A TERRIBLE MISTAKE

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10062, 7 June 1910, Page 2

A TERRIBLE MISTAKE

CRAFT Sit XXli. -Continued

"I was i'i'ijjliter.ecJ, Percy. Yon were gone so lenr, .an;! the place waa full of strange raai. I did r.ot like tieiiag stared ;.t." "Rubbish!" he lesnoiukd. She hardly noticed hi£: u:>kinch:ess; the iast words of the L-twycr rang in her ears .'ike the knell </f doom— I "There can be no objection to the qutet celebration of the nuptials of j yourself and Miaa Constance Clinton." Constance Clinton ! Who was she? And who was the gentleman who had uttered the awful worcis—words which had filled her heart with a misery that was more hi'dv: than death? Percy c!H not sp<"-ak again until they were in the train, lie had secured a compartment for their own exclusive use: an J, hnvirg gu&rd;Ki against intrusion, he turned to his young wile with all his old tenderness. "Daslin-:.-, will yvy forgive ire for biing cross with ycu?" he said penitently; "I am heartily ashamed of myself!" " I an. afraid that yon were ashamed oE me!" the girl replied, with a.'.nv. bitterness. "Your friend seemed surprised that you did not introduce me." "A gentleman does not introduce his wife to his employees," he said shortly. "The man is merely a business agent," "Then you treated me shamefully! A gentleman does not usually leave Ins wife at midnight in a public place which is frequented by questionable characters, for the sake of gossiping with his business agent." The yuung wife was suffering under a keen tense of humiliation. She could not forget the "business agent's" lost pitying look. Clifford W3S startled, and a sharp quiver of pain passed over his face. He had done hsr a great wrong; the misery in her eyes was more than he could bear. "Hildred, my darling wife, your rebuke is well merited! Tnere snail be an end to this Kind of thing once and forever! Look intu my eyes, dear little woman, and say that you forgive inc. I trial to get lid of iir. Sparks, but he would not go. It was a most unfortunate meeting.' "I dc nut regard it as such! 1 ' she cried. "I think that it waa a most fortunate meeting ! It has roused me from dreaming in a feel's paradise; it has proved to me that, - fur some reason, you are ashamed of your wife. Oh, the bittornesa of it all! Percy Clifford, why did you marry me?" She wrung her hands in acute agony, tears streaming from' her eyes. He moved forward, but she waved him back. "Do not touch me! I may be a simple country girl, but I am not so senseless that I cannot feel when I am slighted and insulted by you before your friends." "My darling, do not look at me in that way —do rot speak to me so! Do you want to drive me mad? I will beg your pardon on my knees! I will kiss the hem of your garments! If I have slighted you. Heaven knows .t-was not intentional! J honour and love you before every one else in the wide world' For your sake I have degraded myself in my own eyes; but I will not suffer degradation in yours. I cannot live under this torture!" "I fail to understand you!" she coldly said. "It appears that you are making endless sacrifices for me. You forget that you have wilfully deceived me from the hour when'first you professed to love me. There cannot bo perfect iove without perfect trust. I believe that you are deceiving me stHl. The gentleman whom you call Mr Sparks would not presurna t)giveynu advice if he wew the mare servant you would have me believe him to ha. Do yoa not think that it is an outrage to my wifely feelings when I hear your business agent calmly talking of your marii--1 age to some other woman? How often have you told me that I was'jyour first and only love—that you never even admired another? Who is this Miss Constance Glinion? Is she being wilfully and shamefully deceived?" Clifford pressed his hands to his brow. His brain was reeling.

# BY i'.JL. DACEE, J *' Author oF-—*! ha Eoctcr's Secret, A Case for tho Court, H> 1? SirJolm's Heiresf, A Maniam 3 « "'I / Trej.holme's Trust, Etc. / C» &>

"Hiidred, my wife, listen to nic, and, if I speak one word whici? is not absolutely true, may Heaven punish me!" "Don't—don't invoke the wrath of Heaven! It id horrible!" "I sin s-.i utterly miserable—so degraded in my own eyes and in yours!" he went on passionately. "Bat the Glory jy a short and simple one. I wooed you in the guise of-a poor gentleman—a struggling musician and composer. Thai was my only mistake, darling—l swear it! That is the only deception of which I have been guilty, TJiat one deception had ied to endless misunderstandings between us, and now I tremble to tell you the whols truth." " 1 can bear anything now," was the half scornful rejoinder. With is deafening roar the train plunged into the tunnel. In ten mii> iiteF th<y would reach Ellesmere. Clifford £ianccd at the girl's shrinking fig-ore, her pitiful white face. "Will you not come to me, dailir:t??" he pleaded. "I would rather hear the whole truth first. J. am riot sure that we can ever he the same to each other again!'' He was amazed that one so lovina and tender could be so cold and pitileps, "Then such love as yours is a myth —a fancy!" he retorted. "No matter what crime you were guilty of, it would make no difference to me." "I have committed no crime. Every incident of my life is as clear as the sunshine."

"I pretended that I was a poor man in your ovvsi siation of life, darling, because I loved you, and wanted no bar to my wooing. I had ' no intention of keeping up the deception—you will £ive me credit for that. Saveral times I have been upon the point of telling you fh« whole truth, but the idea of being a great lady has seemed to terrify you." "Yes; I could not bear the position. ; I urn ioc fitted for it. I have had to work for my living in the ordinary walks of lite." i, "But you could soon adapt yourself to it, darling!" he went on desperately. "We are always most afraid of ?hat which we do not thoroughly understand. I have already told you that I am, in a measure, a gentleman of means—that I have never earned one shilling in ray life by the labour of haGds or brain"—he'paused to wipe the gathering beads from his brow—"bul I have not Hold you that I am the only son o- the Earl of Manthorpe. and heir to a princely revenue." A faint moan escaped the girl"3 pallid lips. "My father ia very ill," he continued, "And one of his sick fancies was that* of arranging a marriage between me and his ward, Miss Constance Glinton. The doctor and 1 awyer both advised us to humour hia whim; and Miss Glinton readily fail in with the idea, because stie is fondly attached to my dear father. He may live fo:* a week or a year —and I sincerely hope that it may be for rr.any years. Hildred, 1 have now told you the whole truth—l have not another word to add. Look at me, darling, and let me see your sweet smile again!" "1 am bewildered; I cannot realise it all jet. You are the son of a nobleman—you will be an earl some day. As your wife', I shall he expected to assume the mle of a grand lady. I would a thousand times sooner Have r.y cottage, and pursue my teaching. I think that you have made a great mistake, Percy; you should have married this Miss Glinton. She is one in your own sphere, is ahe cot?" TO BE CONTINUED