Was She Wife or Widow?

Auckland Star, Volume XXII, Issue 295, 12 December 1891, Page 1 (Supplement)

Was She Wife or Widow?

By Malcolm Bell.

IN SIX NUMBERS.—NUMBER 1.

Author of " His Fatal Success," "Boanokte

of Roanoke Hall,",etc,

CHAPTER I,

SOW THE .N-KEOEDENTED OCCURRED*'

A day in early February. -The London streets were filled with a haze which chilled She wayfarer to the bone:. Above, the dull clouds drooping low seamed t6 rest upon the housetops, while underfoot the streets were greasy with the trampled imire. At a quarter past twelve, the large hall ab th e Cosmopolitan College devoted to th e lecturer on chemistry was crowded with throng of students. Tier, above tier, like the seats of an old Grecian theatre, rose the narrow semicircular platforms, each guarded in front by a ledge of sufficient width to contain the necessary apparatus when the instruction took a practical turn, as it was thought advisable for the students to themselves perform the operations they had as yet only witnessed from afar, conducted by the expert professor and his neat-hancied associate, Herbert Torrington.

A quarter past twelve. At bhat hour, as a rule silence reigned in the theatre, broken only by the deep, monotonous tones of Professor Purfieet, the- lecturer, the clink of glass and clash of metal as the arrangements, were expeditiously made for the next experiment the. infrequent shuffle or a foot and occasional cough. That day, however, it was a scene of uproar. Almost every individual in bhe Cosmopolitan assembly seemed bent on creating as much disturbance as is possible bo a healthy youth with lungs ; and cosmopolitan indeed the crowd was. In one place two little Japanese twittered in their native chirp anent their conquests among the fairskinned daughters of Albion ; in another a negro black as a coal, carefully arrayed in the latest fashion, with resplendent linen, flashed his white teeth in excited conversa tion with a group of Englishmen, from whom he was convinced in his inmost soul he was altogether undistingnishable ; here sab an American wondering ab bhis familiarity displayed to a negro j there a melancholy Parsee studiously poring over his notes, next to a Spaniard from South America, who looked contemptuously alike upon the colour and industry of his unsuspecting neighbour. Herbert Torrington, powerless to quell the tumult, looked on with ah expression of amused perplexity upon /his handsome young face. He was bub thirty years of age, and, having been himself a sbudenb not so very long before, was prepared to make every allowance for the exuberance of youthful spirits, but he cast ever and anon a puzzled glance ab the clock on the wall in front of him. Half-past twelve, and Professor Purflaeb had nob arrived. Such a thing was unprecedented, inexplicable ; no planet in ibs vasty orbit, no taxcollector on his appointed round more regular than he. A quarter to one. An epidemic of hissing broke out furiously, nob that tho students bore any serious grudge againsb their absent master. To most of them one lecture avoided was matter for rejoicing, arid had they known that never again would they see his benevolent face in its familiar position, they would have been ono and all filled with sincere regret, for the Old Boy, as thoy irreverently termed him among themselves, was respected for his talents, and loved for bis unvarying Madness to the poor or harvard in his class.

As the outburst sank, into inanition, Herbert, after a final glancb ab the clock, announced:

'Gentlemen, the class is dismissed for today.' An ironicle cheer rang up from the assembled gentlemen, a thunderbolt of clattering feet upon the stairways followed, and he was left alone to remov_ the dispositions for the undelivered lecture, and to wonder what could have happened to prevent so conscientious and punctual an attendant as the professor from keeping his appointment,

While he is thus employed, we cannot do better than devote a few linos to his personal appearance. He was nob -tall, bub of a strong, well-knit figure, wib'h a complexion so fair as to be almosb sba.rtling in contrast wibh his dark hair, moustache and crisply curling beard ; his eyes, seb somewhat deeply, looked out upon the world frankly .enough, bub with some reserve as becomes a man who had already learned tho inevitable lesson thab appearances are not to be trusted invariably ; and his face, though singularly young-looking, bore some few traces of cares past and conquered, apart from the one anxious thought that furrowed his broad forehead :

' Whab could have befallen the dear old professor ?' Even in tho long, peaceful library, the puzzle continued to haunt him, distracting his thoughts, and drawing his attention from the scientific work ib was his avowed objecb to study. Souoe very serious accident must have overta'kon him, or he would at least have sent word of his inability to come. Severe illness, perhaps death, must have intervened between him and his duty ; it was incompreheu/jible, and consequently alarming. This seeming excessive agitation of his ab the non-appearance of tho professor arose from the facb b'bat he had been to him a true friend for many years. Herbert's, father had been at school with Purfieet when, both were boys, and, though the one subsequently betook himself to the hazardous excitement of the stock exchange, while bhe other had devoted himself to tbe pursuit of science, tfie friendship between them had in no waj Buffered from the incongruity of their Ufa interests, and Herbert, at a very early ago, had imbibed from his father's friend the taste for chemical research which had brought him at length to his presenb position. Ab bhe end of his nineteenth year, he had been one of the prolessor's most promising pupils. Inspired as he was by a passion for the study, instead ol a mere reluctant sense of more or less unpleasant, duby, supported as he would be by his father's affluence, permitted as he had been bo freely choose his own path in life, there seemed to be no obstacle to his attaining that highest rank in his profession which his old friend and master prophesied would be his. Unluckily, Fortune is proverbially fickle; and a panic following an unsuccessful attempt to bull the market in certain foreign railway securities,, resulted in several smashes of portentous extent, in one of which Mr Torrh)._ton was irredeemably Bmashed. The shock of this unlooked-for disaster proved too much for hiim, and he did not long survive it. Herbert, though overwhelmed at first by this avalanche of misfortune, quickly fought his way from beneath ib:; and, pubting behind him wibh a regretful sigh his hopes and ambitions, accepted gratefully Professor Purileeb's kindly offer of tempos ary assistance, and took up undauntedly the drudgery of a country practice, in order to support his mother and himself in moderate comfort. For six weary years he laboured day and night, at ..his uncongenial duties, and had forced himself to recognse wibh indifference, if not with resignation, that such for the future must always be his path in life, when an unexpected bequest from a wealthy cousin of his father's restored to him once moro a modest competency and reopened to bis ardour the gates to the temple of Fame. As speedily as possible, he '.vound up his affairs and resigned his posit; ion to a sue-

lessor, established his widowed mother in ,the retired village which she had learned to love and was unwilling to leave, and returned with rebudding hopes to London and the cultivation of his favourite branch of knowledge. Well aware that the years of his exile were lost to him for ever as far as study was concerned, he devoted himself bo his work wibh the more unmitigated assiduity, and.so steadily did he hold on that ere many months had passed he succeeded in overtaking the column of searchers after learning, from which he had perforce fallen out six years before, many of whom, to say the truth, had done little more than mark time scientifically all the while.

Professor Purfleeb had welcomed back this mosb promising of his recruits with unfeigned joy, and was so satisfied with his redoubled efforts thab when, some two yearß later, his assistant left him to assume the professorship of one of the colonial colleges, he offered the post thus left vacant to Herbert, who accepted ib without the slightest hesitation. From the day he undertook the office to that on whioh, for the first time in student experience, the professor had failed to put in an appearance at the hour appointed for Lecture, they had worked together in the /utmost harmony and with mutual contentment.

Tbe dingy day had already imperceptibly faded away into murky night when Herbert issued from the doorway of the college and hastened down the long paved curve to the gates, eager to learn even the worst rather than endure longer the tortures of ignorant conjecture. ' I beg your pardon, Mr Torrington,' said the lodge-keeper, who. was glowering with an air of extreme all/eib unexpressed dissatisfaction on the weather and the world at large. ' I've got a note for you here. I thoughb you had gone, or I should have senb ib to you.'

Herbert opened ib, ?md hastily glanced over it in the lighb of tihe lodge doorway':

' Dear Herbert,," it ran — ' Please come round, to see me hePe as soon as you can pet away from your duties. lam in great trouble and distress. Always yours ailectionately, / 'Bertha' Pukflk-t.'

' When did this come ?' he asked, at the end of a reperusal of the few but ominous words. /

' About two (j'olock, sir,' said the porter, regretfully, \/l sent it into the theatre, but they said that you had lefb. I hope ib ain'b of very great importance.'

' Well, it can't ibe helped now, anyhow. Good night, 1 replied Herbert, as. he resumed his journey at even greater speed. In bhe narrow circle of light cast grudgingly downward by a lamp just without bhe gabes stood a man whose face and figure sbructk him as being singularly familiar, though he could not for the life _of him recall when and where he had met him before. He wan young, apparently not more than five-and-twenty, wibh a handsome, clean-cub face, dark complexion, hair and eyes. He looked at Herbert with a curious expression of affectionate recognition, and made an undecided move toward him as if about to accost him ; to which Herbert was about to :respond with that half-hearted cordialiby which a man displays when he feels himself bound bo accepb an acquaintance, while he fears to betray his ignorance of all particulars as to its origin or details.

On a sudden, a wave of ghastly consternation swept across the young man's countenance ; and turning (swiftly, wibh a fainb cry, he sped away into the darkness, and shorbly vanished in the clammy fog. Astounded at this suddon suid unaccountable revulsion of aspect and purpose, Herbert wheeled round to see what hideous monster or unlooked-for apparibion stalked behind him; but if any such had been there, it was gone already. He stood alone, walled round by the impenetrable mystery of luminous haze.

CHAPTER 11. HOW IT WAS ACCOUNTED FOP-

Surprised as he justifiably was at this en" counter and its singular termination, Herbert was too much disturbed at the contents of the note which had just reached him, after such an unforbunabe delay, bo give the matter more than a passing consideration. l

Bertha Purfieet, the professor's second wife, was a cousiia of Herbert's. She had early been left an orphan, and, having no other relation willing to undertake the responsibility of her bringing up, had been offered a home by Herbert's father. Many a righb royal battle did the two children fight out between them ; for, though Bertha was nearly a year older than himself, Herbert was not at all inclined to give way in anything to one who was only a girl, and she was of a wilful disposition. In fact, to everyone but Herbert she displayed a most fierce and unmanageable temper ; but on him, in the intervals of their frequent quarrels, she bestowed a passionate devotion which was by no means appreciated by the object of it. She raged furiously at the contemptuous rebuffs of the boy, who had a rooted objection to being kissed by her, to having hia curly hair ruffled by her caressing hand, and, in general, to all outward demonstrations of her atiection, which he summarised wibh frank disapprobation as molly-coddling.

As. they advanced inbo their teens, these manifestations naturally ceased; but the wayward girl still tempered to him her overbearing caprice, though the rest of the household were brought completely under her arrogant,sway. So much, indeed, was his kind old mother under her control fjhat Herbert was glad when the disaster that overtook them induced Bertha to withdraw from their new home and to set up for herself.

When he returned from his exile, he found her grown into a handsome, stately woman of six-and twenty—a woman to be admired, if somewhat hard of feature and ■pold of manner, as her enemies averred, no scanty muster, if the truth be told. He was not long in discovering bhab her charms had completely subjugated the professor, who, indeed, had more than once asked her to marry hisn, partly owing to an old man's fancy, partly, perhaps, to provide a chaperon for his daughter Gladys,- who was at thab time sixteen years of age, and about therefore, before long, to take her place in society. Herbert, as events turned out, had no small share in bringing the affair to a successful issue ; and ib wa3 a serious doubb as bo whether the result had been a happy one for any concerned in it, that arose ever and anon to disturb his serenity.

Her oft-repeated refusals of his offer only strengthened the professor in his deter-, mination bo overcome, in the end, her oppoaibion—an opposition which was supporbed nob a little by the fact that she possessed in her own right an income, restricted enough, bub sufficienb to ensure her independence in a position of genteel poverty. Pisheartened, however, ab length", by his continued failures, he had taken Herbert inbo his confidence, and had urg-ed, and finally persuaded him to reluctantly undertake the task of interceding for hini and acting- as his plenipotentiary in this difficult business.

He i'ound, when he came to broach the object; of his visit, thab he had by no means underrated the awkwardness of his position, and he beat aboub the busb with sufficient clumsiness for a long time before he could make up his mind how to begin ; all of which embarrassment seemed to till Bertha with strange satisfaction. 'Bertha,' he began, at last, *I have come to ask you a delicate and important question, to" which I muse request your serious consideration.'

A deep flush covered her face as he spoke, bub this ebbed fast, and gave way to a sbony pallor when she understood the full meaning of his proposition. Alarmed at bhis unpromising reception of his mission, ho waxed still warmer in his pleadings, putting the case in its most favourable light, and representing strongly

the comforbs and benefits that would accrue to her from so advantageous an arrangement. As he drew/near and took her hand in the eagerness of hi 3 argument, her stern face softened till she looked quite beautiful ; Bub she sat; silent for some time when he had finished.

'And do you advise me to take this stop ?' she asked finally, in a low voice.

' I'think,' he replied, overjoyed even at this' slight relenting—'l think that it would be for the happiness of you both.' ' Oh—happiness !' she cried, with a somewhat bibber laugh. ' Why nob ?' ho answered. 'He is bho besb of men, and lovios you passionabely.' ' Love !' she exclaimed, scornfully. 'What can'he know ol love?—or 3'ou, eibher ?' she added, after a pause, letting her/eyes rest with a softened gaze upon bis ardent face.

/' So you advise me to it ?' she said again, a_ he made no answer to this outburst.

:' ' I do, in he replied warmly. ' Very well,' _he said, wibh a brief sigh. ' I will think of it.' And presently she broke into a flood of tears and bade him begone, which he did willingly enough, considerably puzzled ab the singularity of her behaviour.

Two days afterward an enthusiastic letter of gratitude from the professor told him that his embassy had not been in vain, and in less than a month he accompanied bhem to the altar, and pressed his prescribed kiss upon the ice-cold cheek of the new-made bride.

The family bond thus constituted had not, he had reason to suspect, sab- overlightly on any of its wearers. Berbha had, bo begin with, treated her husband vvibh a rather distant respect, bub hor consideration had by degrees become overlaid by an ever-increasing contempt for and irritation againsb his tenderness and devotion, which she scarcely attempted to conceal. To her step-daughter she had been hardly cruel, But certainly indifferent, interfering little wibh her, bub giving her'neither friendship nor advice.

Not much of this underlying mass of combustible materia.! had been allowed to meet Herbert's not jtoo inquiring gaze, for Professor Purfieet,' fearing, perhaps, thab he mighb blame himself overmuch for his share in ibs creation, would not betray any signs of the domes tic friction which mighb some day result i;n the spark that sthould fire it. Gladys, his daughter, could not lay her complaint before a young man, however' famiiia.v in the house ; and Mrs Purfieet, for reasons of her .own, assiduously disguised her feelings in his presence beneath a mask of cheerful courtesy, which it 'never occurred to him to suspect, much less to strive to penetrate.

In this precarious state matters remained for three years, and Gladys was nineteen before he gained more than the merest suspicion of ;the trouble that mighb ab any time break forth. When he returned from his sojourn in the country, be had wondered jto find the pretty, merry-faced child who | had sab upon his knees, played with him,j quarrelled with him,and made it up wibh (kisses, grown into a beaubiful maiden o.'f fifteen, who greeted bim kindly but with reserve, and made it clear, silenbly bub unmistakably, bhab the time had passed away whan she had been a playmate to be caressed with impunity.

Had bhe change worked gradually before his very eyes, tho crossing of tho vague line between child and girlhood mighb have been delayed, but, as it was, it came upon him liko a revelation, and he saw at once that if she was no longer to be fondled as an infant, she was made to bo loved as a woman, and love her he did wibh growing fervour year by yea.r, until his passion could no longer be penb up in hi 3 own bosom, and as he was thus compelled to speak of it to somo one Ihe chose the sbraighbesb and the wisesb course and spoko of it to her.

'My dear fellow !' cried Professor Purfieet, with evident delight, when he was informed by Herbert, one afternoon, that Gladys, s_bject to his consent, wa3 willing to become his wife, ' 1 am overjoyed to hear it. It is the one thing I have always wished and hoped for. I havo long regarded you as a son, and am glad to -welcome you as one in earnesb.

* I am a very happy and a very lucky man,' said Herberb, simply.

He hurried away to join Gladys, who was in the drawing-room awaiting, wibh some trepidation, the outcome of the interview, and they were still fibsorbecl in the sweet exchange of blissful inanities when. Mrs Purfieet came in. They started guiltily apart, Gladys blushing crimjsqn, while Herbert was about to /.bammer to Bertha some explanation of the scene upon which she had so unexpectedly entered, when, with a contemptuous sy/eep of her hand, she forestalled him :

* There is r.;> need to tell me anything, I can read it i« her fact-) and yours. I con gratulate yon, Gladys, and you, toe, Her berb ; for I suppose you expect it.'

Never were good wiishes more fr'gidly spoken, and she drew back as the g'rl, forgetful of past sufferings in her present happiness, advanced to kiss her gratefully, but she gave Herbert ;i cold hand, which hardly cloned upon hiu own, and turned away. As, she did so hie caught the reflection of her face in a glass above the mantelpiece, and beheld in her eyes fixed upon Gladys an expression which startled and terrified him. The noixt moment they met his, and flushing slighhly she went away.

From that day forward she dissembled no longer. She did not, indeed, cpenly illtreat Gladys in his presence but she ignored bet: wibh marked deliberation, or followed her with petty persecutions, and took unconcealed .pleasure in the annoyance they caused bim. In his absence she was more unre3trai;oed in her malignity, as he soon learned ; for though Gladys was boo proud to complain of her broubles even to him, he found h.er, on several occasions, in tears, and drew from her an unwilling recital of part of her story. After the first of these confessions he ivent off, in high dudgeon, to remonstrate ivith Bertha on her unfeeling conduct; but though she iiste/ned to him .submissively at j.he time, she/increased wither than diminished the virulence of h|;r spite for the ,'future, and Herbert was fonced to the con-, iclusion thab his interference only made -mat ters worse, and that his jbesb course waa to keep silence. There was one simple wary of putting an end to it; by marrying (Gladys without further delay ; butt as she; was still under age, her father's consent was necessary for this. He, good man, would gladly enough have removed this) bone ot contention from his household, and contributed thereby to his beloved daug-htfjr's .happiness; but Bertha, accustomed of old to tyrannise over every one v/j'.th whom she came in contact, had soon reduced him to complete subjection, and hf'. could nob be persuaded to grant his pert?.lission without her compliance, which fjhe resolutely refused to give. Though HerJbevb, with his manly lack of intuition, did *ftot in the least appreciate the misery of .lie many infinitesimal stings which one 'woman can inflict upon another, if she be ?,o minded, he could nob remain altogether blind to the unsatisfactory state of the relations between Gladys and her step-mo./tier, nor overlook entirely the brewing; storm which mighb at any moment burst into disaster, perhaps even catastrophe. ' Great trouble anct distress.' These four words, with a cons-bant undercurrent of fearful speculation and .wild suspicion, accompanied him every foot of the way, and stilt beat in his brai.ii as he rang the bell at Professor Purfleet'a door.

; What had happened? Whab folly, perhaps crime, had I hab misguided woman perpetrated as a c'tlimax to her insane behaviour ?

Gladys came to,' meet him in the hall as he entered, and |„c started forward as he I saw her pale face/and hollow eyes.

./'You have come at lasb!' s/he cried, anxiously, nob heeding the kiss tie pressed upon her cheek, and broke int.o a;passion of sobbing. J ■ ' What is it,. Gladys ?' he exclaimed. ' What's the matter? Wh'ab has happened?' j ' Where is papa ? Have yoii seen him ?' ' Seen him !' he said wondejring. ' Why, I have only just this minute a rrived.' ' Where is he ?' she repeated, without seeming to hear him. | ■ * Where !' gasped he, struck with sudden fear. 'Is he not here ?' I

' Is he not at the college ?' ' No. He has not been there all day. Gladys, what is the meaning Jof it ?' 'I'cannob bell. Nob ab bhe 1 college ?' she cried, aghast. 'He wenb out some time before any one was up, and we have not heard or seen anything of him sinc^i.' 'Gone?'ejaculated Herbert. 'Impossible. Where—when?' j 'I do not know. I cannot tell you. He ha 3 gone.' j (To be Continued on Saturday next. )