CHAPTER XV.

Te Aroha News, Volume VI, Issue 279, 7 July 1888, Page 4

CHAPTER XV.

A PERILOUS STEP. Lord Strathspey, all at once, had irnpera tive occasion to make a run down to Lon. don. Only for a short stay, however, and Colonel Chudleigh was to do the honours and his guests to make themselves comfort able till his return. He started for tbe early train, before breakfast was served, and the countess and her children were still in their dressing-room. He tapped lightly at the door, as he passed it on his way down. Judith admitted him, and his wite arose, still wrapped in her morning cashmere, at his entrance. ' Don't disturb yourself, Marguerite,' he said, jusfc a trifle coldly : 'I'm off to London, and just dropped in to say goodbye.' He crossed to the lounge, upon which the children were sitting, and kissed them repeatedly. Lady Pearl clung to his neck, and fell to sobbing. 'Don't go, papa, darling papa,' she implored ; ' we wants papa here, don't we, mamma ?' Mamma nodded, with the hot tears rising to her eyes. " But papa must go, just for a little while, and he'll bring Pearl a great doll, with winking eyes. Will that do ?' Lady Pearl clapped her hands in ecstasy/ ' Arid what shall I bring you, my boy ?' continued the earl, taking the boy's face in his hands, and looking down into his eyes with unspeakable love. Light, cold eyes they were, a trifle opaque and dull, and the face was inclined to be thin and sallow. Lady Pearl looked like a rosebud beside her brother, and I think her father, though he was almost unconscious of it, felt a little angry and vexed at her fair, fresh loveliness. What business had she to be brighter and handsomer than his son and heir? : What shall I bring you, my son, from .London?' continued the earl, for the boy had not answered. ' Nothing ! I don't want nothing,' he replied, at last, with a sullen air. 'Pearl can have the doll ; I won't have nothing.' 'You may have the dolly some, too, bubber,' cried generous little Pearl ; ' I won't keep her all the time.' * No, I shan't !' returned the young lord, spitefully. His father looked inexpressibly grieved. From day to day this was the trouble in the nursery — the cross, unamiable temper of the boy. Nothing could please or content him ; he was always surly and envious, while Lady Pearl was all generosity and sweetness. 'Never mind ; I'll bring you both something. Be good children,' said the father. Then he turned to the counte&s, and held out .his hand. ' Good-bye, Marguerite ; my stay will be short, and the colonel will see that you are comfortable. ' He did not kiss her, and his voice was cold, his manner distant and ceremonious. Colonel Gilbert Verney had called on the evening of the dinner party, just as Lady Drummond predicted ; and the countess had received him very graciously, and even honoured him with a promenade on the terrace. , Consequently, my lord, her most injured husband, was in the sulks, and not at all • disposed to be affectionate. 'Good-bye, Angus,' said his wife, her voice faltering, and her eyes swimming ,with tears >j * won't yoy kiss me before you «#, •' The piteous voice touched the earl keenly, but he was too proud to show it.

Instead of clasping her to his bosom, as his inclination prompted him, he only touched his lips to her forehead. As the door closed behind him, his wife, unmindful of the presence of her children and their nurse, threw herself upon the couch and burst into a'passion of hysterical sobs and teari. But in a very little while she arose, still and calm. 'Take the children away,' she said, motioning to Lela, who had just entered ; 1 and do you remain, Judith.' 'Now bring my travelling dress, and ring for a cup of chocolate,' she continued, when they were alone. Judith stared in amazement. 'I am going back to the Tyrol,' exclaimed the countess. ' Now is my time, while the earl is away, and I have not a moment to lose. ' 'My lady — you <" ejaculated the girl. ' Why not send me in your place ?' ' Because I want to go myself. I must go and see that child again, and be sure that lam not mistaken. I must go, Judith ; so don't waste time in words. 3 'But, my lady, I beg your pardon,' ventured Judith; 'what will your guests think? What will my lord, if he finds it out?' 'My guests may say what they like,' replied the countess, her eyes blazing. ' I shall leave my apologies with Mrs Colonel Chudleigh, and I'll explain to the | earl when he returns. I've made up my mind to go, and you need not try to dissuade me, no matter how good your motive may be.' Judith acquiesced with evident reluctance, believing, as she did, in her c >lm and far-sighted wisdom, that the stop her lady was about to take was rash and 111i advised, and one which might lead to unpleasant consequence?, to say the least. The countess herself did not pauso to consider ; she only saw an opportunity to accomplish the supreme desire of her heart, and made haste to embrace it. Since leaving the Tyrol, her impatience and suspense had amounted to torture. Shecould.-never rest, never draw a contented breath till she \\ en t back and assured herself whether or no the boy bore the Strathspey birthmark. If he did not, and all her dreams and impulses "were delusions, the sooner she found out her mistake the better. But if he w ere her child, her own offspring, then a great and perilous task lay before her, for I he should be reinstated in his rightful place, and proclaimed heir to the earldom of Strathspey. No passion is stronger and more determined than a mother's love ; and this ' mother's love for that little outcast nursling of the milch-goat amounted to idolatry. In her dreams, in her waking hours, he was ever present, and a single thought of that little warm, milky mouth that she kissed in her first vision, thrilled her with passionate tenderness. For this child's sake she was brave, and willing to dare all danger — even death, if need be. More than once she had thought over the expediency of revealing the »vhole thing to her husband, and entreating him to aid her in, righting the gre it wrong. But the remembrance of his unbelief in regard to her dream always chilled a..d repelled her. He would laugh at her fora weak, visionary creature ; and she would only unsettle his perfect faith that fche boy who bore hi? name was in truth his son. She had a tender love ior her great broad-chested husbtnd; and the bare thought of spoiling his happiness, plunging him in doubt and conjecture, was more than she could bear. It must not be ! She concluded, unwisely enough, perhaps, but with the best of motives, to keep it all from him — to shoulder all the sorrow and weary suspense herself, and follow the faint clue through the dark and mysterious labyrinth alone and unaided. ' But you surely intend that I shall go with you, my lady?' ventured Judith, as she assisted the countess to dress for her journey. ' I should be glad enough to have you, Judith,' she replied ; ' but I must leave you here. There's no one in this house that I can trust save yourself. I dare not trust my children in the hands of that Dundas woman. I mistrust and dislike her more than I did at first, and I marvel that my lord persists in keeping her- and she in remaining. I think she brought me ill-luck the first hour I ever looked upon her strange face ; everything has gone wrong with me since then. A strange face, dark and diabolical,' she continued, in a. dreamy voice ; ' a face one would not be likely to forget. Judith, do you think T am a sane woman, or am I ideally going mad, w they suppose ?' ' My lady "*' cried the girl, dropping her brush ; ' what do you mean ?' •Exactly what I say, Judith. Am la sane, sensible <*oman ?' ' Why, yes, who says you are not V 'Nevermind. But the truth is, I think such strange things that I doubt my own sanity at times. Judith, did you ever fancy that the awful face that glared upon me in my childbed in the crimson chamber, that night when my babe was stolen, might have been the face of the Dundas woman ?' ' Oh, no ; no, my lady !' cried Judith, in consternation, almost beginning to doubb her lady's sanity sure enough. ' Well, I have, Judith, many a lime, 1 replied the countess, quietly ; ' and the fancy is growing very strong of late. If I am not insane, I am very sane, very wise, Judith ; and I have no human soul in the wide world to trust, no one tv help me, but you. I must leave you here to watch the Dundas woman, and take care of my children while I am gone.' ' But, for you to go alone — you, my poor, dear lady !' wailed the girl. ' I am not a baby, you good soul !' smiled the countess ; ' and I am more capable than you think. lam strong, and no coward in an emergency, despite my weakness and babyish face. So don't fret, my good girl. There— that will do. Ring for Sandford now to drive me to the station ; I shall take the eleven-thirty train. Now send in Mrs Chudleigh, if she will coaie ; and you must make all needful excuses yourself. 'And— let me see. No, I can't tell you when to send the carriage for me.' Judith obeyed ; and in less ihan twenty minutes the countess entered her carriage and was driven rapidly to the station — Mrs Colonel Chudleigh looking after her from the hall-door with undisguised wonder, and the Dundas woman watching her from the upper window, with an eager glitter in her biack e^es. ( To be Continued. )

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