AFTER RELEASE.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10606, 12 April 1912, Page 2

AFTER RELEASE.

OUR SERIAL.

By VIOLET M. FLINN, Author of "The Master Passion, "What Shall It Profit?" "Verenu.," "By Devious Paths," Etc.

CHAPTER XVHJ—Continued. "I have no. cousins .named Ivudd, and tlio only cousin I have whom I know it not musical. At least, I don'tthink he is. I have heard him play a little rather well, hut he ahvays looks bored at my aunt's musical evenings." She spoke in all good faith. It never entered lier head that Mr Rawarde was talking of Rawarde, and that he was indeed ilic one in question. It. seemed to her far more interesting that Mr Rawarde should have seen a resemblance to herself in a stranger whom ho had accidentally met. "You have very few relatives, have you?' Rawarde asked, and found pleasure in the thought. The little personal touch seemed to dispel the awkwardness of the encounter. Rawarde made no effort to go away, and Hermiono saw no reason ! why she should go away because he had joined her. They "did' the pictures together, since the supply of catalogues had run short, and she had purchased tlio last copy before his coming. 'Ho had a very good knowledge of art, and his criticisms, were of .value, while Hermiono's Judgment, if nob advanced, wa<s at least sincere. In the interest of listening and talking botli forgot the passing of time and their hospital relations. To Rawarde the time was one of undiluted pleasure. It was a joy ho had niever before experienced to l>o •with Hermione, to hear her talk, and to watch her face glow alive and animated in her interest. Hqw could lie ever liave thought her statuesque and cold? he wondered. ] The striking'of a clock startled the two. He laughed at her almost guil- j ty expression. I "Is it really 'so late?' she said. "I I li;ad no idea 1 had ben here so long." "You ■will miss tea at the hospital to-night,' he laughed at her pertijr- ) bation. "What does it matter how . long you stay here? It is a. compii- I ment to the exhibition. But you must! have some tea. They liave quite a good tea room in the building. Let us go ! and have some." And then as she Hesitated, he added: "I want to talk ( to you —I —l want your advice." Surprise came into 'her clear, childlike, lovely eyes. "My advice?" she answered, 'andiie wondered why she coloured so hotly. 113 thought her shy embarrassment and momentary hesitation were additional charms to her stately dignity. The tea room was almost deserted. It was a curious room in the basement, hung with striped, pink canvas to represent the draping of an Arab tent. The gaiety and friendliness of the cillery had deserted him. Rawarde discovered an empty table in the shadow of an immense cast, of the Farnese Hercules. Hermiono was reminded of the depression and want of life that 1 had marked him of late, ibut it was not until the tea tray had been put before her and the weighty matters of sugar and cream liad been settled that ho plunged into the matter.that, lay on liis mind. 'l,am frightfully worried,- Miss Mardi,'; lie iaid. She looked at him with eyes unconsciously tender. "I wish I could help you,' she said simply. 'He did not seem to hear her lie sat, his head leaning on. his hand, his eyes gloomily regarding his plate. In that minute she was quick to see the 3ie\y.. lines on liis face, the gleam of silver in the black liair, t'ho air •">? lassitude ami depression that sat upon him.

"There is a- man I know who cannot come to a decision,' he said slowly. "A great opportunity is stretched out before him.—the nihility to gratify dosires that are not, I think, wrong in themselves, to—to right a. wrong that has wrankled in Ids mind ever since he was a boy. But if he takes that opportunity it will be at the cost- of one who is very dear to him . What is he to do, Miss March?" She did not answer at once. Sister Allan's words had come bade to her with a significant meaning. "To —to right" a wrong," she said .slowly. "Thab is a very noble aim." He moved rcsitlessly. -Even if I—and child —are the only ones who have been wronged:'" he asked. "And 'Mrs ltawarde?" she asked quietly. His expression changed. "It would kill her to know the truth." 'Then the wrong only applies to yon," she answered. Her eyes grew very thoughtful ,and he saw in thenv the lambent glow that always betrayed her stirred feelings. "I am afraid 1 am too ignorant of the world to bo a f-iir imJgo " .she said "hut it always seemed to me that thu highest form of heroism is that of the man who puts self last, even though it be to his own injury." "it's all so involved. I am an ambitious man —I don't deny it. I have had a successful life, but it lias been at much cost of. sacrifice and hard work, and now that this opportimity oomes of gaining my rights " "But at such a cost! I am sure tliat yoii do not feel that any material 'advantage would compensate for the grief you say it would cause Mrs Rawarde.' A little smile crept over her face; she looked at him with happy confidence. "I feel flattered you should ask my opinion,' sho .said, with a smile, "because I know that you already must have your own decision. You" —her voice took an unconscious i-dieference—"are nob tho man who would hesitate to do good or bad, whether to gain your advantage or harm someone else."

Ho smiled rather grimly. She did j (not kr..o\v jho\r perilously near ilia ' dangerous edge ho had been. But tho unconscious flattery soothed him, and his implicit belief in lii.s rectitude raisj cd his thoughts from tho lower plane • on which they had been resting of late I She could have used no subtler arguj ment than this simple expression, of i her belief in his honour. She believed j in him ; he. could do nothing that could shako that trust. 1 And as lie sat opposite to her, feelI : "g that his mind was made up, and his decision given, lie realised moro j than Ho had ever done before how •strong was her hold upon him. Of his mother at that moment he did i not think. It was of Hermione only ■ —it was for Hermione's good opinion I that ho would gladly forego all th?< advantages of ibirth and wealth. After J all. what did ho care about the duke- | dom? To claim it would probably : mean years of litigation, the stirring. |of old scandals and half-forgotten I wrongs, and it would loso him Herj mione's good opinion, which he felt j that ho valued more than anything else in the-world. He was young, successful and wealthy. He had his pro-" fession, hosts of friends, one who adored him, even if she was not his mother, and —lie might have Hermione ! What more could any Duke of i Ludworth possess. j His pulses tingled at the thought. Ho Looked at tlie girl who sat beside I him, and her 'beauty, serene and calm ' as the moon in tho far off sky, filled him wih desire. But it was not only her beauty that was lovely, it was her | air of purity. Aud it was she whom ' he desired above all things—one who would ever tbo just a little above him, ■always drawing him upward by reason of her own freedom from those ignoble desires and baser aims that he had always been at war against. "You have nob Ibeen to see Gwendu lately!" ho said suddenly. Hermione coloured. "I saw her in the park a day or jtwo ago, and wo have been busy in tho ward." "Yes, and I have been acting like a bear with a sore head. Well" —A smile wonderfully sweet, flashed over his face —"you have exorcised the demon of unrest, Miss March, and —and Basil Rawardo Is himself again." "I -am so glad," she said, and impulsively held out her hand to him. He took it in his, but did not at once release it. ' The colour rose again in her face. There oame a quick, troubled look into her eyes as if warned of an approaching crisis. "Hermione!" he said, "will you marry me?" , CHAPTER XIX. Hermione shrank back. Her face had grown, very. pale. ."Marry j-ou?" she gasped incredulously. In. spite of his unexpected nervousness he smiled at her evident am-" aaemeait. : "Yes,.marry me," ho said. "Is there anything amazing ,that, 'having found a pearl -of great price, I should want to keep it for my own? Why, my dear, ! you look quite bewildered! Don't you know, haven't you seen that I have loved you almost from the very first day we met? I have known it for certain since you —you would ha.ro given your life for Gwenda's." I '"That was such a little thing," she j stammered, scarcely knowing what } she was"saying. He smiled tenderly. "Was it?' Ke said. "I only know j it meant all tlvo world to me. It gave me {rwenda from tho jaws of death, and it proved to mo that -I hold you more precious than anything I possess." "Oh, no!" ; , , ■ She covered her faco with her hands He could see the red flush that covered her brow, but he could not even guess the tumult of feelings , the utter sense of chaos that possessed hex. Al. her preconceived notions of him weie ruthlessly disturbed. She had so implicitly regarded liim as one set on a pedestal, high"above human weaknesses, that it seemed an improbable, m> po'sibl-o dream that he could be in <?ar"Do you not believe me?" he asked. "But indeed it- is true. You are tlxmost precious in all tho world to tne. Her heart gave a leap of joy at Ue reipeated assertion, a joy, bewilderingly sweet, a joy that brought a pain with it, for it reminded her ot what almost, in tlie interest of other thing* about her, passed from hermnyl. bhe had no right to hear .him speak as lie was doing. Her heart should never have beat a. pulse quicker for any look or word of his. She drew a long, quick breath. She had the sensation of having ascended to heigths, giddy and unknown, to be hurled down from them in the instant that had gained them. ' , She dropped her hands jiud lookixl at him with eyes full of tragedy. <ij—[ must not listen,' she snul, and she did not know how the words betrayed her. (To be continued.)