CHAPTER, XI

Te Aroha News, Volume VI, Issue 311, 27 October 1888, Page 3

CHAPTER, XI

BASSANTYNE. SCEKS SAFER QUARTERS. The days drifted by at Kildare Castle, after the visit of the guardians of the young: Lady Nora, and, despite the girl's heavy cares and anxieties, every day had its share of sweetness and joy. This was not to be wondered at, for Nora's lover, Lord O'Neil, was a daily visitor at Point Kildare. There was another daily guest, Nicol Bassantyne, but the young nobleman rarely encountered him, the Lady Kathleen's husband choosing to conceal himself from observation, and spending hours in lounging alone in the park and shrubberies or else accompanied by the man v\ ho had escaped with him from Australia, and who was now serving as his valet. On the day subsequent to the departure of the Lady Nora's guardians, and that of Redmond Kildare, Bassantyne took occasion to announce his marriage to the Kildare chaplain, tenantry and servants. And on the fourth daj* thereafter appeared in the Belfast papers, under the caption of ' Romantic Marriage in High Life, 3 an announcement of the union of the Lady Kathleen Connor, of Ballyconnor, Wicklow, daughter of the late Lord Connor, and stop-daughter ot the late Earl of Kildare, ot Kildare Castle, to Mr Nicol Bassantyne ! The announcement stated that the marriage was a hasty Scottish one, but the engagement of which it was the finale had been of long standing, the Lady Kathleen having plighted her troth to her gallant suitor some years before. It was understood that Mr Bassantyne had spent some years in India, whence he had recently returned, and where he had accumulated a handsome fortune. It is needless to state that this florid notice had been written by Bassantyne himself, and that its insertion had been liberally paid for. On the day after the publication of this announcement, Lord Tresham arrived at the castle, riding in hot haste, and demanded to see the Lady Kathleen. He was shown into the great drawingroom, and old Shane hastened to summon her ladyship. Lord Tresham looked haggard and worn, as if he had known days of anxiety and nights of sleeplessness since the night of the fatal marriage, between the Lady Kathleen and her mysterious enemy. Nervous and restless, he strode to and fro the long and grand apartment with a quick stride. His eyes looked almost wild in their expression. His mouth was drawn in bo an expression of settled anguish. Presently the door opened, and the Lady Kathleen slowly entered. How she had changed during the past few days ! She looked thin and wan and woeful. There were dark lines under her beautiful azure eyes, and her face was almost ghastly in its pallor. But instead of the quick and nervous restlessness which characterised Lord Tresham, her manner was calm and cold, as if her sorrows had turned her to stone. Lord Tresham stretched out his arms to her. ' Kathleen !' he said, in a hollow voice. Kathleen made a swift movement, as if to obey his call and spring to his embrace ; but remembering herself, she recoiled, and looked up at him piteously. ' Don't tompb me, Barry,' she whispered. ' It's all over between us now — all over forever !' Lord Tre3ham's face darkened. He drew from his pocket a Belfast paper containing the announcement which we have described, crumbled it in his hands, and tossed it on the table, fiercely crying : 1 That is true, then ? This fellow is your old suitor, and you have acknowledged him as your husband ? Fool that I was, to believe in the love and honour of a : woman !' The Lady Kathleen shrank further from Lord Tresham, as if she had received from him a mortal hurt. ' I— l have seen the notice,' she said, in a tone scarcely above a whisper. ' The paper was just, brought to me. My marriage was acknowledged by my consent — ' 'It was !' Lord Tresham's eyes blazed While his face grew stern in its white anguish. 'O, Kathleen ! till this moment I have trusted you. I thought the announcement was that villain's work. And it is only a few nights since you told me Chafe you loved me. Love ! — ah, you never knew the holy meaning of the word.' The Lady Kathleen put up her hand as if to defend herself from an actual blow, ' Don't, Barry !' she pleaded. 'I do not love this man who is my husband — ' ' Not love him ? Kathleen, you love me ?' * Yes, Barry. Oh, God help me ! Ido love you !' she answered, with a wailing cry.,, Lord Tresham's.dark face lighted up with a glow like sunshine. A great joy glowed in his stormy eyes, , "He moved , toward her swiftly and impetuously, and seized in his strong, fevered clasp her cold and trembling hands. , '

10, Kathleen ! You love me !' he cried,in a tremulous -voice. 'Then there is hope for us yet I have been closeted wibh the Belfast lawyers these four or fine days. I told .them the. 'whole sfcory — that the marriage was the result of a base, vile fraud, the man succeeding in his schemes only by 'personating' me. Tb seems that a Scotch marriagols a' queer bhing. When "you said you book this man to be your wedded husband, you took the man under any and every alias, and were married to a man despite the alias — so some of the lawyers contend. Bui others say they think the marriage can be broken, especially if you have refused to" acknowledge the man as your husband from the very first.' 'It is too late,' interposed Lady Kathleen. ' Three days ago Bassantyne pro claimed the marriage all over Point Kildare. The chaplain and the chaplain's wife have called to wish me joy,' and her sweet voice became broken, while her eyes flashed in a sorb of sbern horror. ' And that is nob all. The tenantry kindled bonfires the night before last, and set the chapel bell to ringing ; and bhey came up to the casble, and — and Bassanbyne went out on the balcony while they cheered us ; and Bassantyne made a speech. Oh !it was terrible ! You see it is too lale.' The glorious sunshine faded from Lord Tresham's face and eyos. ' Kathleen !* he cried, with fierce and sudden jealousy, ' you have deceived me, after all ! You have received this man -as your husband ! Youflove him, or you would nob have thus acknowledged him.' ' I acknowledge him because I am compelled to ; but ho is nothing; to me. I hate and loathe him ; and yet I am compelled to be his wife in name, to speak of him as my husband, to bo known by his name.' Lord Tresham dropped her hand. ' I cannot understand, Kathleen,' he said, hollowly. ' Yoa hate the man, yet you take on his name, you appear wibh him betore the rejoicing tenantry, and you allow notices to appear in the papers extolling your romantic marriage. My God ! it is all an enigma to me ! 'It is best ib should be, Barry. I cannot explain the mysbery to you. I can only say that ib is all a part of the mystery of my past, of which I gave you a hint. Had I known that Ba&santyne lived, I should never have consented to marry you. I thought him dead. I read a notice of his death in an Australian paper a year ago.' ' Then he ?«as- an old suitor of yours ?' 'Yes.' ~ ' What is the mystery between you aiid him?' cried Loid Tresham, passionately. ' Tell me, Kathleen, Let us share the secret together. Perhaps I can help you ' 'It is impossible !' returned the Lady Kathleen, despairingly. ' Had he been dead I could never havo told you, Barry. And now thab he lives 1 dare not !' Lord Tresham took a hurried burn round about the room, struggling wibh a fierce agitation. Presently he came back and said : ' Kathleen, I trust you sbill. I know thab those blue eyes of yours mirror a pure and noble soul ! But how dark the whole case looks ! You cling to a man you hate, and deliberately wreck your o\\ n life and mme — ' ' Yet ib is better as it is,' said Lady Kathleen, lifting her pale face, with a desperate smile on her quivering lips, to his. ' Suppose we had been married — and he had come back ! Oh, Barry, you know not what you have escaped ! Your proud old name remains unsullied, and your heart is. spared a deeper anguish than it now knows. And I — Heaven only knows the terx'ors, the awful fears, the constant apprehent-ions, I would have been called to endure ! Better that fche blow should fall sharply as ib fell.' Lord Tresham uttered a groan. 'It seoms to me,' he said, 'that I could have borne any sorrow if you had only been my wife. Kathleen, is it all over? Will you not apply for a divorce?' She shook her head sorrowfully. ' I cannot !' she answered. ' And if I did, a divorce would do me no good. I could not maruy you. No, Barty, you must leave me to my fate. I shall be to this man a wife in name — but only in name ! He has no claims upon my love or tenderness. He will go with me to my home in Wicklow, and we shall bury ourselves from the world. And you must foreret me !' ' Never !' cried Tresham, passionately. 'You are the one gieat objsct of my life. I know that you love me. I know chat you are in the power of a villain. If ever you needsd a friend in your life, Kathleen, you need one now. I mean to be that friend. I will not intrude upon you ; I will not force my attentions upon you. I will remember that as you cannot listen to my protestations of love without pain, I must not utter them. Bub I shall devote my life to watching over you unseen. Should you ever need help or comfort, or a friend, I shall be near. ' The tears flooded the Lady Kathleen's eyes. The chivalric tenderness of her lost lover went to her soul. His terrible despair almost broke her heart. The stony calmness of the few last days was broken up and a passionate grief filled her being. 'Barry,' she said, brokenly, 'truest and tenderest of lovers, I musb not permit this sacrifice of your life for me. It is better bhab you leave me utterly. [ have brought all my sorrows on myself. Leave me bo bear them alone. Do not cause me the added anguish of knowing that I have wrecked your life also,' Lord Tresham, coming near, took her hands again in his. ' I am not utterly hopeless, Kathleen,' he said, more calmly than he had yet spoken. ' I shall seek to deliver you out of this snare into which you have fallen. As you refuse to tell me the mystery which links you and this villain Bassantyne together, I mupb, as I once said before," seek ics solution myself. And I shall be faithful to you unto death, Kathleen.' He was standing beside her, still clasping her cold hands, still looking with eyes of passionate sorrow into her despairing face, when the drawing-room door opened and Nicol Bassantyne came swaggering in. He had come over from Ballycastle a little earlier than usual, and had entered the castle' With bhe air of an honoured inmate. In truth, he had come to demand of Lady Kildare thab he should be domiciled at Kildai-e until his departure wibh her ladyship for Ballyconnei\ As usual, Bassanbyne was elegantly dressed, bub bhe sbyle of his abbire bordered on loudness, his velveb waisbcoab having a brilliantly coloured flowered pattern, and his handsome black scarf being richly embroidered in gold thread. A diamond pin glittered in his shirt front, and a diamond ring sbarkled on one of his litblo fingers. His long beard had been crimped and braided like a girl's hair, and now fell in two long wavy points upon his breast. His hands were delicately gloved, and he carried a carved ivory walking-stick. He halted just within the door, opening his eyes widely as he regarded the pair he had so -foully wronged. ' Ah !' he, said, smoqbhly^ although his eyes glittered with a dangerous light. *This is a oleasanb spectacle for a fond husband's ey£s t , Had I less confidence in my Jady wife, or wora I inclined to jealousy,, I* might fancy bhab Kathleen was coquetting wibh her discarded lover.' Lord Tresham's face flushed. He let fall Kathleen's hands, and confronted Bassan-

tyne with imperious sternness. ' j will repeat bo you the substance ox what I was saying bo, the Lady Kathleen,' he said, with something 1 of threatening in voice and manner, and witha look in his dar.k eyes before which Bassantyne quailed. ' 1 know that adark future lies before her whoso fortunes have been so fraudulently linked to yours, and I have vowed to myself to protect her should she need protection, and to aid her should she need aid. I warn you, Nicol Bassantyne, that my eye will be upon you. Should you attempt to wrong or harm this unhappy lady, the hand of vengeance will be swifb to fall upon you. 3 He longed to say more. The fact that he was speaking to the husband of the Lady Kathleen — to the jnan whostoodin theplacehe haddesired — almost maddened him. He felt an impulse to fall upon him then and there, and destroy him. But Kathleen's piteous eyes were lifted to his own ; Kathleen's pale and quivering lips wore an expression of wild entreaty, and he could not resist her silent prayer. Choking back all expression of his despairing anguish, he turned and caught his lost love to his breast, rained kisses on her brow and lips, and then dashed out of the X'oom. A few minutes later Kathleen heard him speeding away on his horse at a wild gallop. Then, suddenly bereft of strength, she flung her&elf down upon a sofa, giving way to a wild burst of despair. Bassantyne, still standing near the door, watohed her with a cynical smile. After a little he advanced towards her, and sat down in an arm-chair near her. ' How you love that fellow, Kathleen !' he observed. ' What strange creatures women are ! I remember when you loved me like this — ' 'I neve'- loved you as I love Barry Tresham !' cried the Lady Kathleen, passionately, ' Never !' ' A pleasant confession for a husband to listen bo,' said Bassantyne, with a disagreeable gleam in his sinister eyes. 'Deuced pleasant, I may say. And yet I remember v ell when the colour came in your cheeks at my words, when your smiles came and wept like strayj sunbeams, and when my vows of love brought the light to your blue eyes. And I remember, Kathleen, when that stately head of yours used to rest on my shoulder." The Lady Kathleen interrupted him with a gesture of haughty scorn and loathing. ' Don't remind me of a folly that makes me utterly hate you !' she cried. ' I despise myself when I remember that I once loved you. Love ! It was not love, that fleeting, girlish fancy. Love ! It is a profanation of that sacred word to apply it to that short-lived folly of mine. ~ I never loved you !' ' Did you not ? I was miserably deceived then,' said Bassantyne, placidly. ' Indeed, I have been flattering" myself that you gave but the dregs of your heart to Tresham, I having its first strength and freshness. I was about to convey that impression of mine to my lord, but he saved me the trouble by his impetuous and highly tragic departure.' * What is a childish fancy compared to a woman's passionate tenderness and lo\e?" a&ked the Lady Kathleen with keen and bitter emphasis. ' You have compelled mo to acknowledge you to the world as my husband, but my heart has but one master, and he is Lord Tresham. I love him as I never deemed myself capable of loving. And I am tied to you !' ' You are, indeed. And that being the case, I propose to install myself here at the castle. Air Carrol, the Kildare chaplain, expressed to me yesterday his surprise that I should retain my bachelor lodging? at Ballycas'le. I explained my proceedings oti the ground of this confounded trouble of the Lady Nora, which would excuse anything, I think. But thi3 morning it seems to me desirable that I should install myself here.' ' However desirable it may seem, it is impossible.' . 'I do not know that word impossible,' said Bassantyne, coolly. ' A wite should know her husband's will as her law. The truth is, Kathleen, I fancied I saw a detective lounging about over at Ballycastle this morning. At any rate, it was a man with very curious and inquiring eyes. It is true, my disguise is good, but I don't want to risk anything. You will have to give me shelter. 1 ' If the detectives should find you, they would capture you and send you back to Australia.' Bassantyne smiled grimly. ' They might,' he said. ' But the day I am captured, my Lady Kathleen Bassantyne, will be the sorriest day of your life. I shall declare bo the world our romantic story. I will render England, Ireland and Scotland impossible residences for you. Just think how it would sound to have people gossiping over what \ ou and I know. Think how people — your fashionable five hundred friends, Kathleen — would gloat over the epithets that would attach to my name — counterfeiter, gambler, convict and worse V ' Worse !' cried the Lady Kathleen, Avith dilating eyes. Bassantyne bent nearer to her, smiling like a demon. 1 1 forgot to say,' he whispered, fixing his eyes on hers, ' that when ] robbed my ' master ' out there in Australia, he had the audacity to resist me. And as a desperate man will overleap any obstacle between him and freedom, you will understand that a conflict followed. You can gues& the rest.' The Lady Kathleen shrank from the man in horror. 'You murdered him !' she whispered, pantingly. Bassantyne glared at her like a tiger. ' Never speak that word again !' he hissed, looking around him fearfully. 'Do you hear ? And now, Lady Kathleen Bassantyne, you understand why I wane a refuge. If you don't want your husband to die on the gallows you must protect him.' Kathleen recoiled fuither and yet further from her enemy, as from a leper. Her wide azure eyes diiated yet more widely in her horror and terror. She looked at him with a fascinated gaze, as one who is charmed by some horrible serpent. *I brought my valet with me, and my luggage,' said Bassantyne, with another fearful glance around him. 'They are down in the boat in which I came. Of course, if It was a detective I saw over at Ballycastle, he could not penetrate my disguise. And no one would dare suspect the husband of Kathleen Connor of being an escaped convict. I shall be safe here. You had better go to Lady Nora and, tell her that you want your bridegroom with you. Go now ! I will await your return here !' With that look of stern horror frozen on her lovely face, the Lady Kathleen arose and tottered to the door. She groped a moment blindly for the door-knob, then opened the door and passed out. Bassantyne went to the bay window at the end of the drawing-room and overlooking the lawn, pushed out one of the sashes and looked out. His keen, bold eyes scanned the beach, , .speedily discerning 1 on the shore the sailboat in which he had come. , A man was standing in this boat, leaning carelessly against the mast, and watching the castle with a fixed and intent gaze.

The lace curtains screened Bassantynl from the^man's glances. The"Lady Kathleen's husband watched him silently for a, little while; until her ladyship returned. ' ' ' Well ?' he said, as she came slowly and feebly into the room. ' You can stay,' said the Lady Kathleen, coldly. ' The Lady Nora consents to give you a shelter for my sake.' ' You have not told her ?' 1 Would I proclaim my own disgrace ?' cried Kathleen, haughtily. 'Nora knows there is a mystery, but she doesn't know what it is, thank Heaven ! I may be doing wrong to admit you to her pure presence, but I warn you to keep your distance from her. I would betray you to the doom you v merit if — ' ' Jealous, eh ? I shall be careful, my sweot Kathleen. And so I can stay V ' Yes, you and your man. Chambers will be made ready for you in the unused part of the castle.' Bassantyne bowed in a mockery of gratitude, and parted the window curtains, leaning out. Then he waved his handkerchief fiercely. The man in the boat returned the signal in kind. ' That is my friend and valet— Murple,' he said. 'He understands from my signal that we are to stay- Let his room be near mine. We have been chums in adversity and I would like him to share my prosperity. He is a good fellow, is Murple, and though not exactly a gentleman, yet he knows a great deal. He was educated for a doctor.' ' Had you not better go to him ?' suggesbed Lady Kathleen. ' Our interview ends here. And you will be kind enough to remember that our interviews hereafter will be in the presence of others.' She did not wait for an answer, but swept from the room. Bassantyne stared after her, uttering a low whistle. Then, with a darkening face, he leaped out of the window, and strode swiftly across the lawn toward the beach and his waiting ally.