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

Patea Mail, Volume III, Issue 248, 25 August 1877, Page 4

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

——— b~fßv Mbs. Harriet Lewis.} CHAPTER XXY .—contd. AN UNEXPECTED ORDEAL. “ I informed you, Edith,” he exclaimed, “of my desire to adopt this young girl, who has taken so strong a hold upon my heart. X told you of my loneliness, of my desire for pleasant companionship, and of my intention of asking this girl to become my child and heiress. You told me that she was of low birth, that her father was a shoccobbler in Southwark, and that her relatives were ignorant. ’This was false, and yon knew it.” Lady Trevor made a movement to speak, but no sound issued from her parched throat, which she clutched with one desperate hand while she shaded her face with the other. “ I set Barker upon the track of Miss Rosse,” continued Lord St. Leonards. “ And he discovered that she was of foreign birth, without a known relative, and that she lived in respectable lodgings in a very respectable house in Bayswater. He discovered too that she had sewed embroidery for one Madame Lange, a French fancy-work dealer of Regent-street. He learned also that Madame Lange had recommended the young lady to you. This is the true story, and yours was utterly false 1”

Still Lady Trevor sat immovable. “ Barker set his men to work,” pursued the old lord, “ and made further discoveries. Miss Rosse quitted her lodgings in Bayswater over two weeks ago, giving up her rooms, and informing her landlady that she had entered your service fer the winter, and that she was to proceed to your country seat in Yorkshire, to spend some months in repairing yonr tapestry work. Miss Rosso went away in a cab, attended by her old servant, and has not since been seen or heard of by her old landlady. Miss Rosse went to your house in South Andley-street—” “ And went away again,” interrupted Lady Trevor, huskily, “ 1 can prove that! ”

“ Barker has proved it. She went away again, as you say. But where did she go ?” “ How do I know 7” retorted Lady Trevor, with half-suppressed fierceness. tL fcihe had her servant with her, and the pair set out for Greyconrt, as I supposed, and as was agreed upon between ns. The girl and her attendant were alike ignorant of London, Both were credulous, simple, and unsuspecting. They may have got into trouble. They may have become lost. They may have found some situation that suited them better than the one I offered. Or, as seems more probable, they may have suddenly changed their purpose and gone back to their former home. All I know is, that they have not appeared at Grey---court.”

“ Where is their former home ?” asked tine marquis. “ Really, I don’t know,” said Lady Trevor, beginning to resume comifiand of herself, seeing that all was not lost, and that her secret remained unsuspected. I am not in the habit of inquiring into the antecedents of the servants I employ. Madame Lange recommended her. I did not go behind that recommendation.”

I can learn through the Bayswater landlady Miss Rosse’s exact former address,” said Mr Barker, “ I presume she can give it. Mrs Thomas told me that Miss Rosse came from Germany.” “ Then perhaps Miss Rosso is gone back to Germany,” said the marquis, totally unsuspicious still of Miss Rosse’s identity with the lady whom Lord Glenham desired to marry. “ But I cannot think she would have gone without informing her friends, or you, Edith, to whom she had engaged herself fora term of months. She cannot have gone back secretly, like a fugitive. Then where is she ? Have you received no message from her, Edith, since she left your house with her servant in a cab over two weeks ago ?” “ I have not!” answered Lady Trevor, firmly. “It is a strange mystery !” said Mr Barker. “ I have traced her to and from Lady Trevor’s house, but with her departure from South Audley-street all clew to Miss Rosse and her old servant is lost. Two persons have disappeared in London streets in broad daylight, and there is left no trace of them. It seems incredible !” “ You have traced Miss Rosse from my house/’ cried Lady Trevor, “and yet yon dare come to my grandfather, Mr Barker, and accuse me of some crime, and try to poison his mind against me !”

lt Edith,” exclaimed Lord St. Leonards, “ you have proven yourself false and, deceitful. I told you, after meeting Miss Rosse at your house, of my determination to seek her out and persuade her to become my child by adoption. Why then did you engage her to go to Greyoourt to work for yon ? you desired to get her out of my way; yon wished to, hide her from me ! Is not this true ? Deny it if you can!” “I have no wish to deny it,” replied Lady Trevor. “ I understood from

Madame Lange that Miss Rosse was of 1 a low family. I saw that you were infatuated with her beauty. I did not believe her worthy of the place in your home and heart you desired to give her. 1 liked her work. I had need of her services. So I engaged her to. go to Greycourt, partly, I own, that she might be out of your way until I had time to win your heart, ami partly that you might not act upon a generous impulse which you might afterwards regret. There is the whole truth. If I have done wrong, you can blame me. I am sure that I have suffered enough to be pitied.” She uncovered her lace. That she had suffered was apparent in the haggard eyes and drawn visage, but the nature of her suffering was not so plain. “Is this true, Edith ? ” demanded the old marquis, sternly and solemnly, “As God hears yon, do you know nothing of the whereabouts or the fate of Miss Rosse ? ” “As God hears me, I do not! ” declared Lady Trevor, with equal solemnity, but with an irrepressible shudder. “ Grandpapa, of what do you suspect me 7 Let me know the worst.” “ I have thought it possible that you may haA'e procured Miss Rosse a situation elsewhere than in Yorkshire, or that you may have sent her back to her old home—” “ I demand an investigation. Send for the best detectives at Scotland Yard, Question my servants. I insist upon the fullest investigation,” cried Lady Trevor, in a fine flash of seeming indignation. “If you can believe one of your blood guilty of treachery and baseness, grandpapa, I hope you will prosecute me mercilessly until my innocence is proved. lam alone in the world”— she clasped her bands together and turned her hard, black eyes upward—- “ alone and friendless. My own grandfather turns against me. I wish—oh, I wish that I were dead ! ” She drew forth a lace-trimmed handkerchief and covered her eyes, while she gave way to a burst of sobs that were by no means fictitious. She had been wrought up to the point of .hysterics, and her angry emotion passed very well for an outburst of grief and indignation. The old lord regarded his lawyer reproachfully. Despite his dislike of his grandchild, and his distrust of her, the marquis could not in his heart believe her really base and wicked, although there were times when he suspected her of a hideous crime in the past.

“ There, there, Edith,” he exclaimed, testily. “If there’s anything I hate, it’s to see a, woman cry. Xf you’ve not sent Miss Rosse out of the country, or done her any harm through your absurd jealousy, you’ve nothing to cry about.” “ But you don’t be—believe mo ! ” “ That needn’t trouble yon,” .replied the old marquis, coolly. “ I never used to believe you, you know. But-I don’t quite think you capable of crime, Edith, nor do I think one of my blood can be utterly lost to honor. And if yon solemnly declare that Miss Rosse’s fate is as great a mystery to you as to me, I suppose I shall believe you ! ” “ 1 swear that I know no more of her whereabouts than yon do ! ” ejaculated Lady Trevor, with another irrepressible shudder.

“ Enough. With all your faults, I cannot believe that yon would perjure yourself by swearing to a lie, Edith. We shall find Miss Rosse. Barker will institute a thorough and complete search for her. And when I do find her, if she will consent, I shall adopt her legally and make her my heiress. So your amiable efforts in my behalf, will be frustrated, Edith, and any hope you may have built upon succeeding to my unentailed property will be without fulfilment.”

“ You have said all that yon wished to say, grandpapa ? You desire me to leave St. Leonards at once ?” “Not so. You are welcome to stay as long as yon like, as a guest, but not as my heiress. I expect Lord Glenham and his mother to join us, and I particularly desire you to remain throughout their visit.”

“ Your wish shall be my law, grandpapa, even though I am less to you than this sewing-girl you have seen but twice,” said Lady Trevor, bitterly. “ And now, if you will excuse me, I will retire to the drawing-room to recover from my agitation. But one last word, I beg you to believe that I shall join in the search for Miss Rosse with as much energy as even you can display. You seem to suspect me of some treachery in regard to Miss Rosse, and I am determined to find her in order to clear myself in your sight. That much at least my own self-respect demands.” She arose and withdrew to the drawing-room. There was a brief silence after her departure, which was broken by the old marquis.

“ Well ?” he exclaimed, testily. “ What have you to say, Barker ?” “ I don’t know what to say,” replied the lawyer, frankly. “ Lady Trevor acknowledges having tried to get Miss Rosse out of your reach, but professes to be as ignorant as ourselves of Mis? Rosse’s whereabouts. She has sworn to her ignorance—” “ And consequently we must believe her,” interrupted the old lord. “ The mystery becomes deeper than ever. Where can Miss Rosse be ? Set your clerks at work, engage a detective to pfirsue the search, and scour Europe from end to end—but find the missing

girl f" There i* some great wickedness involved in her disappearance. She has some secret enemy, perhaps, who seeks to compass her destruction. Whatever the mystery we must solve it!” ] TO 815 CONTINUED. J