A GIRL TO LOVE.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXI, Issue 9097, 25 May 1908, Page 2

A GIRL TO LOVE.

By BERTHA M. CLAY. Author of " Thrown on the World," " Her Mother's Sin," Beyond Pardon," , " The Lost Lady of Haddon," " Dora Thorne," "An Ideal Love," etc.

CHAPTER XXVlll.—Continued. "Monstrous lies! There shall be a retraction within twenty-four hours. If that man Ireland has told half the truth, Pelham has kept quiet for tiie sake of shielding the movements of Harry v Owen, his life-long friend, and wo shall hear of him during the .day. Harry Owen," he explained, "is an ugly-tempered fellow at any time, but when maddened by disappointment, as I know him to be now, he is half a lunatic. "He may have clone something desperate, and Pelham is smuggling him away. ' But this theorizing brings no solid comfort, and I'm going to plunge into the mystery this very day." "The mystery is thin enough," Mrs Craig said sharply. "And my daughter is weak and foolish to waste her tears upon any man who would treat her so shamefully. I know that he has ruined us. The few pounds that we had saved are gone. It now appears"—she pointed contemptuously to the newspaper on the table--" that Mr Pelham had a double reason for disappearing." mama!"' Isla's voice trembled with indignation. Wild, angry words leaped to her lips, but were unuttered. It was wrong to bo angry with her mother. "I think that you are unjust, madam," JaSper Trenwith said rather sternly. "Unjust! Who are you, to lecture rrie? Can you answer this question sir? Who is Nathalie Leighton? It appears pjain enough that Victor Pelham has at least two women on his hands, and he finds it easier to abscond than to face them and his liabilities. 1 have no reason to doubt one word printed in the papers, any more than I doubt the meaning of this!" She flaunted Miss Leighton's letter before his eyes, and be almost startled out of his mask-like calm. "Nathalie Leighton," he said softly. "Who is she? Answer that." "One of the most perfect women under. heaven," he ansjvered, his eyes aflame. "Am I to read this latter, Mrs Craig?" ! "Do what you like with it, as you believe Miss Leighton' to be such a paragon. It is only further proof of a man's duplicity, and explains why he was so anxious to make a secret marriage." Trenwith's eyes were fixed upon the letter for a few moments, then a sweet smile illumined his beautiful face. "There is riO doubtful meaning here," he said, pressing his lips to the writing, "but I will (bstroy it now lest it shukl create further misunderstanding. Miss Nathalie J.eighton is the woman I love and whom I hope to marry and there isn't an atom of jealousy in my heart." Mrs Craig defeated and dismayed , sought refuge in tears, kh's face was radiant. "Mama will not-—she cannot understand this wonderful love of mine," she said softly and tremulously. Silence fell upon them for a short while. Jasper Trenwith glanced kindly from one to the other. "This wearying suspense must be very hard to bear," he sajd, at last, "and in these quarters, too. I haven't been home yet but my plan of action is shaped. I was chainad to the factory the whole of yesterday. Now I'm going to Worcester, and I want you ladies to go with me, if you will, as my guests, until Victor Pelham's honour is vindicated in ti.e eyes of the evil-thinking world. I shall probe the story of John Ireland through and through; I shall pay every creditor of Pelham's in full, and the scandal shall be nailed through its heart —a wicked and a monstrous lie!" He turned to Isla. "You \Vant mental and bodily exercise, This sort of thing is killing. Will you come now? My'automobile can be here within an hour, and your luggage sent on by rail." "Are you listening, mama?" Isla pleaded. "You can do as you please," was the ungra iou3 rejoinder. "We accept your invitation, Mr Trenwith. You hear what" mama says." Isla was half hysterical. "For a little while, until— —" "You' leave my house for your rightful home," he added gently. "It is near my place, and weshall be neighbours in the future." He hoped so, from the bottom of his heart. "I will instruct the railway people to collect your luggage, and. you may expect me back here for you—say at ten o'clock. We must not lose valuable time." After he was gone, Isla moved about with a new energy. Shu was heartened, strong, and hopeful. John Rutherford came in while she was affixing the labels to the luggage. "Mr Trenwith called and told me," he explained. "While I am sorry to lose you, I am glad you are going away from here. You will think of ma sometimes " "I shall never forget you and your g00;1ne33," she answered gratefully and impulsively. He looked away. "If any message cornea I will send it •- i to you, Miss Grainy. You won't tdl Mr Pelham that I ever douofced him?" "You never did, really you could not." Ho gulped hack a hulf-sob. Even strong men sob sometimes. "Are you going, Mr Rutherford?" '■ tea. I don't suppose Mrs Craig is eqjal to being bothered, and I don't wish to be bothered, either." He smiled sadly, and shook her hand. J shall look for good news, and I diallpray to the great God to send it scon." She saw him go, and there was a mi uraful droop to his shoulders. He iv i. keJ down the hot and dusty street,

close in the shadow of the buildings, his eyes bent to the ground. Then he turned, and came back again. "I forgot to tell you," he said, "that Mr Trenwith has taken Tom Kennedy back again. The poor fellow is thoroughly repentant, and his socialism has undergone a complete change. He is a socialist still, but in a different sense. His chief desire is to help those who are poorer and less enlightened than himself. What a remarkable man Mr Trenwith is! Until I knew him personally, I believed him to be a coldblooded money-maker, who used human hearts as stepping stones. Kennedy prays for your forgiveness. He realizes how bad his conduct was towards you 7 and Mr Pelham. His foolish threats made " Rutherford made a t deprecating movement. "1 was terrified," Isla admitted. "And that was the real reason why a quiet wedding was projected. Once more, good-bye." This time he left with a brisker step) and with his head in the air. Neither did he hide in the shadow of the buildings.

CHAPTER XXIX. MISJUDGED. "There is room in the automobile for two or three of the smallest trunks," Jasper Trenwith. said. "Take the things you will want for immediate use, as the railway company won't deliver until to-morrow. I am driving myself, and I think I prefer to, as the best of chaffeurs are careless, or lose their heads at the crucial moment. My man has had three or four accidents already this year. 1 shall drive fast, in spite of the .police. You are not afraid?" He whispered the last few words in Isla's ear. "Oh, no; I feel safe with you. Mania and I have ridden with—Victor," she half'sobbed. The landlady came to the door to see them off, and Trenwith slipped a sovereign into her willing palm. "You will see that the luggage is Sent safely," he said. "Good-bye, and good luck, Miss Craig. If any letters come, I'll give them to Mr Rutherford." She shook hands with both ladies, and tearfully watched the automobile glide away. "Nearly thirty miles to Worcester," Jasper Trenwith said "ar.d I want to do it in an hour. I feel that everything should move at express speed. My mind is in a perfect whirl. I have sent away a dozen telegrams, making as many appointments at different hours of the day." There was little more said during their wild drive.' A few words, perhaps, when the car had to slow down and thread its way through a 1 maze of streets, and then off again at a furious speed in the long ; stretches of open country. I "Eleven o'clock," Jasper Trenwith remarked, at last, "and right ahead of>.you is the tower of Wor- ' cester Cathedral. I must stop in the town for a few minutes, to j make a, call at the bank." I The automobile was now going j along steadily, and men of every degree made obeisance to Trenwith, then looked back curiously. They hated and feared the man, but they worshiped his money. j (To be continued.)