LADY GAY'S PRIDE; OR, THE MISER'S TREASURE. By Mrs Alex. McVeigh Miller.

Auckland Star, Volume XX, Issue 286, 2 December 1889, Page 3

LADY GAY'S PRIDE; OR, THE MISER'S TREASURE. By Mrs Alex. McVeigh Miller.

CHAPTER XVIII

ALEX Wabben comes forward and shakes hands in his cordial, American fashion, with his friend, Lord Annesley. Then he sees himlcuking wonderingiy ab Lady Gay, as she sits there so quietly upon the broken altar. . . , ,

' You have not forgotten your neighbour, Sir Floyd Elmer's daughter, have you » he a.krf, ia an undertone of surprise. 'On the contrary, I " ever fiaw h ° r before, , the young man answers, in the same low toue. ' Bray introduce me. Alex, Warren turns toward his companion. . , ' Lady Gay, will you permit me to introduce Lord Annesley, your near neighbour of Annesley Towers V ~ ... Lord Anntalay bow? eagerly, his failface flushing with pleasure, bne returns the courtesy frigidly, for she remembers that this is 'the man "whom | her lather lias wished to have fov a son-iu-iaw. •Lady Gay, I am very glad that you have come to live at Elmer's Lour,, at lust, says the handsome young noaiouuui. - y sister has been telling we about you-she lias fallen in lovo with you- "° j' oa iluC yonr ancestral home?' {Whino- nn •Very much,' eho answers, Bushing uncomfortably at MrWarren'e glance 01 ""'So*?™ moan to »y/ ho exclaims. looking from ono to the osner of .r.e.i ..u.si t,e feces, 'that you have- »ub recently coma to live at Elmer G6urfc-j»O«i ancestral home . ITar cheeky frohv sxd to v/ .ita, but her proua self-possession does nob Sα 1 her. ' Yo.?, ifa is quite true, she answers, coldly '1 have been asW / rom n:G { Coarb a great deal-ai: so bool *nrne, and latterly travelling with pa/w. ™i was not even acquainted wit-* Lord Amiesiov, who is our nearest neighbour. A moment's silence. In tiu.C , P il . uso « bofch the young men see that the is an unpleasant one to her. Lord Araiesicy i.b'upfciy burn? ifc. ■ . ~ •leaw Sir Floyd a moment mv enme. lie wished you to return no luncheon 1. you have finished the tour ft the ruins. 'We had finished—all but the praveyard, . Lady Gay roplioJ. 'I dare say Mr Warren will not cava for bhab—ib is so gloomy. , " ' On the contrary, I would not mus liyor anything,' ho replies. 'It does nu - P oo h 1;o wander at limes amoi,g the crumbling; tombs of raorfcality. 16 helps " ie to more fully the vanity of human lite when i see so plainly howThe boast oi heraldry, the pomp of! rower. ' Aru! ill! that b.auty, all v/eaith c cr ;;ave, Await alike mo inevitable i:i>u" : t The paths of {,'iory lead but to the grave. 'I did nofe know that you were given to such melancholy reading as "Gray's Elegy,"' Lord Annisley observes, in some" surprise, as ho looks afc tits friend's face, shadowed still with some of the pain that had found vent jusc now in his revelation to Lady Gay. 'Did you not?' he answers carelessly. 'I am hand and glove, so to speak, with all of the British poets. To mo the greatest glory of England is in her inspired poets.----1 lovo them at!,."and lam familiar with all.' 'Come this way,' Lady Gay, calls a trifle impatiently, 'andyou will find full .scope for gratifying your taste for the dismals. . She pushes opeu a high-arched door at the 'farther end of the chaps!—they foliow after her into the autumn sunlight that shines upon the lonely little graveyard with its sunken tombs and inosegrown monuments, and overspreading ivy—a grim and lonely Golgotha wbtre an ancient generation of Elmers sleep their long last sleep. The gay Lord Annesley shudders slightly •as be steps in.';o the lonely path—to him it seems an unpleasant) augury, this meeting with Sir Eloyd's lovely daughter among these crumbling ruins of mortality. For the firefi time since , he has known Alex Warren he feels inclined to be vexed with him. Why should he insist upon bringing Lady Gay into this desolate pface? It is selfish and unkind in him. He would not have thought it of his friend. She is,too young - , too fair, too bright, to be associated with tfie thought of death. In the long, long years to come when he looks back upon his first meeting with Lady . Gay he will not like to remember that it was here among the decaying emblems of mortality that he.first met her. So he shudders with something like a superstitious chill at his heart, and when she offers him carelessly a pretty blue tlower she has found among the ivy he shakes his head and answers : ' No, Lady Gay, for it grew upon a grave' She looks at him with a slight, cold smile of wonder.

' I hope you are not superstitious, Lord Annesley,' she says. 'Not usually, Lady Gay,' he answers, flushing , slightly. 'But it seemed' an ill omen to me somehow ; and I am sensitive regarding such things from, , his voice falls lower, 'you.' She flushes half angrily, then turns her head away without a word. 'I think, Annesley,' Mr Warren breaks in musingly, ' that you were wrong to refuse the flower. Some of the sweetest and best things in life grow out of graves.' , ' As what V the young nobleman asks. ' Patience, endurance, noblo example* — "rosemary," as Shakspere has it, "for remembrance.."'

His mournful glance catches Lady Gay's a moment guit 1 } involuntarily. S:>e catches his meaning silentiy, but it remains a sealed boo , -': to his friend.

To her own heart she says gravely, and a little fearfully: IKe suspects me. That is why he tola me his story ; that is why ho pretended to love that dead girl. In the greatness of his heart he pilies me—pities the terrible humiliation of my heart when I learned the truth that he did not love me—that he had married me for a scruple of honour. It was a grand and noble thing for him to do, to "marry a poor and obscure child ■ and sacrifice all his prospects of a happy marriage for her sake. Yet how lightly he toucheriiupoi! that brave renunciation. Now he suspects me vaguely of being that sirl, and to heal my wounded heart, to make the way plain for- me if I should love him stiil and wish to return to him, ho pretends to love me still. I understand it all. Bub he shall suffer no more from me. He has sacrificed enough. He shall never know, never, that I am the girl he married that terrible night. He may suspect what ho will, but he can prove nothing, and I will go co my grave with the secret untold.'

But no one -would dream that such sad thoughts are running through her mind as she walks along the ivy-grown path with fche sunshine flickering down through the boughs of the yew-trees on her beautiful facet Lord. Annesley does not dream ot HJ as he watches her with admiring eyes. He thinks she is rather quiet, and that she carries herself with a rather proud air ; buo then he remember that the Elmers have always been remarkable for their beauty and- their pride. And after all, it is very becoming to her. After awhile, maybe, when she knows him better, she may unbend a little and smile on him. She must, for-and here his tumultuous thoughts send a sudden flush to his fair handsome face - he will woo her as a woman was never wooed before, and he will have no other woman upon earth but Gay Blraer for his wife. _ • Lady Heath—my sister, you- know—has told me that you' will be her guesb this winter, , he says to her. ' T am very glad, forthenlehall see you often. Lelia. my

sister, will think I have grown fonder of het than usual, I shall call on her so many times this season. .

She answers ' Indeed !' without a trace of - self-consciousness, and Alex Warren remarks, dryly :

' i thought you had promised to cross the " herring pond " with me next month, mon ami:

Lord Annesley starts confusedly, and blushes like a girl. .' I had forgotten ib for the moment, Warren, and—and, after all, -wouldn't it be stormy crossing the Atlantic in December? My sister is so anxious to have me in London this winter Jihat I can't get away from her. However,. I shall certainly do America in the spring. .

Lady Gay blushes with annoyance at the too evident drift of the words. She cannot help making her own inference. She turns away a little abruptly. 'Mr Warren,' she says, in a voice unconsciously sharpened by vexation, ' if you have done moralising among the tombs of my forefathers, suppose we go. We may be late for luncheon, and papa possibly may be impatient.'

He looks at her, sees the blush on her cheeks and the impatience in her eyes, and signifies his assent, with a slight apology for detaining her so long.

' Alter luncheon I shall take you over to Annesley towers with me, , announces the young lord. 'We have no ancient and pic-

turesque piles of ruins, like iSii Floyd, bub the towers are considei-ed very fine, and you cannot fail to admire them, Warren. Lady Gay, I suppose your- father has already taken you over there, as we are such near neighbours and friends ?' s>

* No, lie has never done so ; but I have seen the Towers,' she answers. I took the liberty of going through your woods one day when I was out riding on horseback. I admired your-homo very much.' 'So you ride, than V inquires Lord An-

nesley, delighted. ' Warren and I will join you to-morrow morning in your gallop, if you will uermit us. .

.'I have no objection if papa has not, she answers, with a smile. Sir Fioyd has no objection—not the least. So they settle it at luncheon, find, after promising to dine ab Elmer Court the next evening, they set out for, the rather long stroll through the woods to Annesley Towers. ' Lady Gay is the most beautiful girl I ever saw,' Lord Annesley cries, tiiusiai'tiwiiiy, as they walk through the fragrant , woods, their feet deep in the brighb-hued autumn leaves, the soft scents and sounds of the forest all about them ; 'and the pride of the Elmers shows in every word and motion. One con Id hardly have expected ib, reared as she has been ; bus " blood will te11. , "

' I hardly understand you,' Mr Warren replies. '"Has Lady Gay been reared , differently from other English girls of her station ?'

Lord Annesley Blares at him in silence a moment.

'Oh, I beg your pardon, ,, he cries, after that moment's silent thought; 'Of course you did not know.' Then he laughs. ' Oh, by Jove! how very proud she is! Too pxoud, 1 dare say, to own that she is almost a country woman of yours.' •'--.':

Alex Warren look's afc him gravely. ' Do you mean that her mother wa» American V he a&ks. : ' Oh, no : eho was English, , he answers. 1 'and a very beautiful woman. But—l do not know "how it was myself; I believe no ol>-8 knows the right of it—thero was some misunderstanding between Sir Floyd ff,nd his wife in the first year of their marriage- ne left, nim beforq Lady Gny was bom. They say she rah away : to America. Sir Floyd was nearly crazed with grief, but 'he told no one anything. About two years ago he returned from a trip t6 America, bringing his daughter with him.' 'And her mother? , Alex Warren asks.

' Ko, not her mother. He never mentions her name,"'anil hoc even his dearestfriend is brave enough to ask anything oi her. Sir JTioyd can be a. lion when he chooses.' ' And the world accepts Lady Gay for his daughter?' ' Why, yes, of course. There can be no question of that. She is an Elmer out-and-out—the Elmer beauty and the Elmei; pvide. Did you visit the picture-gallery ?, Yea? Then of course you saw the resemblatice—the golden locks and dark eyes of the Elmer women iaro traditional. She is exactly like them—exactly, only more beautiful." , .:,: Mr Warren does nob answer. Alter a minute Lord Annesle.y goes on : , : ' Yon understand now why I called her a countrywoman of yotars. . She has been raised in America: but it is evident thab she has had the best of training; You can. see that- for yourself, YV'arrer. Did she nob speak to you of the land of her adoption?— her native land, I might say, for nay sister bold me; I think, that sh© was born there.' 'She did not refer to it, excepb in a casual way,' Mr Warren answers. . 'No ? "bid Sir Floyd mention it ?! • Only in tho earns casual way, as my native land—and there was no mention- of her in connection witb the subject.' 'Ah ! then it is, perhaps, a tabooed: subject with them. Sir Moyd, I have heatd before, is very reticent on the subjecb. I shall be carehil not to mention it until he refers to it himself.' \. • Mr Warren does not answer, and silence falls. I'-oth aro busy with their own' bhouf*hta. Lord .Annesley i% well contenb to havo it so. Hβ is drunken with' the 'strong; new wine of love. , \' Dark eyes, golden feiesseSj scented robes' have bswildered his brain and dazzled' his eyes. Of Alex Warren's thoughts, as silently plods Wte way the drifts <tf autumn leaves, who can tell ? '\ [To be Continued) \