THE STUDENT'S SECRET.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXX, Issue 8463, 13 June 1907, Page 2

THE STUDENT'S SECRET.

CHAPTER XVIII. THE LOST IS FOUND. It win the day on which every week Sybil Grey went to pay her visit to I'ienc. Her desire to care for tne old servant could not, of course be gratified. Pierre had been arraigned for the murder of Luke Jaatrum, had pleaded guilty: but a nolle prosequi was recorded on the ground of insanity, and he was remanded to the asylum, where he remained, very feeble. He no longer recognized Sybil, nor talked, except of the past, with any coherence. But she made a pilgrimace to see him every week. To-day, Aax Charteris met her, at the pier, where they took the little steamer which conveyed them to Blackwell's Island. They slit under the awning, on the dee.K, almost alone, while the boat cut rapidly through the blue water. Charteris, freei so unexpectedly from his unhallowed bond, ventured once more to urge his suit. "No, Max," said Sybil, gravely; "I shall never marry. The blot is too black on my escutcheon. When I remember my father—and my mother—it seems as if their fault in some way shut me out from a life of love. It is enough that I must blush for them. I will not entail their shame on others. It shall die with me." . "I cannot condemn your parents so mercilessly as you do, Sybil. It is true they loved note wisely, but too well. But remember, your mother was married to a man unworthy of her love. Remember, too, that her life paid the penalty of her fault." "Alas," said Sybil, "I remember only the cruel truth—that my parents were unmairied." Max said no more. He could only hope that time would heal the wound which rankled so deep. One of the officers of the institution met Sybil on her arrival, at the door. , . "We have been awaiting your arrival anxiously, Miss Grey," he said. "Pierre died last night." "Our poor Pierre!" exclaimed

Sybil , J "And his death has disclosed something of great importance to you," continued the official. "To ine?" repeated Sybil. . "Yes. madam—l think I may say , of the greatest importance. Will you accompanv me to the office, where the matter will be thoroughly explained?" . t „„ "May Mr Charteris go with us? "That is just as you decide." ... "I have no secret 3 from you Max," said Sybil, with a sad smile. Seated in the office, they found the attending physician and the man who had nursed Pierre. Upon the table before them lay a worn and soiled chamois vest, within which was carefully sewed some tattered papers. "This vest," said the nurse, "Pierre had on when first admitted to the asylum. When it was found not to contain anything with which he could harm himself, it was not disturbed, as he seemed very sensitive about it. When he was brought back here after _ the judicial decision regarding his crime, his deep concern concerning the vest, had increased. He was never violent except when we attempted to remove it. Indeed, his' state of mind was such that we disturbed the garment ' as little as possible. It was seen to contain only some yellow papers, which were presumed to be of no more value than are often the treast. ures guarded by the insane. Since his death, an examination, however, reveals, as Dr. Dorr has said, their irtimense importance." Sybil looked at Dr. Dorr. "Do not keep me in suspense," she said; "I have suffered so much - already." "My dear Miss Grey, I have only good news for you—the best of news! These papers, so strangely possessed by this old coloured man establish beyond dispute your mother's divorce from her first husband, and are proofs of her marriage to Mr Julian Grev. "They, therefore legitimatise your birth, and make you the lawful heiress of your father's estate." Good news does not kill, or Sybil would have died on the spot. She reached out her hand for the papers, so long hidden in Pierre's vest. / "The consignment of these important papers to a servant," continued Dr. Dorr, "is hard to account for. I think, perhaps, being half crazy at the time of Mr Grey's death, Pierre stole the papers, believing he was , doing right." ' "Let me justify the dear old man," said Sybil hastily. "When papa was dying he gave Pierre a commission. Ido not douDt that it was to place these important papers in safe-keeping." "But why did your father secrete them? I have always understood that he was mosl. anxious to marry your mother, and only prevented from doing so by the impossibility of her obtaining a divorce from her first husband. Since they had the divorce, why did they conceal that fact?" 'I understand it," said Max Charteris. "They obtained a divorce privately, and were lawfully married on the strength of it. But if it had been known that such was the case, Mrs Grey's first husband, who was in every way unworthy of her, I have been told, would have contested and invalidated the divorce, and, consequently, the marriage. Their only i security was in absolute secrecy as , / to the legality of their union." I "I do not think a divorce, once obtained, could have been revoked or invalidated," remarked Dr. Dorr, i "Mrs Grey's first husband possessed wealth and influence," said Char-

By MRS W. H. PALME&.

teris. "He had sworn that she who had once been his wife should never be the wife of another. There is no doubt he was to be feared by those who had to deal with him. It is likely, also, that their fears were somewhat morbid. They dreaded to risk the judicial sanction to their union, which they had found it so difficult to obtain." "That is probably the correct explanation," said Dr. Dorr. "But what a risk has been run! Only by the merest chance have these precious papers been preserved." Silence fell over the little group. They were thinking each in his or her own way of the bitter fruits which an unhallowed passion had borne. Julian Grey's law-defying love had wrecked his own life, and killed its unhappy object. The life of his daughter, on whom he had lavished such unbounded affection and jealous care, had been scarred by an ineffacable experience. Even Pierre, faithful unto death, had been sacrificed. "Our poor Pierre!" said Sybil, breaking the pause. "I was not permitted to care for him in life, but death acquits him of what he never knew to be a crime. I will bury him with tender care." ****** The discovery of the papers which had been guarded with such faithful and nearly fatal tenacity, restored to Sybil Grey the fortune»which Rosalie Jastrum, now Madame la Barorme Brondein, thought to be her own. / The estate was large, and Sybil generously proposed to make a lib eral settlement on Rosalie. But on investigation it was found that the baroness, before leaving the country had already invested .the amount of a handsome fortune in diamonds, besides having spent the whole of the annual income of the estate in less than four months, and, as the man she had married was a mere adventurer, likely to, squander all she possessed, it was deemed best to reserve a fund with which to assist her in future emergencies instead of bestowing it upon her now. Serpolette attended the baroness to Germany, where it is hoped her prudence and shrewdness may serve as a check upon her wilful and improvident mistress. In June, a year after the death of old Pierre, Sybil Grey and Max Charteris were married.

They, had suffered and sorrowed much, it is true, but with the suffering that refines and the sorrow that strengthens the character. Their hearts are united; their faith in each other is unfaltering. They try to forget the past as they enter upon the journey of matrimonial life.

Malcolm Drake no longer ( regrets the beautiful but unworthy girl who infatuated him. He is rising in his business by dint of industry and thrift, and some day will select a wife who shall be also a helpmate. - Ernest Sutra ministers in his clerical, office in a distant Southern city. Having experienced the fullforce of temptation, he will be tender toward the tempted. Sybil Charteris,"happy and affluent, does not forget any of &the friends of her time of trial. From time to time, of a sweet summer day, she goes with her husband, over the route of her terrible walk on the country roads. They pause in the clearing, and they go on to Seth Holmes' farmhouse, where his mother and his young and blooming wife receive them. It is a pilgrimage of gratitude. Sometimes, also they make another visit. It is to a green, slope, near ttie blue bay, where a slim white column rises, on which is inscribed: Pierre. He was Faithful to His Trust. THE END.