CHAPTER XXVI.—(Continued.)

Waikato Times, Volume XXV, Issue 2063, 26 September 1885, Page 5 (Supplement)

CHAPTER XXVl.— (Continued.)

Hho m »o"e many friend, too. At fir=-t iiLi'lamn's | u^'l" J'<vl *foud rl'.of from the quii't, gentle K>rl, W J> > nevtr hpiatbd of either iftnk or w»«hii. At' fint tbpy called her ai. ii|f4t%rt, and lot l"l down upon her, but >.' r n'l uullr that id".* d'ed away; nho wan po q- i.ilo, no kin' 1 , to c iiibidcratc, nlwuya willing i» )u-!j) ev-ry on« *n tlwir lit'la riilliculties, »Ua^B willing to li r f< ■! to a lovui's *t<,ry and to «vnipatliizp. M^y and vrrioi)^ weie U.e love-fitorir* h flout At MUdame RoubtrtV. Couktante Einn.gliaui, the trautifnl dauf'isrr of a wealthy iu<ii<i'il«, lud a «r»md love story — a trugrdy, in which her cousin, h handsome young (riptain, wth ixithu*}' bus Jim pay, tiUyod a c msidcrtibJu }'iwt ; tlitre wm pretty, uoiiuatunh Lima Lraoungtan, who had been out of th>* way nt a hopeluawly handsome unJ-ih'pir.Hii, about whom dho talked incc.«sanll> ; Inu'sc Li Villicio, who had been through tho ugomes of n hopfleos atcachmeut to a rei^neur of tho old school. It wa<? only natiir/il tb«t among all thes" girls, whose experience in <he courtn of Cupid win of no variotu a na(ai«, Alice should hour an inuaeivb deal (hae was at once painful and pleaKnnt. Sne heard ntorics thnl: jQilud her with envy of bow tbe?« Morn loved- how one roce every mornin,< at "ix, co th-it he might got h«r with his owd hands flowen> for bin ladylove — how another had thoagl t nothing of a gallop fff fifteen railea for the «nke of onB minute rpent with tha j-iil he loved— how another had gone through jwrils of all kinds, through perrecution and fafi\no, embarra«Hincnts of all descriptions, in oi^cr to show his lov? for the one he had chorcn. I r ic!ecd, a boardingrcbool for yonDg ladies may in many inutances be cansidered \n\te a hotbed of lore. Alica heard bo much tliore of love and lovers that her iden*? were runch enlarged on the point. She raw more plainly that Lord Cirsdaln had puied her, had likod her, buf liad never loved )n r. If all thene storiot were true, and lotb wmk'd sne-h wonderu in monV minds, then indeed had no love been given her. Madame Eonbart'a pupils liked her very much indeed ; thry all thought hrr the duujjhfM of Jome country pquire, and Ali."c had fense enough and caurht np the ppint of Uie piece pulticuntly to Uhikratand lhat tlu lf-»« «hp said of hnr ho»no aiid lier *ur/ound in«i tho bfttpr. More thun onoo fha hoard the name of WaMr ye of Ejscccath and Lord C<irfrdale. Ore cf the yoi.ng ladioi— Jennie Tring— had an plder sifter, r blonde beauty. who admired thp h« ir of Evueneath veiy much ; indeed Mi^s Tu'n^ hfA repolved that, if po«nible, ihn intended to bo Cannteuß of Waldrore. Jennie talked quite frankly of the chance that her tJßter hud of puccpss, while Ahc« rat qnite still, wondering what thry would nay if they know that in the years to come she would he Counh 33 of Weldrove — what they would have swd jf they had known that the fair haired, txert ficpd girl, who was« only jndgp<l from h» r quiet tx'enor, was in reality Ludy Cart- dale. Time parecd ol— Alice marie tbo bbut of it She worked hard ; Mio wa^ ho quick ard sc kern of pprcptirn th».t in a phorf time sbp bad acquired all the outwa r d semblance of a perfect lady, in .<n« vt .r from the time she hud fi«t entered Biubart'd it would have been nhuo-t inp^ s-iblp to rewg nißo her; hrr carriage, htr mauner, her whole bearing bid so co'nplelply oliangcd. She was now nnn of r.tadmue's favorite pupils. Sbo ler) rnuly hr<ml "fiom hf r bushand ; when «he aid so, it was min-ly a fuw \ bastlly.written lined, fajinjj that all wai «rell at Gib ultar, and hoped tW, she v>m v.pII at hotue— never wjco than that, never l«8c B*ie received hpr mont v >- j i<uJfirly, avA th< incnino that: in 11 is kinJk ss of h ait Lord Carfdalo had proimi'er! to 'he T)-iw>-r\',4 wa« regularly poid U> th'rr>. li Jjhn D^rv/enf and his wife h;d ono greater Bourcf of wonder than r^ott.pr jr. v,a", that their (idUßhter, now t nu sha had money, should oare to live at school. They wonderc<i lliat thp 'lid not cr.re rather tohaveroomi in soin^ pr tty tca-m<)e (Hhco, and enjoy her«e!', is Uitv would imve dune under tho circuni-tanf^c. So 111 1 fa ran on *>moothly and p*ily rnoii^b for all of them. Lnd Carr-dalrt wi»« for nnrnp tiine quite tncl ai'Ud with hn Lie; hir military dutios, <:.ciinli aivrocltij, (he novel and boau'iful >cen)ry (he p'j-'.i «t>, half romantic »ty!o of fvrrj-lbi. q dcli»'bf<>d hiia — it wiw all raw, 1 H|imn', und onl'ghtfui ; hr had in him j mi. enouxii ot romance to lovr anything raihfr out of the oomuion line, nnn at first he was enclmntid vriih bin life. Hs forgot all about hin rbarn-gein tbe c«rel«§ buoyancy of his opirit; he threw off all thought of th« bondage that heid him until hid Uwyer's letieip, siatenoent of acoonnts, brought it to hi« romd ; then rtmfmb(ring it, be would iiyb deeply. What a simpleton h" had been— how he bad marred his life ; the npxt cigar would lose its flavor, the next p^capada wonld full dull and flat, then gradully he would foiypfcit •gain, and enter into tho wild excitement of ft military life. Yet, beneath this carelfsness— though af fcGr a time he forgot even the outlines of his youDg wi/a'u facp, though the Bound of hsr voic« faded from him ami left him, though he had almost ceaoed to rempmber how it was and why he had married her — there wan in his mind an undercurrent of bitterness, a Mnse of bondage, a keen pain that deigned as the dayi wore, »Dd the face of Eih-1 Tiorpont grew erery day dearer and dearer to him. A mam of intoltxablo bondage irritated

hi.n, a th< ujh N j '. >)M>r; x t to litllo of bs* <»'f« thn 1 Via q.i.tr e-a-wl to t-n'iriM't t!»i* iVioa^bJ wi h I.m. iF» tri*'' to drowa it, to •i!']? Ik a* much is he eonld, hut it returned ftp»in and a<raln— it irritated him, it took the brgStnr ss from Lh heart, yak he wfta your.R fu.d Eang;iiine; 3"« years p*tni6d * lonsj tnn« ; ruirHole or otl>«r ran** happen in Ihit time It wan not hi« freedom to which he looked forward with fcuis hop*, thn thought, thu wM.. the dene, the hopf ih»t Ailic fhoH)d die wa' ftg rt-raote from hiß rrind as unytlxin^ coull be ; it was fi vain, intangiblfe kir»«l of Bom'< thing that would p,ive him Lady Ethel— thai should undo thi* marriaun th^t ho bftd ho litfle considered, «"O little rtiousht of. A.i time woro on the fac 1 ; of hia marriage faded more and more from his mind. Ba» for the realities of kho iaeompa ho had juaraD teed, all would have neeim-d to him a dream It is not so wonderful when one remember* that he s&w so lntle of his wife, that ho had only married her to sivo her from tho con s^qlr nee-i of her own folly and hia imprndence in taking her to tho regatta. Mnr.fi than once ho said to hirnnclf that wher ho hud time ho vrould po to England and fco if it; could not pofaibly be uudone. After all it seeiied half absurd that a few wurd-i, such as he had uttered, ihould bind him for h'V, when neither heart, head, nor will went with it. "A mistakpn mnvrisge," ho heard the wordi over and over again in hia mind before tb3 incident f ided from him. Whenever hi? thoughts reverted to hia return home it was on W> Eihel they rested ; he never, even in hi i imagination, saw himself returning to his yo I'-g wife, Ai!:p. H - rirno i)tn-ed with him, while for Lady EUr! thpio was quite another phase. Lady Picrpont w&m growing dissatisfied with her ; "hn wondered what could possess her. One brilliant effpr after another was made to her, and *'t.f> refused it. Ah Lady Pierpont Baid to her,eo f, " tho girl might as well have been plain." ll< re v?as the loveliest woman in Europe — prince?, dukes, and earls, all sighing for her, while to all of them she turned a deaf ear. Kf>c refused some of the best matohes in Europe, aud Lady Pierpont wea almost in dfsjuiir ovor it. " Wnat (/.) you mean, Ethel ? " phe said to her one da\ . "My dear, lam very anxious over yuu. You send away one eligible man after 'another. I must nsk you for whom are yon waiting ? " "For whom, mamma? That would be difticult to tell. Tor tb.2 riyht person, I should imagine." Lady Hcrpont looked very grave. " If you have not met him yet," Bhe replifd, " I shall betjin to fear that you will not meet him at all." Lidy Ethel luivhed, and if in that laughter there was a sad rim:, like the minor key in a boautifal haimony, the ambitious mother never pa caved it.