieux were gracefully made, and she pressed the hand of the countess, and kissed her affectionately at the door of the drawing-room, then taking the arm of the earl, who escorted her to the waiting carriage.

When the vehicle was making its laborious descent of the mountain Lady Trevor broke the silence, saying : “ Well, grandfather, how did you succeed ?”

“ I failed,” was the gruff* response* “ Glenham is like Harry, He loves the girl and is determined to marry her, or never marry any one. It’s a serious tiling with him, more serious than I thought. I can’t reason him out of his madness. He is going to Zorlitz next month, and you take my word for it, he’ll come back with a wife.”

Lady Trevor leaned heavily against the carriage window, her face pressed to the glass. “ He shall never find the girl—never ! ’ she said to herself in her heart fiercely. “ If he were to marry her I should he ruined. What horrible fatality lias entangled the earl in my affairs ? lam in deadly peril. 1 must consult Pufford at oneo, and if another crime is necessary for my safety,” and her visage again grew terrible, “ lie shall help me commit it. The girl must be got rid of—but how ?” f*TO BE COXTINITKI).]