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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Wingham Times, 1916-12-28, Page 7December 29 1816 MSE ✓SE8�-Sv LeS S'&SS gr.VA1414MIEMBERWEgiAgEWRMS, THE WINGHAM TIMES LINKED BY FATE 0 •, h .4 011 BY CHARLES GARVIS !SSS S"S MAW ASSvS 4:21 w 11 os`o Wing its 5i•a3Eed. - "It is some my father left lite. By ' the way, I fanoy it came originally :from Lesborough Court." "Then I hope there is some left 'there," said Vano. "You know the place?" "No," replied Julian as he- handed 'the pate. "`T have never been there. 'My. father and the earl quarrelled -4 -but no doubt, you know all about 'that, No, I have never been there. But you know it; you have stayed there?" Vane nodded as he looked round the room. It seemed strano , improb- 'able that ho should be sitting' here so cosily with this newly -discovered cou- "Yes; I used to go there as a boy; and until recently I was asked. to pay a kind of regulation Zisit, But the earl quarrelled with 1110 as he quar- relled with your father. Ile—expected too much." "As how?" asked Julian, filling his glass. "Oh, well, he wanted to plan out, direct my life. Wanted mo to go into politics and stand for the borough, An the Conservative interest," "And you are a Liberal?" suggest- -ed Julian. "No, Pm not. I'm nothing', But I declined to take my politics -from his lordship, and also, 'declined to be-„ ,tomo a—a dependent. So we parted .and I went abroad—" His voice died :away. , "And were wrecked?" said Julian, interrogatively. Vane seemed to dry up, to freeze, -en the moment. "Yes," he said, absently. "But let vs talk of something else, of your- self. I could almost have found it possible to be sorry that I was alive ghyou ou came into Mr. Tressider's ust now." Julian's dark face flushed for a mo- -.went and his lids drooped—his face looked. -like a mask 'when his eyes were closed, so expressive were they —then he raised teem, em, subled and shrugged his shoulders, and waved his hands with a gesture that re- minded Vano of his cousin's Spanish !blood. "That's'very kind 'and getieroue of 7you—Vane," he said, with a little pause before the "Vane." "Of course I should have liked to have been the Earl of Lesborough; but—ah, well, l perhaps I shall be as happy as 0 I ;were." "I dare say," said 't ane in his 1plunt way. "I don't suppose"—he citified a sigh—"that it wet make me any the happier." iiJulian looked at hire with veiled •eftniosity. "Oh, you!" he said. "I • atm imagine that you will make quite , 0, typical English nobleman., You are tint our foe the position'and tviil:,fiil 'Pt well. While I'—he Waved his white tends again—"I'm scarcely so •suit- .aablo a subject. I'm only half Eng- lish. My mother was a Spaniard, and have nothing—what do you call it? --feudal about inc. You will mar•ry— + rut perhaps you aro already married; yes?" he broke off; his. almost. aline •end eyes on Vane's with an appar- - entry frank and disinterested intcrro- . cation. Vane filled his plass and replied, as .he had replied to Mr. Tressider: "No, Y. have no wife." "Ah, but you soon will have one," -said Julian, smilingly. "You Will be a great catch. ;1'he parti of the. sea - 'son. You know that you are tre- inendously rich as well as noble?" Vane nodded. "So I'm given to un- derstand," he said. "But I shall nev- er marry." "Never is a long time," comment - :ed Julian with a smile. "Try this Chartreuse, will you? It also came Brom the Lesborough, cellars, 1 •be- lieve. You will go down there at Once, will you not?" 'Vane filled his liquer glass. "I sup- pose so," he answered, slowly. 'Then, . Wit!, his characteristic abruptness, he . :said: "See here, J.u1#an. My turning up in this -fashion must have been— - inconvenient to you. I --I want to snake it u ,to you, in some :vva ,fiat a�pon Illy life X dosr't--Luite know_ how w _ Had Weak and Dizzy ells.. WAS CURED BY M1LEURN'S HEART AND NERVE PILO. Mrs. J. S. Nicholls, Listowel, Ont., 'writes: "I was weak and run down, my heart would palpitate, and I Would take weak and dizzy spells. A friend ad- vised me to take your Heart and Nerve Pills, so I started at once, and found that I felt much stronger, and my heart was ever so much better hen short time. I cannot praise your medicine too highly for it has done Elle a world of good. My husband has also been bothered with 'heart trouble ever since childhood, and finds quick relief by using your valuable pills." Milburn's Ileart and Nerve Pills have been an the market for the pari twenty- five years, and are universally known as the very best remedy for ail troubles (arising froin the heart or nerves. 1lhrlburn's Heart and Nerve Pills ate Ii0e. per box, 3 boxes for +11,25, at all -!eaters, or :nailed direct 011 recent t,f price by `1'4nT.Ir nuns Co., TOrouto, Ont. - _- . . tit" Teo' you min fel ting me` ' some- thing about yourself, your—your means?" 110 faltered and looked at the table and round the' well -furnish- ed though 'weird and rather sombre room. "I don't want to play the ia- quisitive business you know, but—" Julien laughed at his cousin's em- barrassment. "You have a particularly transpar- ent mind, my dear Vane," he"said is his soft voice. "I know exactly what you are goi: to do. You are going to offer to—make it up to me for the loss of my expectations. Is it not p so?" "That's about hit it," assented Vane in his direct fashion. Iso s hoe ht Julian w t g ! said with his charmingly candid smile. "You would offer me an allowance, an in- come—'' n-come—" - That's so," assented Vane. "Why shouldn't I? I'm immensely, beastly, rich, I believe, and if I hadn't turned up you would have been the Earl of Lesborough." As he pronounced the title Julian Shore's lids quivered, but the smile was still hovoring about his lips. "As it is,' went on Vane, "you are the next in succession, the heir. I shan't marry—you shake your head, but I know what I am 'saying—and you will come into it all. Why shouldn't you accept an income, al- lowance, from me? If you were my brother or son you would have to do se.,, Julian shook his shapely head again. "But I'm not your brother or your son; I'm only your cousin.` And—we are speaking candidly, are we not?. -I do not like the role of a dependent. No! I will not take a penny from you." "You are an awful fool," put in Vane in his blunt way. "Perhaps. But I have a small byt sufficient income; enough .for a bach- elor, and I value my independence. No1'I refuse your money; but—but if you offer your friendship, your affec- tion, may ;I' tray—" Vane extended his hand. "Put it that way," he Said, grave- ly. "Blood is thicken than water. See here, we will go down to Les - borough to -morrow. I as the earl and master, you as the heir apparent—I think that's the way they describe it. We'll bo friends, Julian—What on earth is that peculiar scent, odor, which hangs about this room?" he. broke off to enquire. Julian Looked round absently, then smiled and shrugged his shoulders. "I am rather fond of dabbling in chemistry. My father had alike taste; it was one of the reasons iter his rupture with the late earl. His Lordship could not understand how a Mannering Could interest himself in such.. e. commonplace subject. I use the room next this as to kind of lab- oratory. Come and see." He arose and going to the door opened it and stood aside for Vane to enter. • Vane looked in. It was a small roopi lighted by a window with It screen of yellow silk. There was a strange looking fireplace with crucib- les and retorts, and there wore tab- les and shelves on Which were books and chemical apparati. Vane glanced round with faint in- terest; he was not scientific • by any means. • Bum Fancy,'' he remarked. "What's the good of it?" Julian shrugged his shoulders. "Oh, I don't know. Not.:rnuch, I suppose. But it amuses inc. Now ybu, I, imagine, -go in for aiport?" Vane nodded. .. , "Yes; spo`r't of any and every kind. If I remember rightly, there was not much hunting or shooting at Les - borough." "Tho late earl starved ft—so Mr. Tressider said." '-"Quite so. Well, I'll alter that, at any rate," said Vane. "What's that, thing on the fire? I fancy it's that that smells be?" Julian Shore lifted a- steel pot for kottle froth: thef•slowly-burntng fire. "Oh only, span experiment,". he said, lid led i:ltieeway back to the sitting - room, "Are woo fond of music?" he asked in a casual way. "I'm no per- former, brit I'm a splendid listener. You play, or sing? Let's hear you!" Julian pushed a cigar cabinet to Vane, then, with a gesture of apology and self.deprcciation, went to • the planer amrstruck a prelude of chords and Sang: Vano listened with rapt attention and admiration. "My dear fellow, you're almost good enough for grand opera!" he said. "You've tot le devil of as Mead" "My tnotner sang well, I believe," said Julian, modestly. Vane, who was as sensitive to dnusic as sa cobra, heaved a eight for the soft, dulcet strain had brought back the island to him. "1 must be going. My friends, the Letchfords— I'm staying with them—will wonder what the devil has become of me. Well, it's fixed; you and I go- down to Lesborough to -morrow. What', the train, do you. know?" Julian knew. Had ire not looked it tip la Bradshaw• tvh©n he thought he should be the next earl? "Ten -fifty," he 'said, "from Water- loo." Vane field out his hand and grip- et44. the soft, white one wanintv. "Right. We'll' !,,,o down together." .4.1.1.111.)/ .:+P omplii<iitd brill. 10 ilii. doe►' and stood there wit:Ching the stalwart figure as it strode away. Then he mounted to the sitting-ropm. The old woman was clearing the luncheon things, and she stopped and looked at her piaster questioningly. But he mentioned to her to go, and sinking into a chair leaned his hand- some head on his hand. Presently his thin, crimson lips moved, and he murmured: "Only him between me and an earldom, between mo and wealth--, wealth! And ho is not married. Ar young man liko myself. Only him! If anything were to happened to him— But it won't. He'll live to be ninety. It's just like my luck, to be within an ace of a peerage and miss it. I feel like cursing him for all hie' good-natured offer of friendship. But cursing wouldn't kill him. If it would—" There carne a hissing soung from the laboratory, as if something were boiling over, and he sprang to his feet and ran eagerly into the next room, as if 110 had forgotten Vane and the lost earldom. CHAPTER XII. t: a;E Vane, as he walked away from Julian's house, was tin a peculiar state of mind. He felt drawn to- wards his cousin; blood is thicker than water; and Vane had been touched by the way in which Julian had accepted his disappointment and had proffered his friendship to the lean who had crushed his hopes of a peerage. But there was soinething about Julian—his weird place of abode, his taste for chemistry, and indifference to the awful odor arising from his experiments—which jarred upon Vane, something in the expres- sion of his dark eyes, the sudden drooping of the lids, which, militated against the favorable impression created by the handsome face and •graceful form. Vane shrugged his shoulders. "I'm a fanciful beast; and niy ner- ves are rags," he said to himself. "Anyway, I've got to matte the best of him. IIe's the only relative I know, and he'll be the next earl; I shall never marry. I'll make a friend of him, treat him as the heir." The reflection sent him orf on the old track, and as he strode along ho thought of Nina. Though he was convinced that she had been lost, he had, for weeks after his arrival in, ' London, sought - amongst the ship- ping companies for tidings of a cast- away, but, chancing to miss the owners of the lsiand Queen, ne did not hear of the picking up of the girl tied to a portion of a raft. Yes, she was dead, and he had been spared that he might spend the remainder of his life in futile remorse and regret. Quito heedless of the direction' in which he was geing, he sauntered on, and presently,, awaking team his re- verie, he'found„himseji in Piccadilly, at the entrance. to Hyde Park, Ho turned in. absently and strolled to - weeds the Row. It was the fashion- able hour of the day and the plate was crowded, and Vane lit another of Julian's cigars and, leaning on the rail, surveyed the riders• as they passed hire. The walk was thronged with promenaders; and little groups of Meads and acquaintances were chatting and .laughing together, mak- ing a pleasant little hum and buzz which, pleasant aa it was, made Vane feel very lonely. Some of the voices, were so distinct' that they reached his ear. He list-' ened mechanically and heard a man who was talking with some ladies say: "Yes, she's just gone past. Looks wonderfully well and fit, doesn't she?" "It's the first time she has put in an appearance since his death, isn't it? What a terrible blow and—dis- appointment it must have been to her! Think of missing being a mar- chioness! And so narrowly! Moet girls would have been utterly rlY crush- ed." "But not she," drawled the man. "She's a good plucked one. Yes, she's missedthe marquis, but I shouldn't wonder if she goes for a duke next time. There she is again." "Yes, there she is," seal the lady. "I suppose that black habit is for mourning?" Vane ewes turning away when his eye fell on a lady. who was riding slowly towards him. It would have been difficult for him not to have noticed her, for she was an extremely, beautiful woman, and she was riding a superb horse which she sat with a perfect ease that the restless move- ments of the high-spirited animal did not in the least appear tp disturb. By her side were riding two or three men; and as she pulled up close to the railing just above where Vane was standing, other men pressed up to the spot, snatching all their- ]tate and evidently eager to attract her attention and exchange a word or two With her, while every one who rode or walked past her, whether they knew her or not, regarded her intently and with evident interest. After all, and With a due regard to %he claims of other nationalities, is there anything in tho wide world 'more moving and heart stirring than a beautiful young English girl? And this was one of the loveliest of the type. She sat. erect on lief' thorough- bred, with her fate full in the sun- light unlight that lit up the eXquisdhe eOlet Women Suffer From Pains in the Back; When the back begins to ache it is a sure sign that there is something radically wrong with the kidneys. What you want is a kidney medicine, Doan's Kidney Pills are not a cure-all, but a medicine for the •kidneys only. Mrs. L. Melanson, Plympton, N.S., writes: "I am sending you this testi.. monist,telling you what a wonderful cure Doan's Kidney Pills made for me. For year, I bad suffered so with my kid. neys I could hardly do my housework.. I used several kinds of pills, but none of them seemed to be doing me any good. At last I was advised to try a box of Doan's Kidney Pills. When I had taken the first box I found relief. I have used five boxes and to -day I feel like a new woman. I cannot recommend them too highly." Doan's Kidney Pilis bear the trade mark of a Maple Leaf and are put up in an oblong grey box. $ee that you get "Doan's' whew you ask for them. Price 50e. a box, a for $1.25, at all dealers, or mailed,. direct on receipt of price by THE T, MII,BUrtN Co., LInurio, Toronto, Cat. When ordering direct specify "Doan's." of her thick hair of bronze and gold, which the -gentle breeee had Molal in soft rings uVer her forehead. • Her eyes shone like sapphires in the clear ivory or her face, and her lips, as perfectly formed as those of a Gre- cian statue, were curved with a pen- sive smile. %%hen she was alone the sapphire ayes were apt to grow cold and a trifle hard—one hesitates to write "calculating"—and the lips, without tht;l• smile, narrowed and lost their exquisite curve --hut in pub- lic both "the well-trained eyes and lips were on duty, so to speak, and took upon then, any and every - ex- pression which their owner willed. • As Vane looked at her his heart gave one bound, then seemed to fall into an almost unnatural calm, a calor which made !fiat marvel at him- self; fol' not so long since the sight of this face, the sound of this girl's voice had never failed to send the blood racing through his veins. Quite unreflectingly he remained where he was, leaning on the rail watching her with moody eyes which expressed the dead calm and indif- ference which had fallen on him; and when, after a moment or two, she nodded her adieux to the group—the members of which had all the atti- tude and manners of courtiers—and, touching her horse moved towards him, he still leaned over the rails and waited for her. She was almost abreast of him before she saw , him, for she .was bowing, with the pensive smile, to some friends on the other side of the ride, but it would have been well nigh impossible for any one to have passed -his' stalwart fig- ure and handsome face, with their in- definable .air, of distinction, without noticing him, and .presently her glance fell on hire. The sapphire eyes contracted and closed for a moment, the ivory of her face went a dead white, the smile fled from her lips and her hand in- voluntarily closed so tightly on the rein that the horse stopped and toss- ed his head impatiently. . She was so close to Vane that he could see the quiver of the lips, the flicker of the lids which had drop- ped over the brilliant eyes. He stood upright and, regarding her with the calmness which still vaguely surpris- ed himself, raised his hat. She bent her head and her lips .moved, but at first with no sound, then she said in a low, still voice: "Vane!" "How do you do, Lad - Marling - ford?" he said in just the ordipary tone of polite greeting. Iter white teeth closed on her lip for a moment, then she bent her head. The "Lady Marlingford" was like a blow to her from the Tuan who had been wont to breathe "Judith" as if it weee a psalm of life, a sonnet of love. I "I --I did not know you were— back," she said. "And why do you call me Lady Marlingford?" she add- ed, her brows drawn as' if with pain. 1 He ought to have been startled be' the question, but it would have tak- en very little less than an earthquake to startle poor Vane at this period of his existence. "How do 1 err?" he asked, not bitterly, but with a placidity which ' cut her more deeply than Any. bitter- ammaakumedesikantaium The Wretchedness of Constipation Can quickly be ovcrcomelly CARTER'S LITTLE LIVER PILLS Purely vegetable --net surely and gantry on the liver. Cure Biliousness, Head- ache, Rizzi. ecus, and indigestion. They do their duty. Small P111, Small nese, small Pries. Ge.Setli118 trust bear Signature 1' i's 7 ncss would have Molle. "You were just on the point of marrying Lord Marlingford when 1, lett England -1f you remember." She raised her head and looked at hint The group to which 11e had been absently listening was quite close and within hearing, and she made a slight gesture with her hand. "Will you come a little farther up the ride?" she said in a very low voice. Vane hesitated for an instant. IIo had loved this girl with a love which he had thought eternal, had well nigh lost his reason when she had betrayed and deserted hint; but now he had not the least desire to talk with her. His love for Nina— how in its purity and truth it sham- ed his old passion for Judith Orme! —had wiped out all thought of and desire for any other woman, even for this exquisitely beautiful one. But he could scarcely refuse her request had, with a nod, he moved beside her to a vacant space. She took her horse close to the rail and bent down, so that she could whisper to him; he was still sensible of the grace of her movements, but only sensible of it as one is conscious of the grace of a particularly beautiful statue or a singularly charming pic- ture. "Don't you know? Have you not heard?" she said with the faintest tremor in her voice, the voice which used to thrill him. "Heard what?" he said, almost bluntly. She regarded him with a chasten- ed air. "Poor Lord Marlingford died just —just before our—our wedding day," she said brokenly. Vane's eyelids did not even flicker, and he looked at her steadily. "Poor beggar!" he said. "I'm sorry. "I'm sorry for him." And he was genuinely sorry, for he re- membered what the loss of her, had been to himself. "I hadn't heard—" She drew a long breath. "No? When did you conte back to Eng- land? We heard that you were lost. And I—I was—sorry. I felt—when did you come back?" "Soma time since," lie replied. "And • so Lord Marlingford died! Accept my most sincere condolences, Miss Orme." The sapphire eyes rested on him with street reproach. "Miss Orme! Ah, Vane, you can- not forgive! You did not under- stand. You do not understand, even now—" Vane's lips began to curl. "I beg your pardon," he said with polite interest, nothing nior•e. She sighed again as she curbed the impatience and restlessness of the Arab. - "1 want to tell you—but this is no place, But I must congratulate you, Vane." "On my succession to the title?" he said. "Thanks!" - HIler eyes swept over his "seedy Serge suit, . and, as if in response, he said: • "I only heard it last night. T cane back from—I was in London, hard hp, and, well, I suppose looking for something to do, when I heard the news. Sir Charles Lelchford happened to spot me—" She tossed her beautiful head slightly. "The Letchfords? Yes. They used to. be friends of mine, but Blanche has cut. Inc lately, since—she did not un- derstand, as you do not understand, that .I was the,victim of circum- stances. You know what my father is —what my life has been—" Vane regarded her calmly. There was a note of appeal in her musical voice which would have reached his heart and elicited a quick response some months ago; but it did not move him -now. "I—I can't tell you all now," she said. "Will ydu not come to see rue?" Vane hesitated a moment. If the woman who hesitates is lost, how much more so is the man! "Thanks, I shall be very pleased," 110 said. ilet' lips parted with a smile, a smile that was almost one of humble gratitude. "You will? Ah, that is good of you! And 1 want to hear all that has happened to you. You will tell me, won't you?" Vane, thinking that he certainly would not, replied, as in duty abound: "Certainly." "You you dre not looking well," she murmured, the sapphire eyes sweeping over his face and the seedy serge suit. "I've. been down on my luck," said Vane, in response to the glance, "and I heard of the change in my fortunes so recently that I haven't had time to pall myself together." "And I am changed also; don't you notice it?" she said, sadly. "Can't say I do," replied Vane. "You seem to pre as—as charming as ever, Judith." Ile had intended to say "Miss Orme;" but the familiar name escaped him. Her eyes lit up for a lambent, but she veiled them instantly. ""Ilthink " 1 o you o? C h, I am chang- ed; very much so. An you will come? The old address." "Thanks," he said. "Yes; certainly I will come." "Thank you; it is good of youl" she murmured. "When? To -morrow?" "Not to -morrow," tw said, me- chanically. "J am engaged. Iain go- ing to Lesborough. When I coine back." She drooped over her saddle and held out her long. thin hand, so per- fectly gloved that the kid seethed an outer skin. Vane took it—how often. bad his lips kissed the white hatul that glove covered! -pressed it with the proper amount of pressure. "When you come back—directly you come back," she said, and turned her horse. Judith Orate rale toward Queen Anne's Crate, with her neautiful eyes fixed on her with ears, and, though She bowed and smiled in response to the many .greetings site received, she Was Seni'eely conscious of them, She pulled up n t one of the small houses in St. laTargaret's Place, which are as fashionable as they are shall and inconvenient, and. hating alight- ed with the aid of her discreet and Well -mounted groom, entered the heifer and Went tip to the-draw1n NO* w• el9 42 The proprielaryorPaie Mediete• go milatingt eFoodalndRegulf0 the StomachsandBoweiso•_ Promotes Di estion,Cheerfak mess and Rest.Containsneel , Opium, Morphine norIi NOT NARC©PH jferyxafOGlDr•5.L'1•Smd I � ,N,i,,.J,rd P _Rama' ' Clari:a.ruser for Conshpa' lion. Scour Stomach, Diarrhoea; WoLrmsO, FdverishnessandSLEEP. ' ""SSo`- �;A kacSimilc S a q THE CENTAUR COMPANY; MONTREAL & NEty At(, months old ?? POSES-35CT_. Exact Copy of Wrapper. C Foe Infants az '' C?lildren.. Mothers Knew 1121 Genuine Castoila Always Bears the Signature of In,. Use For Over Thirty Years CASTORIA THE CENTAUR COM . NCO VamK "ITV. •l'he tea -table was set .'Y the win- dery overlooking the park. tied .lu- dith, after ringing the bell for • the urn, sank into an easy -chair and let her beautiful face fall into the warn!, white !lands from which she had stripped her gloves, with a restless, feverish haste. As the maid was placing the urn on the table a step, light but unsteady, was heard on the stairs, and Present- ly there entered a seemingly- middle- egc'd, if not quite young, ran. He was small and 'slightly built, with features almost as delicately mould- ed as a woman's. His hair—it was a really admirable wig, a perfect work pf art—sat, with a fiue•'rmitation- of nature, on a face painted and anal',r- o11ed so artfully that it might have belonged to a young man of five -and - meaty. The figure, slight :end de- bonair, was clothed with a 'sartorial skill and cunning to which 4aville !tow alone could aspire; and it was only the eyes, a little bloara l and prominent, which aroused the sus- pi01011 of the keen observer—a very keen observer—and let out the secret of Sir Chandos Genie's age. Judith's hands fell from her eyes as her 'father entered the room, pith his jaunty, would-be juvenile air, and the expression of her lovely face grew hard and matter-of-fact. "You're home early, father," • she said, curtly. Yes; yes, I am," he said. He had lunched at his club, lunched unwisely . and too well, and the natural flush on his face strove, with praise- worthy but futile energy, to pierce the coat of enamel and paint. "But I came home because I have some news for you. Vane Mannering is here —here in London!" He .sank into a chair and smiled at her with a significance which was. somewhat drowned by the effects of the bottle and a half of champagne he had taken with his lunch. "Ice's back," he continued. "Old h"anworthy saw him—trust old Pan - worthy for spotting a man!—and, as you know, Mannering is now .the Earl of Lesborough." "I know," said Judith, quietly. "And but for you I should be engag- ed to Vane Mannering, should be his wife." "No, no, my dear Judith!" broke in Sir Chemins. "It was your own doing." "My own doing!" said .Judith, bit- terly. "It was you, you, who stepped in between us, who persuaded me to throw Vane over and accept Lord Marlingford. You know it, father." Sir Chandos waved. his white hands —they,werc still famous, though they held been waving „for considerably more than half a ceutury. ••My dear Judith,• do ine justice ! Vane Mannering was, at that time, ever so far removed from the peer- age.'' "And so you sacrificed me," she said, bitterly. "Persuaded, COMI10l1cd nu• to throw him over and accept Lord Marlingford—" "Ulm most—most. inconsiderately 'Mel," put. in Sir Chemins. "!But %% 11011 you say I compelled, 1 suggest, I merely suggest that you were ens. !Iv persuaded—compelled; and right- ly,' "And now now Vane has come "back Antois—"England?" said Judith. d Sir Chandos slrutTicd in his chair •and toyed with the cup of tea Which he did not *cut. "Tho Earl of Lesborough," he said. dit'Yh—on twill, of Course, my dear Ju- " She rose, almost upsetting- the fro- alio table with its dainty Worcester china. 'You expect me, you want me to— to ---Ah, it is too shameful, too base! " Sit" Chanties eyed her rather nerve ously. "My dear Judith, niy dear child:" 11e murmured, between his artistica!- I•t dyed 1i1Ot1StaCht". "Cireuinstanees atter cases." She turned her face from Mini, and it may be !roped that the recording (angel will give- her Credit fir tho tears tliat'aline in -the sapphire eyes. "You `knew •that=that I cared for him; yes, loved him. 1 love hires now,. Yes, I love film jpow," Her voice faltered and broke gude denly. " Sir Chandos eyed her with a faint ' and murky surprise,, "Really? Is tit ,,o? 'Pon my word,, my dear Judith. Well; well! Tut, tut!. But this windfall is- lucky for us!" She dried her oyes and regarded him with a bitter, dgfant ' "expres-. sion. • "`What do you mean?'} She demand- ed. "Why is it lucky?" Sir Chandos at last pu± down •thee Cup that cheers, but which: he abhor- red, and blinked his bleared eyeS ati her. "Oh, • I -only meant to Say that it you still care for him,', if you want to be the Countess of Lesborough; well—well, we aro all right. My dear Judith"—he leant forward and point ed a forefinger at her—"you know as- well as I do that no man can resist you; and that if you mean going for Vane Mannering—I beg his pardon, I mean Lesborough!--there is no escape for him." She bit her lip and stared thought- fully, moodily, at the carpet, and the flush of shame, humiliation, came and went in her face. "You haven't seen him since be came back. Ile is much changed. He —he was quite cool; cold to -day. Not angry --worse, indifferent." Sir Chandos - laughed softly, the kind of chuckle which. is born of a knowledge , of the world and an inca- pacity for shame. •'I have eve confidence in you. my clear .lutlith." 1ic saki. "Ever;}- cm: ()donee. I-1 think r will just drop in at the. dtlh on the chance of a rubber. Every'-conlidolsce!" CIIAPTE VIII. When he left the Park tq.,pe--r mernbering the state of his ar`di"e went to Shadboit's, the LeSborougl tailor, in a quiet street off Bon Street. the worthy tradesman received him with outspoken joy, but was shocked by the sight of the seedy serge suit, and still more shocked when he learnt that it was Vane's best. For the first time in his life Mr. Sbadbolt procured a ready -Made suit—which Vane indifferently donned there and then—and measured his noble client for a variety of others: shooting suits, frock suits, dress suits, riding coats, and so on. It was a trifling incident, but it had its effect on Vane. Mr. Shad- bolt's- obsequiousness and the Two - Bence of the roll of notes in Vane's pocket were indicative 01 the change that had come over his for'unes. It was nearly dinner time whl n he re- turned to the Letchfords'; , nd they received hien with open arms and an obvious air of relief. "Thought :you'd disappeured 'train, did indeed, old 1111111!'' said Letch- ford, while Lady Letrllford smiled in sympathy with her husband. '.And you saw Tressider?'' "Yes; ahil I am going down �n Lesborough to -morrow," said Vane. "1 an, going down with a (.0118111 of iniac—Julian Shore." I.etelrford shook Itis head. "Never hoard of flim." "Nor 1, t ill this morning.' Said Vane. "Semis a very decent fellow; very good-looking chap. ile would' have hcei the heir, if I hadn't un- luckily for him, turned up. I've taken rather a fanoy to hila—though he's rather peculiar," • As how?" asked Letrllford. Vane shrugged his shoulders. "Oh --I don't know. Goes in. for chemistry and—and looks 'half a :Spaniard; mother belongs that Way." -I'm so .glad you are going to the Court, Lord Lesborough," •: aid Lady I..etehford. "You will feel so—so sure, you willrealize the Change"; and thera will he so much to do to occupy your; 1:1iuc1," (To tiE COM -110 E1 l