CHAPTER XV 111.

Te Aroha News, Volume VI, Issue 281, 14 July 1888, Page 3

CHAPTER XV 111.

IN \\ lllC'H Till: C VIM, IS -> Vil^l J I I>. Ox thid self-same atiernoon Loid iStralhspey, being unable to procure even so much as a saddle-horse, walked across the country to the shepherd's cottage. He was a cry weak, and his head pained him badly, but the tievce unrc&b at his heart was worse by far than any bodily suffering. He was determined to find out the truth. He would 'never go back without it. Yet in the very height of his jealous determination he felt angered at bib own tolly in suffering such a groundless suspicion to take possession of I him. He reached the coppice, and turning sharply round its corner, came all of a sudden upon acairiage, and Colonel Gilbert Verney strolling up and down in front of it. The two men recognised each other on the instant, and after one short breath of surprise raised their hats in mutual salutation. The earl strode on, and Colonel Verney took out his cigar and looked after him, growing a shade paler beneath his Indian bronze in hit. pity for the poor countess, who, he felt sure, was being pursued by hei irate husband. ' AVhat the deuce biings him here, I wonder?' muttered Lord Stiathspey as he hurried on. Midway the meadow the group beneath theoak attracted his attention. (Something in the graceiuloutlines of the woman's figure struck a chill ot deathly fear through his heart. Ho paused, irresolute for the moment •nhethei to go or not. The picture beforenimwasone of wondrous beauty ; the great, far-spreading tree, the emerald tuif, the graceful figure of the kneeling woman, and the little Alpine foundling, in his scarlet smock and jaunty cap, standing between his two companions., the grim sheep dog and the young kid. Even in his suspense and dumb, imcomprehensible dread of, he knew not what, Lord Strathspey felt a thrill of admiration ; and in alter years. — ah, years of bitter sorrow, too —he had but to close his eyes and the lovely pastoral scene aro c before him, framed as it was by the blue peaks ct the Alps. lie stood like one in a dream, watching the ■woman's passionate gestures. He saw her clasp the boy to her breast and kiss and caress him; he e\cn caught a faint echo of her unrestrained sobb. l'iesently she arose to her feet and turned her face toward him ; and the Earl of Strathspey whitened to the very hue of death, for it was the face of his own wife. For one brief moment he was lost in utter bewilderment, unable to beliexe what he saw with his own eyes. And then a sudden thought burst upon him. He re membered the waiting carriage, and waiting colonel, round the corner of the coppice. 1 Oh, Heaven !' ho groaned, 'it is she. It is all true. And he her companion. Her old lover. Curse him !he shall die for it !' The words seemed to hiss through his &et teeth, his face was ghastly to look upon, his eye* gleamed with a rage that bordered on madness. Turning on his heel hcbfcrode back toward the coppice, and the countess, in her excitement over the child, had no dream of his presence. Colonel Gilbert Verney was pacing up and down before his carriage, evidently ill at ease, yet puffing at his cigar in an eminently stoical manner, when the earl burst like an enraged wild beast upon him. ' You unprincipled coward '' he cried, catching the officer by the collar, ' did you bring my wife here or not ? Answer me.' The colonel was a cool, brave man, one who rarely, if ever lost command of his temper. He caught the earl's hand in a grasp that seemed like btcel, and removed it quietly from his collar. 1 Now, my lord,' he said, calmly, ' have fcho goodness to reserve your epithets and restrain your temper, and we may be able to come to an understanding. 3 * Did you bring my wife to this place ?' thundered Lord Strathspey. ' I took charge of her from Dover, at j which place I found her ill and unprotected,' answered the colonel ; ' and,' ho continued, in a conciliating tone, ' for her bake I entreat you to bo calm and listen to what 1 have to say.' ' You took charge of her from Dover, did you V cried the irate peer. ' What business ha y e you taking charge of my wife, you unprincipled villain ? What is she here for ? - Answer me, or it shall cost you your life !'

The colonel smiled quietly, but his grey eyes wore beginning to blaze: He was not the man to brook abuse or insult. ' You must ask your countess what brings her here,' ho replied. 'It is no affair of I mine ; yet for her sake, and the respect Ibear her, I'll add that her object and her motive are alike pure and good.' ' You lie i' stormed the Earl, absolutely foaming with rage, 'No good wifo would indulgo in such an escapade as this. You are a liar and a cowai'd, Gilbert Vorney, and I tell you &o to your teeth !' ' Take care, my lord,' said the colonel, with an ominous Hash in jihis steel-like eyes. ' Take care of what ? Do you think I fear you, you sneaking coward ?' ' Lord Strathspey, you shall answer for your words,' returned the colonel, in his culm tone*. ' Not even for your wife's sake will I bear with such insults as this.' 'My wife's sake !' gasped Lord Strathspey. c Oh, you sneaking hound ! you yliall pay dearly for this. Name the hour and place, and I'll put a bullet through your cowardly heart. You a soldier ! Pah ! J'll ha\o you drummed out of your regiment !' A slow cri.nson was rising in the Indian othcer'& bronzed cheeks, and hit, eyes shone like lire. 'Veiy well, my lord,' he replied, 'when we meet again all bins shall be settled.' ' So it shall,' retorted the almost insane hubband, as he strode away. ' I'll settle it fast onongh, by blowing your brains out. I'd do it now, if I only had a weapon. Ho yonder, and fetch away your base companion,' he continued, pointing over hib fchouldci toward the oak beneath which his unconscious wife htill bat. ' She is no wife of mine. Fiom this hour I renounce her for ever. You may take hor, and welcome, but it shall cost you your heart's-, blood.' ' Lord Stiathspey,' uttered the colonel, making a btop forwaid, his face expressing the anxiety lie felt, not for himself, but for the woman upon whom the&e consequences would fall bo heavily, 'you are labouiing under a great mistake ' But the earl motioned him back, with a savage gesture, and disappeared round the coppice, reeling at every step ; and before he had gone half a mi'e, ho fell, as if a bullet had struck him, face downward on the gtceiibward of the Tyrol % alley.