For Honour's Sake.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXVIII, Issue 8105, 27 March 1906, Page 2

For Honour's Sake.

By Bertha M. Clay. Author of " Wife in Name Only," i( Wedded and Parted," " Dora Thome," " A. Queen Among Women," " .1 True Magdalene," etc., etc.,

CHAPTER LV.—Continued. What a flash iu the man's dark eyes! He beiit down to her. "You are sure, Maida?" Sure! How could Ibo mistaken? His was a most peculiar remember my saying so to yo ; once. That man is Richard Arnold." "1 know it Maida," Stewart said, iu a lew, deep tone. " L'h:mu Heaven that you, too, recognised him. You understand, now, of whufc priceless value to in'.* is you evidence?" "Stewart!" she looked up to him, then at Claude, and bins' into tears. Was not Pauline Arnold reaping, verily, as she had sown? No one thought of her shame and humiliation; no one dreamed of re-mar-riage between her and Captain Stewart —only rejoiced that the man whose life she had well nigh wrecked, was free to cast her oU'. Langaale and Dr. Gibson, the latter bringing several letters to him from Arnold, arrived almost together; but Langd U . at Stewart's request, went up alone to the room, where the dead man lay His recognition waj an invtant as Maida's had been; but that there might bo no possibility ot throwing doubt cn the identity, Stewart sent for s photograDhcr ond hiii a photograph of the dead man taken. Meanwhile ho explained fully all that had happened, adding, quietly: There is but one course for tne to take. Neither man's nor Heaven's justice can call upon me to marry the woman whose marriage with me was null and void. I shall claim, legally, the freodom that is mine." "it would be a sin," Langdale said, to act otherwise, And forgive me if I say that Pauline will feel far more the loss of wealth and position than the disgrace." Claude went back to Lexham Gardens with Maida and Gus Langdale, and Stewart remained, first, to attend to tho taking of the photograph, *>nd, next, toeoe Julia Davenant, and explain to ber so much as was necessary for bor to know. The dead man, be said, hed made a confession to him,whioh in no way concerned her. He Stewart woald see to the funeral. "Your wisest course," he added, significantly, "will be to get out of the country. Your career here is over. For the rest, I may tell you that should I find among the papers Fancourt gave to me any incriminating you I shall make no use of them. I should not stoop to mere revenge on a woman." , After this, he searohed Fancourt's xooms, but found nothing of any importance, save ' the cabinet con-1 taining the papers, and this, being easily portable, he took with bim in a cab to Pall Mall. Only a few hours since be left bis chambers and what o mighty revolution had those few hours wrought in bis life! At five o'clock that evening the papers bad it that Chris Davenant and Basil Tollemache were arrested on a charge of criminal conspiracy, and through the clubs the news with accompanying comments and conjectures, went like wildflro. * * * * It waa a terrible ordeal that now lay before Esrlc Stewart. Pauline was soulless and wicked. She had striven to do him the deadliest wrong man or woman oould do bim. She bad wronged him at the very beginning; not one solitary memory oould he xeoall to soften into even a passing tenderness his thoughts of her. But she had believed herself his wife, and he mast tell her that she bad never been his wife; that be intended not to make her so now, but to claim his freedom. He bad threatened to burl her down from ber high place and make her bite the dust. He was fulfilling ftis threat with a thoroughnes of whioh he bad not dreamed. To her this fall would, in one sense, mean more than to a woman of finer nature; in another sense far less, though how much less Stewart did not fully understand. It is beyond the province of a noble nature to perfectly oomprebend the baseness of a ignoble one, the shallowness of a superficial nature. To t>uch women as Olaude and Maida the loss of wealth and position would be utterly swallowed?up in the greater loss. They could only feel that they were however innocent in themselves, shamed and dishonoured, most bitterly humiliated. For Pauline this paramount feeling would resolve itself into mortification; the loss to ber womanhood would be only felt through the blow struck at her worldly position, ber unlimited command of money. Stewart had known this from the beginning; yet in this crisis he could not believe, could not realise, how little he would wound ber as a woman. Maida would have said he tortured himself unnecessarily; but she might fail to quite comprehend how hard it is for a man—for this man more than many —to crush a woman. Still, Stewart could not shriuk from the task, could not even put it olf; that moral cowardice common to men, aa not his; perhaps, too, the soldier habit of knowing at once what has to ue done came to his assistance. Ho delayed only to searoh through Arnold's papers, and he found, among other important things, two photographs—one of Arnold himself, and another of Arnold and Pauline, taken together, evidently in the earlier days of their marriage. There was, also, a copy of the taarriagecertificate; but tbis was of less value than many other papers, for the marriage was not, and could not, be disputed. It was dearly five o'clock, before he had got through this business, and then he looked the papers aV/ay, and sent for Mao-lan, to whom he had, of course, already told the occurrences of the night.

If lie wont to Carlton House Terrace now how be would very likely find half a dozen callers; and in the evening Pauline might be going out. He must not call on chance, then, but know i'or certain whether lie oould Beo her or not. Ho sunt a brief uote by Mao lan, saying that he must see her that evening, if she would fix ber own time. "What I have to spenk to you about." he added, "admits of no postponement Please make it convenient to see me." He know that Pauline, delighting in fcho empire of small things would make a point of refusing the interview, unless be showed her clearly that ho had no intention of accepting a refusal. She was alone when the message waa brought : p to ber. The tea still stood on the table by her side, an 1 she was uueasily thinking over the news whioh she had just read of the arrest of Davenant and Tolletnache. What did this move mean? "Lan Mao-lan is waiting for an answer, ma'am," the footman, giving ber the note. "Very well. You can go. 1 will ring." (To be Continued).