HE LADY IN BLACK

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXX, Issue 8440, 13 May 1907, Page 2

HE LADY IN BLACK

By FXiORESrC& WMDEM. of "An litfamous Fi-'rii,!,' 1 "A. Terrible Faun'!!.' "For Love of J a/A," •<;//*<? House on the Marsh' < fr., etr.

CHAPTER XI-. Continue J. Reluctantly letting her hand drop, he followed her down the steps into the giu'ren, and Mabin, with all the interest of ihe visit in her mind, could not repress her delight at finding herself once more in the garden she loved so well. Mr Bank:, watched her bright face, as her eyes wandered from the smooth lawn to the borders full of geraniums and pansier, rose bushes and tall white lilies. And when she found herself once more in the grass walk she could not repress an exclamation of pleasure. "You are fond of your garden," said he. "You must have found it hard to give it up to a stranger!"_ Mabin acknowledged the fact with a blush, and, encouraged by his questions, told him some details about her own gardening and her own pet flowers. Chatting upon such matters as these, they soon reached the side gate in the wall, and passing into the lare, at length came to the plantation behind "The Towers." And suddenly, to the consternation of Mabin, she heard two voices, within the wood, which she recognized as those of Rudolph and Mrs Dale. She turned quickly to Mr Banks. He stopped and held out his hand. "I have not forgotten my promise, "said he; "I will leave you now and—and I promise that I will not try to see her again." The next moment he had disappeared—only just in time. For as the garden gate shut behind him, Mrs Dale, with a white face and wild eyes, broke through the trees and confronted Mabin. "Who wa3 that? Whose voice was that?" she asked in almost a shriek. Mabin sprang forward and put a caressing arm round her. "He will never come near you again," she whispered, feeling that concealment of the identity of their neighbour with the supposedjphantom was no longer possible. But to hei\distress]and amazement;' Mrs Dale's face instantly grew rigid with grief and despair, and she sank, 'trembling and moaning, to the ground. "I knew it! I was sure of it! Oh, my punishment is too great for me to bear!" she whispered hoarsely. CHAPTER XII. A HORRIBLE SECRET. Poor Mabin gazed down blankly at the crouching figure of Mrs Dale. Were the complications of this mysterious history never to end? The little lady had shown terror at the mere sight of this man's portrait; she had abandoned a room in which she had, as she thought, only dreamed of him. And yet now, when Mabin tried to fceassure her by repeating his assurance that he would not force himself upon her again, the .inconsistent woman gave every sign of the most profound sorrow. Mabin looked, with her perplexity puckering her pretty face, at Rudolph who had emerged from the wood. Hi, however, was too deeply intent Upon watching Mrs Dale to notice his fiancee's expression, and Mabin felt a pang of jealousy which she tried in vain to stifle. JJ "Don't talk to her," said Rudolph presently, as Mrs Dale, struggling with herself, and still white and trembling, got upon her feet. "Run into the house, Mabin, and get some cologne, a^c —and don't go too fast, or you will get a headache." But Mabin, who felt hurt at this evident attempt to get rid of her, lingered, and offered the help of her arm to her friend. But, to her astonishment and bitter annoyance, Mrs Dale not only shrank from her, but cast upon the young girl a look full of resentment. "Pray, don't take so much trouble. I am quite, quite well," she said coldly. "And I can walk alone, thank you." She had already withdrawn the arm Mabin had taken, and was plunging into the plantation with reckless steps, as if anxious to bury herself from observation. And she hastily put her handkerchief to her ■ eyes and dashed away the tears which rose as she spoke. Mabin drew herself up, an choked do',vn a rising sob. What had she done that she should be treated like this? But the climax of her trouble came when Rudolph, springing across the grass, and keeping his eyes fixed anxiously on Mrs Dale, as the little lady in black staggered blindly through the trees, touched her arm gently, and whispered: "You had better leave her for a little while, dear; she will be herself again presently." Mabin turned her back upon him, and marched off, without a word, in the direction of the house. He called to her to stop, to listen; but she would do neither. Wounded to the core, first by her friend, in whose cause she had been working, and then by her lover, she felt that she could not trust herself in the vicinity of either of them without an outbreak of grief or of anger to which her pride forbade her to give way. She was in a whirl of feeling; she hardly saw the flowers or the trees as she walked; she scarcely knew whether she trod on grass or on gravel as she made her way straight into the house, shut herself up in her room, and sat down, in a passion of sullen resentment, by one of the high windows. It seemed to her that she had sat there for hours, sore, perplexed,|too miserable to think or to do anything but suffer, when her attention was attracted by a sound which made her start up and look out of the window. There, sauntering along between the broad beds of 4 the kitchen-garden,

Stooping, I'iWn t;n;.\t" i.ii.ir. V- '-vv.l under the leaves !'<>r a la.:: 1 '•' rawberry, or to gather a flower froo! th'o clusters of sweet-william and »f clove-pinks which made a !Vagrant h ■tr-.U.'V co the moiv t ;-ir.;i ::t;i:iaj products cr' the naruVn. ..Irs Dale. No iniiyji' mel;M!(tvj'y. i,n ioai:'>jsilent, bin bubbling •aw wi'.i; high spirits, and laughing lightly '<'' ''very other word of her conrjjaniuo, the lady in black looked raore radiant than Mabin had ever before seeii her, and appeared to be as light-hearted and incapable of serious thought as a child in the sunshine And her companion was Rudolph, who followed her, listened to her, laughed with her, and seemed Thoroughly satisfied with her society. This was the cruelesL blow oi ai l . That the deceitful woman who could pretend to be so miserable at one moment, and could throw off her grief so lightly the next, should have taken Rudolph and caused him to forget the girl he pretended to care for so much! Mabin watched them with a face wrinkled with despair until her tears hid them from sight. But even then Mrs Dale's voice, always gay, always bright, rang in her ears to the accompaniment of Rudolph's deeper tones. The girl, however, was not weakminded enough to cry for long. The sound of the voices had scarcely died away when she sprang to her feet, bathed her face, and did her best to hide the traces of her grief. Pride had come to her assistance. She would show them both that she did not care; that Mrs Dale might amuse herself with Rudolph, might carry him off altogether, if she pleased, and she would not break her heart about it. She was ready to go downstairs,** and was crossi ig the room for that purpose, when there came a little tap at the door, Mrs Dale's voice cried: "May I come in?" For answer, Mabin turned the handle, and her friend, looking at her inquiringly, tripped into the room with a little affected air of penitence. "I'm so sorry I was cross, dear, just now. Will you forgive me? I was worried, and unhappy—and • But I'm better now, and so I've come to ask you to forgive me, and to come down to tea." She slid her arm round the girl's waist. But Mabin could not disguise the change in her own feelings, which she could not control. She drew hersalf away with a laugh. "I'm glad you are happier, and—and betcer," she said stiffly. "I thought you were when I saw you just now in the kitchen-garden." Mrs Dale looked up at her mischievously. "Why, you silly child, you have been making yourself miserable. It is of no use for you to try to deny it," said she. "I believe you aie jealous, Mabin. . You would not be, dear, if you knew all about it." She spoke very kindly; and by one of those .rapid changes of mood and manner which were her greatest charm, her face became suddenly clouded with an expression of gentle sadness. But Mabin's unhappiness had been too great to be effaced by ,a few gentle words. And her pride would not allow her to bend, to come to the explanation her friend might be willing to give. "You are quite wrong," she said coldly; "I am glad to see him so happy. lam not jealous." And she passed out of the roon:. as Mrs Dale invited her to do, and went down-stairs with her head very' high in the air, and a sense of deep resentment at her heart. At the dining-room door Rudolph met her, with a rose for her in his hand and a pretty speech on his lips about her unkindnes3 in hiding herself away for so long. But then, unluckily, Mabin's sharp eyes detected that he threw a glance of intelligence at Mrs Dale, and, choosing instantly to fancy that there was a little conspiracy between the two, to "get round" her, she was so reserved and silent and stiff as to make conciliatory advances impossible. They had tea on the lawn, but it was a very brief affair, for Rudloph jumped up from his seat in about three minutes,and said to Mrs Dale: "If you will write it out now, I will take it at once." And then Mrs Dale with a nod of intelligence, rose also, and went quickly into the house. (To be Continued.)