A SECRET FOE

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10131, 6 January 1911, Page 2

A SECRET FOE

(OUR SERIAL^

, i H i ..—m ■!< I i II iy uERTRUDE WARDEN. Author of "Scoundrel or Saint F" "The Secret cf a Letter," -A Bold rw.aDtion," "The Wooing of a Fairy," "The Crime" oi Monte Carlo," etc.

CHAPTER XXlTl.—Continued. ■ J "That was why I wanted so much to come and stay with yon. Knowing Iris, and knowing Mr Gordon, too, the idea of their meeting daily under the same roof scorned so terribly dangerous —putting temptation in their way, in fact. And human nature is so weak!" "Perhaps she married me for that," he said bitterly. "Jt is a great advantage to havo an old husband and a ■young lover in the same house!" 'Oh,, don't say that," criecl Dagmar, '.'l. cau't ,l?ftar .to hear, it. Iris is so like • sister to me. Let me be here arrays, watching her, never •leaving' iier. o" Afld, above all* send Mr Gordon av/nr." -"That I shall clo. Leave me now, my dear, I'want to think.?' Dagmar bent down and gently kissed his cheek. 'Good-bve, dear, dear uncle," she whispered. Believe in my love and devotion to you—and don't be hard on her." Her lips curved in a smile of triumphant malice as she closed the study door. -Much had been done, but much remained yet to do. Lord Mallyon would be dining at home on that evening, and was expected to leave very soon after dinner for an official reception. Meantime, during his absence, a meeting must be brought about between Iris and Mr Gordqn, and Dagmar set her wits to work to plan how this should be effected. Toward , his secretary Lord Mallyon showed a front of apparent benevolence, and particularly begged him to be at dinner that evening. 'That * hermit-like idea of' taking ' your meals in the. study seems to be growing uppn;you, Gordon," he Remarked genially, eying the young man closely the while. / ' 'Lady Mallyon is, an old friend of yours, and i tyotir her." Drogo glanced at his employer, flushing guiltily, a sipn which sec-retly-enraged Lord MrJlyon. The secretary's, uioughts flow back to that scene in Richmond Park on the preceding day, and the manner in which, to his Subsequent deep remorse, his . self-control had deserted him; but Lord Mallyon drew the worst possible conclusions from his .embarrassment, and the constrained manner in which he said that he would be glad.to be present at din--ner. All sorts of schemes by which to entrap his wife and Drogo rushed through Lord Mallyon's brain, and he finally decided upon the simple,, old plan, so popular with French' novelists, of feigning to leave the j house for the evening, and then re-! ■turning unexpectedly. With this end in view. Lord Mallyon took, his niece aside before slie changed to her dinner gown,'-and .hurriedly communicated to her his, instructions. _ j "As soon as|'l*ave- driven: vbffi*.-for. < he said", ' 'pretend ' that you .have a violent headache, and go ! straight to bed. I shall return later j in the evening, but you must on no ( account let Iris know this. Under- j stand. Should she be so foolish and | wicked as to compromise ' herself with this young mail she deserves no pity from you or me.' You are a Mallyon, and will obey my instructions—you nuv-t —and help me to preserve the honour of my name." j . ' "Dear uncle,. I am more ; ,sorry than I can say! ' But I -will obey -yoti; and I can only hope and that you may , be. mistaken," mur- ■ imirecl Dagitftr, as .she,left the room. But in her own apartment she i laughed to herself, and, if slie did j pray at all, it was for the downfall and ruin of the woman who believed in'*her friendship and love. "To-night may settle things," she muttered to herself. If Iris were only not so passionless, and if Drogo were not so stupidly conscientious, I should feel certain of winning back my rightful position as Uijcle Jasper's heiress, and Ted would value me a thousand times mor'e than lie does now!" CHAPTER XXIV. DROGO'S PROOFS. In.oneway that, eveningDrogo Gordon was! w;illmgv and even; anxious to play into ; Dagmar's hands. ! Ifc was he coiisiderod,. vitally im ? portant that he should see Lady .Mallyon alone as speedily as possible, to inform her of certain facts that had come to his knowledge, and to put her. on her guard against the insidious foe ,whose inachinar tions lie had discoverod. He knew now for oortaia that which he had half-gucsscd Kfara, j that in Dr.gin a r Irh possessed a

cruel, daring, and unscrupulous enemy, who would stop at nothing in her desire to bo revenged upon the; woman who had innocently become her rival. Four sets of ,;icofs were now in his possession, all CAivrly showing the guilt of Dagmar a; d of her husband, Fitzalan. The broken sleevelinks ; the testimony of Wheeler, and tho police in. the vitriol-throwing affair ; a copy' which Drogo, had secured of the entry of Dagmar's secret marriage with Fitzalan from the register of the church where the ceremony was performed; and finally, from the fireplace of Miss Mallyon's bedroom at Mallyon. Court, some half-burnt scraps of paper on which she had practised tlie copying of Iris' handwriting, and the actual piece of blotting-paper upon which the message Dagmar had forged to summon Iris to Richmond Park was dried, the words being still; clearly legible. •' ( ' '!■' It was by buying over Dagmar's maid that Drogo had become possessed of these.last incriminating, prcou., and, much as he disliked having recourse to such an, underhand expedient of suborning a ser-, vant, he felt, after his discovery in regard to the vitriol throwing that ! he was dealing with a . dangerous; madwoman, and that any l means were justifiable by whicn he could, protect Iris against"tlie plots,of,such a foe. • Once his tatsk was accomplished, and Dagmar dismissed and disgraced, Drogo was fully ; determined at once to quit Lord j..xahyon's ■service. Loving Iris as he did it was clearly impossible to remain- under, the same.'roof with her while she was another man's wife. ', Human nature was not equal to the strain; and, when once removed from Dagmar's malignant influence, Drogo fervently hoped that Iris would at least be not Unhappy in .her married .;liffr. ; warn w&er : . at once, telling-her all he knewj and ; he must Consult with her as to'.the means whereby Lord should be put in possession of the facts concerning his niece. ' \ - These weighty considerations could not fail to aifoct tne young secretary in his manner and appearance during dinner. He ate hardly anything', looked flushed and excited, was evi-, dently absentmilided, and from time to time, his eyes involuntarily turned t« Iris' face. None of these signs escaped Lord i Mallyon's observation, and for ..the | first time in his-, life he suffered the ' keenest pang's of jealousy and mad-' 1 dening suspicion. His love for Iris was strong, but it was wholly self-; ish; should he but find ner to> fee false, he was determined to show her no pity. , A smouldering hatred possessed hismind as his eyes rested on Drogo Gordon. Here, indeed, was a man whom any woman might love easily, a man with a stainless record, and haudsome-r-and, above all,' the priceless gift of youth in his ppssession., ''' - ; ■■ ".... Looking at him, and looking from him to Iris, Lord Mallyon almost hated her also for her delicate beauty which had i once so greatly attracted him. Sooner than that other men should love her, he would wish her old,' and wrinkled,"and decrepit, and the fact that this- evening an unusual flush of colour rendered her .more beautiful v than .slie had .eyer yet "appeared, angered him-' n the'-mbre deeply agaiiist ;her. Not one of the four persons assembled at Lord Mallyon's tables thatnight was ever likely to-forget the occasion. Dagmar, in a closely. fitting goivn of poppy-red silk, Ker face unnaturally pale, her eyes unnaturally bright, formed a' striking contrast with Iris, in draperies of creamy crape arid lace, with blushroses at liers neck. Both women were excited.' Since that meeting in Richmond Park on the morning of the preceding day Iris' self-posses- j sion had deserted her; she half- i feared, half-hoped, to meet Drogo J again, and alone in her room she J blushed hotly to think that slie was j unable to banish his looks and tones ! from her thoughts. For the words which had escaped him during their meeting at Richmond Park she was angry with him, and' angrier .still herself- for the answering thrillwith which she. had heard- them. ■ (To be Continued.).