A SENSATIONAL CASE.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXI, Issue 9182, 3 September 1908, Page 2

A SENSATIONAL CASE.

By FLORENCE WARDEN. Author of " TheJ||Lady in Black," "An Infamous Fraud," "For Love of Jack," Terrible Family," "The llouso on the Marsh," etc. etc.

CHAPTER XX.- Continued. The pretty girl, v with her sweet, shy face, had come like a ray of sunLght upon Netelka and Waller, who nad been left as usual to spend the evening in each other's company. Wnen the female element thus became two to pne, the talk naturally drifted on to frocks, and Netelka had taken Jem upstairs to see the "delicious little theatre-jacket" her dressmaker had just sent home, when Hugh entered the drawing-room. The two men shook hands, sincerely glad to meet again. But no sooner had Harrington Moseley left them together than Hugh's long pent-up wrath found expression in an outburst which overwhelmed the unprepared Waller. "Do you know what sort of a house this is?" he began abruptly, as soon as they were alone. "Why, yes, I do," replied Waller promptly. "Do you know that it is nothing more or less than a gamblifig-der, and that it is liable at any moment to be raided by the police?" "I suppose so." "And th£|t he who keeps it is a Jew money-Vender, who works at his infernal tijade here night after night? ' Waller nodded. "And that the other fellow, his precious partner, is a swindler of a lower sort still—a man who cheats at cards?" Waller changed colour and looked "No," said he, in a low voice, '1 did not know that. Are you sure?" "Perfectly, absolutely. I have no doubt about it. You shall come up there with me some other night—if they will let me in again, which I doubt —and see for yourself, and we will see if we can't put an end ' tq this ujr*- him together,'^ • Waller spang up. "No, no, I can't do that," he cried quickly. "I can't do that. The man may be a cheat for all I know. But —but there are others." Hugh interrupted him by an impatient exclamation. "Others! Yes. Others who work with him, like him, play into his hands and into those of this rascally Jew; others who do the work better than he can. Mr Waller, you must forgive me; you are younger and less seasoned tnan I. But this man 8 wife is an adventur£s. j , a woman who knows, ■ yet pretends not to know; a worse cheat than her miserable busbanu, for while he only plays for your money, she plays for your< soul. I earnestly beg you to open your eyes, to see what this woman is—to ate that, in being her dupe, you are only becoming the dupe of the rascally husband." "Liar!" Waller made a spring at him and Hugh, prepared, warded off the blow. At the same moment a shrill scream made them "both look round. In the doorway stood Jem and Netelka, both white, shaken by the few had heard. It was Jem who had screamed; Netelka stood silently looking from the one to the other of the two men, until Hugh Btoke again: "Netelka!" he exclaimed in astonishment, not at first understanding the significance pf her presence. She Btepped forward. "Yes," she said, with a hard laugh, in a voice which soundetl dead and cold, "Netelka and—Linley Hilliard's wife. I see you know me thoroughly." CHAPTER XXI. A MODEL HUSBAND. The discovery that the woman he had been denouncing as an adventures?, an accomplice of swindlers, was the woman he still loved, came upon Hugo Thorndyke with so much.suddenness that for the first moment it struck him dumb. He did zealize it; but the horror, the re norse he felt were so k?en, so deep that he could say no word in extenuation of h s blunder. , When Netelka spoke, he 'reeled, caught the back of a chair, and fell iqto it, resting his head upon his hands. Netelka was touched. She understood, knowing him better than Jem or Waller did, what was passing in thejnind of the man who had wanted to be her husband. She saw exactly how the unlucky occurrence had come about, saw that he had only been doing what he felt to be his duty in warning Waller against what he supposed to be a dangerous intrigue. . So when Waller ar.d Jem came nearer to her, not quite knowing what to say, but hjth of them full of sympathy with her and indignation against the offender, Netelka stepped away from them and laid her hand gehtly pn Hugh's shoulders. "You are quite right, Hugh," she said gently, "quite right, abbolutely right." He shivere 1, but tiki nut look up. "At least," she went on, as Waller and Jem made indignant interruptions, "you are absolutely right in in tention and in the recommendation you gave. But p ;rhaps your description of mj was a little overdrawn !" Hugn f-tided his head. He had recovers j'rvm the shock of trie discovery to extent of realising more cleariy i s most distressing features. Her liule sarcasm hurt him not at all. It was a bit of petulence to which she whs entitled, but there wa-t som rnorj serious tu be considered "Aid yuj—you a'-e the wife of this m i'i, rhn swindler!" NMel.ca's eyes flashed. " Yuu liu/e no right lo use such a word. Yo i " Iluyh in errupted: "Oh, nonsense ! You must know, you do know. You have brains, Netelka. I kn iw When I the

other day that you were not happily married " "How did you know anything of the sort? I told you that I was." Jriugh vent on without heeding her answer: " Where.Js your aunt? Where is Lady Kenslow? Why don't you return to her?" Hugh seemed to have forgotten that they were not alone together, he and she. He was striding up and down the room in a state of the strongest excitement. At these questions, Netelka, who was .very much excited also, broke involuntarily into a bitter laugh. "'She wopt' have me. She is quite satisfied with my position, and thinks I ought to be. And I " She faltered and stopped, perceiving that an admission had escaped her. She recovered herself immediately, and added bravely, "I am quite satisfied with it also." Hugh would have been wise to drop the discussion, but the matter at issue was too important for that. He stopped short in his walk and stood in front of her. "You don't mean that," he said. "It is impossible." But at this point Waller, who had had considerable difficulty in keeping silent, broke into the talk. "Dgp't you think," he suggested, in a voiee which he kept with an effort, in a very low key, "that Mrs, Hilliard's statement settles the mat- 7 ter? I suppose you don't intend to try to bully a lady into agreeing with you, whether she likes It or iiot?^ Hugh saw his mistake. "You must forgive me, Netelka," he said, in a hoarse voice. "I hardly know what 1 am saying. I feel as if I were becoming demented. But to remember you as I knew you once, aiui then to come back and find yovj, married.l-Mike this—"You're only friaking things worse, Mf Thorndyke," broke in Shrill, girlish voice unexpectedly. She was standing by Netelka, and kept her arms clasped tightly round her, watching the speakers in turn with bright, wide-open eyes. She was rather shocked and very much surprised by her own boldness in opening her mouth, and the sounds which came forth were rather tremulous, but her heart was bursting, and she felt that she must speak on behalf of her friend "You have no right to come and make her miserable. Of course married people have their troubles, like other people, but it doesn't do any good to rake them up!" This tirade from the mouth of the youngest person in the room was so unexpected that they all listened at first in astonishment, and then with some little amusement. Netelka laughed outright, hail-hysterically. "You dear child," she said, ing a caressing hand down the young girl's arm, "you have no business to be here, listening to such things! Mr Waller, take her home !" The tears were in her eyes. Jem hesitated for one moment, and then she flung her arms round Netelka's neck. "I'll go," she said. "But it's very hard to leave you to be worried like this." And she shot an indignant glance at Hugh upon whom, however, it was thrown away, so deeply was he occupied in thought. It only made him smile to see the haughty manner in which Jem bowed and wished him "good night" as ohe passed him on her way out with Waller. (To be continued.)