CHAPTER V.—(CONTINUED.)

Waikato Times, Volume XXV, Issue 2039, 1 August 1885, Page 5 (Supplement)

CHAPTER V.—(CONTINUED.)

How he remembered thoie words in after years, when strong will could not befriend him and determination wad of no use. •• Alice," he said, gently, " close your eyes and try to sleep." "To al«ep 1 She could have laughed at the words. To sleep, with all this wonder stirring in her heart — uleep, on the very threshold of fate ! It was aot possible ; yet the idea of ditobeying him never occurcd to her mind. She closed her eyea, and he believed •he slept. She had read wonderfnl old German legends, ■he had read of miracles ; but nothing that ■he could remember was half so etrange to bet as her own story. Only yesterday she had baen thinking of her future, and she had decided that her life would have to be one of very hard work and very little pleasure ; now, how changed all was. She wai dazed and bewildered, as one who, after being long in utter darkness, cornea suddenly into brilliant light. To do her justice, jmt then she did not remember his worldly rank — she never thought of it ; she waa lo&t in wonder that she should ever ba hi* wife 1 She never said to herself that she ihould be Lady Caredale ; but, looking at him, she wondered if he would ever love her as she loved him. She forgot her parents and the doctor ; to her their journey from Lavladen to London was like going from one world to another. Believing she slept, Lard Carsdale allowed himself to do what he had nut done before — that is, think ; not that any amount of thought could change his fixed purpose. There is a state of mind that the French call exultee —it expressed his ; he wan exalted far above all common seiue, all prudence. H« laid to himself that the honor of a woman wu concerned, and when snob waa the «aie, a man must think of nothing else save that woman. He forgot, in theas heroio notions, all that he owed to his parents, his rank, and position ; he did not stop to think how much he owed sooiety or horn* ; imagined himulf a hero going to do a great action. " Thm are men," he thought to himself, " who would have flung away iuoh a heart as this, who would have gong off, only too pleased to free th«matlv«f from blame, without oaring what the woman they had led into the error had to suffer for it ; men who would bava boaited of the eonqueat, and numbered it among the light flirtations of a light life." Not ao a Caradele— they were real gentlemen, all of them. To tall the truth of our hero, 1m thought more of himself than he did of Alice ; be waa not in love with her, but he waa certainly in lov« with his own actions, in lov« with his owa magnificent sens* of honor, with his own nobility of obaraoter. He would not listen to this suggestions of prudence or common mom ;if any idea adverse to bis present plans oooured to him, ha thrust it away angrily. " I am doing my duty," be said, haughtily ; " I am saving a woman's honour ; lam sacrificing my future to save a girl's iai* name." It was the way he chose to look at it, and there wm no one to show him die other side of the picture, or place the matter fairly and justly before him. Morning was dawning when they reached London. •< We will go direct to the Empress," he ■aid : " that is one of tht best hotels in London. Yon will be very comfortable there, Alioe. I jhall gat a special lioenae the first thing in the morning, and we shall be married by noon. The next soene was the large hotel. Alioe wu amazed at its vast grandeur; she was even more amazed at the nonohalanoe and dignified ease of Lord Oarsdale— he did not stand the least in awe of those imposing-look-ing waiters, " dressed," thought Alice In her simple fashion, " like gentlemen." He was not awed by the smart-looking ohambermaid ; but than bo wm a hero, and thai accounted for everything, said AHce to herself. Lord Carsdale ordered all that she required ; then, with a warm pressure of the hand and a low bow, be bade her adieu for a time. " Are you not going to remain here ? " the asked. " No," he replied ; « it will be better not. I shall be with yon by half -past ten in the morning." She was so oompletely tired oat that she fell into a deep sleep, and did not waken tin the sun poured, warm and bright, into her room ; then she woke to the sudden recollection that this waa her weddinsday. It wu a very pale, beautiful face reflected in the mirror ; there were strange, half- sad depths in the blue eyes, strangely sweet, half • sad smiles on the beautiful lips. Lord Oarsdale might have searched England ov«r before he ooald have found a tnxtv bride. Perhaps he thought so when he aaw her, for a tender smile made his face handsomer than ever when he greeted her. I have the license," he said. "We have no time to lose; there can be no marriages after 12 at noon. Ii it— true ? " she said, looking up at him with sweet, wondering eyes. •" Ii what true, Alioe ? I do not understand." "Is it true that we are to be married— you and I? Ii it really true?" " This looks strangely like it," he replied, smiling, übe showed the license. " Victoria, greeting—" he said ; " who shall say nay ? I am sorry, Alice," be continued, " that we havo not time to gel yon a pretty dress to be mar-

Ir el in. We rnudt have the wedding drer?. 1 nk« r (be wedding. See, there ia one thing I did not forget." He shoved her a small brown morocco o»eo ; she had not the least idea what it contained. 1 Open it," said Lord Carsdale. She did so, and there saw & ring of plain, thick gold. " A wedding-ring I " cried Alioe. " Certainly," he replied. " You could not be married without a ring, oould yon ? " Sic was looking at it with wonder and amuze, with awe, not unmixed with fear. As she looked the tears filled her eyes. " I cannot believe that this is for me," she said ; " not really for me 1 " " No one else will ever wear it, Alice," he replied, touched with her emotion. It was very pleasant to him, this power of playing on the strings of a human heart, this power of creating tears or smiles by a word, this sense of protection, this knowledge th&t another depended on him. While Alieo repl iced the ring in the case, it was well for hor that she did not know what the weight of that wedding ring would be. Then through all her life she retained a faint,, dazed dream of a large, dim, cold, etone church, with dingy pillars, and an elderly dei gy man, with a thin, worn face, and white hair. Of the marriage service she remembered but little ; the sweet, solemn words that bound her for life, the terrible vow that, no matter what she suffered, must never be broken — all seemed to her like the faint, sweet musio of a dream. She did not seem to recover her full consciousness until they had left the ohurob ; and Lord Carsdale, looking with kindly pity at the pale, beautiful face, said, h&lf- proudly : " You do not rogretyour trust in me, Alice, my wife ? And now that you are my wife, I have much to say. We will not return to the Empress; we will go to the London Bridge Hotel. I will tell you why when we are there."