A SECRET FOE

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10159, 4 January 1911, Page 2

A SECRET FOE

(OUR SERIAL,"

,y uERTRUDE WARDEN. • __, ■ * .,./ Author of "Scoundrel or Saint?" "Hie Secret cf a Letter," 'A Bold TW.oDtion," "The Wooing of a Fairy," "The Crime oic Monte Carlo," etc.

CHAPTER XXl.—Continued. "Please don't," she murmured, an a strangled voice. "It is wrong of us both! I must go home." CHAPTER XXII. TRACKED HOME. Drogo rose too, very pale., and deeply angry with himself. But through all his contrition a rebellious gladness fluttered about his heart. . For the first time, as the eyes of Iris met his, he had read in,them an answering tenderness, and in the low, trembling notes of her voice he had caught the echo of his love for her; With all his heart and soul he longed to seize her in his arms, to kiss his passion out upon her soft lips, and the pale, fair cheeks. The lovely statue could awake to life, had already-awak-ened, flushed into a quivering rosecolour under the fire of his love. And in the same moment Iris realised that which she had really never known before, that she really loved, this man, that she longed to nestle in his arms, and pillow her head with a restful sigh upon his breast, and that life might well endi then for them both.

clearly planning the' destruction of their domestic peace. That this enemy was Dagmar Mallyon, Drogo had little doubts now. Surely no one else would have forged Iris' handwriting in order to bring about a meeting between them, and he asked himself now what motive could have prompted such a trick?

Even while he pondered a deep flush overspread his face. Was it possible, he wondered, that Dagmar had discovered his, Drogo's secret passion for Iris, and that sue meant to foster it until she had broken up her uncle's household, and persuaded him to reinstate her-in her former supposed position of his heiress? The idea seemed far-fetched, indeed, and yet how else could ho account for this second plan for throwing him into contact with Iris.

So they stood for a few seconds only, which seemed like hours to them, facing each other in the clear, wintry sun —she with bowed head, her whole frame relaxed and trembling; he with all his soul in his watching the swift blushes that crossed her cheeks. And in that silence all was told. He knew that she had loved since he and she had'stood side by side on the ■deck of the sinking ship, and knew, too, that she recognised her own feel-ings-for the'first time; while with a pang of remorse Iris realised that she had passed by a«love which would have ■ ■.- -■ ■ ■ ''. - \ ,-. . , . ''^■ ;; i -made>her^vhole ;life,happy^ s for •''th'e^cak pricipns fancy of a man who she fearedvjbut scarcely respected. . It' was her own fault,"hers solely. -Yet even now she asked herself'despairingly how,she could have acted in any other manner. Fate seemed to have marked the way for her so that she could not choose but tread it. It was her own fault now that, with only a few feet of earth between them, she and;Drogo were as far asunder as the poles, and that they must part; each with that gnawing pain, that unsatis- ( fied yearning at heart to torment'.the! •lives of both for ever... . '•.■•-• •'" "We—we will never talk about whatis past any more, if you please; Mf Gordon," she said, in a voice that' she vainly tried to render dignified and cold. "I will go back to the carriage now. l)on't come wih me, if you please, I would rather be alone.''' "Tell me one thing first,' Lady Mallyonj did you send to tell me to come here to speak to you this morning?" She opened her eyes in unmistakable astonishment, r ■

All the way back he pondered over these things until he had formed the resolution to remain at Mallyon Lodge at least long enough to circumvent, and, if possible, expose, Dagmar's sinister designs. The same day his suspicions concerning Dagmar received emphatic, confirmation. During Lord Mallyon' s absence a detective in plain clothes called to see the great lawyer, and, on hearing that he was out, requested an interview with his lordship's secretary, to whom he sent in his card.

'I called to see you, sir," the man began, "about that affair at Cazalet Lodge. Lord fljtallyon called at our office about a month ago, and asked us to do bur b at. Now, a man of ours happens to be a personal friend of an individual in this establishment, which individual put us on to a certain track which 'we have followed up, as,, I think, to some purpose.,. .Idon't'/■■say* that,we might not have clone as much: hint, but, as no doubt your man will claim it, we are quite ready to do •]h.in*;ifs^ The woman," whoever .'she-.was,- that injured Lady Cazalet ,ran.past Lord Mallyon's groom at the gate of Caz~alet Lodge, and the groom's notion was that she wasn't a beggar at, all, but a lady /in' disguise." ":'

"I? Send for you? Certainly not! I certainly meant to speak to you when I had the opportunity, but I should never have thought, of asking you to come to Richmond. I could have spoken to you at home. What gave you that idea?" "May I tell you on some other occasion?" ' "As you will." i, ■<: \J ;?'■

; "Indeed!"•> ■■:.• ;■'.' ' ./-. .'-,.. 'Yes, sir. Of" course, - 'that was just an idea of his, but we have investigated ■ the matter, and have come upon some very valuable testimony in (that direction. ' What would you say, sir, if I were to tell you that, we have discovered portions of the brand-new \cheap ; clothing which this person assumed for the, purposes of disguise** and", that we have discovered the exact places where ishe put. it on—in cabs, mind you, sir, arid in waiting-rooms! And more than that we have our finger on a man who sold the vitriol to, a handsome young lady within twentyfour hours before the assault,: and' we "have found out, that she entered his workshop by -.. a handsome' young dressed in: tlie height oLfa'shi<m'!" Drogo sprang from his seat, pale with excitement.

So they parted without even'a hand shake, for Iris dared not give him her. hand, nor would he have dared to take it just then. He formally bowed and raised' his hat, and then stood by the seat and watched her slim figure as she moved away, -listening to the rustle of her silk gown over the scattered ■leaves/ -' -« -■■■

"Did the-groom give you any actual name to go upon?" he asked. "No, sir. It was only his general impression that" the woman was a lady dressed in shabby clothes: something in her face and walk, and in her hands, for he couldn't see her faoe. Bless you, sir, no one can find out the social position of any body better;"than a gentleman's - servant."

.„' Stronger within his heart at every moment grew the conviction that he and she could not go on living under the same roof and seeing each other day by day. Already his self-control had deserted him, and he could never be sure of himself again. How was it possible to dream of Iris all the night, to feel her presence in the. house in every fibre of his body, and then to meet her coldly as a stranger, when he knew, too, that she was not cold, but capable of loving as ardently and as tenderly" as his passionate heart could- ~•;':;";■ ; •':

After a little more talk the man discover whether any woman in the same rank of iife as Lady Cazalet was known to bear her a grudge. But Drogd, - although his' suspicions had now become strong indeed, felt that he could do no more than give tlie man a hint to work on, if he had the wit. • •'I know of no one who cherishes a grudge against Lady .Cazalet," he said, "but in the thick fog of that night is it not just possible that Lady Cazalet may have been mistaken for some ,one else—some other lady who was. staying in the house, for instance?" /

So much' he had read in her shining eyes, and' tremulous lips, and a : sud- ', den hat© rose; within -him against the .man: who, by his .power, his position, his brains, his diplomacy, had robbed him of Iris forever.* ; He must leave Lord Mallyon's service at the earliest opportunity, but first he must put Lord Mallyon, and Iris, too, on guard '; against an insidious enemy, who was

"Now I i*emember, sir," said the detective, ."her ladyship was wearing an opera-cloak belonging to ••the young lady who is now Lady 'Mai--lybn. Gait you tell. me. of anybody who bore a grudge again, t: : Lady Mallyon?"■;■'.• '*>'■ ■;.:■' ■;'...,'■;; . : . ; .' Drogo Gordon hesitated. "'Noi'iot certain," he said at las "i>,. and tlie detective, failing, to elicit any further information, but armed with a 1 new idea, presently took his leave. ; (To be Continued.)