Novelist.

Waikato Times, Volume XXXI, Issue 2555, 24 November 1888, Page 1 (Supplement)

Novelist.

Marriage of Col. Lee. A STORY IN THREE CHAPTERS. BY DORA RUSSELL, Author of " Footprints in the Snow,' "Tick Broke* Seal," Beneath the Wave," &c., &c.,

CHAPTER 111,

Mrs Oliver was, however, by no means satisfied with this delay. She had overheard the greater part of the conversation between Colonel Lee and her daughter, and ghe highly dissapproved of it from beginning to end. She was, therefore, continually hinting to the Colonel that there was no possible reason why his happiness should be deferred. " Hut 1 have pressed Katie to wait,for three months," he replied after one of her usual attacks.

" Three months ! sure ye might as well mention three years! No now, Colonel dear, take my advice, make it three weeks, and sure I'll order the bride's cake tomorrow." But upon this point Colonel Lee was obdurate.

No," he said, " I have given my word, and I am not a man to go back from it. In three months I hope, Mrs Oliver, you will order the bride's cake, but till then Katie must have her own way about it." Mrs Oliver was thus fairly forced to give way, and as her custom was, she made the best of it, and during the next two months took every opportunity of showing off her future son-in-law, and amused herself by boasting to the different ladies belonging to the regiment of his devotion to her daughter. The betrothed couple also on the whole passed this time very amicably. If Katie was ever wayward and uncertain, the Colonel was always gentle and kind, and any little difference between them generally ended in the girl penitently acknowledging her error, and asking his forgiveness, which the Colonel was only too ready to

grant. Just about the beginning of the third month of their engagement a telegram arrived one day at the Silverton barracks for Colonel Lee, from his sister's medical adviser at Dunmore, summoning him at once to her side.

Miss Lee had been struck with paralysis, and lay dangerously ill, ancWfter a hasty farewell to Capt. 01i«w? and his family, the Colonel started, and found on his arrival at his sister's house, the strong hearty woman, who used to laugh afc the ailings and weaknesses of others, lying helpless and powerless, and in terrible need of the pity and assistance she once had scorned.

To Colonel Lee's gentle and pitiful nature the sight of her sufferings was inexpressibly painful. To hear the sharp familiar voice struggling to articulate a few broken words as thanks for services which she must deem so humiliating, used to wring his kindly heart; and humbly bowing his head, he would

often sit beside her, pondering mournfully on human pride, which

can orlfT so trail a barrier against the awful decrees which are sent forth to humble it. In his sorrow he had a most kind and commiserating correspondent in Katie. Whatever were this young girl's faults want of feeling was not one of them, and she sin-

cerely sympathised now with Col

Lee on his sister's unfortunate condition, and used almost daily to

send kindly messages and enquiries to the unhappy lady. These Colonel Lee with pride I and affection visible in his manner would repeat to her, in the hope of winning some love from his sister for his promised bride. But the sick woman winced even at her name. Lying there with all earthly things passing away from her powerless grasp, she yet could not bear to contemplate the degradation which awaited a Lee from such a marriage as this.

" You must learn to love her for my sake, Ann," said Colonel Lee gently to her one evening. "It is for your sake that I cannot," answered Miss Lee, and the Colonel only sighed over her inveterate prejudice and pride. About a week after her first attack, she rallied considerably, and her speech became greatly restored and Colonel Lee, who was growing anxious to see Kate again, proposed to her he should return to Silverton for a couple of days. " I only wonder you have stayed with me so long," said Miss Lee, and then looking into his face, she added—"After I am gone, Austin you will sometimes think of my words, and know that I was right about this girl." Somehow this speech of his dying sister's haunted Colonel Lee during the whole journey to Silverton. He could not divest his mind of it, though he told himself it was alike unjust and cruel to Katie to remember it for one moment, and yet do what he might, the uneasy consciousness of it remained.

He reached the Redford Station, which is about two miles distant from the town of Silverton, where his regiment was quartered, about nine in the evening, and as he had sent no orders for anyone to be waiting for him, or signified his intention of returning, he left his portmanteau in charge of the stationmaster, and proceeded on foot across the fields in the direction of the town. It was a fine moonlight night, and so still that every sound could be heard at a considerable distance, and just as he had approached the suburbs of Silverton, and was about to enter the last field before reaching them, he was startled to hear a woman crying bitterly on the other side of the high hedge which stood by the path where he was. To the cry of distress Colonel Lee was ever ready to listen, and he paused and listened with ready sympathy to it now. The next minute, however, his cheek grew pale, and his breath came short, for distinct and clear the voice of a man, in tones of passionate entreaty, broke upon his ear. " Don't, don't my Katie, my darling, don't cry like that," said the voice. " You shall not do it yet, no, I swear you shall not. I will not stand by and see your heart utterly broken."

" But I must, Willie, I must," answered another voice, which Colonel Lee knew only too well. " I have promised. Oh ! why, why, did we ever love each other like this !"

As Colonel Lee heard these words, a sort of faintness seemed to steal over him, and he stood spell-bound and still, while the two lovers, unconscious of his vicinity, told each other all their sorrow and their love.

" Curse him !" said the young man vehemently, and apparently stamping with his foot on the ground. " What right had a man of his age—an old man like him, to think of you, If he were standing there, Kate," he added fiercely, " I think I would kill him before he should part us now." " No,'no." answered Kutie Oliver's voice, fondly and softly. " No, my darling, do not say that. He is so good and so kind. I could have loved him dearly, Willie, if I had not loved you."

"You had better begin then," replied the young man in an angry tone. I'll be gone and away for ever in a week, and won't interfere with your grand match any more." "Oh ! Willie, how can you ! How can you say that ? You don't know all I have suffered. I have felt like a cheat and a liar from the beginning ) but svhat could I do ? I dare not tell him the truth ; and I felt it was no use, Willie—no earthly use " and again loud sobs interrupted her utterence.

" Could you not wait V' asked the young man. " But we are so poor—so very poor," said Katie in a broken voice. " Mamma says papa really cannot afford to keep us ; and it seemed no use to struggle against them all. Oh ! if we had only a little money, Willie—only two thousand pounds —we might go away together, and would be happy, I am sure, wherever we went." After Katie had said this, with a sort of quivering sigh, Colonel Lee roused himself, and began to walk slowly forward. There was a gate a few yards further on, which opened into the field were Katherine Oliver and her lover were, and when Colonel Lee

reached it, he leant heavily against it, and put his hand to his forehead, like a man who has had a sudd' n shock.

He could hear the murmur of their voices as he stood ; could understand the scene, and the words he had heard, only too well. This then was the young O'Donnell Katherine had loved—the cousin which poverty had parted her from, and for whose sake she was coming to his arms an unwillling bride. Perhaps ten minutes elapsed, and then he lifted up his grave lined face, and looked for a moment or two steadily at the serene and cloudless sky. In those minutes a struggle and a victory had taken place in his heart, for the next he opened the gate, and walked on towards the cousins, who started and stood a little apart as he approached them ; while Katherine gave a faint shriek as he drew near, and she recognised him in the moon-light. I " Katherine," said he addressing her, " Why have you deceived me thus V' For a moment the poor girl made no reply, and then she caught hold of his unwilling hand. " I've been a bad girl," she cried, "bad and wicked to you; I know that very well, but don't think worse of me than I am. Willie is going away—Willie and I only met to-night to say good-bye ! " " And you would marry me still, then ?" said Colonel Lee, slowly, and looking at Katherine with momentary indignation. " You, who love your cousin as you should have loved me! "

"Sir," said young O'Donnell, hotly and haughtily, " Kate loved me before she ever saw you; loved me since she was a little girl. There is no blame due to her ; it was her mother, not herself, forced her into any engagement with you." " Yet I offered to release her," said Colonel Lee, quietly. " Why, Katherine, did you deceive me then ? "

"I—l—would have married you," said Katherine, hesitatingly, and looking down. "I am not going to marry Willie—he is going away—going to Australia. We are too poor to marry."

" I will not reproach you," said Colonel Lee after a moment's pause. "As I came along, Katherine, at the other side of the hedge. I overheard what you said. If you had money enough, would you ma r ry your cousin, and go with him to Australia, as I heard you say V " Yes," said Katherine lifting up her blue eyes, and looking with un-

mistakable affection at her cousin's handsome face. "Yes, I would go —money or no money, to the end of the world with him if I had the choice—but it's no use talking about it now," and her head fell dejectedly as she concluded her speech.

" Yes it is !it is!" said young O'Donnell eagerly, and clasping her hand. " Sir," he continued, addressing Colonel Lee, " after what Katie has said, you will not, I am sure, now press your claim ; and as I tell her, if we have patience and wait for a few years, I will come back—' "To find her changed or gone,' said Colonel Lee in a low pained voice. " No, Mr O'Donnell, better marry her now, and share life's chances together, instead of growing weary with waiting, as I did—for what never was mine—"

" But—but"—hesitated O'Don nell.

" I will give Katie a dowry, and that will smooth your way. I heard you name, Katie," ho added, with a smile, " a very modest sum you required to make you happy; and if two thousand pounds will do if »

"Oh ! Colonel Lee," cried Katherine Oliver, " don't, don't. You are too good, too kind. Willie, isn't he good ? But no, no. I will go and be a governess, or something, for I know mamma will never forgive me—but I could not—no I could not be soo mean as to tak" money from you now." "If it will make you happy, Katie," said Colonel Lee, " I shall think it well spent. But take my arm, and as we walk towards the barracks we can talk over your plans."

Young O'Donnell's plans, however, appeared to Colonel Lee's practical good sense to be of the wildest description. He was going out apparently without prospects, money, or friends, and Colonel Lee shook his head over the wild dreams of fortune and success.

" It is but a poor look out for you, my child, I fear," he said sadly enough to Katie, " but I will d . what I can for you ; and you, young sir, must work hard for the sake of the prize you have won." " There is no fear of that, sir," said O'Donnell.

"I hope there is not," answered Colonel Lee, " but here we are at the barracks, Katie, and now," he added, as he saw the girl begin to shrink and tremble, "you must show all your courage. I will go up and speak to your mother first, and you stay outside here with your cousin. I leave her in your charge, Mr O'Donnell, and will promise you this, that I will do my best for you both"

Having left the lovers, Colonel Lee then proceeded up the long flights of narrow stairs, with which the barracks at Silverton abound, and at last reached the rooms on the third story, which were occupied by Captain Oliver and his numerous family. His rap for admission at the sit-ting-room door was answered from

within by the jovial voice of the adjutant's wife. "Come in, whoever you are," cried Mrs Oliver, and as soon as she heard the Colonel, she rose with alacrity from her maternal occupation of combing her three youngest babies' flaxen heads with a small tooth comb, and flung her arms round the Colonel's neck. " Sure, ye're welcome," she said, " haartly welcome. Katie's out to ! her tay, but she will not be long. And so ye've got back, and how's your sister. I was just busy doing their heads up a bit," she added, pointing to the three small Olivers standing grinning in a 3emi-circle round the chair which she had lately occupied. " It's best to be sure, for iu barracks one can never tell what they pick up." Colonel Lee cleared his throat and looked at the juvenile members of his lately intended future family. "I hope they're all right," he said, somewhat absently, "and— Mrs Oliver, would you send them to bed."

"Ye've something to tell me," said Mrs Oliver, looking keenly up in the Colonel's face. " Run away, little ones, to Peggy. "Peggy! Peggy!" she proceeded to scream, going to the door of the room. !' Here, take Nelly, Mick and Larry, and give them a rub, and put them to bed. Master Corney's in the Court, I heard him, the scamp," she added, as a red-haired unkempt Irish girl appeared, and captured the three young Olivers; and then, shutting the door on her family, Mrs Oliver returned to business.

" And what is it ?" she asked, somewhat anxiously. " Sure, I hope nothing has happened ?" "Yes," answered Colonel Lee, briefly. " Not about the child 1 Not about Katie 1" said Mrs Oliver. " Yes," replied Colonel Lee again, and then after a moment's hesitation, he added, "We are not going te be married now, Mrs Oliver." " Then I'll have ye up for a breach, for certain !'' cried Mrs Oliver, rising excitedly. " It's a fine joke of ye now, after winning the child's heart, and doing her all manner of michief 1 What d'ye mean be it, Colonel 1 A man of yere age, too,; why, I'm ashamed of ye ! But I know all about it: — it's that stuck up old maid of a sister has got hold of ye, and poisoned yere ears against me child !"

" We had better leave Miss Lee's name out of this discussion, I think," said Colonel Lee. " Her remarks had no influence on my conduct. You need not deceive me any longer, Mrs Oliver, for I know the whole truth now ; I know now whom Katie really loves."

" Sure it is yourself now !" "No," said Colonel Lee, sharply. " You wanted me to marry her, and told me that, and I was fool enough to believe you, As I walked home to-night, Mr Oliver, I met Katie and her cousin. Spare yourself any further deception," he continued, putting out his hand as if to protect himself from Mrs Oliver, who was eagerly advancing towards him. "We fully understand each other now, and I have left them together, and come to try to make their peace with you." " I'll never forgive her ! Never!" said Mrs Oliver, despairingly, and falling back into a chair. " no, nor yet my sister's son, Will O'Donnell! To interfere with such a match as this, and him one of the family ! — it's enough to harden one's heart for ever."

"They had better be married," said Colonel Lee, " and I will give Katie two thousand pounds for her fortune."

"Ye don't main that now ?" said Mrs Oliver, slightly recovering, "Well, that's generous, I must say of ye. Two thousand pounds—it's not amiss—and promise me one thing, Colonel dear, have it settled on the child yerself."

After this, arrangements became more easy. Mrs Oliver, though bitterly disappointed, was too sensible a woman to strive against the inevitable, and as she knew that Colonel Lee would not now marry her daughter, she was glad to get her married to somebody else, and saw to the economical outfit, and safe settlement of the two thousand pounds on the bride herself.

And Katie ? What she had pined for, and prayed for, was now hers ; but during the brief engagement which preceded her marriage and voyage to Australia, deep down in the girl's heart lurked a feeling which was almost pain. She had her ardentandimpetuouslover,theyoung Irishman, who talked and sometimes boasted, of all the great things he would achieve in the far-off land to which they were about to journey. But the kind and generous friend — the grave gentleman, with the kind sad face, was so modest, so brave, so tender, and so true. Did Katie never regret him and grieve over his unspoken pain ? If so, she kept her secret; but on her marriage day, after the ceremony and breakfast were over, and the hour of parting had come, Mrs Oliver, as she kissed and cried over her child, could not resist saying— " Ah! well, me darling, I pray ye may be happy. Sure I'll ask all the angels in heaven to guard ye ; —but for all that I wish it had been the Colonel."

Then the Colonel, who was standing near, looked for a moment at the bride's sweet and tear-stained face, and their eyes met, and he siuhed and turned away. He had done what was right, he

told himself; but the sheltered and happy life he would have given her, he knew now would never be hers ; anil Katie knew, too, that she had flung away a noble heart. The news that her brother's engagement had been broken, and Miss Oliver absolutely married and gone, appeared at first almost to restore Miss Lee to convalescence. "My dearest Austin," she said, ' endeavouring with her feeble hand to clasp Colonel Lee's, when he first returned to her bedside, " do not think for a moment I do not wish you to marry. Ido wish it; nay, I implore you to think of it. There is Lady Lesbroke now; she is the kind of person to suit you. She is a born lady, and Sir John, I am told, died very rich. Could anyone be more desirable V' " My dear Ann ! My dear Ann !" cried the Colonel, " let me alone ! All I ask now is peace, and I pray you won't bring Lady Lesbioke near to disturb me." The End.