A DEEP GAME. OR THE HONOUR OF THE TREVELLANS.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10543, 27 January 1912, Page 2

A DEEP GAME. OR THE HONOUR OF THE TREVELLANS.

OUR SERIAL.

By Mrs De Winter Baker, Author of "The Sin of Carine," "Sir Blandford's Protegee," "For Weal or Wee, etc.

CHAPTER IX—Continued. "Ludv Trovellan, Grace and I have •talked this matter over between ourselves. The whole thing can be arranged in a very simple miaauier. 11 you persist in wishing Miss Lascelles to marrv vonr son, it will be rather expensive for you. Rather than yon should incur this expense, 1 propose marry Miss Lascelles myself. She appeals' to me strongly, and I want her to be inv wife, But so long as bir | Eric is on the scene, the odds are -jreat ■ao-ainst me. This fact, however, mno wise weakens my determination. ' Mark Jason's tono had now changed to one of direct menace . He emphasised his words with his crooked forefinger. "To this end I solicit your assistance, Lady Trevellan." ".Mv assistance?" "Exactly. Your assistance. 1 mil be perfectly plain with you. If you wish vour son to marry Miss Lascelles you must bo .prepared to increase the silence .money that Grace and 1 have j received from you. And it will not l>e a small increase, either. But-,it j ■wish to avoid this payment, all' vou have to do is to assist me to myfrrv Miss Lascelles myself, lon must 'nowchoose. Which is it to be.'" • "You are cruel—cruel, Mar 1 : Jason. You know that I am squeezed dry like a sponge—drained to the uttermost farthing. You and Omer have emu?, to me like leeches, sucking the very life from mv heart. I can make no payments. "What is it you wish me to'do?" 1 . . ■ T , There was utter despair m Lady TrevelWs voice. She sank back in the depths of her chair. "You must forbid now, any understanding between Sir Eric and Miss Lascelles . It. is not for me to point out how vou will do it. It is tor you to decide whether you will speak to your son, or to Miss Lascelles, or to both. There must be no engagement bet-veen them—no promise of marriage. If vou refuse to assert your authority oh my behalf, Lady Trevel]an ._ W ei{—it is not necessary for me to speak any plainer, is it?" Lady Trevelhin's head was bowed now and hidden in her hands. Her slight withered form rocked slowly hacKwardand forward in silent grief. "You admits that your son meets dozens of eligible girls in London society, mv lady," Grace Omer "Ut in at tin's juncture. "Let him go back to London and get one of them if it is absolutely necessary that he should marry." She moved towards the door as she spoke, and Mark Jason started to follow her, leaving the dowager still bowed with grief. "Remember," the chaplain repeated in ia (threatening voice, "Sir Eric must never marry Lettice I»ascelles —never —never!" There came a knock at (the door. "May I come in, Lady Trevelikm?" asked >a clear silvery voice. With;ait impatient exclamation Mark Jason flung the door open to admit Lettice: then, sneering covertly, he sneaked out, followed by Sjiraoo Omer. Lettice ■was leflfc alone with lher k employer.

CHAPTER X ;- an impaiient wvm : The more Sir Erao recalled .the incidents of (that meeting in the sunken garden with Lettdce the* mora incensed he grew-a* liettice's interruption. , Croing round to ihe* stables at the back erf (the castle, fee ordered his favourite horse to be saddled, and .was soon cantering away over meadowland and field, towards (tlhe open-sea. With all ftlie precision of an accomplished surgeon lie had probed tibe deptl&of 'his heart and now knew exactly what was t!he, mutter with him. He loved Lettice Laseelles! Yes, worshipped the vorv ground die trod so lightly. He adored every movement of her sinuous' body, every quiver of her silken lasih.es, every nestling Shadow in her golden coronet of lustrousUilair. Could it be passible that she cared for him ever so slightly? He would be satisfied with even a tiny part of her •heart, if she would only let him teach her to love him! She had not moved awaV from him when his arms had gono out it© her in the sunken garden, he recalled with a thrill of ecstasy. Did .she —mean thata she cared for Mm—<th!at dlie would have, yielded herself to his ardent embrace? "Ah, well, the thing to do 'was to begin-it all over again. But would there ever occur another such opportunity as the one Mark Jason had spoiled by ttiis evil presence that morning? Far out over .the wet, shining, sands rode Sir Eric, lost in devoted contemplation of itihe sweet, girlish vision thajt was always before his eyes. He must arrange to get her alone again at the earliest possible moment, and rid himself forever of tlie terrible uncertainty that Was now .tearing at his heart st ' rin SS- „ ~ , ~, If tlhe.ro was no hope, if she could harbour no warmier feeling than those of true friendsiliip toward him, he •would leave the castle for ever. It would be imiposlsible for him to continue to live >under tfiie sa-me roof with her, torturing himself with the sighlt of ■lips he could not kiss, hair he could , not caress.

But-Mand the thought thrilled him to the very core —if slie did care? WJiat rapture, what exqxvisite joy to marry her and .take her armay for over from'the'ovil influence of Grace Omer and the con/tamiaating presence of Mr Mark Jason—.to live happily witfli her in some creeper-clad cotfcaage, with ifcho scemt of honeysuckle lin the breeze. As these joyous thoughts passed his busy mind, the subject of thorn was cqiially busy with the correspondence and accounts. When Mark Jason and Grace Omer left the turret room, Lady Trevelian

braced herself up with a wondeiful effort of self-controi to meet her new young secretary. "Aii, there 3'ou are child," she managed to dkummer. "Now I'll show you some oi' tho things that I want you to do. There are the books to l>e checked, and I want you to write to all these societies that have .been sending me pamphlets and requests for subscriptions." She motioned.Lettice to sit down at the tatble opposite .her, and handed 'her a sheaf of papers. Wdtfti ready intelligence Lettice set about 'her duties.and very soon had suitable answers drafted out. The copying of them for Lady Trevellan's signature occupied most of tho morning, but the dowager could find no fault's with the thorough meth ' ods and neait caligraphy of the younj"lt is a rehex to have no corrections to make. Omer's grammar and spoiling were awful," she observed with a sigh, as she blotted her signature to the last and banded it to the girl to be duly rxddressed and stamped. This was one of the few remarks that *=he passed I during the moraing, for", while Lattice was busy with, the pen and notepaper, the old dowager gazed out with vacant eyes across St. Simon's Bay. Once more she was lost in troubled thought. Grace Omer and Mark Jason tod again cornered her. Their threats had been unnustakeable. There was no loophole of escape. Great heaven! was there never to ibe any relief for her, never to beany respite from, the fate that everlastingly orerefedowed her,.casting its dire gloom upon every waking and deeping hour of her existence ? Mare than one tear trickled down the old, careworn face... The skeleton in the Trevelkn family was. indeed a pitiless skeleton. Lettice had now finished all of the 1 work in Ihland, and sat back to await 1 further instructions. But Lady Trevelian still gaaed vacantly out of the easement window, as though entirely unconscious of the secretary's presence. Now that the morning's duties were practically completed,. Lettice also found hex thoughts roving. Who on earth could this mysterious "Margaret" be? she asked herself ,reea' the hundredth time Mrs Partfitt's assertion that there was no maid of that name employed in the castle. Obviously the owner of the handkerchief, still hidden securely in, Lettice's blouse, must be the ghostly visitant of the Lime Tree Walk—and obviously Mark Jason must know something a•bout it. But beyond these limits .Lettice found, herself surrounded by an impenetrable gloom of mystery. The only thing she could do was to watch unremittingly for some tiny clue —some .chance look or word that would help her to solve Mark Jason's secret. , For she was quite convinced now tlhat there was some baffling secret, some intangible yet definite mystery. It was the mystery of Trevelkn Castle, and she was determined to unravel it .■. • ■ /....-.' At this moment the booming the luncheon gong came to.her ears, and Grace Omer entered^tlie. turret room. Lady with an uneasy "• start, as"a dreamer'awakes. Collecting her scattered thoughts she 'bade lattice depart and jmake herself tidy,' and Omer proceeded to bring in the light refreshment that Lady Trevelkn always partook ;in her own apartments in the hihcheon. hour.. ';' s. .; .. - .;'- Having tidied heir hail- and washed her hands, Lettice was about to descend to the dining room when she heai-d a firm, footstep, in the'corridor behind her. Sir Eric overtook her at : the head of the stairs. 1 ''l want you to come for a drive this afterndbn, Miss Lascelles," he said a I little nervously. ''l am most anxious Ito show you. Smugglers' Cove. It's a grand piece of scenery."

CHAPTER XI. LETITOE'S INVITATION. "I want you t*> Come for a drive with mp tliis afternoon." Just a simple sentence —simply expressed—and yet'liow every word of it made Lattice's heart beat .with joy inexpressible. She seemed to be strangely detached from the world as she sat tihero at the huieheon table, with Sir Eric and Mark Jason. It was as if she were looking out at life through a pink mist. All thoughts of tflie mystery that liad SO occupied her thoughts during the morning now vanished with this new ecstasy.' Sir Erio Trevellan bad aslced her to go for a drive with him, and she had accepted. How tliis acceptance liad been made, in wih&t manner her words had been formed, she had not the sligMest recollecfoioii. She could only remember the look of pleasure that Ihiad come into his face and the soft Mgjht that had come into his eyes as lie offered his arm to escort her downStairs. iShe had a dim irememibrance of saying somethin/g about starting at two o'clock in the dogcart, and then silence iliad come between them until they reached the dining room. "' ' "You are unusually silent this morning, Mis Luseelles. I trust your secretarial duties liave not proved too much for you." It was Mark Jason wiho .spoke, but there was very little sympathy in 3iis voice to give value to lliis words. Lettice started and coloured. "I must apologise,' she said gravely. "It was rude of me to forget myself." (To be Continued.)