HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Brussels Post, 1890-11-21, Page 62 •r,t .1 .fila USSELS 1—vsur
STRANGELY V Y EDDED• l that her things were removed--.ibe.
cage° Mrs, Donnie was ouch a great
friend of yours ; but uutil you have
A THRILLING STORY OF ROMANCE AND ADVENTURE,
CHAPTER XV.
merr.en I
Of all the numerous ills that hurt our
eace,
That press the soul, or wring the mil
with anguish,
Beyond comparison, the worst are tho
Whioh to our folly or to our guilt we of
'Moore,' said the Major—'I wa
to get down here. Do you min
driving the cart round for me ?'
'Not a bit, Sir,' auswered Moo
promptly.
So the Major got down and tb
other took the reins and drove off
Major Dennis turned eagerly t
Trevor, who was waiting with a
impaseive face to hoar what wool
Dome next.
'Who is it, Trevor ? Anyone yo
know ?' the Mayor asked.
'No, Sir—I have never spoken to
the lady,' the other answered, then
added -'I know her by eight. lie
is not an English woman.'
'And she -is it Valerie ?' he gasp.
ed out.
'Yes, Sir, I believe it is,' Trevor
answered. He felt an unutterable
and merciless oontempt for his sup.
erior, nor did be believe tor a mom-
ent that this Mademoiselle Valeria
neither was nor never had been any-
thing to him. For Dennis's own
sake be sure that jack Trevor would
not have lifted a finger to stop the
most scandalous scene in the world.,
He had acted entirely as he had done
for Ethel, for Ethel only, wholly
and solely because she always
shrank with snob horror from the
very idea of a scandal and a scene,
and because he felt that with her a
prisoner in her bedroom as she was
the situation was one which might
become a dangerous one at any mo-
ment.'
'And Ethel—?'
'1 was sitting with her, Sir, when
the—the lady came ; and I whis-
pered to her to get into her bed-
room and lock the door. I believe
she is there yet.'
'And that woman in the drawing.
room ?' the Major cried,
"I left her there; returned Trevor
in a hard wooden voice.
'Then she must be got away.
She must be turned out of the
camp,' Major Dennis exclaimed.
'Hadn't you Netter see her, Sir,
and get it over 2'
'Not for the world."
'She may want nothing very im-
portant—a mere trifle,' Trevor
urged.
'More likely she's got an infernal
machine or a bottle of vitriol to
throw in my face, retorted the other
sharply. 'However, I'll go round
and give orders myself.'
He strode away leaving Trevor
standing looking after him ; then
he suddenly bethought himself that
he would like to see the end of it
all, and forthwith set off in the
direction of the Major's quarters asas
quickly as wpossible without
breaking into a run.
Major Dennis had disappeared by
the time that Trevor got within
eight of his quarters so that he did
not hear the subsequent altercation
between the strange lady and the
soldier•servant, Judge.
That stolid person, after having
reeeived his orders from hie master,
went quietly into the tiny drawing -
room and thus addressed himself
to the lady,
'If you pleaee, Mum, Major Dan•
pis bide me say that lie is not able
to see you to -day.'
'I will wait,' said the lady with•
out moving.
'lbfajor Dennis will not be home i
to -night, Mum,' Judge added. 1
'No matter—l'11 wait till he docs f
come.' f
'Begging your pardon, Mum, but
you can't wait here,' said Judge a
with delightful civility. t
'Oh 1 yes, I shall.' p
'Begging your pardou, Mum, but t
I've got my orders and I can't let b
you wait here,' he repeated. a
'Indeed I And how can you pre- s
vent it 2' o
'nave but to step up to the s
guard -mom to have a file of man v
down here in two minutes,' answer- 1
ed Judge with great urbanity—'and 1
though I'd be sorry to treat a lady a
with any diereepect, I've got my le
orders, Mum, and I've got to carry v
them oat,'
Thus cornered the lady very re- r
luctantly rose from her seat on
Ethel's favorite settee. 'Well,' she g
said, 'I htive heard a great dual k
about the chivalry of your English s
soldiers, and when I come to visit th
an English officer, I am turned out o
of Chia house.' in
But it is only wasting breath to 0
talk about chivalry to a stolid block 81
of a soldier servant, who had got m
his ordere and would carry them
ant at any cost. Mademoiselle
Valerie did not realize that though
Judge would have promptly knack•
jelly any man that he taw ill-using
s woman, yet he had. Ma compunoe
tion whatever, in her case, of con-
veying hie master's message to her
rd in all its plain truth and uncom-
promising ugliness. She went out
so of the hut thorefere without Further
ve, ado, and Trevor from a distance
lit saw her go ell.' in the direction of the
d town.
a; 'Beaten again,' she muttered as
re she passed the great gates. '1 sup•
pose that's why he chooses to live
e in that miserable little wooden cabin
• —he knows he can always escape
o in among his great brutes of sol-
a Biers. Bah 1 I never thought I
d could be baffled by a great fool like
Dennis.'
u
When the stranger had fairly
gone, Major Dennis Bent Judge
across to Mr. Trevor'e quarters to
ask him to come over before he went
to mess. And when he was dressed
Trevor did eo and found the Major
atoms in the little drawing -room.
'Trevor, my dear fellow,' said the
Major with boieterous bearttnees,
'I can't thank you enough for hav-
ing aparad me from walking in tin•
awares on that woman this after-
noon—I'm awfully obliged to you.'
'Don't speak of it, Sir,' said Jack
a little stiffly. 'I wished to save
Mrs. Dennis any annoyance—that
was all.'
'Then she shall thank you her.
self. Stay there's one thing I want
to say—I know what you must
think of this mysterious lady who is
paying me such attention just
•
now '
'I have..no right to think about i
, at all, Sir,' put in Jack frigidly.
'But I wish you to do so,' rejoin
ed the Major—'because you could --
from a surface knowledge—only
have one opinion on the subject.
But I give you my word of honor
that she was never anything but a
bitter enemy to me --never.'
'She does seem bitter enough,'
said Jack relaxing and yet in a very
scornful tone.
'Aly dear, yee,' said the Major,
'and 'pon my word, if she follows
me up and makes my life a burden
to me in London as she baa done
here, I shall have to buy a petit as
the only safe way of getting ril of
her—' then he went to the door of
the bedroom and called, 'Ethel,
Ethel, I want you a minute.'
'Yes,' she answered, and Dame
out flushing with surprise when she
saw Trevor there.
'Trevor tells me he only came to
the gates and warned me that he
might save you annoyance. So
perhaps you will thank him for
yourself.'
Mre. Dennis went with outstret•
°had hands to Trevor. 'Jack, you
were very good,' she said earnestly.
'Thank you so much—so mocb,'
Site knew as well what kis eyes
meant as if he had spoken in plaiu
words. His looks said—'This man
is not true to you, and he ill-uses
you, you carry the marks of his vio-
lence on your body at this moment 1
Why do you not set yourself free
from him ? You have the power,
why do you not use it ?' She east
a piteous look back at him as if to
say—'Do not put such an idea into
my mind—dont tempt me 1'
'Trevor,' said the Major at that
moment, 'you're a good sort. I'll
never forget the good turn you have
done me to •day. Remember, wheth-
er its a fiat or a yacht, you'll always
be welcome in it—isn't that so,
Ethel ?'
'Always,' said Ethel faintly ; and
n that one word, Trevor's short.
ived hopes of bappinesein the near
uture, died. For somehow in these
ew momenta, he realized that Ethel
would never go in for a divorce
gainst her husband. It was a
emptation to her, just as his first
roposal that they should go away
ogether, bad been. But elle hart
ben brought up with a horror of
nythmg approaching to a public
(sandal, and even in the face of
verwhelming temptation, the
hrinking from the very feet of di -
orae clung to her still. So in the
anguage of a look he gathered that,
n spite of her love dragging always
t her bears -strings, she would, un•
es Major Dennis became more
iolent and his infidelities more ap-
arent, oarry the burden of her tor -
ow to the very end.
After this the Denniaes were soon
one and their place in the Fifteenth
new them no more. There was a
ale of the furniture and fittings of
Dir hut, which OS it was really the
ne apportioned Fp the command-
g'of$cer, was an unusually good
ne, And then, ae the Colonel was
ill living outside, the next senior
arried officer came into poaaoasion
of it. This happened to be Captain
trattou, and lure. Stratton was w
ry gleeful over the change. ,u
'I don't like to say much, itis. i o
rover,' she remarked an the day p
S
ve
ail down and thrashed almost to a T
had to put yourself and your wife,
to say nothing of two b bias into a
box with four compartments, you
will never be elate to realize the 'I see. Ah ! well, I think this
luxury and domfort of having six I one will do very well, for the time,
rooms all a trifle larger then those
you have left. And you'll vome
and help me to get settled, won't
you ?'
What could Trevor say ? Well,
exactly what he did, that he would
be charmed—delighted—and all the
rest. And every day for a whole
week, he gave all his spare time to
making himself useful and little
Mrs. Stream's quarters habitable,
nailing up pictures and fans and
brackets-aud pote in the sweet little
room which was hallowed to him by
the memory of his dear love's pros -
once. Well, well, the best days in
life Dome to au end sooner or later,
and perhaps it was as well for him
that the commanding oflioer's
quarters in Ohertsey Oamp had
come under the rule of a new rule.
tress.
'And you have none larger ?'
Ethel asked.
'Not larger—we have two small
suites—no, stay, one small suite to
let until next Easter,' the young
man replied.
CHAPTER XVI.
"THE PLATS, a. w."
"Tho world is a net; the more we stir
in it, the more we are entangled."
This is in Haat part of London
which writes S. W. on its lettere,
and is considered a distinctly fash-
ionable looality, a huge pile of build•
ings which is known as 'The Flats.'
It is something more than a mere
building in which you may find
suites of rooms each self-contained,
with its own front door, and which
you may make as mush your castle
as the moat English Englishman
could wish. For at 'The Flats' they
take you in and, beyond paying a
oertain sum of money, you have no
more trouble than you had when
you were a child at your father's
house. You can live there without
a care as to your cook or your house
maid, your sweep or your 1 aundrese
—they take you in, in fact, and 'do'
for you to perfection in every way.
If you are a very sociable person
you may make many acquaintauces
among the three or four hundred
people who live under the same roof
with you, or you may live there for
years and never speak to a single
soul from year's end to year's end.
You can give a dinner of forty
people with as little trouble as you
can ask one man to come in on
Wednesday and dine quietly with
you at eight o'clock—you can go
away for six months or a year and
yon needn't trouble to put any
thing under lock and key—the man-
agement does all that for ,you ; or
you may let your suite and have a
few guineas a week to help to pay
your expenses while you are visiting
among your friends and relatives or
enlarging your mind by foreigu
travel.
Then you need not trouble your-
self to keep horses and carriages un.
less you like—the management will
provide you with anything of that
kind that yon may happen to re-
quire, and you have but to order
the open or the close carriage, as
you may think most fit. Well, it is
a charming arrangement, and were
I a free agent in such matteru—
which I need hardly say I am not
— that portion of mankind which
enjoys the privilege of my acquaint
tante, would, before many weeks
have gone over my head, sec me
comfortable. established on the
second or third floor of the 'The
Flats.' I pan imagine no life so
easy, no household so pleasant to
manage, or with so few domestic
worries to fret one's soul.
Web, the Denniees, after beim; in
rooms in Jermyn Street for several
weeks, al] at once bethought them
of 'The Plata,' and determined to go
and whether there were any suites of
rooms to be let.
'If you remember,' said the Major
as they drove along—Emily Hard.
castle was there for six months at
least—shy swears by the plaoe—
said she never locked a thing tap or
even bolted her door at night. T
believe it would be the very plaoo.'
However, when they got there
they did not find a single large-sized
suite of rooms vacant. There were
two very email ones, each with a
good sitting•room, a good bedroom,
a small maid's room, kitchen and
bathroom, in reality suites only in•
tended for oue person, Over these
Mrs, Dennis shook her head—'We
meet have more room than that,'
sho said dooidedly.
'Would you like to tape a furnish•
ad suite for six months ?' asked the
young mag—manager—clerk—or
whatever he was—who took them
round. 'Then you could secure any
other that fell vacant.'
'Oh I we should not mind that.
But is this suite a good site ?'
'Eight good rooms, Madam,' he
replied. And eventually they de.
coded on taking thee° rooms, which
ore very well arranged and re. `So
arkably tvell futniehod, for a poled eh 00
at all events.
It seemed to Ethel, when they
had got fairly settled, that at last
they bad found peace. Major Den.
nis simply revelled in the new life.
'The Flats' was close to his club,
not far from the theatres or the
Park, was quiet and pleasant to live
in and he was free from the dread.
fol fear whiob had almost driven
him mad at Ohertsey. And when
they had been there for a few weeks
Trevor Dame up for his long leave,
and Hien the Major began to enjoy
life a little,
Oh yes, I speak advisedly—I
mean 'the Major,' not the Major's
wife. At the time of their leaving
Ohertsey, he had bo en smitten with
much compunction for hie treat•
went of Ethel, and I meet do him
the justice to say that as far as
was in his power, he did his best to
show that he was ashamed of the
part be had played.
But as I said before, his interest
in her was not real, and ou her side
Ethel did nothing to keep it astir.
He bored her and she bored him,
and although for a few weeks he
was most devoted, and took her
from shop to shop and From theatre
to theatre, yet when Trevor ma de
his appearance one day early in
November announcing the news that
be had oome up for his long leave,
Major Dennie was so glad to see
him, that hie welcome was of the
most effusive kind.
'My dear boy, where are you stay-
ing 2 I'm awfully glad to see you,'
he cried, going on without waiting
for an answer—Ethel will be de-
lighted—and you'll be able to take
her about a little,it will be a ohange
for her.'
'0h 1 I shall be charmed to make
myself useful,' said Jack.
'Yes—yea—you were always
friends, were you not 2 Ah ! she'll
be delighted. You must come and
dine—to-night, eh 2 And we might
do a theatre—what d'you think 2'
'Wath pleasure,' returned Jack,
who would cheerfully have assisted
at an Irish wake,had he known tha t
Ethel would be there.
'We dont know many people in
London,' Major Dennis went on—
'I've been so many years soldiering
and I never was much of a society
man at any time. By the -Nye,
where did you say you eons stay-
ing ?'
'In St. James's Street," Trevor
replied.
'Near enough—near enough. Are
you going to stop a little now ?'
'Yes—if Mrs. Dennis is at home
and—and has no objection.'
'Then I will go round to the club
—I know Ethyl will be here in a
minute. So you'll be all right,
won't yon 2'
'Oh 1 yes—dont atop for me,
Major, pray.'
He, in truth, was as glad to see
the Major go as the Major was to
feelthat he could get off for an
hour without feeling that he was
behaving like a brute to a poor
little neglected wife ; so when Ethel
came in she found 'Trevor awaiting
her all alone.
'Why, where is Oosmo 2' she ex-
claimed looking round. 'Ito said
lie was coming to yon.'
'lis did ; but he has gone off to
the (dab, and he has asked me to
dice and do a theatre with you to-
night. Ethel, my darling, say that
you are glad to see me.'
'You know that I am glad,' she
said with gentle reproach. 'I ought
not to be so glad—I know it.'
'And yet you are 2'
'Yee, I am.'
'And you arta well ?—tolerably
happy ?'
'Yes, I am much better here than
I was at Ohertsey. I think that
hut was very trying, although I was
fond of it, Who has it now 2'
'Mrs. Stratton.'
'Then the new Major is not
married ?'
'Ha is not, Mrs. Stratton was
overjoyed to get it,' smiling at the
remembrance of his own disgust
that anyone could be glad that
Ethel bad gone away.
'Why ere you smiling, Jack 2'
she asked suddenly.
'Because I am very happy ,just
now, and a small thing mattes a
happy 'can smile --.for another I
was smiling at the recollection of
my disgust that the little woman
was so unfeignedly glad to have the
hut. And tell me, dear, you have
been all right.—that woman has not
found you out yet ?'
'No, you know there is no place
like London, it is easy to lose one.
self in it. Was she there long after
we left 2'
ms little time, But you see,
uldn't get into camp mob to
f sax month's, and agreed to take leant facts for herself, and Mts. '
omission during the same week. (Continued on ?ego 8)
Nov. 21, 1890,
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