Hugh Gretton's Secret.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXX, Issue 8476, 1 July 1907, Page 2

Hugh Gretton's Secret.

By EFFIE ADELAIDE EOWLAIDS. Autlw of "Selina'tt Lore Story," "A Spfemlid Heart," -Jit-ace Jiarbara," "T/ie Temptation of Mary Bar," "Ihe Interloper," etc., etc.

VIII.—-Continued. "Mr Grctto!. had been u widower for many years, i believe," he said. "I really Knew very little about him. I met him as a travelling companion, and there war, no sort of intimacy between us. When Miss Gretton is better she may, and will, no doubt, enlighten us as to her relations and kinsfolk, if she has any, which, strange as it may seem, I doubt." This matter was therefore allowed to rest till Miliicent should Lowell enough to stand questioning. In a few hours after the funeral every one of the strangers who were not many, had lefc Dryistone and quiet had settled down on the household. Sir John had driven the lawyers to the station and he gave a sigh as ho turned to go back to his home. He was exceedingly anxious to have a quiet half-hour's chat with his mother. He had never had a moment alone with her since they had left Southampton. He new she was busying herself with thought of Sigrid, but ne did not know what had been arranged. He had eagerly questioned his sister as to what his mother had advised Sigrid to do, but Anne Bynge evidently knew nothing about the matter. "Mother had a long talk with Miss Carleton this morning as you suggested but I don't know what is settled. I fancy mother will advise the girl not to go abroad till she hears from this place wherever it is." Anne had ro much to do so, many letters to write, and all the details of poor Millicent's mourning to arrange, that she had given very little attention to the business cf Sigrid. It had been an astonishingly sharp touch of disappointment that Sir John had found, when the moment had come for a departure from the hotel, that his mother had counselled Sigrid to remain behind for a time. "This is best," Mrs Bynge had said in her quiet way, and no one but herself knew how perturbed she had been when she noted her boy's ili-dis-guised interest in this lonely and most beautiful girl. "There must be some reason for the delay in the arrival telegram. It may come at any moment, and as Miss Carleton is here, she had better remain, as she would only have to travel down to Southampton or Dover if she receives a summons to go." "But what if she does not get this summons., mother; and," and here the young man had colored a little, "do you think to leave her alone?" Mrs Bynge had smiled faintly. "That good soul, Charlotte, .has offered to remain a day or so. Miss Gretton has no immediate need of her, since the girls and myself will nurse her, and Charlotte can be spared. As to the future, we must wait a little. You can trust me to do all in my power to help the girl, who is too young to be thrown on her own resources in this way." That was all that had passed between his mother and himself, and now a couple of days had gone and John Bynge confessed to himself that he was exceedingly eager to know what had happened about Sigrid, and what was to be her destination.

He found his mother dispensing tea t in her own little sanctum when he reached the house, and he frowned a little when he saw that the only sister who was present was his married sister Sylvia, wife of the Reverend Philip Langstone, a most excellent young wcman, and a very important one, too. Sir John was beloved by all his sisters, but since her marriage a different element had crept up in Sylvia's attitude towards him, and where before all had Deen sympathy and bon camaraderie, there was now a little stiffness and a suggestion of rebuke. John Bynge always loved to tease Mrs Langstone. "Who would have thought our Sylvia would be a parson's wife?" he had cried more than once, and Sylvia had winced visibly on such occasions when he had gone on to dilate upon her hoidenish youth and happy-go-lucky girlhood. She imagined such matters were best left forgotten, albeit her husband, one of the simplest and kindest hearted men in the world loved to hear about them.

Now John Bynge knew this sister's worth as well as most. He was well aware her faults were quite on the surface, and that her heart couid be touched quite as readily as either of the other girls; neverthleess, it hurt him —he knew not why—to feel, the instant he entered that cosy little boudoir, that his mother had been discussing the question of Sigrid with Mrs Langstone. It was very silly of Sir John to have objected to this. It was the most natural thing in the world; for, despite her sensitiveness, Sylvia. Langstone was both sensible and practical, and her position gave the opportunity, as no doubt Mrs Bynge had foreseen, of suggesting a feasible plan for Sigrid's future. John was given his cup of tea, and had'kissed his sister and patted the several dogs, and learned th 3 latest news of Millicent, before the subject that was most interesting to him cropped up. "You certainly are a most wonderful young man for getting the burden of other people's worries on your shoulders, Johnnie," Mrs Langstone said, by way of a start. John laughed hurriedly, and looked across at his mother. "I have a happy knack of putting most of my worries on to your dear shoulders, I fancy," he said, with that tenderness which he gave only to his mother. , She smiled back at him. "I have been telling Pylvia about Miss Carleton. I had a letter from Southampton this morning. It will be impossible for the girl to go on to

the convent for some time to come. There has been an outbreak of fever, and the sister to whom she telegraphed so confidently, poor child, was one of the first to die. We must therefore," Mrs Bynge went on more quickly, not desirous that her daughter should glean, as she did, the meaning of the expression that passed instantly over Sir John's face —"we must therefore put our heads together and see what can be done for her." Mrs Langstone flung herself fully into the matter; but she was not particularly sympathetic. "There are, you • see, so very many objections, mother," she said, in her sharp way. "The girl's status seems curious, to begin with; her separation from Lady Yelvertoun is also rather unsatisfactory; and her religion is, of course, in my eyes, wholly so." Sir John flung some cake to the dogs sitting in a row in front of him. He looked as if he wanted to say something, but he restrained himself. "Sylvia must have her innings," was what he said to himself, and then he felt that he could have hugged his mother for her next words. "I want no credentials with Miss Carleton. I take her for what she seems to be and is, most assuredly," Mr Bynge said, "a the misfortune to be alone in the world." Mrs Langstone mused deeply for some time. "If she were not a Catholic she might come with me, and be a nursery governess to the children. I was going to have a French bonne, and this girl——" "Would not suit you," Sir John said, very curtly. He put down his teacup. "Is there any objection to Miss Carleton coming here for a time, mother?" he asked, a little stiffly. "This is a large house, and we might, I think, offer the use of a room and some hospitality to this young lady for a little while. Think it over," he added, as he went out of the room, "and let me know your decision by and by." He escaped with the accompaniment of a suppressed exclamation of objection from his sister's lips. John Bynge turned very red and hot as he stood alone in the corridor. "Good Heaven!" he said to himself, half passionately, "if there is going to be a fuss, I shall cut the whole matter short, go to her myself, and offer her my life and my home!" The thought flashed from him quite unconsciously, but as it took form before him he felt his heart leap suddenly, and a thrill run through his whole body. "I love her," he said to himself, and he said it in utter bewilderment. "I love her; she shall not be left alone in the; world any longer! I will tell her of my love, and I will marry her to-morrow —if she will have me!"

CHAPTER IX. A MOTHER'S PHILOSOPHY. Whatever might be the depth and general extent of the uneasiness her son's too evident interest in Sigrid and her future aroused in her mind, Mrs Bynge was careful not to let it escape her; more especially was she careful to guard her real feelings from her daughter Sylvia. "It is quite the best thing to do," she said, very calmly, after Sir John had walked out of the room in that rather hasty manner, "and, of course, I had every intention of bringing the girl here for awhile at least. Not to do so would be simply criminal, for she is absolutely unfit to be left to wander about by herself. I shall write to her this evening." Mrs Langstone expressed disapproval in each line of her prim but attractive person. "I have not yet understood how it comes that either you or Johnnie need trouble yourself so considerably about a discarded servant of Lady Yelvertoun's or anybody else's," she said impatiently. "It seems a very singular matter altogether." Mrs Bynge poured milk into several saucers, in a mechanical fashion, and spread them out at different distances for the dogs, thereby delighting them beyond expression, as this represented a second feast. She would have been deeply grateful to any one or anything that would have removed this particular daughter from her at this particular moment. This chiefly because, for once in a way, no one could deny that Mrs Langstone had right on her side, and the right was well backed up by the stx-ongest common sense. But she was not exactly in the mood to listen to Mrs Langstone's practical bluntness; she was not indeed, in the mood to view the approaching situation with that mental serenity which was so much a usual part of herself. (To be Continued.)