Island’s Thorne

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 557, 9 January 1929, Page 5

Island’s Thorne

j (Serial story) (Published by Special Arrangement)

* by

FRANCIS VIPOND

"Neil in giving Sydney a first lesson in rowing," said Lady Greenthwaite, as though it were the most, everyday happening. "You are to go with father, Hugh, and Jack is coming with me; we are going to see which boat can catch the heaviest weight of fish/’ Hugh followed Lord Francis into ■ heir boat in silence, and pushed off without speaking. CHAPTER XV.—WROULE PLEADS WITH KATHERINE. There was no sign of enjoyment on Hugh’s face when the boat cast off. His frown was sulphuric, and he certainly did not look an agreeable companion; but Lord Francis was blissfully unconscious of this; all he wanted was someone to row, and Hugh rowed well. “Father,” remarked Lady Greenthwaite. drily, as Wroule pushed their boat off, "luckily, is not a person to he affected by atmosphere, and mercifully he does not care to talk when he is lishing.” “That is a mercy,” said Wroule His choice of a companion seems to he wise under such conditions. I could not fish myself with that kill joy in the boat. That was a fish rose near you, Lady Greeuthwaite, a big one. too. I was shocked to see the change in Mr. Thorne,” he added, sravely. "I thought him looking very ill- He is delighted with Miss Thorne, and so pleased to have her here, it struck me as quite pathetic, for it is only his own obstinacy which has prevented her being with him all the time. ’ “Miss Thorne appears to be a very delightful girl,” he continued after a Pause. "She is also extremely goodlooking and attractive. Mr. Tliorne is a lucky man."

, “Much more so than he deserves." lsaid Lady Greenthwaite. “Mind the oar, Jack; I have hooked a fish.” As the fishing party landed at the island for lunch, Lord Francis drew Sydney aside. I “I am going to ask you to change ‘companions with me when we go on Iths lake this afternoon,” he said to ,her in a low voice. “I do not care ‘,for people who cackle all the time, Shut the society of an impenetrable lthunder cloud can be equally trying." i Sydney laughed and glanced at 1 Hugh, who was glumly assisting Lady Greenthwalte and Neil to unpack the [ hamper. I “All right," she agreed, "you can 4 give me the Thunder Cloud, and havel |Colonel Fraser instead of him.” a i :‘Thank you.” said Lord Francis.f E“Harry can come with us whenl Wroule leaves for his train. Give; lme that chicken, Harry; I will cut itl ’ up; i hate to see you tearing it apart. E ‘ You can serve the pie." f ‘I The gloom on Hugh’s face percep-‘ itibly lightened as Sydney proposed‘ : the change to him, and Wroule smiled t {at Lady Greenthwaite as he noticedl the sudden lifting of the cloud, He; lguessed what Lord Francis had been‘ [suggesting and the difference ini gliugh's expression when his cousin?l 'had spoken to him confirmed his conl jeclures. t ‘ "i am sorry. but I must tear my ; self away directly after lunch," he ani‘ inouuced with very sincere regret. “Itf idoes seem a sin to have to go rush-‘ ling up to London and sit in a stuffv; {court when the May-fly is on.” J “\Ve will arrange another day es-‘ fpecially for you when you get back,"l ?promised Lord Francis, by way of! Econsolation. “Here, drown your sor-l [rows in this flowing bowl: it is pre—! ' war claret." i ! “‘roule watched the party as he* stood by his car waiting to set forth.l on his journey to Nidchester. Hugh! and Sydney were the first to get afloat i and he smiled quietly to himself as' he saw the rapid progress their boatl lwas making towards the far end of the lake. 1 5 “I have hopes after all,” he thought. ‘ EHThings may not be so difiicult as It Ewas afraid. i thought there were :goin: to be complications, but they }seem to be being overcome.“ V He frowned and still stood staring ,nffer them. wrapped in deep contem~ ‘platimi. Then. as if he had solved ‘1 some knotty point, he climbed into his 3‘7” and slipped quickly down the avenue. Noe-gm when he reached the high

lroad he did not take the turningi which would have led him straight to, Nidchester; instead he turned into! the side track to Park Head. Katherine Drury. hearing the soundl of the motor labouring up the steep. track, came out 01‘ the house and’ stood waiting to welcome him at thel gate. There was a question in her lquiet, steady eyes as he drew off his gloves and shook hands with her. 1 "Come in,” she said pleasantly. "itl is a long time since I have seen you. Mr. \Vroule." Jack W‘roule followed her into the delightful sitting-room. His round face was unwontedly grave and he was very silent. The woman looked at him inquiringly. evidently puzzled as to why he had come. g “Miss Drury,”, he began, “I have‘ 'come because I want to speak very" [plainly to you much more plainly than: I should dare to do to most women.‘ But so much is at stake that I must ask you to forgive me if I seem impertinent, or if I wound you.” i Katherine‘s face grew rather whith but her eyes were steady, and shoi .met his glace directly. 1 1 “Go on,” was all she said as he} ] paused. 1 ; “Some time ago;" he continued in} is low voice, “I asked you to be my! {wife You told me then that youi gcould not. do so, because you had al»7 .ready promised to marry Hugh Owl ‘mandy, and that you were only wait-j: ‘ ing to announce your engagement till' [a suitable occasion should come when : ifxir. Thorne could he approached and ; asked to give his consent. I think by 1 ‘this time you have probably realised‘ jthat such a time is never coming; iand that Mr. Thorne is not likely to. ‘give the desired permission. Hugh? =knows it well enough it you do not."] “W'e both realise it," said Kat-her-iue quietly. ““‘e have made up our: 'minds that we must say nothing to‘ him, but go on waiting. “7e are (10-1 .iug it for Hugh's sake.” i ‘ “It is a wise decision, and it is for! EHugh’s’ sake that I have come to'you Ito-day," said W’roule. speaking earn-i liestly. “His whole life is bound up inl i Island’s Thorne; it is a great power in I l ————-‘- k

his life. He cares for the place as! he cares for nothing and nobody out—side it; it has come to be almost illl’ obsession with him, Katherine. [} speak very plainly, but. believe me. it. is necessary I should do so, and I have come to tell you that it' you marry Hugh you will in all likelihood ruin his prospects and hopes as I‘C< gards Island’s Thorne. I ask you if; you love him to give him up. Send{ him away. It is with no thought 05% stepping into his shoes that I urgel‘ you to do this; it is for both yourl happiness. Hugh. I know. does care; for you, but if he marries you, and by doing so loses Island's Thorue‘ I do not think that affection will last. Think it. over, at; any rate, very seri—ously.” I \Vroule was a wise man. for he gave 1 no hint of the difference which the! coming of Sydney Thorne had made: to Hugh; he well knew that though itl might be possible for a woman to give up her lover for the sake of his prospects, the chances of her renouncing him in order,to free him so that he could marry another woman were] much more remote. 1 Katherine made no comment, and{ W'roule saw that her face was white and set. He picked up his hat from the (chair on which he had deposited it and rose to his feet. ( “Forgive me it I seem to be inter[ering with what is not my business," he said huskily. “But, Katherine. I love you with the love that only comes to a man once in his lifetime, It is! because of this love that I cannot: stand by silently and see you making:l a mess of your life when a word 0i: two on my part, much as I loathe up. tering them, may help you to steer clear.” “It: is kind of you to come and 5911 me this," she said with an effort. “filut you have always been kind to me, Jack” I know what you say dbout Hugh is true; I do come secrvid in his affections to Island's Torrie; I have no illusions on that scorg. He saw a lot of me when I firs: came here and took this farm; thqre was business to be transacted. 311 d naturally we were thrown together. He fell in love with me in a way —the only way he was capable of—and I—l liked very much. He seemed smell a lonely, disappointed man, and he was terribly cut up when he waa‘not allowed to go\and serve in ‘the avmy." “Most men would have gone. allowed to or not.” hul‘dt out Wroule impatiently. “Mr. Thol-ne would have blustered at first. but. he would soon have come round if Zrlugh had taken his own line and insisted on going.” "Hugh had not tide moral courage {or that." said Katherine. "I tried to make him see it, but he was much too frightened of dam/lging his prospects. One can hardly blame him, for we must never forge t that he had the example or Mr. Tborne’s Son before him. Of late I have'been realising for myself all that. ‘3'oll say, Jack. Hugh

[would never be able to foreic-ve anyone who came between 1 .m and llslaud‘s Thorne. I 'have been terri., Hying myself with the notion. that Mr. Thorne may leave Island‘s 'Thorne and everything else to his gravid-daughter. Hugh is confident that he will not leave the place to a worm-(1n, but I am not so sure, especially if by an)" Ichance he and Hugh should get at; Ecross purposes." - i 1 “Hugh would have to induce Sydiney to marry him If such a continglency arose.” said, Wroule deliber—--3 ately. “1 must go,‘now, Katherine, for I have a train to, catch. I am going up to London." He hurried 0119,, and Katherine list‘ ened to the eligine of the car as it‘ grew fainter :lnd fainter. ‘ i She stood for a moment staring‘ ihlankly befcae her, and sat down at iher writing table with her head resting on her hands. She remained thus, tryihl‘; to think out what Jack \Vroule had told her. She bore him no grlidg‘h. for she was a just enough‘ woman 'l3 feel that his visit had been] iimpersogm] as far as he himself wasi looncermed, but he had put into words} and made real, what she herself had} lfelt erer since Sydney had come. Shel ‘ knew: only too well that Hugh was un- ‘ [stable as water, save in one instance.‘ land, that not his love for her, but hisi {DB Asion for Island’s Thorne. His delvojtion to her, overwhelming and in—{t'snse as it had been for a time, had tluurnt itself out like a fever; he still geared, but it was no longer all in all [to him as it had once been. She felt it gin a thousand ways, small perhaps in l themselves, but unmistakable. . CHAPTER XVI.—HUGH'S , OBSESSION. , On Thornewater Hugh was making !the most of his time with his cousin. {Sydney treated him with frank com[radeshim she liked him, she admired {his physical perfection, but she never 1 thught Qt falling in love with him. ; “She is much too good for him,” I said Lady Greenthwaite to her father. i“But it is the best way out of a diffi!culty. ,Mr. Thorne is not the man to ilet a fact like that escape him, he lcan save his own face, and do the =right thing at the same time if he can .‘I bring this union about.” Neil Fraser said nothing as he ‘pulled the boat up the lake for a new :drift; his glance often wandered in Ethe direction of the other boat in Iwhich Hugh and Sydney seemed to be 'supremely happy, and he was even imore silent than usual. He knew i that for him, too, the whole world was achanged by Sydney’s coming. So far women had not entered seriously into .the busy life; he was one of the men ‘to Whom love came late, but when it, did come it was a great thing, and {swamped all else. And now it had i come, and he knew that he must stand faside for Sydney‘s sake as well as for lHugh‘s.- The keeper‘s son, wealthy :and man of position though he was, I

could never hope to win permission to| marry Miss Thorne of Islaifd‘s Thorne. He felt that Sydney already liked him. i and she showed a friendliness that‘ was more than she would offer to‘ every acquaintance; she seemed to have realised at once the simplicity and strength of his character.‘ There had been something that had drawn them together. She was a woman of strong character; she, too, had waited for the greatest moment of life, and at last she had met a man who was stronger than herself. It is when two such strong natures meet that some—thing springs up and binds them with something warmer and more lasting than ordinary friendship. ' Hugh Ormandy stood, with disgust‘ written on his scowling face, watching Sydney and Colonel Fraser as they went side by side down the drive to “The Nest” after the fishing party had came ashore in the evening. He had not been asked to make a third, and he would not propose it himself. He felt injured and aggrieved, and it was , in no very amiable frame of mindi that he turned toward Island‘s Thorno I and his solitary dinner. 3 Meanwhile, Sydney and her com-j panion proceeded slowly, pausing} every now and again for Neil to point i out some fresh delight in the ever-1 changing beauty of moor and moun-i tain, for Neil had a love of the mouu- l tain country, where he had been born and spent his boyhood, fully equal to Hugh’s. and he found a ready response from the girl who had come to it from a dreary life of drudgery in London. , “You cannot think what it means to ,bc here,” she told him as they leaned over u. gate gazing over the craggy fells bathed in the rosy glow ot the :setting sun. “Life in London seemed gto cramp one; the busy, crowded Estreets, the oflices. shut me in and held me. Now I am free. Mr. Levi lwas very good to me, though." 3 “Not Simeon Levi, surely?" said ‘5 Neil. I “Yes," she answered. “Simeon ‘Levi, of Great Mitre Street. \K'hy? .Do you know him?" I “\Vell." returned Neil. “I will ‘hardly say that, but I have had many [dealings with him over the Army con,tracts. \Ve have corresponded a igreat deal, and I have a thorough re- |—___.____

spect for the man; he is mat most.! rare thing, an honest Jew. He takes j his lawful profits, his just pound of ! flesh, but never eighteen ounces if be can g*et it without being caught, as most contractors, Jew or Gentile, clo.” “It was he who saw my grandfather’s advertisement in ‘The Times’ and showed it to me," said Sydney. “He not only did that, but he lent me the money' for my journey and made it possible. He did it all so kindly, too; some men would have made you feel that you were under an obligation to them, but he did not. He always struck me as a very lonely man; he wears a very mournful look at times.” "He was devoted to his wife," Neil told her. “She died a year or two ago, and he felt her loss deeply. His only son was killed early in the war. so he is a lonely' man. as you say. I will go and see him when I return to London, and tell him 1 have seen you.” “I will see hin? when I am in London,” said Sydney. “I am going up soon to bring mother here, the Dower House is going to be our home in the future.” “Let us gc together,’’ said Neil im pulsively. “I can arrange my time to suit yours. You must let me help you and your mother in any way that 1 can, Miss Thorne; it will be the greatest pleasure to me. My big London house is at your service at all times. I have become very tired of it already,” lie added with a laugh. “I think I shall give it up before long, and take a place somewhere in this neighbourhood when I can find one. I took the Park Lane house for | ihe time I had to live in London at the end of the war, and the settling up of things, but that is, I am glad to* say. nearly through now as far as I am concerned. I hate towns; like you I feel cramped and imprisoned when I am in town. I want the clean, open life of the country.” Sydney' stole a glance at him as he gazed with his faraway eyes over the fells he loved so dearly'. A wave of great comradeship for this quiet. ■ strong, kindly' man who had done such j great things, swept over her, and. | unknown to herself, reflected itself in i her voice as she answered his words, I shaken as she felt with such deep ! feeling. • “There is nothing like the country. | and, above all, this country; I feel ! as though I had known it and wanted \it all my life. Hugh is very fond of I it, too. | A shadow came into Neil’s eyes at J the mention of Ormandy-: he had forgotten him for the moment. ; “Yes,” he said, slowly'. “Ormandy has a devotion to Island’s Thorne that ;is really' almost an obsession. There i is my father. Miss Thorne, taking his i old dOg round for a potter after rabbits; see he has a gun.” Angus Fraser came to meet them, the old dog at his heels. (To be continued.)