CHAPTER XXXVI.— ONCE MORE RISKING IT.

Waikato Times, Volume V, Issue 284, 7 March 1874, Page 3

CHAPTER XXXVI.— ONCE MORE RISKING IT.

* You we the gentleman from Mcsts Ross nnd Raby, whom Mr Qnentin is expecting. I think?' said Miriam, as Mr Clissold made her a formal bow. Her first gltuicc at tho confidential clerk gave her reassuring results. The solo expression of him, in physiognomy and figure, was stolidity. There was no reason to fear his penetmting observation on her appearance, dress, or demeanour. His dull protuborant ejes restt d on lier without seeming to her, and not a muscle in ber red fnen moved If ho had found her weeping violently, or pra<Hwing the last valse step, attired in the brown robe of a Carmelite nun, or arrayeu in the tulle and apanglei of an opera-dancer, it Would hare been all the same to Mr Cliuold. He was not sent to tee her, and in any business, and therefore solely recognisable, sen^e ho did not •ee her, ' Yes, ma'am,' was his re ly. 1 1 am sorry to say Mr St . Quentin is very ill. I will inform him that ymi are herr ' 1 Thank you, ma'am. Clissold of Boss and Kaby's.' 1 Will you take a seat for a few minutes ?' she said, indicating » chair. He complied, without the least change of expression ; and Miriam weul into the bedroom. ' He has come,' she whispered, bending low towards Walter. 'I dou't think tl.ere't any risk. Il ho is what he looks, he is a mere machine.' ' Send him in,' said Walter ; and his sister, in the midst of her strongly restrained excitement and terrible suspense, was conscious that he had some sense of amusement in the plitvmg of hid dangerous part. ' Will you have the goodness to come into Mr 5t Que-ntin's room ?' said Miriam to Mr Chsaold, who wjis sitting upright on bin chair, slo»l^ knocking the edgeb of the soles of his boot.x together, mid neatly iittiugtao tips of his thumbs and forefingers into a heart-shaped pattern. ' I must bojr of you to out tlii» business matter, whate-rer it vn.iv b^, a* short as possible. He is quite unfit for business, indeed.' ' That/ replied Mr Clusold, standing up all of n piec», ' is for Mr 5t Queutin to decide. I am only «ent to receive his instructions.' Under other circumstances, Miriam would hove said 'Brute!' in her own mind, but; this particular kind of •defmitj^awrert bfr purpose- jw»t^bom-r «o she sail nothing, but preceded Mr Clisaold into the presence of his client. 'This is Mr CliBsold,' she said softly. ' I will leave h'u with you, and shall be in the next room if you want mi- — Take this chur, plea«e ' There win no questioning, no speculation in the lo>k which Mr C humid bestowed upon the client of Messrs B. >ss »nd Kaby, as he I'oinpliccl He phcod his feet in convenient contiguity for tapping, and arranged hh) finger and thumb tips into a hear^-cbaped pattern while be waited for the •ick man- to enter upon the business for which he had been •ent to Dover ! Miriam returned to the arm-chair by the fireside, and tried to remain, but she could not. On the whole, l.<?r ' nerves were wonderfully under her control, but ju*t so far I they rebelled. Slie could almost forgot whit wa3 actually beins done, at least she could free herself to a mechanical ' thinking of something el«e, while the great iket was thrre, i unconfe^n^d And she could rely upon herself to go through with all that must comn nfter until she should have peace and the full reward ; but »he could not keep her limb- still. If they were not in motion they must tremble. So the re<e, and pnc*d the room from end to end, but b*r footstep made no sound. There was a hard and constant ticking in her throat, and her lip» were dry Twice she stopped beside % table where there water n,nd glasses, and drank w iter, but still her lips and throat wert parched. Sometimes she could hear the harsh monotone of Mr Clissr.ld'i butmrsvhke voice, but the sound of the client's never reached her. After some time, the band-bell was struck, and Miriam answered the summons. Mr Clissold was writing : afc the little table. The client was lying back upon the pillows, seemingly muoh exhausted ; and the light in the room v/u dim, an hour after mid-day. Great gusts of wind and rain swept round the house with a hoarse moaning sound. • Do you want unvthing ?' asked Miriam of t l io client, who signed to Mr CliSBold to replv, and turned his head aside, breathing hurriedly. ' We chall require two persons to witness Mr St Qiientin's signature to a certain document, ma'am,' said the confidential elerk, in a tone a* unmoved and unintelligent as though he had not the smallest notion of the contents of the document* then under h)» hand. ' Very well, said Miriam. ' Shall I do for ono "• ' Well — no — ma'am ; you won't, 1 answered the confidential clerk deliberately. ' I will send two servnnts then,' said Miriam ; and turning to the siek man, she said gently : ' I suppose tou would have preferred JBolton. but, unfortunately, he is gone out, and will not be in for oouie time. Slmll I send two of the botel servant to you ?' • Yes. yes,' said the client faintly, with the impatience of an invalid about answering questions Miriam ran* the bell, and when the waiter came, she told him what was wanted. Would he and one of hi« fellowservants witness a signature tor Mr S^ Qnentm ' The man absented respectfully. One of the wmt»r* win passing at that moment, and he called him in. He hoped tin aenflen>»in was Better ; thev had understood that Dr Ashley did sty he was very poorly indeed. Miriam answered the civil inquiry with a quivering lip, and the two men went into the bedroom. Then c*m» a few minutes, which she felt she could not outiiv* twice ; and the two waiters fame out. Thev looked grave and important, and evidently icgarded her with compassionate curiosity. ' lue gentlemen is very bad, snriZ//,' said the oklc tntin — a modol of reepeotability, who wore oboes cut low, tht>t it wus a wonder he could k'>ep them on. ' If you plea«e, iniiain, are there anv orders for dinner'' Miriam managed to give some orders ; and the men, wboliy unsuspicious, left the vo»m, and exchanged confidences in the corridor to the effect that he "»a« a cle.nl too OJ I lor km- , timt shu ww< surprinnq rut up about it. ; and tlmt she wouldn't find no difficulty in providing herself with £to. 2, fur *lie wg* uncommon nice-looking. Also, that thsy didn't qare how many old parties uiadu tijuir »• ills at tbe Grand, and asked them to witness Utem, if all tbe lawyers had orders to stand a sovereign apiece, like this one, which be was to have hid lunch in the coffee room, immediate, because he was going up by the exprem. Miriam resumed her restless walk, and presently Mr Cliisold appeared, coming through the folding-doors. There v as peruap» a shade iuo<-e deference towards her perenptible in i er demeanour, a* it he diacuined in her a future cheut of importance to that ilosu ami Eaby in who«e interest* all his wooden being was merged. Again he. made t^er a formal bow, M?be stood still, lacing him. ' le your business completed, oir V she asked. 'It is, madam,' he replied, buttoning his tight coat, and. making the pre^ncr of a thifk piper ip hi- hrrn=t i>oel;et e-viaent by the process—' satiotactonly so. I wuh you good rooming, ma'am, and have uiy lc»i wishes — and those of Mc»»rb lios» andKubr — for BlrSt Qucntm'sspeedy recovery.' So laying, he went down to liie luncheon in tbe eoffe«-room, aid tl) nee to Londod by the tuyretn. ' <-»<t k, . Vn.ter, quxci,' baici Mi<iuru , ; th<: Huclor will re here lmmedistely. und Bolton Coming back, nnd I cannot kerp my va*v\ upstairs mucli longer. 1

Miriam went into the room to him, saving all this in a burst of nervous hu> % ry, which Walter understood as weU she did ; but lie did r.ot «wond it. He was weak, worn out, and unaMe to oongr lulate Mir • i Vr n Mie wonderful buoooss they had ••< hi m J •--• b-.- 1 l"i, , i. >w8h — to got away | and Miriam •><•« i *>)•■ n>< ■)' i >n ; !' ■ pa'ig i the consdouanesfl oosfc 1 i . im ti <i< ' !>">] t'u i uoulv ! ivhiqh tvould have led «. (■■ ' n-i! 'nm t? '«..«■'» in<3 ' ont fill the com >' • >hi\ ••«•'' n \» i. • w<n >i hi ; I hoaH, 'Hot yet,' sin. ' "id 1 T , mi i ;.» imothor time There is too nm t. obi b >ri i no <toi,c no', befoio 1 caa realise th -t i am '.< . , nult-pcn,.! n!, nc' am 1 nf> ' > Walter dro«A.vgl himself o Ut <> --m <ir l< »• , gtK> i ' d<!tU of vrrriA, v*7:!e 7/!.ma^. usioicd t' i luOma to thei former appearance. , This w&« harder work titan the task of thtir firat arrangement Thiough al) 'her exultation, all her plation, and the rrjurnph of her success, the overwrought norres were beginning to make thenneh'c 1 * felt ; and when she_ passed into the dead man's awful presence, to replace the ctoth«3 (he had worn but j-eaterdaj, and the golden gewgaw ■ of hi» toilot, an irrepressible shudder shook her WnH there sny chitnge in th<» fnee? Then she remembered, with a alart. to have heard that the eyes of tho dead should b«> oloe^d soon »ft<T the life had' left them, or thoy will refuae to clowj. What if those wide open ojoa •hould remain wide open in thr coffin, nnd under the cloeeptoked clay P Miriam knew she must got the remainder of her ttsk done quiokly, when such fancies u these were beginning to ware her. He had Um there too long untouched ; it wa* time he werr streaked snd •traightened for the £rare. She did not look towards the corpse, but rapidly gare tho room the appearance it h»d worn when her maid had quitted it, poured a portion of the medicine, which would havi» been admini-sternd had the patient Hyed to take it, into the fire, and rejoined Walter. He did not look up a^ahF rame in, and he ipoke withoet raising his eye?. 'Well, Miriam, this is done Mr ClioxoUl lias taken tho will vrith him to London It is a terrible thing, but I •uppose it will bo ali light ' ' I aui sure.it t*i!1 be all right, deareat Walter,' aaid ehe, in her sottest tope of persuasion : ' it is bare justice to me ; things arn different acoirdinR to Rircum»tinces. But we must not talk now. Don't you think. Walter,' she continued, suggesting the very thing her instinct told her he wished, ' it would be well for you to ea a«ay at once ? In all that I have to attend to now, I feel I i-hall be better alone. You had betfer go away on toot, out of the town ; tho rain ha* oea^pd, nnd tho wind is going Jown ; so that, if it be proposed to send for you. you may not be found. You shall hear from me'to-iuoTow ' She brought 'inn his er>nt ntid hat, and huiried him a.way He hardly spoke, hut held her tightly m Ihb arms tor awhile. Then hp loft her ; and it chanced thnt hp did not mppt any one on fie slairoase; but the porter was opening the front door to give egress to a gentleman just as Walter set toot in tho hall. Ho pnused, and waited until this gentleman had deHosnded the hteps, and turned away; and I ben, having lowurely inspected Hit stite of the barometrr, ho too went out, and turned m the opposite direction The gentleman w«s Mr Clissold, who, as Walter correctly guessed, had taken the road to the railway station