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

Patea Mail, Volume III, Issue 282, 29 December 1877, Page 4

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

fP.v Mrs. Harriet Lewis.]

CHAPTER XLl X.—contd. Then ho hurriedly threw off his morning-coat, tossed it upon a chair, and sought in his wardrobe a garment more suited to the journey he contem- ‘ plated. As the discarded coat fell upon the chair the crumpled letter and envelope dropped out upon the floor. Crafton put on a fresh garment, his pulses throbbing fiercely, bis soul in a tumult. Ho repeated in bis own mind over and over again like the refrain of a song : “ Cecil is alive ! Cecil’s alive !” Aril once or twice ho started, fancying that ho had spoken the words aloud, and that Glenham had heard him. The search of months had drawn at last to an end. The girl was alive, he knew/ her address, he was going to her! Ho thought of imparting the glad news to the earl entered his mind. Ke meant to find Cecil, to rescue her, to make her bis wife, leaving Lord Glenham still in despairing ignorance of her fate. He was tempted to make an effort to uproot that hope which Lord Glenham still cherished in spite of long defect.

“ Take the fid vice of a friend, Glcnhaia,” 'no said, us bo continued his pro Durations. “ and give over searching for Miss Ihsso. Reconcile,yourself to the inevitable. Do not mourn longer for a girl who is-certainly dead, when you can marry a beauty and a heiress, any day, worthy to share your name and rank. Think of your mother, my boy. Forgive mo if mv words seem harsh and unsympathetic, hut I cannot bear to see yon wasting your life, and killing your poor mother, who you, for the sake of a vain dream.’’ He caught up his discarded coat and began to rifle the pockets. “ Where the deuce is that letter?” he demanded, in alarm. y The earl’s quick glance discovered it. lie bent forward and picked it up, restoring it to Grafton, and ns ho did so lie noticed the quaint, German-looking, illiterate Stylo of hand-wri ting. His gaze rooted 1 directly upon the latter portion ot the signature, and he made out distinctly the name, Heinrich. Grafton seized upon the letter with a pouncing movement, and, with a flushed face, and eyes gleaming with suspicion, put it securely in his bosom. At the same moment the servant appeared and announced that the cab waited. “ Take down my portmanteau and top-coat, Shaking, ” command Grafton. The. servant obeyed, disappearing down the stair. Lord Glenharn passed out into the hall, and Grafton locked the door of the apartment putting the key in his pocket. They descended to the cab and were transported to the railway-station. The earl was very quiet and thoughtful throughout the drive. That name, Heinrich, haunted him. Grafton beslovved air anxious end enquiring glance upon him now and then, as if seeking to probe his thoughts. He wondered within himself if the earl had seen Gretehc.i’s name, but became confident that ho had not, because of his silence. There was no time for conversation after their arrival at the station, Grafton hastening to procure a first-class ticket to Edinburgh, and to secure a compartment in a coach to himself, that he might sleep during the night Undisturbed. ' The oarl witnessed his departure, and, when the train had steamed out of the ’'Station, he set out upon his return home. He was very grave and thoughtful tuvoughout the drive, with a heavy and deepening shade of anxiety on his brow.

In spite of his efforts to turn them into a different channel, Lis thoughts dwelt persistently upon the letter Grafton had received, upon Grafton’s singular exultation and his inconsistent explanation, and most of all upon the partial signature he had observed. “ It was a woman’s hand-writing,” he said to himself. “ The writer is German, as indicated by penmanship and signature. It is equally clear that she is •illeducated.” He looked with troubled gaze from the cob windows into the dusky streets, with their gleaming gas-lights, shining shop-windows, hurrying tide of pedestrians and moving vehicles, but saw neither lights nor people. His whole .soul was absorbed in this strange new -problem. a Hblmich !” he muttered. “ Where have I heard that name before ? ‘ Heinrich I” Is not that old Gretchen’s name ? I have a letter from the new pastor of Zorlitz in which old Gretchen’s name is mentioned, and I almost fancy her name is Heinrich. Could Gretchen have written that letter ? Impossible ! To believe that would ho to doubt my friend ! Ii the letter had been from her, he would have told me at once. It is impossible !”

Ka sot his lips together firmly, and, tortured by doubts, he waited in an agony 01 impatience until the drive ■was ended and the cab drew up before his stately, brilliantly-lighted mansion in Park "Lane. He alighted hastily, flinguig a half-sovereign to the cab4. roan, sprang np the steps, and admitted

himself to the. house . with. his private latch-key. Then he passed swiftly up the broad stairs to his-own apartments. * r

It was near the dinner hour. His dressing-room was lighted ; his dinner dress was laid out ready for use, but his valet was temporarily absent. The earl locked his door, and opened his private desk, emptying out its contents. Looking over his papers, he selected three letters which he had received in answer to his own inquiries, from the new pastor of Zorlitz. He unfolded and perused these missives. In one of these occurred this paragraph : “ The good people of Zorlitz mourn deeply over the mysterious fate of the poor young fraulien, the niece of the late Herr Pastor, whoso place I so unworthily occupy. Prayers go up for her morning and evening from the home-altars ol Zorlitz, and neither is the most worthy and excellent Gretchen Heinrich, the fraulien’s servant, forgotten, for she, too, has many friends here. God grant that this most terrible mystery may soon bo cleared away, and these two highlyesteemed ones restored to those who love them !”

The earl repeated Gretchen’s name to to himself.

“ Her name is Gretchen Heinrich, as I thought,” he said, aloud. “ That letter —could it have been from her ?”

He arose and paced his floor with an impetuous tread. He reviewed, in his' own mind, the words and manner ot Grafton, and little by little dawned upon him the perfect conviction that Gretchen had been the author of that mysterious letter from Scotland, and that Crafton was now speeding his way to her and to Miss Rosso !

The conviction brought with it an infinite joy, an ineffable gladness !

Cecil was alive ! For some moments be bad no thought but for this supreme idea—she was alive !

He sat down again, trembling, and pale with the pallor of the dead ; but his glad eyes, and quivering mouth, and working features told that his 'nature was moved to its deepest depths and that bis joy was overmastering in its intensity.

As he grew calmer, his conviction, singularly enough, brought with it no suspicion of Grafton’s treachery to himself.

“ The letter was from Gretchen!” he assured himself. “ Grafton would not tell mo until Cecil’s safety should be assured beyond a doubt—until he could bring her to London. Perhaj s he feared another disappointment for me. She is ill, perhaps, or in trouble. Gretchen may be separated from her young mistress. Grafton has gone to Edinburgh to look for them. I cannot remain here idle, a prey to doubts and fears. He. should have told me, and permitted me to accompany him. As it is,'' I shall follow him in the morning.” He adhered to this resolution. When the Scotch mail quitted the London terminus the next morning, the young carl of Glenham took his place in .a first-class coach as a passenger to Edinburgh. pro BE' CONTINUED. J