HELD IN BONDAGE.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10530, 17 January 1912, Page 2

HELD IN BONDAGE.

OCR SERIAL.

BY L» F. DAGRE. Author of "Sinbad's Valley," A Phantom of the Pari," "Th* Shadow of Shame," "Sir John's Heiress," "A Daughter of Mystery, etc.

CHAPTER XXVl—Continued

And this is George As6on's lettei . i "DEAR MISS THORNTON: > T e oto hotlli the victims of a dreadful »nis- j take. Yon are not my wife at all, and • I have do no you an unpardonable ( wrong, t'hougjh unintentionally. I was j really very fond of you; but that is all over. You liate me, and penhaps I : deserve it. Now for facts: Years since I fell in love with Patrick Warn s I sister, and married her against his wishes, very much as I married you. , She was wonderfully pretty then, but I soon discovered that she was little better tlhan an empty headed doll. vVe quarrelled incessantly, and I confess that I was a beastt to her, I played upon her weaknesses, and- led her a Hife of torment. . My conduct is too revolting" to commit to paper for you to read. She.-fled back to her brother, at Cliff House;; and in his disgust and auger he refused to see her: Thou lunderstood that sihe had committed suicide from tlhe Black Tor; and w hen | the body was recovered weeks later, in j Silent Ray, I attended the inquest and the funeral. I never dreamed iihat I was being imposed upon. I never dreamed that my wife was actually hiding from me at Cliff House. She jumped into the sea, and was res>cued by her brotlher and a man-ser-vant. Then she was token away by Patrick Ward to India— secretly and cleverly. Her child was bom there—hers and mine; and when Patrick Ward and his sister came back to England, I never doubted tlhat it was Patrick Ward and his wife. He had caused announcements of his marriage to appear in the newspapers. What a living terror I must have been to 6he jhaif-demehted creature! I feel thiat I .am well scourged. That's tlhe truth of it. Now I must make reparation to you. By a strange irony of fate ycu have the care of my clilikl. lam therefore sending you some recognition n the shape of a dheok for five thousand pounds, and I want you to love my child, and keep.her as though she were your own. I know that I can trust you, and the secret of her parentage need never be divulged. Don't reply to this —for a time, at any rate —as I sliiall be on my way to Russia, when it reaches yoit. "Sincerely yours, "GEORGE ASTON.' For once June upEeld the famous traditions that have been tihe theme of poets and idealists since the days of Chaucer. Blue and sunny skies, gentle incense-hearing zephyrs, long langourous days, and nights of wondrous dreams.

leaving her as White as marble. Slowly, but wirtlh wildly beating heart, She walked to the door, and drawing it open, looked into the eves of Patrick Ward.

j Two weeks Iwid gone by since Marj agret had come to Aunt Ellen's cotj tage, and it was quite settled that she had come to stay. The chicken farm was progressing apace, and tihey were full of schemes for (tffie future —schemes that filled them with secret pleasure. One of them was to prepare a wonderful surprise for Mr Thornton. Margaret was a young woman of comparative wealth now, and could afford to give some of her fancies practical effect. The surprise for her father waa a new house near Aunt Benson's, and at that very moment the plans were under discussion. Two acres of hind hid been, acquired at a ridiculously lonprice. The property was picturesquely situated, and in pants well wooded. And now a small, but comfortable rustic house was wanted to fit the scene.

He smiled in his quietly eager way, and held out his hand. "Margaret!"

lit was afternoon, and Margaret and her aunt were in tlio garden, lying back in canvas deek-dhami in the cool s'liade of tihe tires. 'Dolly was asleep in her room. "I' clid not wtant dad to know anything about it," Margaret was saving, "(hut as he has to live in tihe house, he might like to choose tihe style of it-!" "Quite initynkiaiyie, my dear, hi tihiait case wfliat -would become of our surprise? I know his tastes exactly, and the building must he strictly in keeping with its surroundings. A glaring red-brick monstrosity would simply torture hiis aesthetic soul." "Very well, aunt; I will leave the selection to you entirely. It will be ice to hlave dad near us. I'll leave you to have forty winks whale I gather some strawberries, for tea. The scent of t'hem is tantalising." "But the architect, my dear! He may be hem at any moment. His letter says about four o'clock, and it is nearly that now."

s "Not half as interesting or as important as the strawberries!" laughed Margaret. "I will liear his motor, and will come to you at once." She went indoors to look for a basket, and heard t'ho click of tiho, garden gate. A firm, quick step 011 the garden path, and a knock at the front door. By some wonderful power of magnetism Margaret know who "ho visitor was. The colour rushed to lier face and neck, and rushed awav again,

£i,u' gazed at him comprehendingly, a brigh/if flush overspreading, her face. "J. was impelled to come after sending you that letter. I could not wait for to-morrow's mail. We are bouad (together, you and I, irrevocably. I 'tli-ink tlhiat I have known it from the very day we met." He had followed her into the sittingroom, and almost unconsciously she reached out and touched his arm. "I have known it too, and was dreadfully ashamed. You have asked me if I will miarry you, Pa/trick Ward, and my answer is yes. There is nothing between, us now." This was-the. supreme.hour of Margaret's life; She heard her lover's passionate si#, and felt his warm kisses on her face. THE END. (To be Continued.)