A TERRIBLE MISTAKE

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10059, 2 June 1910, Page 2

A TERRIBLE MISTAKE

5 BY t. [1- DACEE, . ' ? / w Author of—l he Doctor's Secret, A Case for tha Court, w 5 i ii John's Heiress, A Loveless Marriage, Treuholme's Trust, Etc. £ fy y % er>s ten O*

CHAPTER XIX. —Continued. "A servant"' he laughed, "You mean half a dozsn! Let me see a gardener, a coachman, one indoor servant, and three maid-servants. We can't do with leas than six, darling! A couple of horses will be required, because the place is so tar from a town. As for the furnishing —I had an idea that a thousand pounds would be sufficient, but I think that it will take two thousand by the time we have a complete outfit of everything." Hilcired regarded him with wide, reproachful eyes and quivering lips. "Percy, Percy, are you mad," she cried, "or have you been wilfully deceiving me? 1 am your wife, aiid I have a right to know the truth!"

CHAPTEIi XX.

A FAVOUR REFUSED

Clifford looked with a smile into 1 his wife's troubled ejes. She was regarding him wistfully, earnestly. "You will be honest with me, will , you not, dear?" she asked. "All my past life lies before you like an open , book. I could not deceive you if I , would, and I have implicitly believed fcvery word that you have ever uttered to me!" He flashed ' angrily. Her words implied deception of some kind. The j his heart softened towards her. How ( lovely she was! How innocent of ( guile! "Whe-ein have I deceived you, darling?" Percy gently asked. "1 thought (hat yon were poor—as I am. If you have told me the truth, it is not possible for you to maintain a home like this. The imnt famous of composers and musicians could scarcely afford to live so far from the scenes of their labours. You are not yet famous in any way. I have never seen your name mentioned In the papers. Oh, Percy, I cannot bear all this mystery ! The house and the gardens are beautiful. They would delight the soul of a great artist, or a poet. But I should be altogether out of my element here. I have no knowledge of the management of piervants; I could not receive and entertain visitors." He thought of Mantliorbe Park, i with its magnificent mansion, its I thousands of fertile acres, and j smiled fain.ly. I "My darling," he said, "do not turn your sweet face me! Are you sorry because I am not wholly dependent upon my hands and hrain? -I have a small annpity left to me by my dear mother—a couple of thousand or so. Surely you do not call that wealth? I thought that it would be a pleasant surprise to you." "Two thousand pounds a year!" she cried. "Why, Percy, you are a rich man! Why did you not tell me that before? Why did you let me revel in empty dreams? My sweetest hopes have been to help you in a fight for fame, and you must have been laughing at me all the while!" "No, daring; you are unjust, unreasonable!' he impatiently replied* "I merely humoured the whim of the moment 1 married you because! loved | you; I shall love you as long as life lasts. For your sweet sake I would sacrifi e the world!" "No, no! You have already sacrificed sufficient tor me!" She spoke ccldly and looked away, "i hope that you have no more pleasant surprises for me, Percy. 1 have never thought of being a lady—of living a life of idleness—and the prospect frighies me." ' He stepped forward suddenly and to his breast. He kissed the shining golden hair, the lovely, childlike face. "You never thought of being a lady, Hildred? You could not be anything else, riai ling, however you tried! I will buy tbid place, and it shall be my wedding present to my beloved wife. I think that you will grow ta '; love it then, for my sake " "Oh, my dear husband, I love you • so much that I would rather die than injure you in the least!" she pitifully whispered. "A "new life begins for me from this day. 1 have to attempt that for whch I am not fitted. Fine people will call upon Ub here, and

you will be ashamed of 'me, ashamed of my grandfather. My education has been of the simplest kind, and music is my only accomplishment, I have been proud of that —now I hate it! I nkow that you love me, and lam afraid that you will see me with only a lover's eyes. You are blind to the imperfections which the world —your world—will sneer at and condemn He listened patiently sorrow; fully. , "My world, darling, is centred in you alone," he said earnestly. "For you I would gladly renounce all others of my kind were I called upon to do so. You exaggerate things so painfully, my little love!" "That is just it!" she passionately cried. "I am not so simple that I cannot see that you are making great sacrifices because you have married me. in time you will grow tired of it, and yuur love will turn to dislike. With my husband a poor mubician —my pupils, my cottage, and my love —ah, could have been happy, indeed!" His handsome, boyish face became almost old-looking; the brows contracted, the eyes darkened. "If you would prefer the cottage and the pupils, " he thoughtfully replied, "you can have them, darling. It is not too late." She looked up quickly. " What do you mean, l J erey?" "I mean exactly what I say. I have tried to make you happy—with disastrous results. I confess that I cannot understand your reasoning—if reasoning it be. My annuity may be devoted to charitable purposes, and we can fight for our caily bread—and starve!' He laughed recklessly, and the irony in his voice cut her to the quick. "You do not understand," she said distressfully, "you will not understand: It is not with you that I am dissatisfied, "tout with myself. I was not half worthy of you, my darling! I think that long ago you ought to have lold me the simple truth.' "Asdhad I done so, little woman? Would you have married me then?" "Ishoud have been afraid," she confessed. "Then I am glad that I did not tell you!" He spoke triumphantly, joyously, and held her tightly to his breast. " The storm is over, my little queen, and nothing that you say will convince me that I have been guilty of any wrong. My ambition was to make you my wife, because I loved and honoured you. That ambition is accomplshed; and, if you are happy, life for us will be like a beautiful summer dream. Look into my eyes, sweet wife, and say that you are sorry for making me miserable for even a few brief moments." "It is the dread of causing you disappointment and pain that weights so heavily upon me," she softly replied. "You cannot understand a woman's devoted, unselfish love. If I knew that you were sacrificing one pleasure for my sake, the burden of the knowledge would be too great for me to bear."

She looked earnestly into the misty blue eyes, and a momentary shadow rested upon his brow. If she only knew how much he was sacrificing—if she only knew that his soul was ! darkened with pain and sorrow because of his love for her! "How fanciful you are, little woman ! But I cannot help being happy, because I know that you love me" "Ah, Percy, only Heaven and myself know how much!" The sincerity of her tone, the adoration in her eyes, startled him. Until now he had not quite realised the grandeur of her love. For such as this the whole world were well lost. Hid joy was unspeakable. "Darling," he whispered at length, "is it to little cottage or the miniature mansion?" ; TO BS CONTINTJTD '