SERIAL STORY

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 392, 18 May 1910, Page 6

SERIAL STORY

A ROYAL WARD.

By PERCY BREBNER. (Published by arrangement with Cassell and" Company, Ltd., publishers, of London and Melbourne,, the proprietors of the Copyright). CHAPTER XXTX. THE HOME OF HER FATHERS. When Deborah Cowper received Mary Rowarth's message next morning, and learnt that Betty, had been sent for by the Duchess of petersham, and was going straight from Almacks' to Richmond, she was surprised but not deeply concerned. She had quite given up all iuens of chaperoning Lady Betty in any •way whatever, having recently discovered that she was too young ior the position ; and if Beth' chose .to make ia confidant of Man- Rowarth in preference to herself she must do so. She did not like Miarv. nor had she a very high opinion of the Duchess, chiefly because Betty s views were exactly opposite. Deborah, in fact, had grown jealous, and was inconsistent. She 'had, besides, a love affair, and her mature affections, lying dormant so long, were racked with considerable 'pain and doubt. Her lover was hardly what she expected a lover to be. She was not quite certain that in their interviews, which certainly had the poignancy of being almost stolen ones, most of'the love-nuaik-ing had not been done by her, and that he received rather than olive. Of course, there were times when she would not let this idea trouble her, but it returned with annoying persistency, giving 'her .headaches.and making her exceedingly irritable. She had ■crone to bed with .a headache last night, Snd was inclined to be irritable this morn in*. Was Betty returning to-day or in a montn's time?,- What was the reason of this sudden ..journey to Richmond? She ended .by accusing Betty of bad manners, and was not at all sure that the Duchess was a very good companion, whether she did not know more about the world than' a woman in her position ought to. t>Believing the Duchess to be at Richmond, Deborah was rather startled to «e 'her coach drive up to toe door. Victor's letter had oaiused consternation at Petersham House. The servants were interrogated, with the result that a footman was found to he missing. The Duke, after suggesting many urapracticable schemes of pursuit, suddenly conceived the idea of enquiring at the offices what private conveyances the incoming mail coaches had met with during .the nio-ht; and the Duchess drove to Ball

Mall. v In Victor Dubuiason's letter there was : startling news for Deborah Cowper. The j Duchess did not show her the letter, but she read 'her part of it, and the one fact which "burnt itself into Deborah's mind was that Mr. Walter Evertsen had run j away with Betty. I The Duchess departed with an idea, perhaps, that Miss Cowper was not a sympathetic womam She could not "know that Deborah's calmness was forced, that she had received a stunning | blow, and was heroically bearing torture. Her pride, her womanhood, her self-re-spect were trampled on by this deception; yet her first thought was not of self, but of Betty. Evertsen bad played with her most foully, hut he %ad done more than this—he had induced her to betray Lady. Betty's -secret. Love, which had come late but very really to her, had tempted nor to speak of things she ought not to have spoken of. They had been used to trap Betty, 'to bring against her a charge of treason.' What could she do to make reparation? This was Deborah's one idea. The crushing of her own romance took a secondary place in her thoughts. Although a woman may be inconsistent, and is seldom logical, she has a 'faculty for jumping to a right conclusion; "men may argue probabilities, the woman gives a definite opinion, and she is seldom far wrong. Deborah jumped to the conclusion that Lady Betty would somehow manage to reach Abbots Chase; therefore she determined to go there. The Duke and Duchess of Petersham finally made up their minds to travel thither, too, and went in their own coach, only to ;be stopped at Exeter. Del borah started at once by mail, and got through to Abbots Ohase. She -was there when the fugitives arrived, and ran out to meet them. She was gracious, even, to Mary Rowarth. "Thank Heaven you are safe, Betty," she said; '"'but you must listen to me before you tell me (anything." "It must wait, Deborah. For the present we are safe, but -" "It cannot wait, Betty. It must be told at once; it is all important. I have done you a terrible wrong, and you, too, sir," she said, turning to Dubuis-son, "if ■you are the gentleman who was in hiding here, as I think you are." "You knew that!" Betty exclaimed. "Knew it, and betrayed the secret." "Deborah!" "And been the cause of much of this mischief which has fallen upon you." She did not spare herself in telling the' story which made so many things clear to Dirbuisson. If anything, she contrived to make her conduct more despicable than it was. Even in confessing, there is self-satisfation if the confession is .great enough. For a little moment, Deborah held the central position in the drama, and for hero or villain there is some reward in this. "It is done, and it cannot be undone," •said Betty. "We shall have labor to iprove our innocence, Victor." "T.his lady, at least, should know the truth," he answtered. "I am no spy, madam, but a French gentleman who : landed in England secretly to fulfil an I oath to my father. It has brought me much undeserved trouble and ignominy, it has brought me terrible knowledge, biit it has brought me to Lady Betty—to my wife. Dearest," he went on, turning to .Betty, "our moments together

have been so surrounded with danger that for confidences there has been little opportunity. The Revolution has cut, down one old family after another in France, and Heaven knows what standing thoae of the old order may have now. My father was of that order, or perhaps he would not have been so ruthlessly driven from his country. He was the Marquis de Chatellon." > "Victor, you should have told me," said Betty. "Is this your secret '!' "Yes; but when could I have told you? It seemed of .small importance, and there was much else to say." s "Chatellon!" said Deborah. '•Chatellon, madam. A good name, 1 sissure you. There were Chatellons in the Crusades." "Tell me more of your oath." said Deborah. "There was a man in England who had helped my father, to whom my father had taken an oath. It was an unfair oath to me. I came to ask absolution from it." "You have found the man?" "Yes." "How?" asked Deborah. She had come close to him, and laid her hand upon his arm in the eagerness of ner question. Her manner was so curious that Baxter, who bad been standinig apart with Mary at 'the end of the room, came forward. "Indeed, madam, it was somewhat curiously," said Dubuisson. "There was a token—a " "A broken silver cross?" asked Deborah." "Yes; but " "How can you know this, Deborah?" Betty exclaimed. "I know that you cannot have found the man you came in search of," Deborah said, "for he is dead —died more than a year lago." ' "Then* Sir Rupert Ashton lied. Dubuisson," said Baxter. "I never believed in him." "If .Sir Rupert Ashton claimed to be the man, he certainly did," said Deborah. "It was your father, Betty. He showed me the broken cross himself." "How did it .come into Sir Rupert's hands, then?" a sited Dubuisson. "He has it. He and I. have fitted the 'two halves together." "That I do not know," Deborah answered; '.'.but I do know that the Earl lost it. It was in a small despatch-box he carried, and his coaoh was stopped by highwaymen one night, about ten miles this side of Exeter. He was snot at, but was not hit, and one of the scoundrels struck him on the head and. stunned him. The despatch-box was taken, and with it the broken silver cross. How it came into the 'bands of Sir Rupert Ashton 1 do not know." "If he lied in this, he may r have lied in all else," said Dubuisson; "about my mother, about you, Betty. What object had he?"

"Bad fortune has been yours ever since you landed in this country," said Baxter. "First, you meet then you ride to London with Sir Rupert, and they are relations. Sir Rupert sends you to the Brazen Serpent, which wasn't a very friendly thing to do, although it proved good for me; you are imprisoned in the cellar of the Brazen Serpent, a!iO a good thing for me, because you brought Mary out of it; and when the Prince Regent is shot at, you find yourself in the midst of these scoundrels who are ready to accuse you. Truly, bir Rupert does not appear to have much friendship for you." "It has not all been bad fortune," said Dubuisson. "Is the end worth it all?" asked Betty. "Worth it a thousand times," he answered. "Come with me, Victor; I want to show you my father's picture. Our fathers must have been good friends to have parted that cross Detween them. It is a smiling portrait at the end of the library. 1 think'l shall find a new meaning in the smije if you and I stand there together." "If you had told me everything, Betty, what trouble might have been avoided!" said Deborah, as they went towards the door. She could not resist the reprimand for what she considered Betty's neglect. Betty stopped. For an instant it was on her tongue to remind Deborah of the evil she had done, but her hand was in the hand of the man she loved, and she laughed. "I am too happy to be angry," she said as she went out. i "And the end is not yet," said Deborah, turning to Finley Baxter. "Lady Betty is a ward of the King; I do not see how Mr. Dubuisson—or the Marquis —is to get over that. Ho must get his consent." "Or do it without it, ma'am." "My good man, you don't seem to understand the seriousness of the position." "I reckon I'd marry the woman I lov-' ed, if she'd have me, and make my for-' mal request afterwards," said Baxter, "You do not appear to be a very loyal subject," said Deborah, going out of the room with an upward lift of the head. Having made her confession, she was inclined to be censorious. "I'm loyal in a little kingdom of my own," said Baxter, turning to Mary, "and the head of that kingdom is a woman." "Indeed, Mr. Baxter." "A fact, Widow Pinfold; and she happens to be a widow, too." "Is it very delicate to remind her of it?" ' j "It may he necessary, anyway," said Baxter, "because there's a man beside I her wanting her love more than he I wants anything else in the world. He doesn't know where Fate is going to cast him, but wherever it is, he wants that woman with him. Is she going to >promise to come?" "In time she might be persuaded," Mary answered. "Time's not to be depended on," he said, taking both her hands in his. "Somebody may come into the room at any minute, and opportunity is everything. Be my wife, Mary. I'm a better fellow than a good many people think I iam; I'm not certain that I am not a better fellow than I think myself. I dare say Mr. Dubuisson would give me a good character."

"I am quite capable of forming my own opinion," she said. '•And a little time ago it wasn't tob favorable, was it?" said Baxter. "I have been re-considering it, and—" "Yes, Mary, and now " '•Xow, if you really wish—if you truly " "I do," said Baxter; and, a little to her surprise. Mary found herself in his arms. With such* a bold and persistent wooer, what could a woman do but capitulate? It was late in the afternoon before they were all together again. There were many tilings in Abbots Uiase besides her'father's picture which Betty was desirous of showing her lover, and such happy hours as these pass swiftly. For a long time victor forgot to be anxious, or if some sudden thought of the future troubled him for a moment, the equally sudden recognition of some new grace or delicious Charm in the woman beside him forced it aside. It was difficult, even, to dream of danger. Yet a chance word presently reminded them both that Betty was a royal ward, and if this particular obstacle seemed to have dwindled in its proportions, if Betty laughed at the idea of letting it come between her and the man she loved, tne thought of it gradually impressed them with"the fact that all danger was not yet proved; Sir Rupert Ashton, perhaps his greatest enemy, was within a few miles of them, larml who could tell that he might accomplish, with the county in the hands of a lawless mob which evidently looked upon him as a leader? "We must form ourselves into a little council of war, dearest/' said Dubuisson, "and we'll hear what Finley Baxter has to sav." So the five of them, for Deborah could not be excluded, were in a room looking out on the gardens in the rear or the house, a room that was in the older part of the -building, and must often have had goodly company within its walls, even back in Elizabeth's day. (To be continued on Saturday).