CHAPTER XXXVI.

Te Aroha News, Volume VI, Issue 287, 4 August 1888, Page 6

CHAPTER XXXVI.

JUDITH FINDS A ChVL. Lady Ckcilia Drummond h 'd issued cards for a large party, and it chanced that Lady Neville's maid had fallen ill. ' Don't you think you can find oime to dress »ne, Janet, when you have done with Lady Marguerite?' questioned her ladyship. Janet wa« sure she could, and accordingly, having robed Lady Pearl in her pale, golden silk, and fastened the peails about her lovely throat and in her golden hair, she tripped across to Lady Neville's magnificent diessing-room. ' You'll have to hurry a trifle, Janet,' said her ladyship : ' we've no time to lose, and I do not care to be late.' So Janet set to work with nhrble fingers. She was an artist in her way, and her taste in dress was exquisite. 'Really, Janet, I must compliment your skill,' said the earls handf-ome sis-ler, surveying herself in a mirror ; ' my hair is perfect. And now,' she added, graciously. ' be good enough to select what ornaments I shall wear : no doubt you know better than L' Janet surveyed her with a critical eye, from the crown of her handsome blonde head to the flowing train of her sweeping black velvet robe. ' Diamonds ' she said, curtly, unlocking the jewel - case ; ' the solitaire in your bosom, and those bracelets — not the bandeau, 'tis too heavy — and these camellias are much more becoming, with a sprig of green and scailct to give them colour.' Lady Neville smiled as Janet clasped the jewels, and fastened the flowers in her hair. ' I shall have to bribe yoii away from Lady Marguerite,' she said, pleasantly. ' I have not been so well dres&ed in a month. And there's the carriage ; and here conies Lady Pearl ! My cloak and gloves, please. ' Janet brought them, and as she threw the elegant mantle over the stately matron's shoulders, she said, in her quiet way ; ' I am very sorry, Lady Neville, but I shall be compelled to leave on Monday.' Lady Neville turned and stated at her in amaze. •To leave, Janet. ?' she cried. For what reason, pray ? Do you want higher wages ? What is it ?' 'No, my lady; my wages are satisfactory, but there are personal matters that force me to leave, and I 1 egret it very much.' 'So do I,' said her ladyship, candidly. 'You are a refined, cabaple girl, and I should very much like Lady Marguerite to keep you after her marriage, Janet. You would have a permanent home. ' I am very sorry,' said Janet,' ' but I am compelled to go, at least for -pi time.' 1 But you will come back "to me, Janet,' cried Pearl, who had entered and heard the conversation ; ' you wi\l come back to me ?' ' Indeed I will, my dear young lady, just as soon as I can,' replied Janet, the tears rising to her eyes. ' Well,' said Lady Neville, ' I am sorry ; but if it cannot bo helped, there's no use in wasting words about it. Come, Marguerite, the carriage waits, and we shall barely make the drive in time.' They swept out of the room and down the broad staircapo, and Janet, crossing to the window, watched them as they entered the carriage. Sir Bayard Brompton, who was a, gfles^ at the Towers, was their oscor^, o,f course. He ran down the steps, bowing a^cl smiling, and assisted them into, the carriage, and Jan'et'a watchful eyes saw that Lady Mar-

guerite, in her golden drapery, shrank away from his touch with ill- concealed aversion. ' " *'.. ' Poor little Pearl !' she sighed, 1 and the tears that filled her eyes overflowed and trickled down her cheeks ; * poor • little - Pearl ! She dislikes him now, and she'll - hate him by-and-by. Poor little girl, who never knew a mother s love I It breaks my heart to leave her in the troubles that's coming; but I must. I must go and find my lady ! There's something in my heart that tells me I must go !' ' • She turned from the sumptuous apartment. All the rooms at fche Towers we're very quaint and grand, and this one, chosen by Lady Ne\ ille, was very large, and gorgeously furnished in blue and gold. Just across wat a suice of three, in pink and white and gold, which the earl had especially re-fnvnif»hed for his daugrh«'3r, and beyond, gloomy and silent, was the great crimson state-chamber, the birth and bridalrojm of the Strathspeys, closed and locked, and filled with haunting spectre";. Janet Barns stood looking about her, the pale, ilaxen hair pushed oh" from her brow, her heait filled with memories of days gone by. Shehalffanciedshecouldseethecountess as she looked in the early d? ys of her happy wifehood, tripping thioughthe grand rooms", anil filling 1 them with music and sunshine. And now, whore was she? Shut up in a mad-hou&c, 01 perhaps dead of a broken heart ! The pirl lo< ked her hands in fierce determination, hei eyes glowing beneath her frilled cap. ' I'll find her,' she said, 'if she's .alive cr dead — I'll find hei, my dear, dear lady !' She tin ned to the silver und ebony toilet table, and began to gather up the costly tiille.s and put them in their respective plnce-. — jewels, and dainty gloves, and gold p'jiiunie flasks, and all the nameless paraphernalia of a fine lady's toilet. Presently ohe picked up a little mother-of-pearl ca"d case, and as she was in the acb of slipping it into a drawer, it fell from her hand, scattering its contents on the carpet at her feet. Janet gathered them up, pretty embossed cards, all inscribed with noble names, and was returning them to the case, but one, coarser and larger than the rest, obstructed the closing of the lid. She drew it out, and m so doing the printed names upon it aiu^ted her attention. * Milfoid (J range, Private Asylum for the Insane. Doutoi & J . T. Urane and George Molnto-h, managers.' For the moment the held it in her hand, half unconscious of what it meant. Then the truth flashed upon her. She uttered a joyful ciy : ' Thank lfcaven, I have found the clue at \a*l !' ( To be Continued.)