Selina's Love Story.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXIX, Issue 8217, 22 August 1906, Page 2

Selina's Love Story.

CHAPTER X.—Continued

She wo'nied Michael with all sorts of comments and questions. Now tnat the excitement bad died down she had resorted to her favourite trick of fluding fault with Selina, and she managed, by some mysterious reasons, to put the burden of her own mistake on Seiina's shoulders. 'Of cuurse', she argued, 'if Selina had only told me that my cousin Maria would not be welcome I should never have dreamed of taking her to the Gate House. lam not a fool.' Michael always tried to evade this discussion if he could, and when his mother pressed the matter too closely, all he would say would be: 'We serve no good purpose by talking about this, mother; it is a matter that is dead and gone;.' 'That's all very well for you,' Mrs Silebester would answer, fretfully; •'Hit ape what a difference it has made for me. Maria will never put foot in tbis house again, and I don't know how she did it; but I am convinced it was all Selina'a doing that Mr Delaval went away Hike he did. I call it really horrid of him to have stayed in the town. 1 thought he was such a friend of yours. He doesn't seem to care very much abuut you nowadays, does he?' Michael winced against himself. Sometimes his mother hit on a truth, and there was ip all that circled about Delaval now a real touoh of pain, of personal hurt, for few men have been given such heart-whole admiration and friendship as Delaval hod received from Miohael. and yet Silohester seemed to be of absolutely no importance in the other man's eyes. It was after one of these little fretful outbrcats from his mother —from which he had vainly tried to escape—that an impetus was given to Miohael to come to some sort of explanation from Delaval. He had brought home a quantity of correspondence, and was sitting writing when the butler came to him, and handed him a letter. It was in a common-shaped and rather soiled envelope. 'Brought sir,' said the servant. Miohael Silohester tore open the envelope quickly. 'You, then, are a coward,' he read; 'you care nothing for what happened to your brother. You are too weak to stand up against this man and his arrogance! Shame on you! Shame!' Silohester sprang to his feet, his face aflame with colour. 'Stevens,' he said, 'this was brought by hand you say?' The butler looked round, startled. 'Yes, Rir.' 'Who brought it?' •Some lad from the village,' answered the butler. 'Where is the boy?' was Mr Silohester's next inquiry. 'He is gone, sir.' Michael Silohester hurriedly out of the hall, slipped on a coat and put on a cap. 'Say nothing to mj mother, he ordered; 'I shall be baok directly.' He went down the broad avenue at a run, but the boy had evidently gone very quickly, for it was Dot until he was quite at the gates that he came upon the lad. His voice was husky, and the little messenger looked at him with something like alarm when he •You brought a letter just now?' 'Yes, sir,' said the boy. 'Who gave it to you,' inquired , Mr Silohester eagerly. 1 'lt was a lady , sir,' said the boy, and Miohael Silohester repeated the word with something like amazement. •Well, sir, perhaps she wasn't a lady,' the boy explained, 'but she , was very nice spoken, she was, and she gave me a shilling, and she asked me to be sure and take the note up to the house some time this evening. She didn't speak very clear like, and she wasn't very well dressed,' added the toy. Miohael dismissed him with another shilling, and then turned and went slowly back to tne house. All at once the need for action pressed itself upon him. 'I will go to Londoa to-morrow,' he said. 'I will put both these letters before Jack. 1 will not judge him behind his back. He shall knov what is passing, it is only right and due to him.' The determination raade Michael feel calmer, yet he could not sleep that night. It was not only;.his brother's memory that prompted hm; it was the face of the girl! he loved that was visioned before him in those long, weary hours, and it seemed to' him little by little that these two young creatures, the dead and the living, called ;o him just as two children might call for help, and that the person from whom ho must rescue them was St. John DelavaJU

CHAPTER XI,

NELIA POSTER'S CHANCE.

Michael Silobeater was unable to go to Loudon the following day. He met with an accident. His mother combined with ber other peculiarities intense nervousness; she was haanted by the ■?constant idea that burglars were wniting to oreep into the hoase on every possible occasion. When she changed a servant she saw in that new pei'Boa a possible thief or a murderer. She was afraid of dogs, and afraid to be without them, and Michael was well aacustomerl by this , v tim° to have his mother rushing into hie room in the dead of night to implore bis help and protection.

By Effie Adelaide Rowlands. Author of "An Inherited Feud," "Brave Barbara/' ["A Splendid Heart," "Temptation of Mary Barr," "The Interloper," etc., etc.

It was one of tbese attaoks of nervousness that sent her to Michael's room just as he had fallen at last into a heavy sleep in the early hours of the morning. She roused him without mercy. 'Michael, there's some one trying to break into my room,' she said. 'They are working at the window, I am Bimply terrified!' Michael roused himself with an effort, and flung on some olothes. He had gone to sleep remembering that strange visitor, and he did not dismiss his mother's alarm so lightly as tie was wont to do on another occasion. But he adopted, as usual, a cheery manner. 'Come along with me,' he said; I'll soon see what's the matter.' But Mrs Silohester definitely refused to go baoK into her room. 'I can't,' whe said, with a gasp; 'I am sure there's a man there, and I should die if I saw him.* She let Michael go unwillingly. •If you stand still,' she said, 'you will hear the noise -1 mean quite distinctly. It is the doibo of someone trying to foroe the window.' Michael went into his mother's room and stood a while; then he heard the noise which she had described. He laughed as he listened. 'lt's only a bird,' he called out to her. He pulled forward a chair, and climbing on it he unbarred the old-fashioned shutters, which Mrs Silohester insisted on having closed every night. Sure enough there was a bird imprisoned within—a soor little frightened, trembling creature, that fluttered its wings and flew rapidly about the room. Michael attempted to oatch the bird, and in bo doing he overbalanced himself and fell heavily. He pretended to his mother that he was not hurt, but after he had limped back into his own room, he felt sick with ttoepainjiu his shoulder j and his arm; and it was with the utmost diffioalty that he could endure till the next morning, when a groom had to be sent for the old doctor who had prescribed for Mrs Silcbester's nerves for the last thirty years. This old friend pronounced Michael's injury to be a fracture of the elbow and a badly sprained shoulder, and he commanded the young man to stay in bed till he gave orders that be might get up. At all tiires Michael was restless in illness; at no time, had imprisonment to hii room seemed more unendurable, indeed, terrible, than now. Lying with an aching head and an aching heart he turned over all sorts of possibilities in bis mind as to how he could Delaval and speak what he had to say. 'You must let me get up,' he, said to the old doctor when be came later, '1 want to co to London, I must go—l ought to have gone today.' 'London, said the doctor, 'you'll not see London inside of a week. You just rest quietly wbere you are, my fine, young fellow. You've managed to give yourself as nice a fall as any man could care to have, and if you are not oareful you will be a long time getting back to your usual state. London, indeed! If you have businss that must be discussed, this business must be transacted here.' Miohael submitted after that. Indeed, as the hours went by hj& discovered, as is often the case with a violent fall, that the injury to his limbs seemed little by comparison with the shook to his system generally. Mrs Silohester worried him almost in to a fever with her remedies and her reprbacbes, varying this sometimes by suggesting that Michael bad been amazingly stupid. 'Fanoy, falling off a obair in that helpless fashion! i can'tthink bow you managed to do it! 1 have often climbed on those chairs, they are/so steady. But you were always rather olumsy, even ea little child—exactly like your father. Now, Edward, dear fellow, took after me.' Miohael said nothing. His mother scolded him because he would not drink tne beef tea she brought him. She talked to him unceasingly. When the old doctor—his name was Foster—came next, he found Michael with a high temperature and a bright look in bis eyes. 'lf they would only leave be alone!' he said, fretfully. (To be Continued.)