THE COLONEL'S ENEMY.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 3117, 17 February 1909, Page 2

THE COLONEL'S ENEMY.

BY WINTHRQP B. HARLAND, Author of "Lady Elgin's Secret," "A Harvest ef Shame," "The* Elder Son," "Lord Ashton's Heir," Etc»

CHAPTER lll.—Cmtinued.

"Really? the major said in sur- j prise. "But how did my uncle know whether I was married or not?" '"There was nothing done by any member of his family that he was i not acquainted with," the lawyer re • plied; "and he discarded them one by one, as they failed to satisfy what I must admit were only reasonable expectations. Your high reputation in India reached him here; he knew that you were a gallant soldier, and, in every sense of the word, a gentleman. Had you married a poor girl, you must have married beneath you, and he would not have left you a shilling. Had you married a rich woman for her money he would have despised you; and you could not have been more fortunate in your conduct had you known what his intentions were." "And I never him a thought," the soldier said. "1 simply did my duty, and took things easily, after a fashion of my own. If I had few sins to answer for, and in any way deserve your flattering estimate of my character, it is because I had, from the outset, the counsel and example of a dear friend, whom I hope, please Heaven, to see in England soon. But surely, Mr Kessiver, there must, in so lar a family as ours, be some desev v j n g help, and in need of it." "As for that,, you mighty fin( ) sev _ eral dozens, I dare asy; jf y OU respect Mr Lugard's wishes, you will not fritter away fl ne estate by helping those Vfto had not the moral courage, th.d Sense, or the industry to help inem&elves. We can answer for it, that our client gave every one of them such assistance and opportunity as were necessary to enable him to see what mettle they ■were made of. He did not to it Cpeiilyj b'it he it? snd catjie to tfie delusion that you were the ionly one to whom he could safely trust the honour of his name, and the wealth he accumulate J." "I have every reason to be grateful," the soldier Mid; "but it seems selfish to accept so much and leave all the others out in the cold. You who were in his confidence can tell me whether he had any special wishes or attached any fixed conditions to the will. You have mentioned one that I shall live six months in the year at Ravenskerne." "That is the only one, and that is not a fixed condition. I may tell you that, in his later years, he often hinted, rather that desired expressed, a desire to have you with him at Ravenskerne; but self-repression had grown into such a habit with him, that he could never bring himselfjjto the point of sending for you. He did lay particular stress on one desire, but he *as satisfied you would not disappoint him." "And that one?" "Your marriage. He was sure that, with your riper judgment, and your pride of birth, you would choose a wife as he himself would have approved. A woman might be a paragon of beauty, intellect and virtue; but, if she were of lowly origin, there would not, in his lifetime, have been room for her at Ravenskerne. I have heard him say that, if anything could disturb him in his grave, it would be the knowledge that the old house was not reigned over by a lady ; and you;* as a distinguished soldier , and is heir, could mairy any lady in the land." "I am not likely to disappoint him," the soldier said." I have every right to respect bis wishes; and, though I am not a blind worshipper of birth, I believe in pedigree. It goes for something in a horse, anc must have at least as much value in a human being. I can promise you, Mr Kessiver, that, it' ever I do marry, the mistress of Ravenskerne shall be a lady." "If ever you do marry?" the lawyer said, closing his eyeglaases with a click of dismay. "Why, surely, with such a property—a sacred trust, almost—you have no intention of remaining a bachelor 7" "I have no intention at present," was the placid reply; "and, if I do remain a bachelor, I have no doubt are plenty of Lugards to take my place." "Plenty, no doubt, such as they are," said Kessiver; "but if you do not marry you will certainly leave a moral obligation unfulfilled; and I have always understood that gentlemen of your profession look upon it as more a binding than a legal one. With the single exception of yourself, major, I have not much to say in favour of the Lugards. I have nothing to say against them, perhaps, but they are mere nonentities; some vicious, others idle, or spendthrift, or purposeless, content to vegetate just where they may happen to be planted. J. am speaking of the male side now." "Come," said the major, hopefully, "there is a light in this. You can say something better for the female side?" "Mr Lugard had but one sister,' Kessiver said, gravely, or rather sadly, "and she mortally offended him by marrying the paiish curate, when she might have been the wife of his friend and neighbour, Sir Geo ge Avlant, and he never forgave h^rr." "But she could not have disgraced him by marrying a curate?" "I myself did not see where the disgrace came in. Mr Wfilton was a handsome and scholarly gentleman, who took honours at the university; but his grandfather began work as a workhouse boy,and rather proud of it than otherwise. He was well received, too, in the best society of the country, and might have married Miss Lugard's equal in l-irtb and fortune—the fortune, that is to &av, which would have been hers had she married with her, brother's sanction." 1

"What would he have given her, then?"

" Two thousand a year." "His only sister," thejxiajor paid, •'arid my nearest relation. I cannot heip chiiil;irg that he used her badly; find here, at last, is something to redress. Why, she may be living in poverty no v." <; I am afraid she is," said the lawyer, thoughtfully. "Her husband •*'cnt to a district on (he outskirts of London, where the poor were plentiful and the work was hard. He disd in harness. His wife and or.ughter Kit, the neighbourhood toon afterward, ai:d I have tried in vain to find them. I admired her very much, loved her, I may sr but I did not venture to tell her g y O'-)0 of the footmen might as jj have asked him for her." ' "We must find her," th major said, with deep feehr- <<Good Heavens! a lady of p t]e b!rth widowed, and with a -j fco care r '.{ Ty, " g ' rhß >, to make a livelihood by the itifu] resources genteel poverty ig driyen to; not lodged so ag my groonii and f ed worse than the kitchen maids at ave iis k erne ! It is terrible to co " , er opiate." .fbjngs wmld never be so bad 8 j that with them," Mr Kessiver snid. "Mrs Walton is a self-reliant, helpful woman, whose education has not been restricted to a delicate accent and a few accomplishments. As a linguist and a musician there are few who could excell her, and the more solid groundwork of her learning takes a higher range than is generally reached even by those of either sex who make teaching a profession. My own impression is that she is either engaged in some private family as governess, or is keeping a school somewhere. What I have said of the mother would apply to the daughter, who, by the way, would be nearly Thirty," "Ma?ned, perhaps, and to a poor man." " v e'ry likely. Clergymen's daughttrs have a bad habit of marryir.g for love; but I cannot say. I have tried to find them. I have even gone so far as to advertise to the effect that M. W., of Ravenskerne, would hear of something to her advantage by sending her address to Kessiver and Copthall, Bristol, and we had no reply." "You had no reply," Mr Copthall said, with a solemn little cough in his plump white hand. "I did not advertise." "True; I beg your pardon, Copthall ; it was a presonal matter, though you^kindly allowed me to use the name of the firm. I had no reply. major." "They may have broken down under their trouble," Lugard suggested; "and if you trace them it will be to hear that they'are——" "Dead?" said Kessiver, cheerfully, as the major hesitated. "Not a bit of it, my dear sir; women of Mary Lugard's stamp do not die of grief or shrink from the battle of the world. No, major, she did not reply because she thought I was advertising on her brother's behalf, and she could aci cept nothing from the man who let her husband die when a kindly word and some timely help would have prolonged his life. I see it now, but I did not see it then." [to be continued.]