Hugh Gretton's Secret.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXX, Issue 8480, 6 July 1907, Page 2

Hugh Gretton's Secret.

By EFPIE ADELAIDE ROWLANDS. Atitlwr of "SeUna's Love Story," "A Splendid Heart," "Brave Barbara," "The Temptation of MaryBar," "Ihe Interloper," etc.. etc.

CHAPTER XL— Continued. "It seems ridiculous to say so, but the truth is. she is jealous of me. Yes, she, beautiful, queenlike creature as.she is, is jealous of me! It bus bsen my fate, somehow," there was a faint sigh in Mrs Harlowe's voice "to be brought continually in contradiction to Althea. You, who know her nature, can understand how much she resented this. Poor Nigel!" once again the invalid gave that little laugh, which spoke of such inborn cheerfulness of heart, even where there was such cause of sorrow and depression; "poor Nigel! we have squabbled about him so tremendously, I wonder he has not been torn to pieces in the struggle!" Sigrid smiled faintly, too, but her heart had suddenly become chilled, and the quick sensation of pleasure that first contact with Mrs Harlowe's exquisitely sweet and sympathetic nature had roused within her faded utterly away. She felt again that tired, over-wraught feeling which had oppressed her at Southampton. Whata" strange thing was fate? Of all the possibilities she might have dreamed of in connection with this friendship that had come to her so unsoucht and so unexpectedly, the bare suggestion that it would be linked by so close a tie to Lady Yel- i vertoun would never have crossed her mind. Of a truth, the little pieces of life's mosaic were being shaken down strangely into their place where she was concerned! Philippa Harlowe had no need of words to tell her just what was passing in Sigrid's mind. Lifting herself on her elbow, she stretched out her hand toward the girl, and as Sigrid caught it in hers she let it wander over the beautiful young face, touching it in that sensitive way peculiar to the blind. "Now, you are to dismiss immediately any idea that there will be trouble because of you, Sigrid," she said very quietly. "I have never allowed myself to be dictated to even by an autocrat. In my way, indeed, I am as much of an autocrat as Althea? You have come to my home as a friendless friend of one who is very dear to me. You are my guest, and if you have the kindliness of disposition I think you possess, you will consent to remain with me for some little while. Believe me, you will find I shall make many demands upon you. Rich, and surrounded as I am by friends and relations, I , lead a very lonely life. I never would indulge in the luxury of a paid companion; the very thought is an anomaly, as if companionship could really be bought; but from time to time I invite some one of my nieces or young connections to ccme and stay with me to cheer me up. Look upon yourself, therefore, my dear, in the same light as one of these young people, and prepare to have a very dull time with a suffering woman. When I have had enough of you," Mrs Harlowe said, in that quaint way which Sigrid soon learned to associate with her, sinking back once again on her cushions wearily enough, "I will be sure to tell you. Invalids are proverbially selfish, and I am no exception to the rule. Arid now, my dear child, will you ring that bell for my maid? You must be taken to your room, and made to feel at home. Come back one moment," Mrs Harlowe called, as the maid, having arrived and received her orders, was taking i Sigrid away. "Come back one moment." Sigrid instantly obeyed;. and Mrs Harlowe turned her eloquent brown eyes upward. :■ "You must give-me a protaise Sigrid. You must promise me that you will leave yourself in my hands for the immediate future, and that you will not let any foolish ideas about Lady Yelvertoun and her feelings concerning your visit here remain with you to torment you. You may rest assured that I shall never coerce you to do what you are indisposed to do; 'but T want you to try to be happy for the time that you are in my house. I want to hear you laugh, my dear, and to feel that the youth in your young heart is only frost bitten, not killed. Will you give me this promise?" "Willingly, willingly"! the girl whispered. She paused an instant; her eyes were full of tears, her lips quivering, but she yielded to the soft entreaty on the sick woman's face, and bending her proud, beautiful head, she pressed her quivering lips on the faded, worn cheek, a seal to the' compact she had just entered into. CHAPTER XII. THE LITTLE PRAYER-BOOK. As Christmas passed, and the new year was born, the sharp edge of Millicent Gretton's grief became dulled, to a great extent. She could not. have been more happily placed than she was, with a mother's tender care lavished on her every hour, and the genial, happy society of three young girls, with all the bustle and business of daily life in a big country house meeting her at every turn. There was no stagnation at Big Drylstone. Mrs Bynge, though physically delicate, had too much vitality herself, too much love of life and youth, ever to allow her household to become monotonous or dull. fjThough Millicent's grief threw a slight cloud over the Christmas festivities of the house itself, there were so many arrangements to be gone through to give pleasure to those around Sir John's estates, that the atmosphere was full of cheery business, in which Millicent, poor

child, fomd a genial touch, and which unconsciously did her much good. Every one, from Sir John to the humblest servant in the house rejoiced to see the girl going about the house, a very wan but pretty creature, her bright golden-brown hairthat had attracted Sigrid's quick admiration that bygone day on board the steamer being made more beautiful by contrast with her dull, clinging black. She dropped quite easily into her little niche, as it were, in the Bynge household, and with the ready affection of an over-cared-for and weak nature, she unconsciously demanded, and as duly received, fresh evidene of tender love and thought from all who formed it as the days went by. The element of unconscious and pretty selfishness that had been revealed to John Bynge in Miss Gretton's nature when she vvaa ill on board ship, came out much stronger at this time. It amused John, in a sense, to notice how completely the girl exercised the same power over his mother and sisters as she had done over her father, and how willingly his family ministered to the demands Millicent made upon them. He was deeply, truly sorry for hex', but he felt each day that passed that he need never fear the effect of a heart sorrow lasting perpetually with Millicent. She was a cnarming girl, intelligent, not intellectual, essentially feminine, but very, very weak, and utterly incapable of a great sacrifice, or even of a great emotion. Her father's death had prostrated her, but nut destroyed her. She had all the plaintive egotism of a child, and, as was but natural from her education, and the knowledge of her true position, she had the most supreme faith in her own importance. It struck him occasionally as strange that Millicent's real nature should not have revealed itself to his mother. With his sisters it was a different matter, but his mother was of a calibre distinct from that of her daughters. Whether she did or did not gauge the girl's shallow sweetness, Sir John could not determine. Certain it was that Mrs Bynge had cultivated a very genuine tenderness and attachment frr Millicent, and was never happy except when fussing about her and her health. And here was a point which gave John Bynge much cause for anxiety; for, in truth, though Millicent was inclined to be a little hypochondriacal, she was also undoubtedly inclined to be exceedingly delicate. The cold of the English winter was perhaps, the cause, for it might be said to be the first experience of cold the girl had had, each previous w|inter having been passed in some climate where sunshine and flowers made for her a perpetual summer; but whether it was this or not, the fact remained, the girl was decidedly frail. She had developed a tiresome cough, and she had become very much thinner than she had been. John pondered this fact, and he waited before speaking to his mother But some one was as keenly anxious as himself, and that person was Charlotte. "I am not satisfied about her, sir, and that's the truth," she said to the young man one morning, when she had sought and found him in his den. John sighed as he heard her pour out all her anxiety. Truly, Yelvertoun had been right to remind him of the responsibilities of his present position. He was so deeply concerned, so overwhelmed with anxiety, he quite won Charlotte's heart. Together they concocted a plan. . Sir John was to go up to London and arrange for the visit of some leading physician. "You must never let Miss Millicent imagine he has come on purpose, sir," Charlotte said earnestly. "She's so nervous about herself it ould make her seriously ill. Can't you suggest j to some doctor to come down here on a visit and then if he hears her cough he can lead up to the matter casually, and we can be satisfied at having his opinion?" , ; Sir John would have smiled fat Charlotte's transparent subtlety, if his heart had not been weighted with real anxiety about his ward; moreover, the maid's suggestion was the only one to be followed, for Millicent's nervousness about herself was pitiful. "I will go to-morrow, and everything shall be done as you say, Charlotte," he answered her. "I will tell my mother immediately." "Thank you, sir. You've taken a load off my mind. You see, sir, I feel I must share this anxiety with i y°u." ... w( j (To be continued.) j