For Her Sister's Sake; OR THE LAVENDEN SECRET.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXIX, Issue 8341, 25 January 1907, Page 2

For Her Sister's Sake; OR THE LAVENDEN SECRET.

By R. Morman Silver, tier of "A Double Maslc," "A Daughter of M yst tr i "Held Apart," "The Golden Diaarf," etc.

CHAPTER XVl.—Continued. Edward Agnew put away the envelope with its feathery black-and-gray contents, and took out a photograph. "Look at that," he exclaimed, "and, tell me, must not a spair* at winning, and yet losing—her?" ; Charles Ingram looked. It was an excellent photograph of Winifred Lavenden done By a master of artistic photography. Her raven hair, loosely coiled, melted into the shadows of the background. Through the filmy muslin of her gown, her throat and shoulders betrayed their girlishness, and there was ajittle girlish sparkle •n< the pictured eyes. But the cutlines of the .face, the proud lips, the full yet delicate chin, the clearly cut nostrils, and the broad, smooth brow, were eloquent of the woman. Charles Ingram sighed. "You were right to show,me, this, Ned," he said. "Without it I might have feared you had fallen a prey to some fanciful passion for a very ordinary daughter of Eve. Now, I deeply commiserate with you. It is the face of a woman in a thousand, lofty yet tender, sweet, yet strong." - Agnew's hand closed suddenly upon his friend's. "Thank you old fellow," he murmured; "I'm—l'm glad I told you." The curate was studying the photograph. "It —it is singularly like some one whose acquaintance I have only recently made, and some one who, I imagine, must be in disposition not unlike the original of this, though this is a stronger, more resolute face." He regarded it musingly. "And this person, too," he said, "has had experience of both poverty and wealth, and is not, as I have had striking? proof, spoiled by either. If you should ever see her, you will note the resemblance. It is most con- ■ spicuous. She is a Lady Lavenden." . Edward Agnew's wandering atten- ' tion was re-arrested. I "Lady Lavenden," he repeated;] "Ingram, how strange! Then you; have never seen any other of the j Lavenden's?" ] "No," was the answer; "I understand Lavenden called yesterday at .'my rooms, accompanied by a—a sister, I believe. But I was out, unfortunately." The lawyer pointed to the photograph in the other's hand. ' "That," he said, "is Winifred Lavenden; she is the sister of the Viscountess Lavenden. Both till recently were out of the line of the succession. Their father, a younger son's youngest son, had fallen upon evil days, and his daughters maintained themselves by their needles." Charles Ingram gazed at the sweet, proud face before him. "They are the same," he replied. "Lady Lavenden, in the simplest and most tactful manner, has expressed her desire to be of some assistance in work such as mine in the neighbourhood of whose poverty she has so intimate a knowledge. She is an interesting figure, Lady Lavenden, so gentle, so generous, so sad, I thought" ,!: He laid a palm on his friend's shoulder. "Ned," he said, "does Lady Lavenden know of your proposal to her sister?" "N-no," responded Agnew, surprised; "unless, as is quite possible, . Miss Lavenden has confided in her. ' Why do you ask?" • * The curate considered a moment. "I can scarcely say," he confessed, "but I feel that she is a really good ■ woman. Surely - you might approach. her —in confidence, if need be —and seek to learn if, 'in her opinion, there is anything which should act as a barrier to the union of yourself and Miss Lavenden. Her answer would either justify you in | hoping ultimately to wear down Miss Lavenden's view to the contrary, or—or " ; "Or," interrupted Agnew, .almost curtly. "Or," concluded Charles Ingram * gravely, "it would warn you to • abandon an intimacy which can only cause fruitless" anguish to you, and much pain to Miss Lavenden." The young lawyer started. The curate got up and took his soft hat from a chair. "I am an old and a sincere friend, Agnew," he added, "or I should not have said that." He held out his hand. "Forgive me," he • said, "whether you take my advice, or not. Good-by." Agnew shook hands. "I —I will ask Lady Lavenden," he answered; "but I will not promise anything else." He pointed to the picture once more. "Remember," he said, "she has told me that she loves me." Charles Ingram sighed deeply, and the lawyer showed him out, through the antique-panelled rooms that formed his chambers. Then he got his own hat, and went down into the - busy Strand. There he hailed a cab. Street," he said.; "Lavenden House." ; ' CHAPTER XVII. / MM A SCRAP OF PAPER. "The shot that broke the mirror ] was fired from this side of the room. Had the bullet struck the glass at any otfter angle, it would have cracked it, and glanced off, instead of starring it and falling spent on the mantel." - " Inspector Quilliam was the speaker and he delivered this expression of " opinion to his subordinate, Mr Quail, from a point near the window of the little dining-room, in the flat at Grammont Mansion, which had been occupied by Mr James Garside. Nothing had been changed as yet

"For Her Sister's Sake " was commenced on December 20th.]

in the bachelor suite, save that there was a sprinkling of dust on the furniture, and a grim stain or two on the carpet, where death had come to its late tenant. But the rigid form of the dead," colonial" had vanished, and only the darkening stains, and the presence of the detectives marked the unsolved mystery that still hung about the place. "No doubt that is so, sir," said his subordinate deferentially. Mr Quail himself was drifting to and fro about the apartment, his magnifying-glass poised in his plump red hand, peering ..through its circular lens at this and'j that —wood-work, walls, furniture. .' : * "Now," continued the inspector impressively, "as there is the graze of a bullet on the dead man's temple, and no other bullets have been found than the spent one on the mantel, and the one that killed him, I presume that the bullet which hit the''mirror' was the first one fired. Apparently, it narrowly escaped penetrating his.: l 'skull, as the second one actually did."^ "So indeed,. it seems, sir,"."agreed Mr Quail, still flitting to and fro like an inquisitive raven. JjJ "Therefore,"' went on Inspector Quilliam, "the deceased was standing between the murderer and the door, since the mirror is on the same side as the door. He may have' been seeking 3 to prevent the exit of the murderer." h "He may, sir," agreed Mr Quail, and added, fwith an air of respectful inquiry; "Which suggests, sir ■" The inspector" looked thoughtful. "H'm'!' he said; "now, what would it suggest?" - Mr Quail rubbed his nose with the rim of his magnifying-glass. "Rather hard to say, sir," he responded. "If there-had been any attempt on the part of the man Garside to .prevent the —the other person from passing out, there should have been a struggle, especially as the first shot missed. But we found no signs of a struggle.'' "True," agreed his chief, and fell to watching the agile motions of Mr Quail, as the latter hovered about the room with his poised glass. "Same old game, Quail?" he observed, at length. "Yes, sir" said the detective; "finger-prints are worth finding, though there is a chance that they might be only those of the servants — friends he doesn't appear to have had; at all events, visiting ones. I got the police surgeon to take a print of Mr Garside's finger-tips. If I could only drop across a print anywhere here that wasn't his, or one of the servants' I might identify it among one of those nursing-sisters." "Wait till we find this Sister Eva,'" said the inspector; "she's the person we want." "Wait, sir?" commented his subordinate. "That's just a what we won't have to do. No; I must go down into Devonshire at once —with your approval, that is, sir. Those local police inquiries are no use to us." ' "Well, vr no," ' asi»ented~the superior; "but it's something to have learned I that . disappeared from her lodgings the day before the murder, and hasn't been seen since in the neighbourhood. The only person who came near these rooms on the night of the job must have been done —excepting, ns of course, Garside himself —wore that nurse's uniform, and had a pale-blue shawl - round her neck. Sister Eva belongs j to the sisterhood and is known to have worn a blue shawl. If we could beat up some hint of a previous relationship between her and Garside, we should begin to make headway." Mr Quail did not answer. He was scanning the highly polished boards that skirted the carpet, and had stopped at a particularly glossy patch. "Not a finger-print," he 'said,''indicating something upon it. "but the next best thing—a footprint. And a very small footprint at that, such as a lady's jnuddy boot might easily make if it were pressed hard upon a smooth surface like that. Perhaps it's nothing of any importance, but j we'll be on the right side. He produced a lump of chalk, drew a line round his find, and went on with his vigilant inspection of floor, walls, and furniture. "Just as well to give a last look round, sir," he remarked, "before they clear out the place, and begin to look around for a new tenant. Not that they'll let these rooms in a hurry after this little incident." He stopped, straightening out a wisp of paper that Jie had picked up from a dark corner. An exclamation broke from him. The wisp of paper was torn and crumpled. It was nearly square, an,d had three straight edge a , and one jagged. Mr Quail whistled softly, and the ir.spector came to his side. "What is it?" he asked, glancing over the other's shoulder. (To be Continued).