THE EVIL GENIUS.

Auckland Star, Volume XX, Issue 95, 23 April 1889, Page 6

THE EVIL GENIUS.

CHAPTER, LIL

REPRIEVED FOR A MONTH.

BY ELIZA A. DUPUY,

Author of " The White Terror," " Warning

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

Fenton came blithely forward, sat down ibesido her, and taking her passive hand in his own, tenderly said : ' This is a happiness I had scarcely dared to hope for, Opal— my Opal; is it not so ? All day have I been panting for^he opportunity to tell you with what passionate sentiments of affection you have inspired me. Our parents long ago decided that we should marry, Opal, but their wishes would have little weight with me if I did nob adore you. Your consent to givo me your hand will render me the happiest and proudest of men.' She looked up at him and suddenly asked: 'To how many others have you uttered the same protestation, Mr J. enton ? I have [been told that you found charms superior, in your estimation, to mine while you were far away; then how can I believe that your .professions are sincere V Nothing daunted, he earnestly said : ._ 'Look into my eyes, Opal, and you will see that I mean every word that I utter. Do not doubt me, dearest, because slandering tongues have tried to poison your mind against me by misrepresenting a mere flirtation, that meant nothing. Everything is over between the lady you refer to and myself, and I am at your feat to be made the happiest or the most miserable of men." He arose and gracefully dropped on one knee before her, bub he did this that he might have a fair look in bo the agitated facs which she had turned so persistently from [him that he could see nothing of its expression as he sat beside her.

J. enton saw that her doubts were melting before his asseverations, for she looked down on him with dewy eyes, and her lips relaxed into a fainti smile as she asked :

' Are you sure, Godfrey, that the gift of my love will make you as happy as you say 'it will? Do nob seek bo deceive me, nor play bhe traitor to your own hearb, for it is ,of bhe last importance to both of us thab -we shall fully understand what wo desire.' ' I have bub one wish, Opal, and bhab is to make you my wife ab as early a day as possible. The sooner our marriage can : take place the better it will be for me, and I hope for you, my dearest girl.' : In a tone of alarm she cried :

•But there is no question of an immediate marriage, Godfrey. Such is not my father's wish, nor—nor my own. When he spoke to me on this subjecb this morning he said thab we would have a year in which to understand our feelings toward each other. lam too young to marry yet.' ■I do nob think so. Opal. You are a woman in person, and your mind is developed beyond your years. Leb mine ;be the precious task to develop your heart and affections, and I shall feel myself the most fortunate of men. Consent that our union shall take place immediately ; there is no necessity for delay, and J am most anxious to make you all my own before your heart has had a chance to receive other impressions. To win your -virgin affections is the sweetest hope of ■my life, and, blessed with them, I feel that I shall have won all thab is needed to make my future blessed. Let me become your husband without any delay thab can 'be avoided.' •An almost imperceptible shiver thrilled :through her frame, and she hurriedly said : * No, no; it cannot be, dear Godfrey. Eloquently as you plead, earnest as you .seem to be, I must refuse bo give you my hand before bhe sbipulabed year is oub. Grant me thab grace, I enbreat, and say 'nothing to papa aboub a speedy marriage, I must nob consent bo it, for I do not-yet fully understand my own hearb. I love no other, yet I shrink from the thought of giving myself irrevocably to you.' 'Opal—darling, that is bub bhe natural feeling of every young girl when she first listens to words of love ; but you will get over it, love. You will gradually accustom yourself bo think of me as the companion of jour future life, and you will be wrought on to consent bo name an early day for our union. Since ib is bo be, bhero is no good reason for deferring it longer than is necessary to prepare a trousseau befitting so peerless a bride as you will be. Oh, Opal! I could not bear the delay of a •whole year. I know not what might happen in thab inberval to separate us for over. 3 ' But- what could happen, Godfrey ? I am willing to consider my hand as plighted to you ; "to bring my hearb into subjection to the wishes of those who love me best; bub ib is asking too much of me when you insisb that I shall become yours before I have had time to learn to love you. I would not deceive you for the world, Godfrey, and I have known too little of you in the last few years bo wind my affecbions around you all ab once. Give me the stipulated year, I entreat, in which t® make up my mind to this important change in my destiny. Nothing . can sever us but your will or my own, and if either of us should wish to recede from the contract, ib will surely be bebber to retain the power of doing so before an irrevocable vow is taken at the altar.' - o_al,' he passionately said, 'your coolness drives me mad. I tell you that the girl who is coming hither as your governess may step between us; she may make a breach between us thab can never be healed. Consent to marry me at once, and all Nina Gordon's arts will be effectually baffled.' She made an effort to release her hands, which he bad forcibly imprisoned in his own, and coldly said : -Miss Gordon, I already understand, thinks that you have nob breated her well. I do not judge you, Godfrey, and your flirtation with her may not have been looked on by you as wrong; but you must have a very poor opinion of me if you think anything shq would dare to say against you

would be listened to by me. TSTo. If I trust you at all, I trust you implicitly. I have consented to become your wife at some future day, and I shall hold your honour sacred from the attacks of anyone. Miss Gordon will never be permitted to say to me aught that is not fitting to be spoken of you to your betrothed.' Fenton arose and leaned against thedoorway, looking down on.her with an expression she coula noc interpret. In a sad tone, he said : * I thank you for that assurance, Opal. It is worthy of you, and half consoles me for your opposition to what I so earnestly desire. This young girl is my bitter foe.^ Twice has she threatened bo avenge herself on me for the imaginary wrong I did her in leading her to suppose thab my attentions were moro than friendly. I sought her acquaintance because she reminded me of you. That was the solo attraction, I solemnly swear, though she deluded herself with the belief that I loved her. But she is tho " counterfeit presentment " beside the true gem, and you alone are mistress of my heart.' Opal looked up at him, smiled faintly, and replied: 'lam willing to believe yon, Godfrey: bub leb me have a libble more time to fathom my own heart, and bring out all its capacity for loving, before I plight my faith to you. Surely thab is nob asking too much.'

*It is only asking that which I feel incapable of granting," Opal. I shall see you every day for week 3to come, and, ab the end of another monbh, I shall again press for a speedy union. By that time you will know me better ; you will understand how dear you are to me, and I am vain enough to hope that I shall have been able to elicit a corresponding emotion in your heart. If you love me ever so little then, will you promise to listen more favourably to my proposal of an immediate marriago ? We will make a bridal .rip to Europe ; I have never travelled except on this continent, and together we will explore the Old World, finding day by day somebhing bo prize and love in each other even more than the wonders of art and beauby to be enjoyed there.' The bait v. as well presented, for Fenton knew that Opal was most anxious for such a tour ; thab she had looked forward to it through all her short life a3 its crowning joy. She was so young, so untried, so ignorant of her own needs, that she listened to this suggestion with a bounding heart. She smiled on him with all her native brightness, and, extending hor fair hand to him, softly said : • ' I will think of what you have said, Godfrey, and if I can gain the consent of my own heart, and papa is willing to give me up so soon, perhaps your wishes may bo fulfilled. Bub I am to have a month to make up my mind, remember ; and il I recede, then you will not urge mo further till bhe year is gone.' ' f will nob ! I pledge you my honour 1 will nob !' cried Fenton, beaming with rapture ab tbi3 concession. ' Oh, Opal, I will nob doubb my power to win you, for such love as I feel for you must meet its reward.' , Pie did not attempt to kiss her. He had too much tact for that. t He only lifted her hand to his lips with fervent pressure, and she thankod him in her hearb for his forbearance ; for, after what had just passed bebween bhem, he surely had bhe righb bo kiss her if he chose to do so. Fenton remembered the last passionate kiss ho had pressed upon the lips of Inez ; and although he did not scruple to secure his own interests by making love to her rival, he shrank from taking Opal in his arms, and bestowing on her the caress which he felt would be profanation to the pure and maidenly creature who had just given him her troth.

She arose, and quietly said : ' We will return to the house now. _ It is getting late, and mamma will be anxious to return home.' «There is one thing I must require of you, Opal. Guy loves you ; he makes no concealment of it; and I saw indications yesterday of it that made me a little jealous. Men may flirt with impunity, dearest, but no man likes to see his bebrobhed boo attracbive to another.' He felt that she shivered, but she calmly replied : ' Mr Denham has never told me that he loves me, and I have no right to believe it until he does so. You need have no fear of him. I shall nob again permit him to approach me as he did yesborday. I understand boo v. ell whab is due bo our relabions toward each other.' • Thanks, dearest. Freed from Guy s rivalry, 1 am persuaded that I shall be able to win all that* I have asked. Only let me devote myself to you without any disturbing element, and my adoring love must win its way to your gentle and affectionate heart.'

CHAPTER LIIL

/OK HEP. FATHER'S SAKE.

By this time they had gained the entrance to the house, before which the carriage was waiting ; and when they entered the draw-ing-room mischievous glances greeted them from the two girls. Jenny came up to Opal and whispered in her ear : ' ' Kiss mo, si .tor, for I sec from your face that Godfrey has gained your consent to bocome such. I hope it won't be long before I shall have my tullo dress looped with roses.' '<■ You absurd child, thab is only fitting attire for a young lady. Wait till tho occasion comes, and then you shall have a white silk, with a lace tucker.' Jenny pouted, and Dora softly said : ' I hope we shall have tho wedding very soon, and I think we shall, for mamma and Mr Hastings have been talking it over ; and I overheard her say that it is of no uso to pub ib off, and ib will be safer and bebter to have it over and ab once.' Opal crimsoned, and cast a half-resentful glance toward Mrs Markland. bub another one ab the handsome and animated face of Fenton made her think how ungrateful she was for all the affection lavished upon her. Poor child ! how was sho to distinguish the true from tho counterfeit, especially when love was so well simulated ? And she left Magnolia with tho conviction that, in

the estimation of Godfrey Fen ton, she was the dearest of God's creatures.

, Mrs Markland whispered a few words m her ear as they separated, and Opal sank back in the carriage in a strange whirl of feeling, for the assurance was thus conveyed to her that her fathor, on whose opposition she had relied to save her from tlio too ardent pursuit of her lover, had given his consent to an immediate marriage. What influence had been brought to bear upon him which could induce him to do this? Opal vainly asked herself. She was bewildered and frightened by the suddenness of the whole thing, and she could not divest herself of tho feeling «bhab she was hovering on the brink of a precipice from which she felt herself powerless to recede. The hand thai pushed her over its brink would be that of her own father; and although she shivered and shrank in every fibre of her frame from the last fatal plunge, she felt that she would be forced to make it without the entire consent of hor own heart. * The first moment she found herself alone with her father, she threw herself sobbing upon his breast, and cried out: 'What have you done, papa? Why should you have consented that my mar-riag-o shall be hurried on ? I shall not have time to know whether I am taking Godfrey because I love him, or because he said he would take mo to Europe. I made a foolish promise when he said he would ; but I regret it already. Ido nob wish bo marry anyone yeb, papa.'

To this outburst Mr Hastings soothingly replied : ' You will think differently about it, my love, when you have had time to overcome your agitation and view things calmly. There is really no reason why the marriage which is eventually to take place should bo postponed. Godfrey ia extremely anxious that no delay shall take place, and I really could nob bring forward a:iy valid objection when Mrs Markland set forth all the reasons in its favour. Godfrey is a noble and fcruo man, and it is as well for you to secure a good husband now as at some future day.' * Secure him ! I don't wish to secure him. Ho may go if he chooses, and I shall nob break my heart over his loss. I do not understand how I feel towards him. When Godfrey talks with me I secni to be under a spell, and I have no power to resist his specious pleadings ; hut whon I am away from him something cries aloud in my soul and warns ma that he ii not its true mate. Oh, papa, pity me and save mo from — from — making a precipitate marriage, which may end in supremo wretchedness to your poor Opal.' '"Hush, hush, darling! You must nob talk in this strain. You must not givo way to such chimerical fancies. Opal, you must marry Godfrey Fenton if you would save me from disgrace. .lake the sacrifice, if it be such, without those bitter waiiings over your lot. Refuse to givo him your hand by the twentieth of next month, and all is ended for me. I will go away and find some place in which to hide my dishonoured head for the romnant of my unhappy life. It rests with you to decide what my fate shall be.' Opal raised herself from his bosom and regarded him with terror. His face was paler than her own, and there was an expression on it that chilled her to the soul. She tremulously asked:

' Has it come to this, that I must- sacrifice myself to save you Irom— What ? —for I do nob understand tho danger that menaces you.' 'Nor can I explain it,' ho mournfully replied ; ' but my fate rests with you. I leave you free to decide for yourself, and —and— for mc'

The solemnity with which the last words were spoken loi't her no room for doubt, and with a cry of anguish she exclaimed : - Then there is no alternative ! I give myself away at your command; bub oh !my father, my heart- is nob in bias contracb. lb is nob. I feel —I know it now when too late.'

'lb will be, my darling child ; for no mortal woman can resist such a man as Godfrey, when he swears that he loves her beyond all others ; and I believe, I am sure that he thus regards you.' Opal shook her head, sighed heavily, and escaped to her own room to weep more bitterly than she had ever wept in her life. Alone, she stood face to face with her own soul, and she knew then thab another was dearer to her than the man to whom she had promised her hand. But she was brave, and meant to be tvuo, and she silently closed that portal in her heart, and vowed to make every effort to give it up to her betrothed. For her father's sake this sacrifice must be made, and sho would not make ib wibh a shrinking and unwilling heart if sho could holp it. Mrs Hastings was informed thab night of what had taken place between tho betrothed pair, and although she was surprised that Opal had consented to so early a marriage, sho was delighted with tho prospect of the bustle of the preparation, and entered hoart and soul into tho details of the trousseau. ,

Orders were despatched to New Orleans for a splendid one to be prepared, and her soul revelled in anticipation of the exquisite toilettes sho ordered both for her daughter and herself.

Day after day, Fenton came to Silvermere, and, if tho truth must bo bold, he prospered in his wooing. He rode, walked, and drove with Opal, and made himself so charming thab sho began to believe that her father's words would prove true, and her betrothed find himself as irresistible to her as he had been to others.

Yet at moments a timid dread would steal over her, and ab such times nothing held her to her pledges save the memory of her father's strange words. For him she could do anything, and, after all, did ho not ask her to accept as her husband the most devoted lover that maiden over had .

Thus this inexperienced creature reasoned, and the days glided on till three oub of tho fivo weeks 'granted her wore gone, yeb she was no nearer bhe solution of the important question, Do I love him ? than she had been in tho first hour of her bondage. She walked blindly forward, reckless now of whab bhe fuburo might bring.

Through all her transitions of feeling, Fenton anxiously watched her, for he was now as eager in pursuit of her as oven his mother could have desired, Her coy reticence, the fluctuations o, hor manner to-

ward himself had awakened something of the feeling of the sportsman who dashes on in pursuit of the frightened hare ; and Fenton persuaded his own heart that it desired Opal Hastings above all othei-3 as the eweeb partner of all its joys and sorrows. A letter came from Inez informing him thab the health of her father was rapidly failing, and nothing had yet been heard.of the missing will; but it scarcely moved him now. He had turned away from the past, put ib behind him for ever, and he could almost smile when ho recalled the hours of anguish their receDb parting had inflicted on him.

He did nob reply to her ; what could he have said ? He had already wribten to her informing her thab his mother was immovable in her opposition to their union, and he had nothing further to add. Ho could nob bring himself to tell her that he was on the eve of marriage with another while his kisses wore yet scarcely cold upon her lips ; so he left it to chance to reveai to the forsaken girl all the height and depbh of tho perfidy ho was aboub to consura-' mate by taking to his arms an unwilling bride.

(To be Continued.)