NOVEL

Alexandra Herald and Central Otago Gazette, Issue 386, 1 October 1903, Page 2

NOVEL

CHAPTER XII.-(Continued.) Her husband thanked her. 'I won't pretend to m i- understand the allusion.' Hebe laughed mischievously. 'Oh! but he turned cut such a paragon in the end you know,' she reminded him.

'Tfcm you think there is earns hope for me V

The blue eyea he loved smiled up into his.

Wife-hood sat upon Hebe adorably; her charms unfolded in that passionate time o! honeymoon aa a Sower to the eun. And mirxiage seemed to have invested her with a new chum of docility. The occasional outbursts of petulance, the little imperious ways which had exercised Hopecaatle's unverasd masculine mind were forgotten. And if now and then her ladyship pretended to rebel it would be for the pleasure of yielding; and her pretty poutinga ended in adorable submission.

Hopecastle, noting the universal eyehe mage of which his wife was the object, scarcely knew whether to hate every man who looked at her, or to pity him for not being her husband. As for Hebe, the was enjoying her hose)moon immensely; she doted on her titl?, and appreciated to the fu 1 its effect is disjunction with her remarkable beauty, upon the world she met. Bat '" a 1 any girl friend cna short month back accued her of being in love with her future husband, Hebe would have curled her lip and implied volumes in a u»h. Yet now—abe did not analyse the glamour cf honeymoon time, the young wif/a half-fearful delight in intimate association, the restful sense of completion—only knew that things were changed. Former impressions were dimmed; only now and again with a pisi r I k of remembrance, came tho thought of a certain photograph left behind in tafe hiding, and she resolved ita destruction at an early opportunity. At last the day cune when the Hon - cant lea tore themselves from their lotueeating life on M&ggicre, and set their faces homeward, scarcely baiting except in Paris, where Hebe ran riot amongst millinery and such like chiffons with the natural abandon of a pretty woman given carte-blanche for the first time. Four days later they arrived at Baronatoke Scabon amid fog signal* exploding in their honour, and received a public welcome.

They yielded to the inevitable—the addiesa from the tenantry, the unhorsing of their carriage, triumphal arches, shouting and all. m Hebe smiled and bowed herself tired; hot in fact she rather enjoyed it all. As for H >peca3tle, whose hand might hardly leave his hat brim, it's only once in a lifetime,' and presently breathed thanksgiving for the comparative seclusion of four walla.

The Dowager Lady Hopecastle received the arrivals, saluting her son on both cheeks, and administering to Hebe, after a just perceptible hesitation, a slight peck upon the forehead. It ere ensued over the tia-cups the urual inquiries prescribed by convention—health, weather, the crossing from Calais. 4 You will be fatigued, Hebe,' raid her mother-in-law presently. • I will ring for your maid to show you your rcoms. 4 Thank you,' said Hebe, but her heart sank; all in a moment she was an invited guest, an outsider in her own home; for nothing in Lady Hope-castle's manner was less implied than abdication.

A short half-hcur later, Hopecastle locking into hia wife's boudoir found her standing by the fire tear flushed and disconsolate.

' My darling, what ia it ?' Sie laid her face against his waistcoat and held his hand fast.

* What is it ?' he repeated, concerned aad mystified. 'Oh, nothing. Only I wish—l mean, we were very happy at PallaEzi, weren't we* * 'Why, jpf; end we'll be happier still at home.'

'I don't knot?,' she murmnrod, dubious, 'and I don't feel aa though I were at home. Don't leave me, Arthur.' He Bat down and drew her on fa is knee.

* Leave jou ? Not I. It's always a hard matter to do that, little girl, even for an hour.' It was infinitely delightful to know bis eo necessary to her happiness; all the same it puzzled him that she should ieel thus about their home-coming. Hebe entered fee drawing-rocm just before dinner, holding her hnsband'e hand; it was as thougn she derived sonse indefinite support frcm the contact. The Dowagar Lady Hopecastle, reading a news, paper thrc ugh geld eyeglasses held at a little distance from her eyes, glanze up as the pair entered, and Htbe dropped her husband's band arith the haste of guilt. They Teat into dinner—ihe Dowag*.-, with a enperb gesture, indicated to her daughter-in-law the place of hon< ur &t the table's head, and swept by to the seat on h«r son's right hand. To the oldtr woman it may hive been a bitter uoment enough, to the younger it was awful. 'Won't you—' aLe ctan. mered, but the words died in her throat j and her attempt for which she heartily deapised xereelf, appeared to pass nunc ticed. H omility had never been Hebe' 6 besetting weakness£nor indeed was thu humility, she knew, but a craven subservience to the stony eyea behind the gold aoee-aippeig,

PUBLISHED BY SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT.

LADY HOPECASTLE,

BY E. Reld-Matheson. COPYRIGHT

• When the ladies rose, Heba saw hersolf doomed to a tete-a-tete with ber august parent-in-law. Hcpecastle had not adequately read his wife's imploring glance as Bhe left the room; nor indeed could be expected to understand the situation.

Catherine, Lady Hopecastle, seated herself in her favourite high-backedta pastry chair at some distance from the fireplace, and having offered one or two remarks upon the altar of conventional exigency, relapsed into silence behind the • Quarterly Review.'

In self-defence Hebe picked np a magazine and pretended to read it; but the events cf the day had overstrung her nerves, and the grandeur of that great stately room oppressed her with a sense of desolation. Some three or four shaded lamps :diffuaed a sort of yellow twilight in its vastness, and the moulded ceiling and heavy cornices loomed above in inaccessible dimness. The massive drapery of the dark curtains hung in long funereal folds; and from the walls dead and gone Hopecastles stared down from their frames in calmly relentless criticism of the latest lady in their long dynasty. Tho one cheerful thing in that vast chamber was the huge open hearth, with biasing logs whose cheery crackle broke a silence which might have become unbearable. Hebe chose a seat very near to the fire, and counted the minutes to her husband's coming. She stole glances at her mother-in-law, whose choice of a chair seemed to Bvmbiolise her; and whose bolt-upright attitude, distance from the fire, and Spartan demeanour generally seemed to the younger generation an implied rebuke,

When at last Hopecastle came in to tea, things mended a little. Tiu3, he and his mother discussed estate concerns of which Hebe knew nothing; still Arthur'B presence was the main thing. But oh! to think of that dreadful afterdinner hour evening after evening—that parody of solitude a deux! And the very nature of things alike precluded complaint and prevented redresß.

CHAPTER XIII.

For two months there had been much coming and going at Houghton Towers; sporting had been the order of the day, and feasting and dancing of the night. The stately rooms had echoed to voices and laughter, the corridors were alive with footfalls and the swish of silken trains.

The rural neighbourhood was agog with the doings of the great house; Boughtonitea, conscious of a reflected glory from the proximity of so much wealth and distinction, rather looked down upon the denizens of remoter hamlets. To a remark by one cf these last that he had seen the Dcchess of L—— drive by, a Boughtonite gave slightingly reply, * Lor', bl«s 'ee, we don't take no notice down our way; we're a'swarmin' with dukes and lords and such like' '

A dozen rungs higher up the social ladder, Mrs A revelled in informing MrE B that the Mai quia of X. arrived last night, to the discomfiture of that lady who bad not heard it, Who, later, however, had her innings, when Mrs A. mentioned having seen the Blanks at the meet with Lady Hopecastle that morning 'Theßlanks, dear? Oh, no; you muat have mistaken them for someone else. The Blanks have left some time—four days at least'

Now all this was over; the great house had subsided into its normil stately quietude. Mrs A and Mrs B knew respite irom the necessity of pretences which deceived nobody, and Hedge and his wife wore onco more on equal terms with their neighbours.

Hopecastle was in his Btndy having a field-day with his estate affaire. The departure of Mb gupsts was a great relief; he was no society man, and entertaining bored him to extinction. Give him his own fireside, bis c-sttto interests, his horses, his daily paper. Scill he never thought of ignoring the obligations of his position j they had been too well dinned into him from his yonth up. Betides, the cover!s must be shot. The fact that his wife had shone as an acknowledged star amongst much female beauty had been to Hopecastle a satisfaction not quite unalloyed. He did not requiio this public ratification of his ehoiee, and though he would have died rather than own it he wag a man easily jealous. Taank heaveH therefore, the crowd hsd gone, and left him to domesticity and work. No man on the Boughton estate worked harder than its owner; no sma'leat detail was beneath his knowledge and personal attention. The unfaithful or slack found short shrift, but those sick or in trouble told tales of my lord's goodness: in short, the Bcughton property was a byword throughout the country for good management.

To-day Hopecastle was up to the eyeß in architectural plans, for he had it in his mind to build mcdel almshouses for s iperannuated retainers and tenants. There wbb a knock at his study door, 'Yes,* cried Hopecastle, his absorbed f town intensifying to impatience. The door went slowly ajar to revoal a Bveer, laughing face, crowned with a c 'luettish toque of sable and violets. ' Bsadj, my Lord ?'

' Ob, it's you, darling; do come in!' Bhe came in and took the chair he put for her. But the smiles had gone. Hebe had her own opinion about thU devotion

to estate matters. ' What is it, pet P Going out ?' ' I thought we were going to call on the Schuylera ?' Her words had the restraint of vexation. 'Why, hang it all, bo we were. I'm afraid I'd quite forgotten.' ' H'm!' Hebe heard in his answer an attempt to gain time; he should get no help from her. She sat swinging one small smartly Bhod foot, and regarding it critically. ' What a senseleeß job all this calling is, isn't it? To go posting off half-a-dozen miles when you'd rather be at | home, to see people who don't care twopence about seeing you,' Hopecastle's mind must surely have been very much upon his almshouses just then. • That's one way of putting it, certainly!' replied his wife, ivithasortof factitious pleasantness; ' but really there is no good for you to go unless you wish. It was only—it was merely that you said you were going to drive me. lean quite well go by myself. He caught at her words; there was a sad lack of subtlety about Hopecastle. ' Won't you really mind, darling, if I don't? I shall have to change every blessed thing if Igo calling—and Ido so want to settle abont these almshouses you know.' It was the first word she had heard of them; but she was too angry to say so. ' Well, gocd uje' she said, coldly and rising. ' The horses are waiting.' Hopecastle jumped up. ' I'll come and start your ladyship,' he" said. At his study door he caught her to him, 'No kiss, sweetheart, and going to leave me for two whole hours or more ?' Had Hebe been a whit less offended she might have resisted ; as it was she suffered the kiss, and suppressed an obvious retort. Two blood horses in a mail phaeton waited at the great entrance, a grcom at their heads. ' Get up, Stevens. lam not going! Ton will drive her ladyship.' Stevens was all alacrity. ' You can get up behind, Stevens ' said her ladyship, icily, but the icmess did not count to Stevens ; ' I am going to drive.' Stevens saluting, looked respectful distress at his master, ' I think, Hebe, if yon. don't mind, you had better let Stevens drive —those horses are not fit for a lady yet.' 'Of course if you wish it, I'll stay at home; but if Igo I drive. 9 Hebe's tone was ominously smooth, and she did not look at her husband as ate spoke. Had husbvnd and wife been alone, victory might have rested with the former. But to cajole or to insist before a servant was not possible to Hopecastle; besides the situation was not clear to him. He was standing with one hand on the off-side horse. 'Don't be long,'he said, rather low, looking up at his wife's face, ' don't let that woman keep ycu, I sball be anxious till you are back.' Hebe laughed lightly, and with a half-glance towards Stevens, started her horees. Hopecastle watched the carriage out of sight; then went slowly back to his architectural designs, a perplexed pucker between his brows. That little scene at the carriage had left a vaguely unpleasant impression. He had not quite gathered whether, or how much, Hebe was vexed; he was pretty sure it could not be serious, for Hebe was not given to dissembling her displeasure, Hopecastle did not know that while if a woman is only a little vexed, she always lets it be Been, sometimes when she is really anyry it takes finding out; not that the longer you are in making the discovery—and it is bound to be made—the worse it is likely to be for you. I Bay he knew very little of arch things; being still unversed in women's ways and not given to analysis. Still he almost wished he had given up his work and gone with Hebe; besides he did not like the idea of her driving those horses. Tmfch to say, unless Hebe had been in a temper she would never have undertaken to do it, she was an inexperienced and by no means clever whip. But the pressing need of the moment had been to vex hex husband, and if possible leave him a prey to alarm on her account. Unfortunately the kind of Dutch courage derived from temper is quick to evaporate. Hebe's hordes, intoxicated by the keen air and the joy of rapid motion, broke their pace continually, curving their hard glossy necks mischievously, and getting their high-bred heads down in a scarcely controlled desire to back. This way and that they looked for something to shy at, the near-side horse finding it presently in the old ledge-keeper's scarlet hood as Hebe turned out of the park. The momentum of the animal's swerve against the paling nearly sent the offfront wheel into the side of the great wrought-iron gateway. Collision was averted by a miracle, and the horses, swinging out into the road, went off at a spanking pace, which meant covering the six hilly miles to Piaw Hatch well under the half-hour. ' Stevens!' His mistress turned a very pink face one fraction in his direction- ♦ Stavens!' He bent obsequiously forward. 'Yes, my lady.' 'These brutes are pulling—my—arms off. I think—perhap3 ycu'd better get up bo side me. I—' ' Yob, my lady.' It was Stevens' hour; yet nothing but the sucking in of one thin brown cheek showed that he knew it. • Take the rains—my hands are almost numbed.' Stevens rising in his seat presently brought the horses to a stand. Hebe vacated the box scat. ' Yqp can drive, Stevens; my hands are too cold.' She spoke sharply, under a galling sense of defeat; she was hoping Hopeoaßtle would never know of thiß transfer. Lady Sophie Sshuyler was at homethat is, she wa3 no further away than the home farm buildings. If her ladyship would cime in and wait, said the servant, he could send for Lady Sophie. Hebe elected to find her for herself; and found her in a barn, wearing a short tweed skirt and business-like lace boots, and with Lady Sophie were a keeper and a. couple of sporting-looking fox terriers agog for rats. ' Hallo,' cried Lady Sophie, turning at the Bound of steps, 'so you've run me to ground.' • I hope you don't mind my c )ming to find you.' •Rather not—Con, where are your manners ? Here's Lady Hopecastle.' (To b9 continued.)