What it Cost.

Waikato Times, Volume X, Issue 570, 15 January 1876, Page 1 (Supplement)

What it Cost.

' And if I should prove false to you ?' Her eyes sparkled with all the perversity of the spoiled beauty ttat she waa. A sudden pallor overspread Albert Holdens face, and he drew Grace Thornleigh into his arms, as if his heart were smote with the fear that even now some untoward fate might despoil it of its one jewel. Don't speak so, pet,' he said. 'It makes me dizzy to even think of such a contingency ' ' < h you foolish Bertie/ laughed his sweetheart, ' f'ow could 1 care for anybody after having loved you ? But T suppose I have been such an awful flirt that you are afraid—, 'Of nothing !' interrupted her lover. ( And you can trust me, notwithstanding the force of habit ?' 'Trust you? — with my life — aye, more than that, with my honor !' Grace gazed into the earnest face that bent over hers, and thought what a strong nature w&s there, and what a power to move it lay in her hands. Presently she said, with a sort of wondering look in her eyes : ' Bertie, did you ever care for any one before you knew me ?' ' 0 yes,' he said, patting her cheek, 'I have 'cared' for a great many people.' ' But did you ever love any other woman — just a little bit ?' she persisted. He smiled at her way of putting it, and then his face grew grave, and he replied : ' My life has not been without its friendships for both men and women ; but, until you taught me, I never knew what it was to love.' Ihe earnest tenderness with which he uttered the last words put to rest she then supposed for ever, any lurking, question there may have been in her mind as to her possessing his first and undivided love. One day she said to him : ' Bertie, why did you start so to-day at the mention of Mr. Hildreth's name? and I thought you looked \exed. Do you know him ?' ' Yes, I have met him,' answered Albert, in a manner that showed that the subject was distasteful to him. ' "Who is be ?' asked Grace, with awakening curiosity. 'A gentleman whom I would not care to see associated with one in whom I had an interest. How beautiful the sunset is becoming,' was the evasive answer. ' But why, Bertie ?' persisted Grace, ignoring his last remark. h e turned his eyes upon her, with a look of quiet surprise, and said . ' ( annot we select a more interesting topic of conversation ?' ' 1 thought it sufficiently interesting, or I should not have questioned you,' she said, with a pretty pout of her lips. ' But I suppose I must learn not to pry • into your secrets.' A slight flush tinged his cheek at her perversity, but he replied : 'Itis no secret. I sought to avoid the subject only because it is a painful one' He paused, but she twirled her fan andjooked off at the sunset in a way that showed that she was not at all satisfied, and after a slight struggle he resumed : 'The person to whom you have referred has proved himself unworthy the respect of an honest man by his — his infamy !' Bis flashing eye and the cadence of deep feeling in his voice smote Grace with a little pant; of remorse. ' Forgive me, Berfcie/ehe said, throwing her arms about his neck . ' t wa» foolish in me to insist upon having my own way and to pain you so. of course the matter is of no importance to me.' VV hy did he not explain then ? It would have been so easy, when the subject was fully broached ; and what wretchedness might it not have prevented, had the matter been cleared up. Indeed, he was on the point of continuing, when she stopped his lips with a kiss. ' JSot another word,' she said. ' Show that you lore me by again, yielding to my wishes.' A nd he said no more. We next see our heroine on the eve of her departure for a fashionable watering-place. She and Albert stood on the verandah, looking out on the moon-lit lawn. ' t wish you were going with us, Bertie sac said, wistfully, with her hand on his shoulder. 'Business before pleasure, ma petite,' he replied, smiling. 'They that toil and s[,in can't always give the rein to their inclinations. But then, dearest, we shall be within a day of each other ; and you must write me long, loving letters — will you ? And I will run down to you, for a week or two, at the end of the season ' ' I vote business a bore,' she said, a little pettishly. ' Business is to the lilies of our oeart like sunlight to the lilies of the field, 1 he replied. t-he looted up into his face with a sudden gleam of tenderness, as she thought all this toil and sacrifice of pleasure was for her. Then she prenied her cheek to hii arm in a

mute expression of gratefulness. Ir the quiet and moonlight a gentle influence stole over them, and theii hearts were drawn nearer each other than ever before. Was there a premonition of coming evil in the feehug that made them cling to each other then? The last farewells were said. Grace had hung upon her lover's neck in tear 3, in all the wretchedness of a first parting. Then came the swift coursing over the iron rails, the hurried greeting of summer-day friends, and she was plunged into all the gayetie? of fashionable life at a modern summer resort. ' Miss Thornleigh, are you acquainted with Mr Kildreth? Is it impossible that you have never met?' That was Grace's introduction to the man who had ' forfeited the respect of all honest men by his infamy.' The announcement was so unexpected, that she with difficulty preserved countenance. f*he found "herself bowing to a man of moat prepossessing exterior, and his subsequent conversation and demeanor proved him in no degree lacking in gentlemanly polish. |

Mr Hiidreth s intimacy with her friends brought Grace constantly into his company. Prom the first he bore himself toward her with that respectful attention which was besfc calculated to disarm any prejudice against him. t-he found herself unconsciously treating him with less coldness than she had expected she would show to one who met with the disapprobation of her lorer, and blushed that she should question whether there were just grounds for Albert's condemnation of Mr Hiidreth in its full extent. One day the papers were full of an important suit, whose success was mainly due to the effective advocacy of Albert Holden. Grace's heart beat high with pride at the flattering tributes to her lover's abilities a3 a rising lawyer. , ' 1 tell you what it is, sis/ said G uy i Preston, tossing the paper into his sister's lap. ' Holden has made a big hit. "While drones like myself are spending their substance in riotous living up here in the country, he is in town, carving out name and fame, and all that sort of thing. I always envy those iudustrious fellows, but am too constitutionally weary to emulate them.' 'How frank of you to acknowledge it ISo one would suspect it, otherwise,' laughed his sister, looking up at him, as he languidly reclined in his chair, spearing the vine leaves with his cane. 'By the way, Guy, what was the trouble between Mr Holden and Mr. Hiidreth ? It seems to me that 1 remember hearing something about a misunderstanding.' ' I believe there was something of the sort,' said Guy, not much interested. 1 "What was it about ?' pursued his sister. Grace threw her handkerchief over her face and leaned back in her chair, to prevent her countenance from betraying the interest she felt in the answer. ' tteally can't say,' replied Guy, carelessly. ' Never got at the particuUrs ; but believe there was a woman in the case — you know there always is. By the way, here comes Hiidreth again. ' X alk of angels, etc ' Grace was glad of the precautions she had taken, for the blood that surged up into her cheeks could hardly have escaped notice. There was an unusual brightness in her ejes as she as she Irew the handkerchief from her face when Mr. Hiidreth came up, saying: ' h ! ' Sleepy Hollow/ May I share your retreat?' Was it possible Bhe held the key to Albert's dislike for Vl r Hiidreth? She looked at him as he threw himself into a seat beside Miss Preston and began to fan himself with his hat. Grace was forced to acknowledge that he would be a formidable rival to any man for She favour of most women. ' Has the fame of the new hero reached you, Mr. Hiidreth?' asked Miss Preston, who, f>r the nonca, let her love for the stU'ly of the human countenance under different emotions override the promptinga of womanly delicacy. ' ITes,' replied Mr. Hiidreth quietly, and added: ' I have considered Mr. Holden a gentleman of no little ability.' That speecU won for the speaker a higher place in Grace's esteem than any other single act could have done. She came to the mental conclusion that whatever had been the cause of quarrel between Mr. Hiidreth and her lover, the former was not knowingly to blame That evening she heard voices beneath her window. Two gentlemen were having a quiet stroll and smoke. Guy Preston was speaking. ' By the way, Hiidreth, how did you and Holden come to fall out ? He's a jolly fellow, ain't he ? Only a little ■trait-laced; don't hand round the bowl you know, and that sort of thing ' Grace waited with breathless interest for the answer. It came after a moment's hesitation. ' Why, I believe he thought I diverted the affection of a lady in whom he felt interested. Of course, it was wholly unpremeditated on my part, if the lady experienced a preference for me-—' In the spasm of pain that convulsed her heart the undercurrent of irony that ran through the gentleman's tone passed unobserved by Grace, aud as they paiaed round the comer of the

building she did not hear the conclusion of the sentence : ' which modesty forbids me to credit.' Had she heari it, the sneering sarcism might hay been a revelation to her of the sp c ake> Nor did she hear Guy chuckle am iterate : j lOf course, you injured innocence ! 'So that was why h lbert was so biftei against this man. And he had told her that ' although he had bad friendships with both men and women yet, until she had taught him, he bad never known what it was to love.' She had not detected the equivocation in his words ; but now she groaned in spirit I as Bhe repeated to herself, ' friendships ' with women !' When next Mr Hildreth met Grace, there was a change in her that made iiim open his languid eyes wider than svas his wont. He began to study her closer. He analyzed her looks, he" conversation, her manner, but could fasten upon noth ng tangible. Stili there was a charm about her that had □ever impressed him before. Finally he concluded chat the change must be in himself; yet he felt surprised that this pearl could have lam so long under his eye unobserved. little by little they became more intimate, until ere long, almost unconsciously to both, they were seldom out of each other's society. Not that Grace remitted a jot of her loyalty to Albert. She would have been shocked at such a thought. She wrote to him even more regularly than before ; but it never occurred to her to analyze the motive that prompted this. W hen she thought of the displeasure it would cause i lbert to know of her intimacy with Mr Hildreth, she excused herself on the plea that Albert had certainly misjudged him ; then a dull pain would begin tugging at her heart, and would drive her from the solitude of her room to the incessant whirl of society, where she found Mr h ildreth ever ■ waiting with an unexceptionable delicacy of attention Day by day she felt herself being drawn further into a maelstrom whose giddy vortex she dared not contemplate. She longed for Albert, and one day went so far as to write a long, pleading letter begging him to come to her. Then, in an agony of despair Bhe tore it into a thousand pieces. If albert answered her summons how could she explain so extraordinary a letter, and how could she conduct herself toward Mr Hiltiretb in the presence of her affianced husband? As she thought of it she began to dread Albert's coming as much as she before desired it. The only refuge from herself and her wretched thoughts lay in what began to seem an inevitable fate. bhe knew that she did not care a straw for this man, and yet — and yet — . And at this point Bhe lay back on her pillow with closed eyelids, through which the tears would force their way. and felt utterly miserable. It was at this time that Mr Hildretb was one night walking the beach alone. He seemed unconscious ot the wind that blew the salt spray into his face with stinging force as the tide came in. He kept chewing the end of an unlit cigar, and spitting the tobacco from his mouth. Sometimes he frowned and clenched his hand ; and then the muscles would relax, the hard lines disappear from bis face, and in their place would come a look of tenderness ' 1 have always come off un>,cathed until now,' he muttered. ' Cum> them ' they have all tried to catch me hitherto." /* nd after a little, ' M oney ! money!' And a bi "er sneer curled his lip, and a cruel look gleamed in hn. eye ' v hen he threw the fragment of the cigar impatiently from him, and strode off toward the hotel. With all the professional laurels he had gained, there was a vague unhap piness stealing over Albert Hold^n ' One day he caught himself critically b udying Orace's letters. Then a crimson blush of shame leaped to hie brow, at the half-fo mcd suspicion that there could be any change in her. It was while he was in thin mood that a friend called upon him Albert remembered only one item in his friend's budget of news from the seaside; and that burned and seared itself into' his brain so that it could never be effaced. 'By the way, Miss Thornleigh is in her old line of trade fche has Hildreth on the string now ; and the j general impression seems to be that it is about 'tother and which. You know he's an old stager.' After his friend was gone, all unconscious of the mine he had Bet in train, Albert sat at his desk, a preternatural calm upon him, and only the ghastly pallor of bis face, the clammy ooze that stood on brow aud lip, and the stony glare of his eye telling of theconvulsion that was goingon within. For hours he sat thus, and then he took from a drawer a email silver- j mounted pistol, aud haviug seen that i all the chambers were loaded, thrust it into his breast-pocket. In that long meditation Albert had before his mind the picture of a youug life blighted by the selfish folly of a man He thought of a young girl whom his mother has brought u|) as her own, for whom he had felt a brotherly attachment — nothing more — and with whose affections t harlps Hildreth had trifled for a summer's amusement, 'lheu fohowed thoughts that turned his heart into a consuming fire and shut heaven and humanity out from his soul. Ihe criiii was come. Hildretb. had

led Grace out from the heated ballroom to the cool retreat of a summerlouse. Then the tide of hi- emotion* leaped its bounds. He thiew fnmself it her feet and poured into her ear h» story of his love. This man who lad \isited all the allurements of jeauty ; .who, until now, hid seemed •vithout a heart, was like some mountain reservoir that lies for years in placid tranquility, but when the barriers are beaten down rushes forward, bearing death and destruction in its resistless torrent. Grace struggled in vain ; she was borne away in the rash of his passion, and before she could prevent it he held her in his arms and was raining kisses on her face. 1 hen, as a shadow darkened the door-way, she tore herbeif from his embrace, and leaped to her feet with a piercing scream. tiildreth turned to be confronted by a man with a face like that of a frowning Nemesis. There was a horrible smile on that ghastly countenance. The lips moved, and a voice that curdled the b ood of his hearers said : 4 Do you remember asking me ' w hat if you should prove false to me ?' Behold !' There wag a ringing report, and Charles Hildreth fell without & *<fen. 'Are yoa answered? But tLypis not all,'" said the man with an icy laugh, as he carried the weapon toward his head. There was a woman's scream that pierced every heart in the densely thronged ball room and grounds. ' Bertie ! Bertie !' She sprang forward and caught his arm, but it was too late The pistol exploded, and in the ghastly forms before her Grace lliornleigh baw the coat of a flirtation.