THE LADY IN BLACK.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXX, Issue 8436, 7 May 1907, Page 2

THE LADY IN BLACK.

CHAPTER IX.—Continued. It was the physical fact that sh began co shiver violently in the kte morning air, which at laat roused he ' -from the dazed condition into vvnicl the chase and its end had thrown her She got into the house again, shut th window, fastened the shutter care fully, wondering by .what magica lneci.j it mid been opened from th outside, and stumbled along th< musty drawing-roorii, in the half light until she reached the door. Opening it quickly, she caugh sight of Annie, the housemaid rapidly turning the corner of the staircase above. With .suspicion h her mind, she called the girl; bu Annie disappeared into the uppe; regions of the house, paying no at tention to her. Uneasy, interested, puzzled, Mabir went slowly upstairs, started vio lently when the tall clock on the stairs struck four close to her ear and stood before the open door of th< room through which the intruder has passed on his way to and 7 roni hers. Who was this man, wit.i the grave set, handsome face, who got into the house by night, an<J stole his way t( the very bedchamber of Mrs Dare' In what relation did he stand to tht lovely widow? No honest man, whether relation, • friend, or lover, would pay mysteri ous visits like these. And yet then was something in his face so attraa tive; so interesting, that Mabir would fain have bfilievad that thert was some good reason, some plausible excuse, for his strange conduct. Anc the one excuse which she unwillinglj had to find was this—the man musl be mad. - This began to show a way out oJ the mystery ; but it was by no means cleared up. Was he the manwhc had taken her father's house as.'"Mi Banks?" This seemed probable, and, at any rate, this could be easily ascertained. If s6, and if "Mr Banks" was a madman, why was he unattended by a keeper? And what, "Mr Banks," or no "Mr Banks," was the meaning of these stealthy nocturnal visits? That they were so unexpected, so unwelcome, as to be inconceivable on the part of Mrs Dale, had been abundantly ' proved by the fact that she had believed the visitor to be only a vision of her imagination, and nut a human being. For Mabin could not doubt ithat the appearance which Mrs Dale Had taken for a horrible dream had been in reality the living man she had just seen. Who, then, could he be, and what did he want? Was the refined, sensitive face, with its sad eyes and worn mouth, the mask, and not the index of the man? The more Mabin thought, the clearer it seemed to grow to her that the man was either a relation or a lover, who had gone out of his mind, and whose insanity had taken the strange form of nocturnal persecution. But then if he had been insane would not Mrs Dale have heard of it? And wasn't it not rather the act of a sane man than of a madman to assume a name not his own in order to hide his identity from the woman he meant to harass? Again, was the intruder the tenant of "Stone House" at all? Even of this she was not sure; and Mabin decided thatjthis question must be answered definitely before she could think herself on the road to the discovery of the mystery. In the meantime, the door of the room through which she had passed in pursuit of the intruder being still open, she entered, and instinctively looked round, to see if he had left any trace of his presence. She drew up the blind, and let the daylight stream into the corners. The room was like the rest of the house, shabby and furnished with little taste. It had, perhaps, been a study or a schoolroom, for in front of the one window there was a large leather-covered writing-table, much splashed with ink. The rest of the furniture consisted of a couple of small ottomans and half a dozen ■ chairs, all covered with green rep, and trimmed with green worsted fringe, and of a mahogany bookcase, which stood near the door. Mabin, with one glance round, had satisfied herself that nothing in the room betrayed t the recent presence of an intruder, when her attention was {suddenly arrested by a picture on the wall to her left. It was an oil portrait [of a man, Very young, very handsome, and bearing, as she saw at once, a great resemblance to the person she had seen a quarter of an hour before escaping from the house. A great resemblance, that was all; it v did not occur to her for some minutes that the',, man in the picture and the man she had seen could be the same person. But as her fascinated eyes poured over the painting, studying each feature, it grew upon her gradually that the likeness between it and the man was that of a face in hapiness to a face in sorrow, and she saw the possibility jthat they were one and the sarpe person. As this thought crossed her mind, she stepped back, startled by her own discovery. The light, growing stronger every moment, began to bathe the picture in the brightness of a summer morning, and she noticed then with what care it had been preserved. A tiny rod ran along the top of the picture, and from it hung ■two curtains, now drawn aside, of dark blue satin, hung with bullion fringe, and embroidered richly in shades of blue and gold. Mabin's eyes, attracted by the beautiful colours, were fixed upon this handsome hanging, when a piercing cry, uttered by a voice she did not recognize, but which thrilled her by its wild grief, mad<s her start and turn round. i

By FLORENCE WARDEN. Author of "Jn infamous Fravl, v *'A Terrible Family,* "Far Love of Jar/:,'' "The House on the Marxh,>" He., etc.

Juki within the <!>> or by which she had entered tho room, Mrs Dale was lying prone, motionless', on (.he floor. Mabin trembling from head to foot, went down on her knees beside her friend and found that she had fainted. ::Nnt wishing to call the servants, nhe ran into the adjoining bedroom fetched :-ome water and sprinkled it Oil tiki f. j ce of the unconscious woman. But fti first Kirs Dale gave no sign of 'life and [tfabin had time to reflect on the cou;".;-; she had better take. And as she thought Mrs bale's Hidden loss of consciousness must be in some way connected with the picture, it would be better that she should find herself, upon recovering, in another room. Mabin was so much taller than Mrs Dale, that she'found it a comparatively easy task to drag the little, slen Jerly made creature into the adjoining bedroom, and when she got her upon the sofa at the foot of the bed she found that the pink colour was returning to her patient's cheeks, that her hands and eyelids were moving slightly, and that a sigh was struggling up to her lips. "Do you feel better now, dear?" asked Mabin rather tremulously.} For she had some doubts as to the scene which might be impending. Mrs Dale opened her eyes, but made no answer. She did not seem to hear Mabin; she seemed to be listening, trying to remember. "Would you like a little water." went on Mabin, rather frightened ty •the silence, and betraying her feelings in her tone and in the expression of her fact. Then Mrs Dale sat up, and the rather vacant look on her face grew into one of weary sadnesi. "No, dear, thank you. I am not thirsty; and I—and I—am quite well." As she said this she rose, and glanced anxiofisly round the room. Then she look ad at the door which communicated with the adjoining apartment, and suddenly sprang towards it. "Don't—don't go in there!" cried Mabin, quickly, imploringly. Mrs Dale, with a deadly white face stopped short, turned, and looked at her. "Why not?" she abruptly asked, in a whisper. "Why, because— because, " stammered the girl,' "it was there you fainted. Don't you remember?" She took one of Mrs Dale's ice-coid hands in her own, in the hope of com- ! municating the warmth of her own young blood to her terror-stricken friend. ' . "I—l remember. I found ydu looking- " She broke off suddenly, snatched her hand from the girl's, and ran into the next room. Mabin followed hesitatingly, and found her standing in front of the picture, with her eyes fixed upon it. Mabin said nothing, afraid lest by some unlucky word she would increase the mental distress of the unhappy woman. She uttered a cry as Mrs Dale, turning round fiercely, upon her, asked in a tone which she had never used to her before : "Why did you come in here? And what made you draw back the curtains?" Then, evidently regretting her violence of manner when she saw how strong an effect it had upon the girl, she added with an abrupt change to apologetic gentleness, and with tears, of penitence in her eyes: "I beg your pardon, dear; but —but it is not like you to be so curious." Mabin hesitated. She did not dare tell Mrs Dale what it was that had brought her into the room. For, she argued to herself, if the sight of this man's portrait, and the belief that she had only dreamed she saw him, had ; such an effect upon tl e little woman, what might not the result be of finding thatj he had been there in the flesh? "The door was open." she said at last. ' ' And she felt quite glad that Mrs Dale evidently doubted her word, and looked again in a puzzled manner at the portrait. "Why did you draw back the curtains?" was her next question. "I didn't. I found the picure like that. I haven't touched it," answered Mabin quickly and rather indignantly. But her transitory anger passed when she saw the change to deep trouble which instantly took place in Mrs Dale's face. Putting up her handkerchief with shaking fingers to her wet, white face, the little )ady clung with the other hand to the old writing-table by which she was standing. She was in a state of great agitation, but Mabin did not know whether she ought to appear to be conscious of the fact or not. (To be Continued.)