When Love Rules The Heart.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 9586, 4 September 1909, Page 2

When Love Rules The Heart.

CHAPTER [XXIX.--Continued

1"| am sorry that you have me," RaiuhiJl sullenly retorted. "I can never forgive you until the mystery of poor Ziila Seton is cleared up. Oh, how I loathe you fur your share in that business!" He turned savagely awav. "Rainhiil, I icted for thf best in one sense Her father had first 8 claim upon her. He " I "Will you swear that you then I knew Etherington to be her father?" I "Before Heaven—l swear it]" B XJhey clasped hands, and the sub--8 ject was not mentioned again. ' When they reached Madeira, and the vessel steamed up to the pier, Mouiitarbon and his wife aaid "goodby" to Lord and Lady Rainhiil. "We shall not stay here many hours," Clarence said laughingly; "the climate is too enervating. We are on a long tour." Lorna was talking to Helen, and Mountarbon drew Lord Rainhiil aside. "I don't want to alarm you, old man, but yjur wife id alarmingly ill!" "I know it," was the response. His eyes filled with tears, his heart was torn with anguish A few minutes later they parted. The Rainhills went to a hotel; and for nearly a week Lady Rainhiil was confined to her roum. Then she spent the sunny mornings on the piazza, and was charmed with the sub-tropi-cal beauties of the island. "I could live here and be content until the crocus swakes from its winter sleep ih England," she told her husband. „,£££ M&i "Then here we will stay, my darling!" "But you will weary uf it, Duncan 9 " "Never," he declared gayly, "'while you are near, little wife! We can be wildly festive here. There are a theatre arid a casino, and the country is an immense garden. If you prefer home life we can rent a villa on a mountain tlope, and have ou own servants here," ] "I am sure that 1 should like j that," Lady Rainhiil replied "Oh. Duncan, I am so happy!" "Then it is settled." tie kissed the pale lips. The villa was taken, and Lady Rai:.hill was conveyed thittfer. The Howards visited thein at i Christmas. Helen had written such j glowing letters home; and Cecil, at j least, needed a change of air. Her, devoted husband humoured her in ! everything. For a littfe while she , raillied slightly, the companionship of her mother and after acting like ; a tonic. The young men went for j long walks on the mountains; they understood each other perfectly now. "A month of this sort of thing would give me tne blues," Cecil remarked one day. "You have beeji working too hard," Lord Rainhiil said critically. "But lam heartily glad that you are achieving success. l(ou will be a full-fledged lawyer in anotner year or two." "Thanks to you and ytfur father," Cecil flushed faintly. "You are ambitious, Cecil." Lord | Rainhiil smiled. "But this restlessness? Where is the lodestar?" He glanced quizzically at his brother-in-luw.

The latter blushed deeply. "A a lawyer, I believed that 1 had a face of brass," he answered; "but, it appears that I have left my mask in Londpn." "Doffed it with wig and gown—eh? Now confess. You vre in love?" "Don't make light of it, Duncan!" He flushed again, and hesitated. "But I will talk to you--ft will be a relief, and I know your true heart. I am in love. It is no joke at five and twenty ! The lady is au American — maybe a nobody for all 1 know or rare—but she is divine. Her name is Vavasour, and she is being chaperoned by Mrs Francillon. They call her Queenie, and, by Jove, she looks like a queen—a Cleopatra! Her mother died recently, and Mrs Francillon has first-class credentials. I met Miss Vavasour a dozen times, perhaps; and she seems very partial to me—took an interest in me from the first." "Then why hot put it to the touch?" "l dare not—yet. I hear that half a dozen eligibles have proposed to her already, and have been sent right about face! I couldn't stand that! I believe that I should go to the bad. We are upon excellent terms now, and 1 have hope—hope that spurs me to great deed! I have talked about you to her, and about Helen. You see, I must shine a little in your reflected light' Americans think so much of a title, and 1 want to appear at my best." £;A brief since ensued; then Lord R ainhill spoke. "How did you manage to tear yourself away from your divinity, Cecil?" "Oh, she and Mrs Francillon have g(sne into the country for a while, and 1 wanted to see my sistei\" He lowered his voice, "it may be for the last time, Duncan. Poor Helen! Surely you are not deceiving yourself?" "I thought that she had been much better lately, Cecil." Lord Ra:nhill's eyes grew moist. "When do you return to London?" "On Monday. A big case is coming^on."

BY OWEN MASTERS. Author of "Captain Emlyn's Daughter," "The Woman * Wins," "The Heir of Avisford," "One Impassioned Hour," Etc., Etc.

> CHAPTER XXX.

The young peer moved impatiently. "You must call upon our family doctor, and ask him to come out here." "Certainly." Lord Rainhiil felt horribly depressed. He watched his wife with anxious, pitiful eyes; he could not bear to leave her for an hour until the physician came. "I can hold out no hope," the doctor said, "Lady Rainhiil may linger for two or three months—not longer. I should not advise her removal to England; the exertion might prove fatal." Henceforth husband and wife were almost inseparable. Lord Rainhiil devoted himself entirely to Helen. It was he who read to her, who played for her, who wheeled her invalid chair in the sunshine; it was he who pictured a future which he knew could never be realised. And she listened, her eyes fixed adoringly, upon is' face —the face of her king. "My darling—my darling! I have prayed that 1 might live for you. Has my prayer been heard? I had a strange dream last night. I thought that I heard a choir of angels singing. I opened my eyes upon a radiance that was dazling, blinding, and saw myself amid the heavenly throng." Lord Rainhiil presseod her to his breast, and averted his face to hide the rush of tears in his eyes. On month later she died quietly, peacefully in her husband's arms. Both father and were there. Her last words were— — "Oh, my lover—my Duncau —I am so happy!"

"EVERYWHERE I AM REMINDED OF ZILLA!" Immediately after his wife's fu-ner-1 Lord Rainhiil abroad. He was his grief was silent, enduring. He felt, that life held no further interest for him. For six months he travelled; then a sense of duty caused him to return home. There were urgent letters from his sister,, Lady Annandale. letters from Cecil Howard, and from the late Mr Etherington's lawyers. A claimant had appeared who insisted upon a stt lement of Mr Etherington's affairs. The missing girl should be a bar no longer! Then Rainhill's own estates required his personal atientkn. I TO PR CONTINUED, "i