DUNLEATH ABBEY; OR, The Fatal Inheritance.

Auckland Star, Volume XXI, Issue 161, 10 July 1890, Page 6

DUNLEATH ABBEY; OR, The Fatal Inheritance.

BY HANSON PENN DILT2S, Author of' The Duchess Undine,' Etc. CHAPTER LII. ON THE WAY TO THE EfcD. The morning thab followed the reunion of Lord Victor and 1113 wife rose in unwonted brightness ; the sun shone oub undimmed by a single cloud and, reflected from the sheet of snow covering the earth > lent a brilliance to the air thab was dazzling. It was still intensely cold ; the north wind blew in piorcing gales through the streets, though a iire flung ib 3 warmth over the volveb carpeted floor and gilb pannolled walls and tempered to summer heat the abmosphero of thab upper chamber in Fifth Avenue, in which bhe meeting of the longsevered pair had taken place, and in which they were now standing and gazing with dreamy eyes down on the scene being enacted in the avenue below, where tho tide of life was vivid and changing, with the city viveurs, in sleighs and on skatos, skimming the ground to tho music of bells. 'Ah, my darling, can you realise that our sorrows and trials are over?' questioned Victor, as he lob his hand wander caressingly over his wife's head, as ib leanb against his bosom. 'I was cruel and selfish, or I would never have lefb you as I did bo bear the burden of unmerited shame and disgrace thab my flight entailed upon you. Those were dark days to you, and only tho hand of Heaven could have sustained you through them 1' Then, after a moment of hesitation, he timidly continued : ' And you never once lost faith iti me?~and you do not even now ask me my reasons for deserting you in such open, brutal fashion ?' 'Had my faith in your integrity ever \-/avered, I would be unworthy tho place in your affections thab I hold,' replied Hazel, softly, as her eyes mot her husband's in a glance that told more eloquently than words tho imperishable lovo thabVtilled her hearb toward him. ' Oh, my Victor, can you nob understand how my suffering was more for you than for myself, in those firsb dark hours of my desolation, ere God sent me a comforter in our son ? Then, how could I for a momonb loso faith, when I ever had before me .your agonised face, as Isawitfin thab lasb hour, ere we parbed, and your voice of anguish ringing in my brain ? Ah, Heaven,ray darling I knew, you suffered, which rendered your conducb only the more inexplicable' ■ ' Bub ifc -ball remain so no longer, j said Victor, gravely. «lb is your right : to know the reasons thab prompted me to act as I did ; though bhey do nob excuse me, bhey will help yon to realise the madness and despair thab were on*me, blinding mv reason, until, under the alchemy of pain, I loab all power of judging right from wrong.' • ' Why should wo mar the pleasure of this first day of reunion by reviving painful memories?' she murmured, noting the shadow thab clouded his face, and attributing it to tho task he had sot himself of revealing to her bho secrets of the past. ' Of my own life since the night I fled from Elmwood, there is but libble bo tell; like all miserable existences, it appears a dull blank as ibis looked back upon. To save from despair and to ke3p faith and hope alive in my hearb, God sent our beautiful boy, and from tho time I felt his little hands on mv face, I lived anew life.' •I knew* whab ho would bo to yon, darling, and ib was thab more than anything else, thab sealed my lips ab our parbing ; I felb bhen I would rabher you should misjudge mo bhan learn the truth — the terriblo chain of circumstances that I then believed true.' She could feel him quiver even now, as he spoke of that cruel, past, and she clung convulsively to his breast, wibh something of horror at tho mere thought of bhe shame he had endured, willing bo • bear alone the cross that a less generous man would bavo thrust upon her. . ' But I frighten you,' He murmured, in contrition, kissing her lips, from which the colour had fled. ' No, no, ib is not bhat,' she replied, Bbriving to cast off the feeling of undefined gloom and anxiety thab oppressed her. • But do nob mind me, Vicbor—it is a way that I have of late had, to start with torror at the leasb sound. And do you know—l saw this very room in my dream—but you will not laugh at me ?' 'Laugh at you, darling? Think .bobber of me than that, for such strange visions come to us all,' said Lord Victor. • Did I nob tell you that I also had seen this room in'my dreams ? Just as I saw ib lasb evening, and in the shadows I beheld a woman, with your features, and a child. Ib was at Matagorda, and on Sunday. I bad fallen asleep near a camp-fire at the gates, wibh the vesper bells ringing, and when I awoko I started up, with a feeling that you had been with me. My eyes were full of tears, and ere the morning dawned, my resolution was made to seek you the wild world over, and look upon your face once more, and then ask God to release me from this miserable existence.' * Surely, Victor, the cause of our separation was nob so utterly wibhoub hope? whispered Hazol, vaguely conscious of some mystery that-he. was hesitating to reveal to her, and the look of anguish that suddenly Gushed his face as he hoard her question startled her, and caused tears to spring to her eyes. ♦ Bub whab matter what ib was, since it is now past?' she con bin ued. softly, letting her lips resb upon his. ' Lot US forgot the misery of bhe past, and dream only of the present!' 'And you shall tell me, darling, of your etrange dream.' «Strange indeed,'she 'lb was the nigh b before we sailed from Liverpool; ib.was Sunday, and I had lain down to resb. I had taken a morphine powder to ease neuralgic pains, and in my slumber a gorgeous chamber opened before me, and in its velvet shades, I saw you, jusb as I saw you lasb nighfc. And the room of my dream was like this ; and the fir3b hour I ever spent beneath this roof was one of terror. Of course I did not imagine thab you were so near me • they kept the papers out of my way. Bub ib is surely something remarkable that we Bhould have eeen each other .in a dream, in the same room in which we were destined to meet; and most wonderful of all—that our visions Bhould have come to us at the same time. ' Have you mentioned this to ho one else, Hazel ?' • No ; for it not only puzzled me, bub ib seemed too sacred to be made the subject of .eat,' Bhe replied, letting her gaze wander from the fire where ib had dreamily rested, during her recital, back to her husband's delicate, bronzed face, which had never appeared so thoroughly pabrician, as now, : whan:ifc'behb above the flower-like lovelinesß of hers, wibh the golden glow of the sunlight upon both, as ip streamed in through the mass of scarlet creepers lining the alcove of the window. •Ah, my darling, the world can never appreciate such fidelity as yours *. you are too much in" 'earnest, boo much like the noble women in the heroic ages of the past,' murmured Vic'tcnY the words • bo low they \«*_r_ almost a 'Whisper, "'They told me how true jo?-were: to me,- when all others W«re cursing me tw a Beitishv blacUe'a.atd he*

cause of my desertion of you;' and he crushed her -with unconscious strength to his breast ; she seemed dearer to him in this h.ur of his return from oxile than he had ever dreamed it possible for any woman to bacome ; and bhe passionate, -adoring love that her mora presence aroused in him seamed to burn like lava in hi 3 veins and intoxicate his senses, like bho Juise of rich yin dor., 1 Surely, I could do no less than trust you, for was it not your son thab lay at my breast, and kept hope and love alivo in ib ?' responded Eazei,. seeing the agony of remorse bhab was eating at his heart, and seeking to soothe and allay its dull throb of pain as no hand bub hers could. ' The miseries and mistakes of the past are to be a sealed book to us after to-day, Victor —did you nob say so yourself? la there anything you shrink from belling me ? Do nob tell it," unless you aro silent ou my account. Bub I am brave to bear anything, so bhab it is not something that will again parb us—thab would kill mo ; I could nob endure ib, my darling, nob even for our precious boy's sake.' She clung go him, sobbing like a child, as if tho separation she spoke of was about to be visited upon her, and he hastened to reassure her with words of fondest affection, while his hand caressed tho rich massos of her hair, lying loose across his,.bosom. 'Will it be right to keep from her the truth concerning her mother's life ?' he was asking himself, as he gazed down upon her tenderly. * Yeb can I, who would die to spare her a moment's woe, be the one to bring thab look of shame to her sweet face, that ib will wear when she is told the cruel, brutal truth? No.no, I cannob do it,'ho groaned in agony of spirit. Nob to have saved himself from tho bitterest fate would he have spoken falsely, or suppressed the truth—yet he must do so now, for her sake; be must so tell her the story of her wronged mother's life, as to leave no suspicion of bhe fact bhab she was only tho mistress of tho Russian, who had been her destroyer. ' If I sin, Heaven pity and pardon mo—l wrong no one but myself, and ib is for Hazel,' was tho prayor of his heart. For her there was nobbing ho would nob have done, nothing ho would nob have butiered ; bub it seemed to him that he could as easiiy have flung her from him and crushed her loveliness under his feet, as deal her tho shame and anguish of saying to her that tho mother, whom she had deemed so immaculate, Avas no better in the eyes of tho world than any courtesan who walked the streets in the velvets and jewels that were the purchase price of hor honour and fame. Standing there in her husband's embrace, her burning face pressed so closely to hid heart that"she could almost count the beating of its pulses, she heard for the firsb time the story to which Victor had listened in tho twilight of that winter's day, when desolation deeper than the gloom of outer darkness settled like tho pall of death over thoir lives. Much of ib was already known to her, bub bhat her husband should have left her believing himself to be. so closely and fatally related to her, was an idea so horrible that ib had never in her wildest moments entered her brain. ■ And.you endurod all this for mo,'she murmured, as ho ceased—and she could have fallen at his feob in token of the reverence she felt for his greab and generous soul, thab had borne martyrdom rather than inflict pain upon her. 4 How could I ever have endured tho glance of his eye, the touch of his lips upon mine, had I been lees faithful than I was V she asked herself, as she rested on hia broasb, his arms straining her to him. They were interrupted just then by the sound of voices ab the door leading into the nursery, and disengaging herself from hor husband's clasp, Hazel hastened to open ib, when she found herself face to face with old Sarah, who had little Victor in her arms. Ab sight of his mother the child began crowing and begging to be taken. Ab bhe same time Lord Victor came forward. • Leb us see if ho will know me,' he said, smiling tenderly down into tho beautiful little face that was such a perfect miniature of his own, as ifc nestled against Hazel's bosom, the luminous dark eyes glancing shyly out ab him. Bub bhe libble follow showed no desire to leave hi 3 mother's arms. • Thus early in life he realises that all that is good and noble comes from his mother,' sighed Victor, softly, a shadow of pain crossing his face. ' Ah r Heavens, how truo the instinct.' ' He is nob used to men's grave features,' answered Hazel, anxious to make apology tor what she saw wounded' her husband. ' He will grow fond of his father with time, and love him better and better day by day.' ' The way he can best please me will be to love and rovere his mother, and never give her a moment's pain/ whispered Lord Victor wibh emotiou. * I wish to speak to Sarah, darling,' he continued, addressing Hazel. ' Take our boy with you into bhe nvfrsery, and awaib me, for I shall rejoin you there presenbly.' Wibh a lingering look of fondness toward ber husband, Hazel didas she was requested wibh her libble son's arms about her throat, and his lips to hers as he murmured bho infanbilo prattle bhab is so sweet to every mother's ear. • I do nob understand bhis intimacy between you and my wife,' said Victor, when ho and Sarah were left alone. 'Do you mean you have been wibh, or in communication with her since that night she disappeared from ElmwoodT . -..'.' 'And why; should your lordship be so surprised, oven if such should be the truth ?' responded old SaraH. ' Do you not understand all I have'been to y6ur wife—what more simple ? Heweri forbid I should seem to boast, bub ib is pnly righb thab I explain why I am hero with her. As I have said, I was ignorant' as bo who your wife was, unbil you yourself .bold me thab terrible nig-hb that neither of us can over forget. Then, when I had left your presence, ib rushed over my mind thab I had ruined the child of my dead lady, whom I would nob for worlds have harmed. Yeb it grew oub of my keeping the■ promise I had made to Arslan to never in any way interfere with bhe fubure desbiny of Hazel, lest harm should come of it. I supposed she was happy; I had ventured several bime3 inbo the neighbourhood of the Abbey, and moreover, bhey said you were bo wed Miss Langstroth.' «Yes, that is. true,'..muttered Lord Vicbor, wibh a bibber smile. 'I used to bhink our unhappy engagement was the creabion of Lady Langstrobh's scheming brain, but if Cubhberb Mortimer believed, as he surely did, thab I was,his Bon, and both of us usurpers, what more natural than thab he should have sought to Bbrengbhen our hold upon the race of Warnock by marriage?' •Cubhbert Morbimer died a miserable man, for he had lived in a state of absolute terror, nob knowing when the steel of the assassin or the arm of vengeance would reach him,' replied old Sarah. ' Bub my promise to Zillah made him sacred to me. Nob so you, my lord; bub we will pass thab over. Whab you now desire bo know is, bhe story of Hazel's life, and of my connection with ib, from bhe hour you lefb Elmwood. I will as briefly as possible relabe ib bo you.' 'i. •Was my "wife all this while in total ignorance as to her parentage V questioned Victor. 'Had Bhe nob the faintest suspicion as to our—oh God, it is too horrible even now to speak of ib with calmness !' •Had she no suspicion of;your supposed relationship ?' repeated Sarah, in tones that were almost sbern. 'Can you for ah instant doubt her ignorance 1 In her delicate state, would nob suoh a ghastly revelation, coming suddenly upon her, have either driven her mad, or yielded her the more grateful fate of death? Even when roy anger and hate were running strongest against you, I pibied you because you had spared your innocent young wife the horror of thab revelation, , -Bat let

me go on with my story. 'Knowing as I did that you were bankrupt, I determined to see to ib that Hazel should nob. suffer for the plain comforts of life, while her inhuman father lived, and he and his revelled in splendour and feasted on ail good things;.. I explained to Josephine who your wife was—and how she was tho victim of circumstances, and finally gob her sympathies enlisted. I resolved then to visit the Prince Fed or Zouroff Serriatine, at hia palace in Sb. Petersburg, and make ova final effort to wring bhe truth from him, and not thab only, bub justice for my dead mistress and her living child. Ah, I surprise and interest your lordship now !' The old Anglo-Indian paused for a second, as if to collect her thoughts ; and then turning again to Lord Victor, she resumed her narrative : ' Yos, my lord, I formed tho bold resolution of' going all tho way to Russia, rogardlesa of peril or expense, thab I might beard the real murderer of my mistress in his den, and wring from him the truth ! I reached the city of Potor, and after greab difficulty, made my way into the very presence of the Princo Serriatine, who is one of the richesb and most powerful of the Russian nobles. Shall I attempt a description of our interview, or of the stormy scenes that followed 1 It was as if a wraith from the grave had risen before him, when he recognised mo at last, and had it nob been for his cowardice he would have slain me with his own hands. Bub ho dursb nob. I saw that he was surprised, and ere he could recover I boldly mado my intentions known. I appealed to him, on my knees, in the name of the mother he had hurled into her ; early grave, to do the sole justice to the child that it was possible for him to do ! My words seemed to have the worst effect possible on him. He turned livid while listening to me, and when I had ceased speaking ho bent over me, and in a that made me shiver, replied in words I shall hear to my dying hour, they were so brutal and menacing : " Do you know you have done tho most foolish thing of your lifo?" find his eyos seemed to consume me like fire whore I crouched. "I could kill you as easiiy as look at you, and nothing keeps me from it excopb—contempt! You are here to have mo make legal a marriage which even a baby should have known was only a farce—to make mo give tho proud name of a family older than that of Romanoff to the offspring of a woman who listened to ib whenever a man was near to whisper it!" I could have struck him in the mouth, such was my hate toward Lira, but policy forbade any such expression of contempt. There was that in Princo Sorriatino's manner thab convinced mo more than ever that hia marriage wibh Hazel's mother was genuine, bub ho has in all likelihood dostroyed every vestige of evidence, and of courso the witnesses, if living, havo in some way been bribed to silonco.' (To be Continued.)