A HEART'S TRIUMPH.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXI, Issue 9143, 20 July 1908, Page 2

A HEART'S TRIUMPH.

CHAPTER XX. —Continued. "It would suit her almost better ihan thote queer-looking draperies; but she is very lovely." There was a vague touch of compunction in Dora's worldly, selfish heart as she looked on this quiet, proud unconscious girl, and remembered the vileness,- of the man who claimed her. "He will punish her," Dora said to herself, with a shiver. "He is such a orute; he can be so terribly cruel. Oh, how he will punish har! I wish 1 had nothing to do with it!" All the same, the memory of herself and her fears pressed hard upon her, and she went on playing her part to perfection. "I want to carry you home with me for an hour or so," she said, as she chatted on easily. "I am not sure, because he is such a busy man, but I think Paul will come home early this afternoon, and then you can have a cozy chat with him. You will not think of going abroad without seeing Paul? Oh, you must not do that. He will not worry you; he shall do nothing you don't like; but, still, he would be bitterly disappointed if he did not see you. Paul has such a kind heart," Dora said, turning to Mrs Everest with a pretty little wifely gesture. Cecil was moved by these words. "Mr Darnley has always been a good friend. I'did not mean to treat him unkindly, but there were reasons many reasons, that made me act as I did. lam sorry, deeply sorry, if he is angry with me." "Oh, Paul knows your reasons and understands them," Dora cried. She glanced across at Michael's mother, who was, she saw, glad and comforted by the thought that Paul - Darnley Had found the girl and would, there fore, wnrk in unison with her. "You will spare Miss Lacklyne to us for an hour or so. I will send her back in the brougham." "You will go with Mrs Darnley, my dear?'' Mrs Everest hastened to say. She put her hand on the girl's i arm. "I will look after Nini, and a | drive will do you good. Besides, I am i sure what Mrs Darnley says is true;! her husband will never urge you to , anything against your will." j Cecil turned and kissed Michael's mother. It was the first time she had done this, and it seemed to make the bond deeper between them.

"I will go," she said simply. "I ought to always remember how kind Mr Darnley was to me in the past. I will be ready directly." N I Left to themselves, it was Mis j Everest who spoke. j •'She is a beautiful young creature, Mrs Darnley, and I pray that her future may be made smooth for her. She has a nature that matches her face in loveliness. If I may venture > to say this to you, I would urge you 1 to beg Mr Darnley to fall in with her ! wishes, for a time, at least. She has ; pa«3ed through a most strange and | sad experience, and she must return i , of her own accord, to accept her | proper position. What I hope' your j husband may be able to do is to ar- j range that she remains in London, ' for a while, at least." | "My husband will do all he can," ! Dora said. j She was growing more impatient and nervous every moment. It was with difficulty she could control her voice to speak clearly. She had not anticipated such an easy cap'ure as this. She had warned Felix that she could not drag the girl away, if she did not choose to come of her own free will. And now Cecil was coming, and coming most freely ! Dora drew a sharp breath What would the girl sny to her when she found herself face to face with Felix —when she saw she was trapped? Woman of the world as she was, with but little sentiment left to her, Dora Darnley winced as she* pictured what lay before her: When Cecil entered, clad in her odd, old-fashioned outdoor clothes, Dora rose hurriedly. She alrno3t bustled the girl away into the carriage; but Cecil paused to say one word to Michael's mother.• "I hope," she said half-shly, halfseriously, "Mr Everest will not arrive before I back. I want to be here to greet him when he | comes." I Mrs Everest said something to the | girl in answer, but her words were n:>t very clear to her. She had a queer longing to. call Cecil back, and at the last moment object to'her leaving her. Of course, she conquered her fears, and smiled at them, but still it hurt her, in a sense, to see the girl driving away. They had been drawn nearer together in the hour just gone. Cecil .sat and looked out dreamily at the streets and people as she was whirled easily along. Dora said nothing to her; Dora's nervous strength was, in tru*;h, fast coming to an end. She was trembling, and she felt ill. She had done many foolish, selfish, and even wrong things in her life, but she had never been so near to actual wickedness as she was tonight. She felt almost as though she were about to strike a dagger into the heart of this girl. She could understan iso well Cecil's loathing of Felix, just as she could understand the ease with which the man had rnoldc:! this strange girl to his will. "She will-not despise me !" Dora said to herself, with cold lip.*;. "Perhaps there will be ;i dreadful scene; and how thai! I explain this to the servants? I'au) will not come home. The urgent telegram fro in Doctor Thorol::!, telling him Cecil was with him and wished to ko-j Fani, viil keep him safely out of the way. fint it is alKvery difficult and very dangerous, and Ido not see the end clearly. Oh, surely, if ever a woman was punished for on old sin, I am that woman" Cecil din not find it strange that Mrs Darnley did not speak to her. For years now Cecil had lived without

CHAPTER XXI.

By Effie Adelaide Rowlands, Author of "Hugh Grotton's Secret:," "A Splendid Heart,'' *']3ravo Barbara," "The Temptation of Mary "Sehna'a Love Story," etc.

conversation. She found silence most 1 unnatural. Ail the old troubled, bewildered feeling came back to her as she rolled through the crowded streets, and once a jain she saw the terrible difiiculty of the journey to Italy. "I feel like a lost creature when I see what a vast place the world is," she said, creaking the silence as the brougham stopped noiselessly. Dora laughed; her laugh was hysterical.' "Here we are at home. Just wait one moment, dear Miss Lacklyne." She jumped from the brougham, and went inside the door as the maid opened it. "Is Doctor Bingham here?" she asked, almost inaudibly. The maid informed her that Doctor Bingham had just arrived. "He said he would wait for you, ma'am." Dora turned and went back to the brougham. "Will you come in?" she said. Cecil followed her into the house, her eyes noting the brightness and the daintiness with much approval. "Oh. what a nrettv home!" she

said; and all her latent girlishness seemed to make n.usic in her voice. Dora led the way upstairs. She was as cold as death, and her limbs trembled under her. "We will have tea in here, and hope that Paul will soon come," she said, pausing an instant, with her hand on the door. Her voice was so strained that Cecil looked at her keenly. Sfye saw then the rigid pallor of Dora's face, but, before she could speak, Dora had opened the door and passed in. As they entered, the room seemed empty, but as Cecil moved with her slow garce toward the door, some one shut this door to with a click, and an indefinable influence sent a shiver of fear though the girl's heart. She turned her head, and it seemed to her natural, after that warning fealing, that she should see Felix Bingham standing before her. She uttered no cry, made no sign, but her eyes went from the man's triumphant face to the woman's white, miserable one, and she saw that her first presentiment had indeed been right, and that she had to face trouble of a deeper and more treachi erous nature than before.

A SCHEMER'S DISCOMFITURE

Cecil uttered no exclamation as she saw her enemy before her; she only shivered slightly, and her face paled to a deathly whiteness. The sight of the man standing before her, with a smile of triumph, half of amusement, on his lips brought to her so keenly the full meaning of her own humiliation that other feelings were for the moment merged. She saw instantly, of course, what a despicable part Paul Darnley's wife had played in this matter, but Cecil had for Felix's tool far mere of pity than of bitterness in her heart. Her eyes had gone at once to Dora's white, agitated face, and Dora had suddenly sat down on a couch and covered that face with her hands. (To be Continued).