THE BRIDE ELECT; OR, THE DOOM OF THE DOUBLE ROSES

Auckland Star, Volume XXX, Issue 56, 8 March 1899, Page 6

THE BRIDE ELECT; OR, THE DOOM OF THE DOUBLE ROSES

BY ANNIE ASHMOKE,

tkntherof Rlenzi,' 'Corinne's Baßsona,* 'Waiting for Him,' The jiiamond Collar/ Etc

CHAPTER XVII. (Continued.) Mr Hazeldean, Mr Buccleugh,' said my lord, briefly. They looked earnestly each at the other, the lawyer with lowering brow and distrustful vigilance, Alexander with arousied. hauteur and instant constraint.

'Give me the letter, Alexander,' uttered the white lips of the captain, and he held out a tremulous hand. His manner, his impatience, his unusual addressing of him by the most familiar name, had their effect on Alexander. In a moment he knew the meaning of the lawyer's visit. He saw that his day had come. '.I see Mr. Hazeldean has been making some communication of a painful nature,' said Alexander, 'and when you. and my lord have examined this letter, I shall expect to be made aware of its purport.' As he tendered the promised document, his - hand was seized by the captain's, and retained in a spasmodic clasp. The grasp tightened as the captain glanced from top to bottom of the dainty sheet of loving words with a pretty Glencora signature, and he lifted a glance of despair to Alexander. 'No,' said Alexander, gently, 'there was no date whatever. I had not noticed the omission when I mentioned the existence of the letter.' Mr Hazeldean's face flushed scarlet, his nervous fingers ran through his thick, moist locks, he averted his dark face from Alexander. My lord exclaimed immediately: 'Where is the envelope, Mr Buccleugh? It will give the date quite as well, if the letter was posted.' 'It was posted,' replied Alexander, gloomily. 'I received it in the bank, and in passing terror of some ill-for-tune to her, I tore the envelope hastily off, leaving it in two on my desk.' 'Unfortunate!' ejaculated Lord Tresilyan, intones of vivid regret. 'Captain Drummond'-turning quickly to him —'go and inform Mrs Ella■fchorne of Mr Hazeldean's tidings, and prepare her to accompany us at once to the scene. It is time we saw for ourselves.' ■.■■'., Captain Drummond was hastening from thfe room, when the lawyer, looked fixedly at him; he turned his head, and .met the gaze. 'Beware of what you say to her!' said Mr Hazeldean, dryly. The captain stared, and then frowned. 'Don't fear me,' he said, with anger; 'I'll tell her naught to bias her on either side, naught but the bare fact that she must know ere she looks on the'wtonian down at Leith.'' ' ';' With which he went out, and strode to thepil^our. „ -■~ Lord Tresilyan gently addressed Alexander: 'Mr Buccleugh, the purport of Mr Hazeldean's visit is very unexpected and distressing. My dear fellow, endeavour to hear it with fortitude, in case the person can be identified as one lost.' The thin face flushed, the delicate lips strove to compress themselves,; but quivered with alarm. Alexander made an impatient gesture. 'Anything about her?' breathed he. . And my-lord, with sad inflection, told him. * Poor, hapless Alexander! Soften the blow as Lord Tresilyan might, yeil with blessed uncertainty the terrible drift of such a fact, the deadly meaning "pursued him, surged over him, took away his breath. - 'Heaven!' faltered Alexander, 'is.it thus I must find my love at last? Murdered, her name tarnished, her exquisite features unrecognisable! Oh, Glencora —oh, Glencora!' Lord Tresilyan laid a pitying hand on his shoulder, and looked his sympathy. Alexander was shivering from head to foot, his" nostrils dilated, his eyea dark with horror. Was it fear that so unnerved him? 'Sir, she was false to you if she loved my brother,' said the. lawyer, impelled by busy mistrust. And for the moment Alexander laughed scornfully. 'That remembrance calms me,', said he, firmly. *I can never doubt Gleneora's fidelity to me. No, I do not believe you have found her. Heaven forbid!' 'We shall prove that,' returned the lawyer, coldly. They remained in silence till the door reopened, and the captain stood on the threshold. 'Come,' said he, 'my sister waits. I have told only her; the young ladies may be spared until we are sure.' The four gentlemen repaired to the hall. There stood Mrs Ellathorne. attired for driving, her black robes quivering where she held them up in her shakng hands, a thek back veil concealing her agonized, features. Lord Tresilyan handed her to his own barouche, and, accompanied by Alexander, took his place beside her, while Captain Drummond followed the lawyer to his cab. In this order they drove-to Leith, and in something less than an hour drew up before a neat, square building on Leith Sands, where many a corpse had been borne from the adjacent ocean to await its friends* recognition, and be buried with its own, or be hastily inferred by government if no friends appeared. They alighted, and my lord, giving the support of his arm to Mrs Ellathorne, they entered the long, desolate chamber, untenanted save by yon shrouded form on the distant bier, and two policemen guarding the door. The group of newcomers advanced to the side of the dead. My lord'lifted back the pall. The police officers drew near. Captain Drummond bent over her first. He swayed back, and caught at Alexander. Alexander, bent over, biting an ashy lip, lifted one pallid hand und laid it back on the silken-shrouded

breast, looked, with set face, at the cambric handkerchief, all dark and | green with sea^slime, still knotted " round the throat in deadly noose; and; then Mrs Ellathorne was borne for- j ward on the arm of Lord Tresilyan. j ' -She looked at the handkerchief, at the corner of it which hung loose be-1 hind the. poor head, and seeing the | delicately braided initials, and the pat- j tern of the lace, she wrung her hands in a sudden frenzy, and cried piercingly, in incautious anguish: Tt is Gleneora's handkerchief! and it is Gleneora's corpse! Oh, welladay! my brain! my brain!' My lord swooped on the captain. 'Is it?' asked he, in a hissing whisper. Captain Drummond, pale as any girl, nodded his head. My lord seized Alexander. For heaven's sake, Alexander, what do you think? Is this she?' And Alexander looked at the long, blue-black tresses, at the lovely wrist and hand, the face, mercifully shrouded; one frantic glance underneath the white linen was enough; and he clasped his hands, and raised hopeless eyes to heaven. 'On my soul, I cannot say, my lord!' said he, all too truthfully. Then Mr Philip Hazeldean walked to' a dingy window, and covering his eyes with his hand, stood with his back to them. Mrs Ellathorne uttered a cry of despair, and the two officers of justice advanced to Alexander. 'You are my prisoner, sir. Here is the warrant!' said one. Lord Tresilyan started, aud made a frantic spring forward, but recovered himself in time to restrain the captain, whose blue eyes were blazing wrathfiilly. 'On what charge, or on whose suit?' demanded my lord, in a choked voice. 'Charge of murder, suit of Spires & Wynde, on behalf of the crown.' And they led him away, their unresisting captive. And thus these lovers met again, and parted, for the last time on earth.

CHAPTER XVIII. THE GUIDANCE. The crash had come at last. So swiftly, so noiselessly, had the danger crept up, circling and narrowing round its victim, that when at last he fell, scarcely could his frantic friends discern the hand which had brought him' down. He was borne from their midst, unresisting and unquestioning-,' to his dreary cell, Avhere he dreamed of his lost one, from the first sweet advent of her coming to glorify his life, unto the bitter end, when that dread spectre in the slirouded face mocked Gleneora's form and claimed him as her destroyer, ■ As time went on his hesitation deepened into unbelief; . -anti his- inboi-n faith in his girl's purity and constancy cried out against this pale shade; he would not—could not regard her, wfth the evidences of her treachery to liim in her hand—as his loyal Glencora. 'No, no, no!' he cried to his friend, Anthony Drummond, yvho shuddei'ingly described her dress; the lacetrimmed handkerchief, which, when brought home, even Florice had recognised instaneously—the long blueblack hair, so fare and splendid; and the possibility that some 'other power,' as Lord Tresilyan had said, had removed the twin of Strathmore. 'No, no,' cried the unwavering lover, lifting a flushing, convinced face from his hands, 'there was no guile in Glencora, and that woman was not she. You'll not find treachery in her hands when we meet her face to face—should it be at God's triumph!' So much of the clothing of 'G. C.' as could be removed had been sent home, under the special guardianship of Mr Wynde, however, but who could say with certainty that these were the discoloured relics of the clothing once worn by Glencora. Florice strove in 1 vain, with fainting heart and sickened eyes, to pass impartial judgment, but could only surmise. Had Jean Malcolm been there the 'question could have been set at rest, for she had attired the bride-elect on that fatal morning, and could answer for every shred of clothing she wore. But Jean Malcolm, though urgently sought could not be found. The next day after the arrest, the prisoner was taken before a magistrate, and friends and foes being present, Mr Spires acting as plaintiff, submitted his case in a neat, concise narrative of the events which caused him to make his charge. It was a. case which told powerfully against Alexander Buccleugh. The judgie's face grew grave and portentous as he listened; Anthony Drummond oftentimes wiped his reddened countenance, and darted fiery and indignant glances at the imperturable Spires; Lord Audley Tresilyan, standing near the prisoner, heard with downdropped eyes and contracted brows what wus, in effect, one unbroken chain of circumstantial evidence against the prisoner; and Harold Russel, the talented young lawyer, took down in short-hand the darkening record, to be weighed and dissected and tested, when.the final struggle should come. In a slow, deeply significant, yet monotonous tone, Spires read the narrative amid the most perfect silence and attention. It commenced Avith a circumstantial account of Alexander Buceleugh's previous history, his relations with Miss Buccleugh, and all particulars relating" thereto; then the Hazeldean story was dragged from obscurity and placed side by side with Alexander's Edinburgh life, his Edinburgh bride, and that estrangement which was known to have been between them, There was one item in the chain which told fearfully against Alexander. Calmly and dispassionately it came out that the accused's cousin, whom at one time he thought to marry, had become possessed of an additional £ 20,000 by the death of her maternal grandmother, just ten days before the union Avith Miss Calvert Avas to have taken place; that despite Alexander's formler desertion, Miss Buccleugh still loved him, having given ample proofs of it, and that there Avas reason to believe they had acted in concert since the disappearance of Miss Calvert, as could be seen from the manner in Avhich Miss Buccleugh comported herself toward him. The fortune, of which Alexander should have been a sharer, was then spoken of; his comparative poverty; his actual embarrassments arising from his purchase of Denburn. The quarrel was rehearsed, and Moray's secret attachment placed beside it; til us the key to the puzzle ,of the quarrel was given—jealousy. Theii | Moray Hazeldean's six Aveeks' trip to ■ the Highlands, during which the mar- } riage Avas arranged and peace re- j stored—the bride's/ variable spirits— I her appeal on the morning of her disappearance—the impetus given

to Alexander Buccleugh in the shap-3 of £20,000 —jealousy of Hazeldean, ami attachment to his cousin, Jessia • —all these circumstances -were linked together so as to present an unbroken ciiaii- of evidence against the accused, and prepared the hearers for the explanation of Gleneora's disappearnnee. 'On the 25th of July, at half-past five o'clock in the evening,' Mi1 Spires continued to read, 'Alexander Buccleugh and Glencora Calvert left the house of Lady Bank, and walking out of sight of the Inmates, were lost to view for some time. It is to be remembered that Mr Buccleugh had just walked up Gower lane from Edinburgh, therefore if any carriage had been concealed in the lane, or Lad passed through the lane, he had nu opportunity of knowing it. Two carriages had been in the lane when ho walked up; one belonging to Lord Kilcourcy, which passed up from Edinburgh at five o'clock; another, unknown, which turned in front of the most private part of Lady Bank's grounds, and sped back to town between half-past five and six, as vouched by the Lady-Bank gardener. 'When Mr Buccleugh came up to Lady-Bank from Edinburgh, he did not enter, as usual, but stood at the open window and hurried Miss Calvert out to accompany him. She stepped out just as she was, without bonnet or cloak, and slipping a notebook, which she held in her hand, into l:er pocket, she walked with him down to the avenue gate in sight of the house. Nothing passed down the avenue; he placed a holly spray in her hair. As they paused at their gate he tide her pocket-handkerchief round her head. That holly spray was found next day in a carriage at Mr McJennet's stables; that handkerchief has been recognised by Miss Florice Calvert, as that of her sister, upon the dead body found on the shore of Leith. 'iNow mark these coinciding facts: 'firstly —A few minutes past four of the same evening, a strange-look-ing- man hired a carriage from a cabman belonging to Mr McJennet's stables, and paying him five guineas to wait at a tavern until his return, drove off. Between half-past five and six o'clock the gardener of LadyBank, coming up Gower lane with a load of flower pots, met a carriage with a strange-looking man on the box, and an old gent Inside, sitting with his back to the horses. About seven o'clock Mr McJennet's man and carriage arrived at the stables, the man much intoxicated and the horses blown. In this carriage was found a holly spray. ■'Secondly—At, five o'clock ■on the evening of the 25th of July, Moray Hazeldean, having that day received a note from the unknown lady -with whom he was in love, left the stables cf Mr Buckle, in a covered carriage, informing his brother that he was going to succour the lady from a man who was about to marry her, and of whom she was in terror. At seven o'clock same morning, Moray Hazeldean rushed into the stable yard where his brother awaited him and cried she was gone. 'That he believed her infernal lover had put her out of the way.' He mentioned nothing of where he had been or what he had seen; he left his brother in the street, and got into a cab. 'When Miss Calvert left Lady-Bank's house for the last time, she had a pocket book in her pocket. Clenched within the hand of the woman found dead was found a scrap of paper accurately fitting into Miss Calvert's pocket book, bearing these remarkable words: '"Moray Hazeldean:—A ■ has discovered" our love. My inconstancy seals my.fate. Before you come, oh, tardy one, I will be no more. Farewell! G.C '_N.ow who knows what might have occurred during those twenty minutes that Miss CalveVt and Alexander Bueclengh were together for the last time? If jealousy and self-interest actuated him, as has been proved, might not some threat of his during their walk have induced her to dash down those words to one whom she evidently expected to come and carry her away? Arguing that such was the case, might not Alexander Buccleugh have hired the strange carriage and man to accomplish a nefarious plot for him, have concealed them within the gates of an old manor-house, half-way down the lane, until signalled for, have hurried out the lady to the wicket-gate, and there done the deed which avenged him for an inconstant woman, freed him from embarrassment, and left him to niarry a rich cousin who loved him? Assuming this, what course would he pursue? Having waited until the maid, Malcolm, was out of sight, he would inform her of her faithlessness to him; in return she would draw out her pocket-book while he was quieting her dog, which would growl at an approaching carriage; she*would stand with her back to him, dashing down those incoherent words under her cloak, tear out the sheet, and crush it in her hand with the agony of the death-grip. Her back being to him, he would seize his opportunity, snatch her handkerchief, and make a noose of it, tie it round her neck; and suffocate her, the knot being a,t the back of the neck. The carriage stopping, he could lift her hastily into the back seat, send _it away with a few instructions, strike into a side-path leading down to the canal, fling the pocket-book into the corn—having either, wrenched it from the lady's hand for fear of discovery, or picked it up from the ground—return to the house with all speed, and report his losing sight of Miss Calvert as the consequence of a trifling bet. 'Then what is.easier than for those two men to drive back to Leith with their dead burden, remove her bonnet and cloak, and all items likely to assist recognition, cast her into the water, and rush back to Edinburghone to deliver back the carriage, the other to seek safety in flight? 'Now, for the identification of Moray Hazeldean's "G.C," found murdered on the shore of Leith, with Miss Calvert lost on the twenty-fifth of July. Moray Hazeldean had a profile likeness of "G.C. " at the house of his brother; When Captain Drummond, in his search for Miss Calvert, was led by the Providence of Heaven to the first step in the track, he was amazed, while standing in Mr Hazeldean's drawingroom, at the accurate resemblance of this picture to his lost ward. 'Miss Calvert, when last seen by her friends, was clad in a black silk dress, trimmed with lace, a bonnet and cloak being added to her other attire before she disappeared , from the grounds. "G.C," found dead, had on a black; sillrdress, trimmed with lace, which, being silk, was spoiled by the water, and rendered undistinguisbable. Miss j Calvert had in her possession a lawni

handkerchief, trimmed with a peculiar pattern of lace, with her initials embroidered in the corner. "G.C," when found, had, twisted so tightly round her neck as to induce suffocation, a lawn handkerchief trimmed with lace, which, being thread, perfectly retained its original pattern, With the initials "G.C." embroidered in the corner. 'Miss Florice Calvert minutely examined this handkerchief, and declared it belonged to her sister. 'Clutched in the dead lady's hand, as has been said, was a fragment of paper mentioning "A "as her betrothed. Might'nt "A" stand for "Alexander?" The dates of the disappearance are the same to an hour, the initials of the lost and the found are the same. Circumstances, interest, and revenge point out the perpetrator who alone could benefit by such a disappearance. On these grounds Alexander Buccleugh had been accused of the crime of murder!' Dead silence followed the reading of the charge. In a moment up sprang fiery Anthony Drummond, and his voice rang loud and dauntless through the silent chamber. 'It is false!' he shouted, bringing his hand down with angry force upon the desk before him. 'It is but a tissue of enormous falsehoods made -to bear against an innocent man. Justicejustice!' So saying, the good captain sat down abruptly, and crossed his legs with surpassing firmness. Then Lord Tresilyan stepped forward and intimated his desire to be heard for a few minutes. 'There are yet two witnesses to be produced before this charge can be proved legal. In the first place, Mr Moray Hazeldean must be found to tell tlie real name of the lady called "G.C," her family, and her circumstances. In the second place, Jean Malcolm, the lady's-maid, must be secured to identify the clothing of her mistress, if such they prove to be. When these j>ersons have proved to Messrs Spires and Wynde's satisfaction the legality of their charge, then we shall consider Mr Buccleugh in danger.' In effect, these words had not the. slightest weight in the minds of those present, so indisputably had the lawyer's story heaped proof after proof of guilt on the prisoner. In gloomy and ominous silence the necessary formulas were gone through and Alexander Buccleugh was remanded to prison to await his trial for the murder of Glencora Calvert. So the luckless champions gathered once more around their poor fallen friend in his, cheerless cell, and the choleric captain nearly broke- his heart as he took his place by Alexander's side. And -fthile thus he fumed and writhed under his friend's wrongs, Lord Tresilyan and Harold Russel were equally busy in a corner over a pile of papers and law books,, deep in eager, whispered consultation, and impervious to all around. Then the cell door.was opened, and the turnkey admitted, a wiry, ugly little man, whom Alexander, after some examination, assumed to be Mr Simon Curtiss. Mr Curtiss seemed much moved by this recognition. , 'Oh, Mr Euccleugh, hqw dared they do it?' he muttered, clenching his lean little hands. ''How dare thef rpitch upon you, sir, the very soul and body, too, sir, of honour, as I'd swear to, sir, in all the. law courts in Scotland. But I'll fetch them all aback; at least I'll try; and that's what brings me here, sir.' 'What can you do, Curtiss?' asked Alexander, mildly, looking from his mean pallet. 'I'll explain how, sir,' answerd the small man, sinking his tones into modest diffidence, as before. 'Moray Hazeldean is wanted, aS Lord Tresilyan said to-day, and I've been thinking since maybe I'd be of use to find him, as I know an indifferent deal about such jobs. I'd have gone off on my own hook, sir, and fetched him back with me to refute all their humbug, but, honoured sir, there's only one thing stopped me.' 'What was that, Curtiss?' asked Alexander, pressing his hands! ♦Want of money, sir,' quoth the little man, with a blush; 'and I thought maybe if I could get a lift along in the way of expenses, I'd be master of the situation. I'd search the continent, sir, and find him in three weeks; I could do it, sir, if you'd trust me with the job.' 'To be. sure we'll trust you,' said Captain Drummond, seizing his hand in a blacksmith's grip. 'God bless you man! You're just what we want!' The two other gentlemen, who had been attracted by the little fellow's vehemence, and were standing close behind him, exchanged glances of congratulation and pleasure. 'Why, you're the right man in the right place!' cried Lord Audley, hastily. 'We don't want a more willingagent than you, Mr. Curtiss, to undertake this difficult business.' 'He's innocent, you know, your lordship,' said little Curtiss, breaking down at being seconded by so great a being, and wiping his eyes hurriedly, with his scarlet bandana. 'I'd rather be cut into cat's meat than see so good and true a gentleman perish by the law for a stupid pack of lies. It would disgrace the law, your lordship; bless you, it would, for he's innocent!' 'Bight, man, and God bless you!' uttered Anthony, much affected. Alexander looked around on his friends. Well, there were sOme dark clouds in the world for him; but were not these true, and loyal, and brave to the core? His heart thanked Heaven for this. 'You want a little fitting out, do you?' said Lord Audley. 'To be sure; you shall have every convenience, Mr Curtiss. I'll see that you are well provided for your journey. Call at my hotel, the Boyal Arms, Prince street, in the course of. two hours, and you'll find a. cheque awaiting you, and her ladyship, as well, to wish you Heaven's speed on your enterprise.' Mr Curtiss, blushing, and almost sinking beneath combined honours and condescensions, pulled his grey forelock many times, turned to Alexander, and with one long, mute, indescribable gaze of fidelity, wrung his hand, and modestly retired as suddenly as he had appeared; and the friends continued their consultations uninterruptedly for many hours. (To be Continued.)