CHAPTER X

Te Aroha News, Volume VI, Issue 279, 7 July 1888, Page 3

CHAPTER X

THK CHKJSTENISG. Tun bells in every steeple for miles and miles around Strathspey TWers clashed for joy on that morning. It was the twemy-tifth day of November, the anni" versary of that stormy day one year before when Lord Strathspey's twins were born. And now they were all back at the Toweis to have them christened. The, Earl of Strathspey, although he would have scorned the imputation, was a trifle superstitious. There was an old saying that- had grown into a custom with the Strathspey " It was that great good luck should bif all the heir who was christened on his birthday. Many and many a one of- the dead and gone earls, in obedience to this silly old saying, were christened on the anniversary of their natal days; and this last earl, who i venerated his race, and all they did, had journeyed home to the Towers, in order that his twins might be christened in accordance ■with the old custom.Accordingly, on the ' morning of the twenty-fifth, the bells again clashed and clamoured for joy, and the nobility and peasantry from all parts of the countrj' flocked to the little chapel on the Strathspey estates, where centuries ago other infant earls of that high and haughty race had received their names. Lord Stiathspey had not spared any pains to make the event as imposing as it deserved to be. The grim old castle was thrown open, and decorated for the grand feast and dance that were to take place in the evening in honour of his young; heir. The day was gloriously propitious, clear, blight and balmy as mid-autumn. At high-noon a splendid procession started from the castle and proceeded down the broad drive that led to the chapel. In an elegant open carriage sat the earl and his wife, and just behind them, on an elevated seat, and held up by their nurses in view of the admiring crowd, were the two children. The little year-old lord was robed in royal ermine and purple like a young king, with a cap decorated with fluttering plumes.' A tine, sturdy little fellow, a trifle darker than the Strathspeys, quite handsome and promising. And Lady Pearl, wrapped in her blue veheb mantel, looked a pearl in truth, the very image of her beautiful mother. Following these came an endless line of elegant equipages, containing distinguished friends of the earl, and lords, and ladies, and county magnates without number. Slowly unde,r the golden arches of the grand old oaks this royal procession wound its way, the populace crowding on each side, shouting and waving; their hats in the clamorous good-will,, and just before the earl's carriage a score of young damsels robed in white proceeded to the castle, strewing the way with flowers and chanting a song of congratulatiqm - Lord Strathspey's cheek flushed, and his eyes grew moist, as he sat with his fine head uncovered, acknowledging all ' this homage and good-will, and the little lord, delighted with the crowds and music, clapped his hands in high glee. But the countess lay back upon her cushions, her eyes half closed, and her waxen face as white as death : and seeing her thus for the first time in all their happy wedded life, her husband regarded her with a feeling of anger. And this feeling found vent in his words, as he bent his lips to her ear. 'My dear,' he said, ' I really think you might rouse yourself a little. See how the good people are saluting you, and you take no notice. Marguerite, for our boy's bake, be civil.' The poor countess raised her head and glanced for an instant over the thronging crowds, forcing a wan smile to her white lips ; but, almost with the effort, some sudden emotion seemed to overpower her, and she tell back in her seat, her slight figure convulsed by suppressed sobs. The earl, who, like most men, had little sympathy for a weak, hysterical woman, turned away with an exclamation of disgust, and the triumphal procession moved on until it reached the chapel. And there, where every ornament, and tablet, and inscription bespoke the honours of his race, the young earl and his sister received the solemn rite of baptism. — Colonel Hubert Chudleigh, of the Queen's Guards, acting as godfather, and the Dowager Countess of Mertlake as godmother. , The little earl was just being named— Angus Everhard— the old, old name that so many of the Strathspey earls had bornebefore him, when there was a slight stir near the doorway as of someone entering, and on the next instant a voice, that seemed to come from the deep vaults beneath their feet, cried out, in mocking tones : 'Angus Everhard, Earl of Strathspey Towers, doomed to a felon's fate." The crowd within the chapel stood breathless ; the rector paused in consternation, the Benediction unspoken on his lips ; and the Earl of Strathspey, uttering a gasp- : ing cry, strong man that he was, sank down at his wife's feet, as white and rigid as the , dead. . j For a few moments all was dire confuf-ion, but the earl soon recovered his strength and self-command, and stood up, supporting his trembling wife, while the ceremony was finished. At the grand feast that night there was a ! Death's-head. While the long tables groaned beneath their loads of costly food, and flagons of wine and ale ran like water ; while the sounds of music and revelry rang through all the grand old halls, and the people danced, and rejoiced, and feasted in honour of the young heir, Lord Strathspey moved about like one in & dream — white, and-cold, and silent, unmindful of the pealing bells and clamorous peasantry, with only one sound in his ears— that awful prophecy, ' Doomed to a felon's fate.'