Fotheringay's Son.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXI, Issue 10713, 17 January 1913, Page 2

Fotheringay's Son.

1 (OURSERAL 5

I BY ALLAN ADAIR. 5 j Author af "An island PrlnoMi," "k Marriage ol Fell** rj| t »

3 C"H APTKR XXV r. i ! Lady GlazeWrook had not come d-wn a to he cause. she was titcd * of the London season—very far frr>l " \ it. Slihad pot horsolf into a <r.r----j ner f-n-n which flight was the only I possible wa.v of escaping. Sho had rll'v.wd —nav. encouraged-—the address of' :i 'm-ilrllo-appd peer, and she had only discovered in tinio that lie was not a.' wealthy as she lmd led to siipwse. Indeed, lie could not have wade*' n-i to her the loss of the monev her liushaii'l had loft her conditionally on her remaining a widow, ft was nor h' 1 ;' intention to lose -wealth and position for :mv man, Sylvia went to the .station to meet her' mother. She was dressed with more care, than usual, and lier general appearance was not so girlish. "My dear Sylvia," exclaimed Lady Glaxehrook on seeing her, "how you liiive .altered I left. you a cm Id find you a young woman What have veil doni' 1.0 yourself?

j took an interest in him. Ft occurred I to her to make an experiment. ! "Mr Lavender," she said, ''have you ever been told-that you 'hear « I strong liking to any one?"

"\o," he said; "1 have always supposed that T must he like my fa'•

for I am verv unlike, mv mother,"

"Is your father dead, then?" | "He died when I was a baby, i be- ! lieve."

I "Pardon me, hut have you Trish I blood ;n your veins?" I "T a mafraid T can not plead guilty of that," he answered, laughing. "My lather was, T helieve a West country man. At least, he lies buried on the borders of Devon and Cornwall."

Sylvia laughed. ; "T suntfose I have: grown up, »ho said. "Tt. is very 'wrong of me, is it lint, mother? And you so ndicubuslv vomit: looking." Ladv Glazebrook's children treated Vio.r with affectionate familiarity. Her ladyship was really, too unlike them to call out. anv deep affection or to desire it Tliev netted 'her, and «he always said she fait a great deal voiHi'Tr than they were. ' "My dear," Ladv Wilmington said to her hostess as they -settled themselves in the motor ear, while Sylvia accompanied some other quests to the carriage, "if 1 were you I .'•hoiild foel anxious. When a gnl glows into a young woman all oi a sudden there is generally a young man in the ease." "There is not in this ease, -said Lady Glazebrook positively. "M.v good Morse is a dragon. T hear ol every man who crosses the t.hicshold. and no one has come home i 10m London yet, I am the very first," she I added, with a little grimace., "am I nothing .short of necessity has brough i me."

"Don't you know anything about him, then?" sho asked. Tho young man turned pale. He remembered only, too well what his mother had revealed to him. "Of course [ do," he said uneas'lv. "Init, if T may question you. why do you ask?"

Only because you have. such nn absurd likoTioss to a irian I know in my youth—a Captain Fotheringay.'' ■She looked at him narrowly to sop if there was any recognition in his glance, but there wa.s not. Donald looked relieved.

"I can assure you T have no relative of that name," he said..

Tfo iras a very brilliant young guardsman," continued Lady Wilmington, ''and a good .many of us hare very tender recollection.s"of him. "I assure you I come of very humble folk," replied Donald-—"no one resembling a liands-ome young guardsman." '

I suppose it is only a coincidence."

"I rather like fclio country in-July,'' remarked Lady Wilmington. "You can have too toucli of 'Loudon, I think." Then they swept into the -drive and presently .emerged upon .the sweep in front of the house. Two young men were standing on the terrace to greet the arrivals. Lady Wilmington clutched Lady Glaaebreok's arm.

j Donald made a quick step forward a, s Lady Wilmington was speaking. 'He rushed to Sylvia's assistance. She had stumbled as she was running •lip the steps that led to the terrace" | "Oh!" exclaimed the astute lady to herself. "Well •of all the fools' trick for Dora to Ixy guilty of! Sho who prides herself on lier knowledge of the world! Whatever induced her to send a young man like that down to Glazebrook? I'll wager anything they are .in love with each other! They are 'a. handsome young couple. 'Theftbeauty lifts them out of the common, j And he rejoices in the name of Lavender—a nobody! And -sho Sylvia j Glazebrook!" j "We are now in the hands of the enemy," said the young girl laughingly, as Donald approached.

"Dora, who is thai?" she cried. "That?" asked the other. "Why, that is Glazebrook and his tutor. Were you asking about the tutor? Yes, he is a very (handsome yoiuig mail."

"The enemy does not .seem ferocious'," lie answered.

"But it is Fotheringav come to life again! It must be Fotheringay!" cried Lady Wilmington.

"Xo ) hut a trifle uninteresting—a little middle-aged—hut I do not suppose in other intends me to have much to do with them. Perhaps, though, she might like me to dine with them." "I suppose dinner will take two hours?" .

"His name is Layender," said Lady Glazebrook prosaically —"Donald Lavender, and he -'js a nobody and comes from nowhere, although ho is wonderfully handsome. He /lias improved, too, since lie came to iis. Did you say ho was like Fotheringav ? Do you know that was what Sir Arthur Damian said?" "Arthur Damian was Tony's best friend," said Lady Wilmington. "T am about eight years older than you, my dear, .and 1 remember Tony as if it had been yesterday. I am not sure that he did not give me a very great heartache. And when lii,s fol■lie.s drove him to such a tragic end T don't think there was any woman acquaintance of his in England who would net have .sacrificed all her jewels to have got him out of his trouble. We all thought he was too harshly condemned. Of course lie took the money, but he never meant to steal it. He was too da zed with the blow that girl dealt him to know what he waft doing." They were now at the foot of the terrace. Glazebrook came down, and his tutor followed at a little distance. "How do you do, Mr Lavender?" said Lady Glazehrook,, after she had greeted her son. "! am very -well, thank you," he said', smiling down at her. She wa® very pretty, and it seemed absurd to think of Iter as Sylvia's mother. "Mother, will you introduce MiLavender to Lady "Wilmington?" said Lord Glazebrook.

"Quite,". she said, with a sly look nfc several of the substantial figures round her. "Tt must bo dreadful when one thinks hopefully, or tho inverse, about one's dinner. While they gorge themselves tho birds are singing in the woods. Does it not seem strange how so many words can exist together at the samo time?" "Yes," he answered, "and more than you have any conception of."

It had been on Ladv Wilmington's tongue to say that she had known Mr Lavender's father well, but now, when she looked at iliim closely, she ■saw that tlio young man',s expression was different from Tony iFotheringav's. There was a seriousness in his face that Tony's had lacked.

She said a few pleasant words to Donald as she waited for the next carriage to draw up. Sylvia was in it with three other ladies, who wore greeted by Glazebrook. Donald did not leave Lady Wilmington's side, however. He found himself quite at ease with this pretty woman of fashion. She was elderly, too, and it was quite clear that she

(To be Continued.)