A TERRIBLE MISTAKE

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10044, 14 May 1910, Page 2

A TERRIBLE MISTAKE

CHAPTER Vl.—Continued,

'I hate mystery'! :ried Percy passionately. : Why should this thing be done?'

'I can only say that it is the earl's wish—that it is i who advise it; and aurely you can place trust in one who j is so old a rfsend of the family! The act will gladden the last moments of your father. If that is not sufficient, inducement, then you are both unfilial and cruel hearted. Excuse my plain speaking; but I have no choice! Such stubborn folly is quite inexcusable, and I can well understand why Mr Daventry's power was so great over a sick man who had perhaps been better without such a son as you evidently are and have beenj I do not care if I give offense, because I hate to be opposed in my duty! It is for you to decide, and that quickly—if not lor your own sake, if not to soothe the agony, the ren.orse of the dying—then for the sake of Miss Glinton!'

The lawyer's vehemence startled Lord Peicy. What did he mean by Daventry's power and the earl's remorse? What had he discovered anion* Lord Manthorpe's papers? But for tha presence of Constance Glinton, he would have demanded a full explanation. One of her hands was laid lightly upon his arm, and he shuddered; her face wa3 turned appealingly toward him.

'There should be no hesitation now, Percy,' she softly whispered. 'Mr Sparks must have very powerful reasons for urging such a proceeding, and, after all, it cannot make much difference. We understand each other, dear —do we not?' 'I have been treated like a child all my life!' the young man pettishly answered. 'And even now I am commanded to do that which is repugnant to every finer feeling. Do you not shrink frum it, Constance—do you not shrink from such farcical business in a death chamber?-'

'No,' she calmly replied?; 'I do not. It can make no difference to us —I mean to the love which we have for each othar. It will gratify the earl.'

'A childish whim!' he interrupted. Heavens, how could he tell her that such an oath would be sacrilege of the crudest description? 'lt is no whim, dear,' Constance earnestly taid. 'I feel that Mr Daveny has a hand in this. I will tell you why someday.' Her face was white, and the dark eyes glowed. 'I will tell you why someday.' The words rang in Percy's ears like the knell 01 doom.

There was a knocK at the library door, and the earl's valet entered hastily., he was a'-middle-aged man, slightly fcuiU, with a keen, dark face and shifty eyes. He paused for a moment in as though taking in the scene before him. 'Well, Stoner?' the lawyer exclaiired in a tone of apprehension.

'The earl is conscious—jou are wanted upstairs, sir?' 'Tell Sir Charles Constable that we shall be with him immediately,' Mr Sparks said. His lips twitched nervously, and his burning eyes were fixed upon Percy's face. The valet lingered for a moment, and then cast a comprehensive glance at the group and glided away. v 'The crucial moment hat» arrived, Lord Clifford,* the lawyer hastily siaid. 'We have no time to lose.'

'I am ready,' was the quick response. 'My place is at the bedside of my dear father.' 'But I would rather die,' he thought bitterly, 'than take the impious oath!' He felt the loving clasp of a woman's hand upon his arm, but he dared r.ot hok into her shiniDg eyes.

CHAPTER VII.

"I SWEAR'fHATNO OTHER WOMAN SHALL BE MY WIFE!'

Lord Clifford's brain wa3 in a whirl. He followed the lawyer up the great oak staircase, dimly conscious that the servants were moving about like phantoms—that the Angel of Death seemed to be hovering everywhere. The passages were lined with the portraits of dead and gone Cliffords. They appeared to look down upon him sternly, coldly. To a Clifford of Manthorpe honour had ever been dearer than Jife. The earl's valet was standing at the door of his master's room, and he moved away a few paces. 'I must admit that your lordship terrified me in the .library,' Mr Sparks whi-pered to Percy. 'The slightest hesitancy now ' 'I shall not hesitate,' interrupted Clifford shortly. The lawyer turned to the valet. 'ls the physician ready to receive us, Stoner?' he softly asked. 'Yes, sir.' 'You will remain within call, if you please! Your presence may be required immediately.' The valet glanced furtively at Percy's pale,set face, at the drooping head of Miss Glintan, and a strange light shone in his headlike black eye?. Then the door of the sick chamber opened and Sir Charles Constable

BY i'. L. DACRE, Author of—l he Doctor's Secret, A Case for the Court, Sir John's Heiress, A Loveless Marriage, Tree holme's Trust, Etc.

1 stood in the threshold. A quick look I passed between the doctor and the lawyer, and the former held up one forefinger, saying: 'The earl has awakened from a trance-like sleep; he is conscious, and that is all. 1 warn you not to excite him in the least. The hrain appears to be clear and active; but speech and the power of movement will never return to hira again.' 'Thank Heaven that he lives—that he will see me, and know that I care for him more than for aught else on earth,' Percy half sobbed. Great beads stood upon his brow; his brain reeled. He was like a man overshadowed by the horror of an evil dream. He passed the physician and the next moment was kneeling at the bedside of the dying earl 'My dear father!' he murmured. He could not utter another word, and a look of intelligence of love, of deep relief, glea,med in Lord Manthorpe'a eyes. The lines about the grand old face relaxed ever so slightly, and the lips moved, though no sound escaped them. 'My dear father, if I ha\e ever ■ vexed or disappointed you, forgive i me!' Percy sobbed. 'But for one who ever came between us how different i things might have been now !' . The earl closed his eyes wearily, . and then he glanced toward the screen which hid the dcor. Sir Charles Constable, Mr Sparks, and Miss Glinton entered veiy softly. For a moment the earl's eyas rested with a softening light upon the fair, beautiful girl. 'My lord,' the lawyer said in low tones, 'everythirg is arranged p.ccoiding to your wishes. Not one thing has been omitted. There is no time for the marriage; but this betrothal will fce equally as binding to a Clifford of Manthorpe.' The physician was seated by the side of his patient, his finger pressed upon the pulse of the left wrist. 'An extraordinary case,' he thought; 'the toiy is practically deai, but the mind appears to be clear and vigorous!' He sighed for the lawyer to proceed, whispering, 'The vitality of the mind may last for hours, but I should not be prised at a sudden and swift collapse.' Mr Sparks touched Lord Clifford upon the shoulder.

•It will be all over in a few moments, he said. 'Will you take Miss Glinton's band?'

Percy moved, and acted like a man in a dream. He felt the soft, warm hand of Constance Gmton, within his own. How it trembled—how it seemed to tell of life and love for him! He saw that the earl's eyes were .fixed upon them, and that they shone with an unnatural brilliancy; then he heard Stoner called into the room, and the lawyer spoke in clear, low tones:

'Percy Clifford and Constance Glinton, I charge you, before Heaven and in the presence of the Angel of Death, by the last wish and desire of Lord Manthorpe, to kneel here hand in hand, and swear, by all that you hold most sacred, that you will become man and wife, according to God's holy ordinances. Here, in the presence of these witnesses, I charge you to swear,' The dying earl heard every word, his burning eyes never once leaving his son's pallid face. 'You swear that you will make no other woman your wife, Percy Clifford?' the. lawyer resumed. There was' a slight hesitation, and Percy saw that his father's face bore an expression of fear and terror.

'I swear that no other woman shall be my wife!' he hoarsely gasped, and then he shivered, and feared that his senses were leaving him. He felt the warm clasp of Constance Clinton's hand. 'You swear that no other man fehall be your husband, Constance Glinton, so long'as Clifford lives?' cattle che clear, incisive tones of the lawyer. Ana the reply was without any tremor save the warm tremor of an eternal love. 'I swear that no other man shall be my husband'! The girl's eyes glowed, and a lovely flush dyed her neck and face. There was silence for a little while —a blissful silence to the girl, a period of mental agony to the man she loved. The shadows were deepening and the dew-sprinkled flowers in the gardens beyond filled the air with a sweet fragrance. It floated in through one of the open windows, and Percy thought of the old florist's mazy garden at Llanthorne. 'Shall I ring for lights, Constance?' he euddenly said. 'We will have a little music, if you like. It is my only relief when lam sad.' * TO BE CONTINUED