A TERRIBLE MISTAKE

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10055, 28 May 1910, Page 2

A TERRIBLE MISTAKE

S BY J?. L. DACRE, S ? . 7 Is Author of—l he Doctor's Secret, A Case for the Court, £s Sir John's Heiress, A Loveless Marriage, ) Treaholme's Tnut, Etc. ft ft

CHAPTER XlV.—Continued. [ "It is a lovely one!"' he smiled. He thought of Manthoipe Park and its princely revenue. 'I want you to have complete faith in me, darling. We shall never be very peer. I cannot quite ignore my cousin; he has been my mentor and frigid since 1 was a boy, and if we leave here today there will be much for him to do." I Still she was rot quite satisfied, ! and with a sense of dread at his heart he saw it. "Do not doubt my faith and confidence in you, dear, they are so great that the knowledge that they had been misplaced would kill me. But how could that be possible?" She shivered. "I have broughtycu so much trouble already, my dailing, and nowl am dwe'ling upon it like an,, imaginative child! Forgive foolish Hildred!" She raised her red lip?, and he kissed them again arid again. There were tsars standing in her eyes, and she laughingly brushed them away. "Tears on my wedding day, Percy—but happy one3l" she said."And I am ruffling my beautiful dress." "Jt does not matter; you will not want to wear it again." "Only upon every anniversary of my wedding day," she solt ly said—"just for a few minut?s, to remind me ot this blissful hour." She looked at him earnestly, sddinp, "And J have a strange fancy, Percy." ■ "You have many strange fancies," he smiled. "But what is this particular one?" 'I think that when I die I should like my wedding dress and all my love letters buried with me." "We will leave such arrangements until a later date, darling S" he laughed. "Hark! Mrs King is calling She will think that we have run away. The breakfast is waiting." They left the arbor of roses, and Daventry watched them approach the house, a cynical smile auuut his thin lips, a glow of triumph in his dusky eyes. "She is pretty," ha murmured—"wo'nderfaily pretty! When i first j beheld this place I cursei it for its dullness little dreamit.g tLat herein dwelt the making of my little kingdoms!" The wedding breakfast was a delightful oi:<?. The bride-cake was cut, the champagne uncoilud, and Owen Daventry made a neat and welltuned speech. He poured out a glass of champagne, and he!c) it up v.hilo the sun sparkled in thj fnait.i' g wita'. "You see herr," he ssi.i, "tr.e re-, flection of the bright and tlu beautiful. May your lives be full of ceauty and brightness; may tfiey rtfl.cfc only that which is good; may jour friendships be ever true, as true as mine will be. Percy, my dear cousin, 1 pledge you and your beautiful wife in thi3 sparkling wine!!" He draiik the champagne, and Clifford felt that his were moist. "How I have misjudged Dayentry!" bethought. "The future shall see me generous. I have heen mad — headstrong! Now my wife shall teach me humility and love" He gazed at her fondly, and a sneer curved the lips of Owen Daventry. VvhenHildred had retired to change her dress, Percy called Daventry aside. "1 want to talk to you, old man," he said affectionately. "At.d you must forgive me if appear to be tresr passing too much upon your generosity." For a minute Daventry regarded him steadily; and then he replied: "Let us strdl into the garden." CHAPTER VII. "-TO-MORKOW I SHALL BE YOUR MASTER." "Daventry," Lord Percy said, as they walked into the garden, "half a confuieiace is no confidence; and between you and me there should jae no reserve," Tbere was a look of perpKxity in his oyea. "SurtTy the troubles of married life have not begun already" replied good humouretily. "One cannot gather roses without thorns' While knowing myself to be one ox the most fortunate men living my happiness is not without alloy. My wife is a perfect womaß,as sweet as an angel, and as innocent of guile as a little chili. I began by practising deceit —harmless in its way.- but 1 tremble to think how it will be receied by Hildred. She believes me to be a poor gentleman—a struggling composer—and htr sweetest, mosi chrerished dream is to help me in my profession. For a little while the deceptm must ba continued, and it is hateful to me. If my darling were tel l that I am Clifford of ManI am the heir to a great title and a great fortune, she would 1 be disappointed, terrified." "Then she differs from the majority of women," Daventry cynically remarked. "That is just it," Percy went on i impetuously. "She has a wholesome dread of great people. She is simple, truthful and her mind is i/r.bued with old-world notions. She believes im-

plicitly in the dignity of labour; her future happiness is buund up in me, and the pleasure of helping me in ths struggle for fame and fortune!" He bit his lip from annoyance. There was a ring of pain in hfs deep voice. "From your remark I gather that the future Countess of Manthorpe would rather have her husband wear an apron than a coronet!" L smiled Davmtry. "I cannot take it seriously, my boy, it is impossible To be a woman is to be vain; and to be vain is to accept the goods the gods provide as beauty's deserving dower. Your wife will gradually get used to the idea, and in the end will queen it at Manthorpe Park as regally even as Miss Glinton does. Women are the most adaptable creatures on the face of the earth. Lady Percy has grace, hcauty, ard intellect, but her countrified manners need modifying, rounding, pclhhing. A year abroad will work wonders " , Percy betrayed not a little in.~ patience. He had not noticed that his wife's manners w?re "countrified" and the expression irritated him "Listen to my plans" ha interrupted. "1 intend leaving Llanthorne tc-day, and takirg my wife with me. lam gcirg to Ellesriiere, in Kent, to rent, or purchase, a cottage which I have seen advertised. From the description, it is in every way eminently suitable for my purpose. While the negotiations are going on we can live at a hotel;'and finally I hope to establish myself ,at Ellesmere, until I can tell my darling the whole truth." "And the grandfather—Mr Dudley?" " "He goes with us; ii is Hildred's i wish —it ia my wish also." Percy spoke rapidly, and his handsome face flushed. "It is an awkward arrangement/" remaiked Daventry,,after a pause. "It cannot be altered, even if I desired it. Mr DudUy is an old man; and without bis granddaughter; he would be lonely indeed jjttat be should l\ve with us was one ot the conditions upon which Hildred consented to an immediate wedding." "Men in love agree to strange things," remarked Daventry. "What is it you want me to do?" Percy hefitatei for a moment/ His handsome boyish face was flushed. "You will not think that I am asking too much of you," he said at length—"you will not think that I am presuming too much upon your good nature? Believe me, Daventry, I shall never forget your kindness, and I shall never cease regretting that I did not understand you better in the past. My original intention was to proceed alone to Ellesmere t;-day, but my darling is terrified l;st some misfortune should attend a separation upon our wedding day." He paused, and his cousin remarked; "That is only natural, Percy. I am not surprised in the least. Now tell me what it is that I can do for you." "You are a good fellow, Daventry," Clifford said, with emotion. "My story is not an uncommon one but it is none the less unpleasant, In wooing and winning the girl who is now my wife I have made an enemy, of a would be lover —a rough seaman named Winters, He believes that he i has been unjustly treated, and he has used threatening language. This Winters has a temper that ia notoriously bad and violent. His grievance is chiefly against Hildred's grandfather, and for that reason, if for no other, I must see that he is protected." Daventry smiled indulgently, a faint sneer playing about the corners of his mouth. "I have seen the man," he said. "Hg thrust himself,, a big, blustering fellow, in my way this morning. I should not have mentioned it if you had not spoken about him. He hissed something into my ear, but I had dismissed the matter from rijy mind." Percy flushed hotly; hia eyes flashed, and he. clinched his hand fiercely* 'Don't give way to the old combative spirit!" laughed Daventry. "the man is not worth it. You must not be angry upon your wedding day! This Winters has complete!} passed out of the life of your wife. The cur is not worth lashing. Old lovers are always a nuisance, particularly in the lower walks of life." ilia companion winced. "Heaven forbid my ever meeting Robert Winters again!" ha said. "Do not call him an old lover! L My wife always loathed him." TO BB CONTINUED