Novelist.

Waikato Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 2683, 8 June 1889, Page 5 (Supplement)

Novelist.

[ALL IUGIITS KESfBVED.] Love's Labour Won: AN EVKNTFUL STOIIY. BY JAMES GRANT. Author <if "Tlic Konianco of War," "The Black Watch," " Fairer than a Fairy," &c., &c, CHAPTER X.—Ax RAVUX3I'.oui!NE Hall. Almost daily, beautiful bouquets of rare flowers, and baskets of the richest fruit tlio conservatories and forcing-houses of Eavonsbourno Ilall could furnish, under the care of an experioncodScottish gardener came from tliero to Roso Cottage for Miss Talbot. Of the fruit, Reginald resolutely refused to partake (though Dick luid no scruples on the subject), belioving their acceptance a species of treason to Montague Lonsdale, ■whose devoted ally he was. But under her present circumstances what could poor Melanio do ? To liave declined the gifts would have seemed churlish and ungracious and would have moreover exasperated .her Uncle Griinshaw._ The latter, in his intercourse with the baronet, ignored hor engagement to Lonsdale; thus Sir Brisco nevor suspected such a thing; and meanwhile, Molanie and her fiance had, outwardly, to act the part of the merest acquaintances —a state of matters that was certain to lead to complications.

A formal invitation to dinner at the Hall soon came now, and Melanie was forced by her uncle to accept it. Indeed she had 110 real roason, outwardly, for refusing, but to her, it was intensely obnoxious, all tlio more so perhaps, bocause Montague Lonsdale was there, and that there had been some close correspondent lately between Rose Cottage and Cliillington Park; and this, she knew, could only refer to designs against tlio peace of herself and lier finance.

Tlio invitation included Eeginald and ovon Dick ; both declined ; the former because he could not bring himself to see Amy (who was to be present with her parents) and Mus"■rave together; and tlio latter because he and Bingo had_ lately " come to grief," and been in dire disgrace with tlio lurvensbourno keepers, especially since ho had received that unlucky gift from Hon-

taguo Lonsdale, a fowling piece, which Dick carried about loaded, in a way that had nearly been the death of more than ono of Her Majesty's lieges.

Sir Brisco sent tho carriage for Melunie and her undo, who appreciated this act of attention greatly, while old Dr and Mrsßrenclouwith her daughter, were left to make their way as tliey might to Havensbourne Hall which was undoubtedly a place of beauty. The trim shrubberies, tho brilliant flower beds, tho rosaries, the emerald lawn, the old fish pond, guarded by a stone balustrade, with graceful swans and white water liliesfloating on its dark bosom, the stately peacocks, with their resplendent tails spiead out in the sunshine on the paved terrace, the stono vases, full of lovely flowers, and over all, on its knoll the stately facade of the Hall itself, all seemed to speak of wealth, rank and luxury, which left far, far in the distance, the strawroofed bungalow of poor Montague Lonsdale, in a remote Indian cantomeut.

" Ah ?' snorted Uncle Grimshaw, to whom some such thoughts naturally occurred, while lie glared at Melanie and then surveyed again the mansion, " this is indeed one of ' the ancestral homes of England.' Here you may learn what ancestral means. I feel, as an Englisman, that for suoh a homo a? this one might struggle, light, and die—• —" " But not sell one's self, uncle," interrupted Melanie, quietly, and receiving, behind her fan, a very dark look indeed. From mending gloves re-fashion-ing dresses, plotting and planning to make a sovereign go the length of two, the aspect of all around her at Kavensbourne, where tho carriage drew up at the stately perron, and a powdered valet put down the steps, certainly was a relief in one sense, but no temptation, to Melanie Talbot.

With the assistance of a maid— she had not been so attended since Chilington Park had seen her under the hands of Mademoiselle Clochette —she and Amy were laughingly putting some finishing touches to their costumes in a dressing-room, and the former had prettily adjusted in her dark braids and collarette of 'ace some simple almond-scented blossoms aud maiden-hair ferns, to her own extreme satisfaction, when there came a knock at the door, and another maidappcared with a prettybasket of pale-cream roses, with " Sir Brisco's compliments to Miss Talbot."

" Pretty pointed, that—none for me?' said Amy, laughing ; " but these will suit your dress admirably. Bhall I take out the sprays !" "By 110 means," said Melanin with unconcealed annoyance, " I prefer the flowers I have." She had received them that morning from Lonsdale. " Poor Sir Brisco ; he will expect you to wear his roses." " For that reason, as you very well know, I won't." replied the wilful beauty ; and when she entered tho drawing-room, a cloud came over the baronet's smiling face on seeing that his iloral gift had been rejected or neglected.

The party was small, but silent; the dull interval filled up by commonplaces, which precedes a dinner, passed quickly, to the relief of Melanie, and in due time the gong was sounded—its notes low, dismal, and rumbling, swelled upon the air making the spacious rooms re-echo with a swell that becamc almost melodious ; then it died away, and as tho butler dropped the beater, Sir Brisco gave his arm to Mrs. Brendon (all moire antique with white lace) while Melanie and Amy were paired olf with strangers, who bear no place in our story, and two and two, like the animals entering the ark, the guests filed into the dining-room.

The dinner was like any other in such an establishment, and thanks to the skill of the chef, and the care of Mrs Mopps, the housekeeper, was all that could be desired ; but while he proceeded, through all its routine of entrees and courses, Meianie was unpleasantly aware of how her uncle watched hor and Lonsdale, though they were seated apart; and she could sec his bald head shining, with his side tufts stifler than ever, with the gleam of his spectacles and the Mophistophelian smile behind them—a smile that boded only greed and mischief.

Sir Brisco did the honours of his table well, and looked even younger than his years in evening costume, the waiter-like garb of civilisation ; and though his moustache was as white as snow, his eyes wore clear as steel, bright and penetrating, and his teeth (if natural) white aud well-formed as those of a man of five-and-twenty.

Though quiet, and too gentlemanly in manner to excite remark by his attentions, there was a subtle something in the bearing of his host towards Molanie, which, but for the man's years, might have excited more alarm in the mind of Montague Lonsdale; yet there was sufficient to pique and annoy him, knowing as he did the accessories of wealth and position possessed by the baronet, though he could little suspect that the latter had—in the proposal ho had made the girl, though that proposal had been rejected—a point d'officicr- —a basis for future operations.

In fact, tlio old baronet continued to absorb her timo and attention whenever ho could do so; and his impatience to join the ladies iu tko drawing-room, when

they all sailed thither, was all but obvious, when the gentlemen were left " over their wine and walnuts and secretly, lie was excessively bored by the Vicar, who loved to linger over lxis glass of port and talk politics, being as koen on the subjects of Church and State as if ho had lived in tho days of Squire Western; and like a bluff Tory of tho old school, more than once assorted that ho could never sympathise with " a working man's candidate, who had to take his clothes out of his unclo's caro beforo he could address tho unwashed electors."

Sir Brisco would rather have heard his military guests even talking "shop" —Musgrave of horses, and Lonsdale of military life in Bengal. "llow proud you must ho of such a beautiful old rosidenco as this, Sir Brisco," said Mr Grirnshaw, occupied still by ono idea, as ho looked lip at tho parquetted designs of tho domo-sliaped coiling; "it must make you disdain most other places." "That would ho an ignoblo pride," replied Sir Brisco, smiling, and toying with his wine glass, while thinking, too probably, of Eoso Cottago.

"But there is a certain proper pride, born of and with a good name," continued Mr Grinishaw, bent on flattery.

"Yes—the pride that honestly rejoices in an honourable race and lineage; and that, if properly and modestly maintained, is very different from the absurd pride -of the parvenu." And Sir Brisco was right. He ceuid, though he never'did so before, afford to talk thus. His title was a creation by King James, eight years after the latter succeeded to the throne of England, and the first of the family ranked after Bacon and Redgrave, Primus Baronetlorum Anglin:; but held his lands under a charter of Henry VIII, by the not unusual tenor then, of finding clean straw for His Majesty's bed, when he, the English Blue-beard, sojourned in that quarter.

With all this, Sir Brisco was a much more humble and meek man than an obnoxious and intrusive neighbour, who was the terror of evil doers as a magistrate and landholder, a retired soap-boiler, of How, who—-whatever his past name may have been—now came forth as riantagenet-Rugworth (as snobs affect hyphens greatly)—bought old portraits as family ones, stuck someone's crest on his carriage, and boasted of his " h'anccstors who fought ut 'Astings with William of H'orange." When tho gentlemen rejoined the ladies, Melanio, on whom wore now the eyes of her lover its well as her uncle, found it moro difficult to avoid tho baronet, and, iu attempting to do so, could get no aid from either Amy or Mrs Brendon, who were somewhat occupied with the attentions of the former —tho handsome Hussar —who was soon about to leavo them for his regiment, and, to her motherly heart, was, of course, an object of deepest interest, to tho despair of more than ono " mild curate," for whom she would work no moro slippers or smokiug-caps iu the future. And Horace Musgravo was somewhat the pattern man even of his " crack" regiment, All women, tho mess avorred, fell in lovo with him : the matrons for their daughters because thoy could not help it; and he was fixed at last by little Amy Brendon, the belle of Stokoncross Vicarage. " What a joke it is!" thought Lonsdale, as he saw now that Amy, absorbed in his friend, no longer amused her companions by her witty sallies and wild speechos, or attended to the compliments and pretty nothings of her many admirers; yet she made a charming picture just then, with hor soft, dreamy eyes fixed on Musgravc's sunburnt face; hers so brilliant in its colouring, hor thick, bronze hair shot with gold in tho sunlight; her lips sweet aud sensitive, softening the clear outlins of perfect and minuto features.

CHAPTER Xl.—Pique and (Suspicion. On this July afternoon, the tall French windows of the drawingroom were open, and the curtains of fine lace were gently stirred by the warm evening wind ; the plash of the fountains in the rose-gardens below the terrace was heard, and the last song of a few birds made music in the still sunny air.

Ere long the last of the sunlight died away; the moonlight spread like a silvery veil over the landscape, and the jets shot up by the fountains showed crystal, while the stately trees beyond the shrubberries threw weird but graceful shadows on the sward.

Melanie, who had been almost compelled to play, now drew on her gloves in haste and left the piano, where both Lonsdale and Sir Brisco had hung over her.

Till then she had rigidly kept her hand* gloved, but when she played, the latter had detected Lonsdale's engagement ring on " the mystic linger," and almost changed colour, though of course lie said nothing; while surmising had Mrs Cliillington and Mr Grimshaw deceived him, or was Melanie deceiving them all ?

She had seen the direction of his gaze, and nervously advanced to a window, whither he naturally followed her.

" What a lovely moonlight scene!" she exclaimed, on looking out; " is it not so. But then those

who.see the beautiful always cease, to appreciate! it.' " 1 am one of those," said he, softly, yet with a glance so. full of point, that Melanic paled a little. With the tiny Avhite flowers among her rich dark hair, a brown and feathery fringe of which curled iu soft rings over her brow, her lovely arms and neck gleaming white from amid some delicate old lace, Melanie seemed sweeter and fairer than ever woman looked before in the eyes of lier young lover and his elderly rival, who was then thinking, infancy, how she would look with the Braybrooke diamonds sparkling on her breast, her throat, and brow—the saine magnificent

diamonds his great grandmother had worn at Court, when, in the days of " Farmer George," she had been a maid of honour to Queen Charlotte, who, as usual with her, covcted the said gems sorely. As he whispered to her there in the twilight, apart from the rest in that "vast apartment, Sir Brisco hoped to win her—almost passionately, for his years-—hoped, but not with the eagerness of youth or with the dawn of love revealing that life had something in store for him hitherto unknown. She was beautiful, poor, and, so far as her uncle, was concerned, helpless, he knew ; and he never doubted that with time, patience, and perseverance, his wealth and position' would win,her for him in the end—a bride more beautiful by far thaußaveusbourne had ever seen before. Had Melanie Talbot be.en an heiress, his hopes had been less confident, certainly; but there were depths in her nature to which Sir Brisco had no clue. More than once, taking advantage of the situation, and while a young lady was afflicting all present with one of those rapid songs in which all words arc undetectable, and which are certainly a peculiarity of "the British drawing-room," he endeavoured to recur to what had passed at Mrs Chillington's lawn-tennis party ; but of that Molanie was nervously conscious, and tried with all her skill, but often vainly, to change the subject, for, with the coolness born of years and experience, the baronet was pretty pointed. " Still you avoid me, or would seek to, Miss Talbot T' he continued.

"In what way, Sir Brisco ?" she asked, using her fan quickly, but unconsciously. " Fate, with you, is strangely against me." " Please don't be »>elodramatic — how V

" Every hour—every moment—.l spend in your society, perhaps unwisely for'my own peace, sees me falling deeper into the gulf from which no hand but yours can save me." How white,'aias! in the moonlight, his moustache .looked as he

said this into the girl's unwilling oar. Ho did not speak in a heartbroken accent, certainly ; he was too old, too " case-hardened," for that, but, to Melanie, it was terrible to listen to all this sort of thing. She, the promised wife of another, whose eyes were actually then upon her, but who—unfortunate fellow !•—was then button-holed by the Vicar on our Indian policy, and the treason that surrendered C awn pore after we had captured it. Melanie had in her heart an emotion of dire provocation. "I have tried to forget you," Sir Brisco continued, " but I might as well try to live without brains as without a heart." Melanie, in her worry and annoyance, used her fan till it ruffled the curls of her fringe. Oh! how easy it seemed to make love in this fashion, and fluently, at sixty years and more ! Not thus boldly had Montague Lonsdale let the story of his love for her escape him, on an evening never to be forgotten, in a time of supreme joy and triumph, when they„liad, half-mutely or brokenly, exchanged the socrots of their hearts, and cacli felt a thrill—a passion—that had been without parallel for thcui before or since. Melanie now felt that by her uncle, who had dragged her to Ravensbourne Hall, she was placed in a false and. humiliating position, which compelled her to listen to the baronet's addresses when her distinct refusal of his offers elsewhere should havo raised a barrier between them and placed their intercourse in society on a different basis. She did not raise her face to that of Sir Brisco, as she felt conscious that it wore an expression o£ trouble and anger ; and thus he mistook the cause that made her long, dark lashes droop—almost rest on her pale cheeks. " Will you think of what I have said before? Will you think of what I have said now?" continued Sir Brisco, as if he had been offering her some lucrative or eligible situation. " Probably not !" he added, delecting the expression of her face. "You are wrong, Sir Brisco —I shall think of yon, and think kindly, as long as I live." " Kindly—-and nothing morel" " Nothing more," replied Melanie, curtly now. " Why—oh, why V' " Do, Sir Brisco, let this subject cease." "I will not take this as a final answer." Nor did lie, When Melanie left the Hall to return home, Montague Lonsdale felt piqued and angry—vaguely an-

noyed. Under the eyes of her uncle and those of their host, he found, that Melanie was not more than calmly and studiously polite, declining to be cloaked or assisted by him. She thought that he would know the reason why; but he did not, and began to fear, or attribute her apparent coldness of manner to some change, some new influence, and lie recalled unpleasantly the "subtje something " he had detected in the bearing, of the baronet at dinner. ; To make matters worse, the lafctei presented her with a bouquet ol grand Gloire da Dijon roses, just a; lie handed her into the carriage, anc she was constrained to accept them "How you must laugh at ou:

pool - specimens of these at the cottage," said slie. "Do not say so. -At the cottage there is one rose I covet more than all the rest," replied Sir Brisco, in a' low voice ; but still Lonsdale heard him. Musgrave drove the Vicarage party home in a trap, and Lonsdale was "left for an hour or two in the smoking-room, over brandy and soda and cigars, witV their host, who, under the influence of what he had imbibed at dinncrand after it, waxed unwisely communicative, and rather gave the young ofticer a glimpse of the. carte dn 2 )a 'J s - Speaking of Melanie with a knowing air, he quoted Oymbcline, as to her manner: " Oh, dissembling courtesy! How fine this tyrant can tickle where sho wounds!" Then he actually expatiated on her beauty and goodness, her devotion to her lielpless brother and so forth, to Lonsdale, who sucked his havannah and listened in half amused and half sulky silence. " I never, till I met her," said Sir Brisco, "had much inclination for ' the holy state,' as it is called, but better late than never, if 'Barkis is willin.';' don't you think so? Besides, I have read that it is a fact that a married man has a better prospect of a long career than a bachelor, and' that one of the latter, when near his end, had this fact so impressed upon him, that he had a clause inserted in his material settlement, adding to his wife's allowance for every year he survived —good idea that—eh ! And 1 shall certainly do the same with Melanie Talbot." "Pleasant to hear all this!"

thought Montague Lonsdale. "Yes," continued the baronet, lying back in a loungiug-chair, and pursuing his own bright thoughts, . as lie watched the concentric rings from his cigar curling upward, "our : greatest happiness consists in the love that is given to us. , We are told by someone that it is a pleasant and gracious thing to bo loved, even if wo cannot lovo in return, and that, I belie,ve, is her case as yet." " What is the old fool thinking of now ?" almost escaped Lonsdale, as he gave his nioustachios a vicious twist. "I wonder that you liavo not been smitten in that quarter !" said Sir BnVco, with a hearty laugh. " But of course, with India before yon, and all that sort of thing, you can't settle down yet." Eventually, the confidences of the baronet rather enraged him ; but as the had not-Melanie's permission to avow his engagement beyond her own family circle, he was compelled to remain silent; hut he writhed under the prospect of leaving behind him, when he went to India, such a wealthy and probable suitor, to be favoured by the mal-influence of Uncle Grimshaw. He had observed the protracted conversation in the recess of the moonlit window; a conversation from which he thought Melanie might have broken away. And how confidentially they setimed to be talking there. He knew but too well her guardian's opposition to his suit, andcoulcl well suspect his too probable view of favour for another; and if that other meant —as he doubted not—was the wealthy master of RavOnsbburne, the nervous brevity of Melanie's farewell (though in reality born of caution and fear), seemed in some way accounted for; and so—■ by degrees, and assisted by pique and anger, he formed quite an indictment against poor Melanie, and found innumerable flaws in her conduct, for which he would duly punish her on the morrow ! The lingering in the moonlit window seemed to assume exaggerated proportions, and then lie knew that "in courtship, one thing had such a knack of leading to another," while, as if to. spur his chagrin, Sir Brisco began again : Of one thing, as regards means, I know that I am assured of the entire favour of her guardian and Uncle Grimshaw— good style of fellow, old Grimshaw, is not he ? j An old city man,' as he is, is sure to value good settlements —a glittering future, and all that sort of thing-," added Sir Brisco, giving a leisurely o-lance of satisfaction, oven at the luxurious appurtenances of his smoking-room. _ < < [) u !" muttered Lonsdale, tinder his moustache * "I should declare myself, and give him a crusher —a cuhMtf —but for Melanie's wishes!" I-Ie was not silly enough to feel actual porsonal jealousy of Sir i Brisco, as yet, but he was keenly piqued and alarmed. Knowing llo'v Melanie was circumstanced at home—if a home Rose Cottage <>oukl be called for her—aware of tile secret, open and crucl piessuio j that Mr Gideon Grimshaw was 1 quite capable of putting upon her,

Montague Lonsdale was now filled with, genuiuo anxiety at the prospect of the future—of leaving hor behind him for a year, perhaps, in England. (To be continued.)