CHAPTER XII.

Te Aroha News, Volume II, Issue 91, 28 February 1885, Page 4

CHAPTER XII.

A MEETING. " Oh, falsft heart ! oh woman, woman, Woman, would thy treachery Hart boon less ! surely no man Ever loved as I lovo the<- ! " Owe v Meredith. "4 A L\s.biE yet— a lassie yet' Here boy, give mo a paper ." " He took the paper trom the diminutive, barefooted nnwsve.idor, and turned down broad, imposing Stato street. At Monroe he entered the great rotunda of the Palmer Hou-e. So early was the hour it was not yet, as if is invariably later in the day, a-warm with people. Ah tie Glossed the checkered marble floor to the office ho came face to face with Mr Jonas Clailio, very red fieed, very por-tur'oed-looking, very elaborately costumed. 'I ho younger man raised his hat and smiled. Poor old chap ! he had been awfully " struck "on Vt-lla. Surely ho who had won her could aftord to be generous. Mr Claflin responded to the salutation with a scowl of his dyed eyebrows, and hastened on. Marc glanced after him and laughed. " Ci\il customer that !" He turned again as he reached the desk, and sent another look backward to the rotund personage ascending tho stairs with elephantine agility. He was murmuring something under his dark moustache. " See a horse at t e door, And la If Kiuu Ch r ey snarling, " Go back m> lord, across the moor, You are not hei darlmg!" He laughed again, flinging up his head as he repeated : •• Uo back, my lor.i. acoss the moor, You are not her dai'jiiig I" " Renter, sir ?" Po wheeled round at the sound of the e'erk'd voice. "Certainly." As he walked towards the elevator he opened his paper. As he ascended he gla< ceJ at ic. Ami thi-, was the very first paragraph which met his gaze : "Last evening, at tho town residence of the bridu'-> uiulj Ouiunel James V r .ell, by ttie KiiVt-rend D>ct r Houry, Velia, d>tuuhttr of trie late William mid Muriel Vernell, to Air John Cldflm, of ttiis city. Nu cards. ' There it was, plain as print could be Plain as daylight. tie read it. He read it over. He stood still as st <ne, his hand clutching the t-heet, his eyes glued to tho lines. He stood so after the elevator had stopped, and the boy had slid back the door. " Parlour floor !" Whit in the name of heaven did it mean ? A joke ? Of course it was — maU be a joke, but it must be a cursed bad one. It was " Parlour floor, sir !" Published ! Her sweet name flune like a bone to the gaping curs of uo»f>ip— hers] whoever was responsible should answer for it — should answer to him — 1 • Parlour floor, sir !" For the third b ime he wa.° reminded, and now with a nudge of irritation. " Anything the matter, sir?" He started, roused himsulf. " No, no!" hastily, and passed out. Ho went up the wide, lofty corridor to the parlours Just without he sank into ono of the critiLson arm, chairs which lined the hall. His brain was in a whirl. Rage, dis-gu.-t, revenge there alternated. Never though tor even one instant, credence, Who was that a little further up the intersecting corridor, standing immediately without the doors of one of the state chambers? Mr Claflin. The door was opened from within. A lady came out and down the corridor with him — a lady of about medium height, clad in a rich travelling costume of silvery-grey, long gants de Sueae on her slender hands, a great plumed hat on her short, crisp, golden curls. Marc ro«e. He stood waiting them. Was he dreaming or going mad ? The muscles round his heart contracted painfully. He could feel the very blood in his I veins congealing. He breathed with diffi ! culty. They came nearer. The lady glanced up, recognised him, started, bowed, smiled. Pride, the peremptory instincts of a gentleman, came to his aid. He lifted his hat. A triumphant, defiant, malignant, sneering, aggressive glare from Claflin — then they had passed on. Marc Tracy stood where they had left him. And all he is conscious of, can think of, see, hear, feel, is a pure, trustful, childish face, s^eet, shy, serious-lifted eyes, a little, trembling band upon bis arm, and a dear voice whispering soft and low : "I do love you, Marc. I will love you always !"