THE EVIL GENIUS.

Auckland Star, Volume XX, Issue 48, 26 February 1889, Page 6

THE EVIL GENIUS.

iJY ELIZA A. JDUPUT,

Author of "The White Terror," "Warning

Voice," "The Secret Chamber, " _c, &c,

CHAPTER XI

GODFREY FENTON HAS A CHAMPION

\Vhes Inez Lopez was left alone she sat down with that stunned feeling which comes after a severe mental shock. Bhe tried to recall every word uttered by the insidious lips of _Nin3, and as she remembered the passionate and excited manne 1' of the girl, she couid not doubt that of herself she had spoken the truth—spoken from depth of bitterness t,hab Godfrey Fenton's treachery had stirred within her heart.

Inez thought that she could have forgiven him for carrying ou a flirtation with an atfcx-active girl while m college, from which nothing serious was intended to ensue ; bufc she then felt as if it would be impossible to pardon him for concealing from herself the fact of his engagement io another. He must have been bound in honour to that other, yet he had sought her own love as though it were the most precious of earth's possessions to him. Mr Lopez continued to sleep heavily for many hours, and after composing herself sufficiently fco undertake the t»sk she meditated, Inez went, into her own apartment, and, with a trembling hand, sat down to reply to Fenton's lasb letter. It lay upon her portfolio, and she took ifc up with _ feeling of faint sickness, and read over again the tender and passionate outpouring of feeling she had lately believed as genuine as the affection she had bestowed on him. Her lipa curled bitterly when she came to thafc portion in which he urged on her the necessity of coming to an understanding with her aunt as to whafc she was fco do for her in the event of their marriage, and she murmured : ' Oh, how could I nave been so blind—so easily deceived ? Nina Gordon is right; but for the prospect of wealth before mo be would never have asked me to become his wife. Yet be seemed so earnest —so truly attached to me—that, ifc is hard fco distrust him, even after such evidence of his want ot faith. I will nob condemn him unheard; from his own hand shall come fche continuation of Whafc has been told me, or I will refuse to believe it.'

She took up her pen, and rapidly wrote a succinct statement of all thafc had occurred (as bo Godfrey) between Mrs Hawks, Nina, and herself, informing her lover that Mrs Hawks would probably Jeaye her bufc a slender annuiby, and might bequeath the bulk of her property to Is ma, in which case he (Godfrey) ' could perhaps yet win Miss Gordon for his wife.' She concluded bj saying :

...' If this is so, you need reply to me but in three Words, and the soal will be set upon your own dishonour. Never again Will I listen to a word from you. nor read a line from your hand ; ( but if you can prove these assertions to be calumnies, I will gladly believe in your defence. •I shall direct this letter to Quebec, and I hope it. will be fortunate enough to find you there, as you cannot too soon be informed of what has happened here to-day. Inez.'

. Having accomplished this painful task, Inez gathered together the precious memorials of Godfrey Fenton's loze —his letters, a ring he had given her, and a lock of his soft, lustrous hair, and placed them in a secreb drawer of her desk. She then tool: from her neck a line gold chain, from which was suspended a lockefc containing his ininature ; but she would nofc open tbe case to indulge herself with a single glance at the beloved face, lesb ib might unnerve her for the dubies of the evening ; for, in spite of her own suffering, Inez thought with pity of her father's chagrin when her blighted prospects should become known to him.

Mr Lopez had formed a strong attachment for Fenton, and she knew that he indulged the hope thab through bhe young Mississippian such brightness as his own life might yefc know was soon to come in the shape of a more comfortable homo and social intercourse with those from whom he had hitherto held himself aloof.

After bathing: her face to remove all traces of emotion from ifc as far as possible, she went out to Nora to order her father's dinner, and with her own delicate hands prepared an omelette which she knew he particularly liked. By this time Dick had returned with the carriage, and after setting tlie table in her father's room, Inez called on the driver to wheel his chair softly back to his own apartment. She hoped that the motion would arouse him from the lethargy into which he had fallen, and such, in fact, was its effect. Mr Lopez dreamily opened his eyes, and asked : ' Where are you taking1 me ''. Not back to hear that d l's chorus that I eameaway to get rid of, 1 hope. If the hawk is still in the nest I decline occupying the room afc the same time. Weare nofc " birds of fche same feather," and a battle always takes place when we come together.' ' Dear papa,' said Inez, from the back of his chair, 'my aunt has been _one some time. Hereafter, I think, perhaps it will be besb for me to visit her afc Newport in place of her comirig here.' <■ With all my heart, for I am sure the sighfc of her cross old face is enough to make my eyes ache. She is no more like your mother than if she were not of the same blood. Susie was as fair as a snowdrop, and gentle as a woman should be if she is true fco fche nature God meanfc to implant in her.' Dick placed his chair opposite fche_ open window through which fche evening air was wafted, and Inez hastened to draw up the table and summon her handmaiden to serve the delicate repast which had been prepared for him. To this Mr Lopez did ample justice, but, wifch much effort did Inez force herself to swallow a fow morsels when her father noticed her want of appetite. She accounted for ifc by saying fchab she had taken luncheon with her aunt nofc. very long before, and ha laughed and said : 'Her lunch and your dinner. Her hours and yours don't agree any better than her temper and mine. So I missed the tempting meal you prepared, for no doubt you gave the old girl the best that was to be _ad.' ' Yes, I tried to please her ; but what .vas set before her was nob better than whafc Is now before you.' ' I can easily believe thafc, for you are an illimitable housekeeper and a moat dainty caterer for a sick appetite, I must aay. But thia haphazard way of living can't last much longer, Inez ; my dear boy will soon be coming back tome, and then we must force some kind of settlement from your aunt thab will enable us to live more like people of our station should.' By this time the servants had left thet_ alone, as ifc was the habifc of Inez to wait on her father afc meals, ringing the bell when they were over for JS'orato remove fche things. A. lie spoke thus, Lopez looked up at her, and for the second time thafc day fche expression of her face struck him forcibly. He hastily said : 'Something has happened to vex you, child, and you are concealing ifc from me. What did thafc old catamaran say to you this morning? I-insist on knowing. She is always badgering one or the other of us. But. I'll find means to pay her put yofc, crippled as I am. See if I don't.' 7 ""gravely replied;

'Yes, papa, I have something to tell you, but wo will wait till the table is cleared. We cannot speak freely together till then.' ' Welt, Iwppose I shall have to submit '.o be ruled by you, as 1 always am. -out. when the tilings are taken away I shall expect the whole truth, mind you.' Bhe sighed softly, as she repeated : ' Yes, the whole truth, though I am afraid that you will not like it.'

' That's as ifc may be. I choose to know it, at any rate.' When fche cloth was afc last removed, Nora, unbidden, placed a chess-board and men upon the tabic: the evening auiusenienb of Mr Lopez was playing that game with his daughter, lie always insisted on being bhe victor, and Inez good-naturedly allowed ib, thouyh she was much the better player ot" the two. Hi's sources of enjoyment were narrowed down to so few thafc she could nofc deny him tho triumph of conquering her in their mimic trials of skill, much as ib sometimes tested her forbearancs to do so.

She began mechanically to arrange the pieces, but, no sooner had the door closed on fche Irish girl than Mr Lopez pushed the board away, and leaning buck in his chair, iixed ids eyes searclungly on his daughter, and said :

'J!\ row lam quite ready for whafc you have to say, Inez. Begin, if you please, with what, passed between yourself and your

auiit this morning.' After a slight effort to steady her voice, InciK recounted to him as precisely as possible ali that Mrs Hawks had said, and without allowing herself to pause between fchem, v/enb on to the occurrences of the later part of the da\

one bold liim enough of what had passed between 2\'ina _ud herself bo enable him to come to his own conclusions as fco fche guilt or innocence of the man they had both so highly estimated. Her father often interrupted her with exclamations of incredulity, or finger, bub when she had hnisheU her painful recital he struck his hand so violently upon the table as fco set the chess men spinning in every direction, and said : 4 I'll never believe ifc ! never! It's a shameful lie hatched up between your precious aunb and thab young serpent, who, 1 begin to believo, is ready enough bo undertake anything thab will pleaso a rich woman like old Hawks. I hope you won't credit them, Inez, or write to Godfrey as if you mistrust him. He loves you, child; I know ho does, and if thore is any sham about aim, ifc was acted towards that infernal girl—never, never with you. Whafc if he did liirfc with her? There was no harm 'in thafc. AU collego sbudeuts have such experiences in their verdant days, and are none bhe worse for them afterwards. The girl, no doubt, did all she could to attract him, and now sho asks you bo cast him off because she couldn't entrap him into marrying her. I know something of life, Inez, aud of men, and if over truo love was felt for a wpman, I know that Godfrey Fenton feels ib for you in all it's depth and intensity.' 'J. thought so, boo, papa,'was the subdued reply, ' bub it seems thab he has no right to love me. You overlook the worst feature of bhe case—hia previous engagement bo Miss Hastings.' 'Miss Fiddlesticks ! That young tigress has wrought bhat part of bhe story out of her own fertile brain. I shall not credit a syllable of it, nor shall you. Upon my word, if you allow yourself to be cheated oub of such a husband as Fenton will make, you'll not deserve fco find one at all. He is the noblest, most whole - souled fellow breabhing, and I insist that he shall have fair play, in spite of all these malicious women can say against him.' ' That is my wish, boo, papa, and I have already written to him telling him the whole story, and asking him to defend himself, if it is in his power fco do so. . would not con-' detrm him unheard.' ' I hope that your letter has not been sent to bhe office, for I wish to add a few lines fco it. myself, telling Godfrey how utterly I disbelieve the whole bhing. I shall invite him to come here ab once, and face his enemies.' ' lb is too lafce to do that, for Dick took my lefcter to town while we were afc dinner. I thought ifc best fco send it off before speaking with you, lost you might wish me to delay a little. I cannot live in thi3 suspense. " I must know what is to be known as soon as possible. I have given Mr Fenton fche opportunity to defend himself, and if he cannob do that, all must end between us.' Her father looked at her with rage and amazemenb contending for the mastery. ' f You say thab very coolly, but your whito face arid heavy ~eyes tell their own tale. I tell you, Inez,'that the loss of bhis man's love will break your heart, and w reck the last hope in life thafc remains to me. Look afc me—think of what I have borne, and remember what Fenfcon has become to me ; what he promises to do for us both ; and then, if you can, say again that all shall be over between you. It shall nob be ; you shall marry him yob, and get back your r>»or mother's portion. Ifc has been unfairly : withheld from you too long already, and I will find means to make old Hawks disgorge her plunder. Oh ! you needn't look ab me in that way, for I am terribly iii earnest.' Inez arose, knelt down before him, and placing her bowed head upon his knee, she tremulously said ; 'Papa, darling papa, don'fc pain me by such violence, ' I cannot bear it. Be gentle with your poor Inez, for she needs kindness this nighb more than she has ever dohb before in her whole life. I have done whafc I thought right, and we musfc leave tlie issue iii the hands of a higher power.'

Lopez reverently made bhe sign of the cross on her pale brow, and then more gently said: 'God knows I think more of your happiness and welfare than of my own ; bub ifc angers me to see your faith in a truo man tampered with and unsettled by those bwo woriien who came here to-day benb on an errand of mischief. • I only wish bhab Fenton had a fortune of his own, for he would soon show them then thafc your aunt's money was nob what he was thinking of when lie sought you. He has always known that fchere are strong doubts as bo your getting much of it, and he only asked for enough from her hoards fco enable him to marry you afc once, without danger of all of us coming to want. Till lately I would havo compromised with Mrs Hawks for five thousand a year; bub now I will not do that. We will havo half, and the balance afc her death. Get. up, child, and sib on this ottoman ab my feet, for I have something very strange bo tell you.'

( To be Continued.)