LOST BY A KISS.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXII, Issue 152, 28 June 1901, Page 6

LOST BY A KISS.

(By VIRGINIA VAUGHN.)

CHAPTER X. HER LAST CARD

It takes a long time lo accustom

the mind lo such a sudden fr.ak of

fortune as thai which had befalien the young man hitherto known as •lack Rudclilt'e.

While, he was in prison I lie change thai awaited him seemed pleasant, .-mil by no means formidable; but when .lack- once found himself free, and thrown into the society of I hose whose equal lie was in birth, I hough mil in en Mil IV, lie was conscious of appearing cither insolently al case, or else awkwardly shy.

To be dressed in chillies such as gentlemen wear was a novel experi-

ence lo him, and though he very soon I'orgol Ihe cut and quality of his garments, Ihe mere fact that he wore Ihcni, and I hat they were the proper things for him to wear, had n certain undefined influence upon his mind. His old habits were strong upon him also, and he often mortified his father by words and looks and actions that were proper enough in. .lack Kadclijfe, but were so man.) vulgarisms in .laclc Gorst.

He was anxious enough lo learn better, however, and rveyy day seemed lo make some improvemeiil in his speech and manner, anil his father felt assured that six months' drill under a considerate and cultivated man. with the additional advantage of the influence of a refined woman, would completely transform Ihe manners and conversation of the young- man, whose personal advantages were beyond dispute.

So, after spending- a. couple of weeks in town with his father aud mother, who were proud though a little ashamed of him, Jack went off to Budworth Rectory as a pupil to Dr. Drew.

March, which had come in like a lion, was going out as a lamb when the young fellow reached his destination.

He felt shy and awkward, for the idea of going to school is not pleasant to a man of four-and-twenty who has had but little previous experience in the way of study.

Had .lack followed his inclinations, he would have, decidedly refused to submit to what he regarded as a humiliation, but he felt that some consideration was due to his newfound parents, and he earnestly desired to as much as possible like his father, of whom he was justly proud. And stronger than the sense of duty was another feeling-, still more powerful in its influence.

He. had told himself, and he had told others, that his Tove for Charlotte Carrington was dead, and he believed at the time that he spoke Ihe truth.

But such love as he had for the worthless girl does not die in a day.

It will even survive the knowledge of treachery and deceit on the part of its object, and poor Jack often felt, that, though the scene might change and the faces around him might be smiling- and kind, there was after all but one face he really eared to see. Indeed, Chariot! c's face haunted him day and night, and if the truth be told he studied hard and tried in every possible way to improve himself, so that the difference between them might be bridg-ed over.

By pure accident he heard that her engagement to Egbert Alderson was broken off, and the foolish fellow attributed this step to Charlotte's love for himself.

He was anxious to fly to his first love and lay his heart and hand at her feet, and was only deterred from doing so by the promise lie had made his father before they parted, to the effect, that until he returned to the Cedars in the autumn he would not propose to any woman.

"If she loves me, as I believe she does, she will wait, for me," he thought fondly, "and T must not judge her conduct in the past harshly. After all, it was too much to expect that she should give up comfort and position and friends for such a rough, uneducated fellow as me. 1 can see things of the kind more clearly now than I could in the old days. It is a terrible thing for a woman to marry a man so much beneath her as I was." *

So he reasoned and made excuses for the woman who had so wrecked his life, and thus it happened that one morning, when he least expected anything of the kind, a letter from Charlotte came to him.

It was not dated from the Cedars, but from a square in London, and its contents ran as follows:

"Dear Jack: I want to see you and to ask you about some letters of mine which I wrote in the old days. I think' you might have destroyed them or taken more care of them than you have done; but the least you can do now is to give them back to inc. For all that, I should like io have them from your own hands, because I may then have an opportunity of explaining what must have pained and puzzled you in the past. If, however, you never wish to see me again, send my letters back by post without a line and I shall know what your silence means."

| A critical reader would have looked ' between the lines of this strange epistle for its true meaning, but, though Jack was keen and shrewd enough at most times, he was 100 infatuated now to regard it as anything but permission to reopen the relations once existing between them.

This was even more evident in the postscript, in which she wrote:

"T shall be at Budworth Junction on Wednesday next, and shall have to wait there a couple of hours; if you can meet me there at two o'clock dc so."

Meet lier! He would have walked dozens of miles to meet her, wonld have risked and sacrificed much to

look once more into her false blue eyes and feast his soul by gazing upon her red and white, wax-like beaul.

How anxiously he waited for Ihe next Wednesday, and linvv lie counted the hour;-, a.. Ihcy slowly went by. only a fond lover could understand; but. I lie, longed-for day came at last, and touml tbi' young man anxiously

pacing i.p :.li(i down one of the plat forms of l'.udworfh ,1 unction.

lie watched several trains conic in and go mil of Hie station, and he was growing anxious lesl Ihe happiness lie had promised himself I his day was not lo lie his, when the voice he knew so well sounded ill his ear, and Charlotte Carriuy.ion with a little laugh said:

"Don't you know me, .Jack? Won"! you speak lo me." 1

"My darling," he murmur.d as In caught her Iwo hands in his own "how glad I am lo see you!"

She drooped In'r thick white eye lids over her treacherous eyes, and blushed prettily as. she said:

"i am so glad to meet you again, .lack, but (lon'l let us stand here: people will notice us, aud I have so much io say lo you."

where, can wo go. he iisk<';l. "What lime have you lo spare?" "Only an hour." she replied, lookin;» about her. There is :i nice wait-ing-room ou thai platform opposite; let us go to it. I dare say il is c|uit< empty." Jack assented, lie would have gone anywhere that this siren chose to lead him. They found tin* waiting-room deserted, imit the couple had scarce!'. soa.ted themselves on the divan beforeone of the railway employees came in and look- a good stare a I them. Jack felt annoyed, and Charlotte bent her head, and half hid her face with' her hnindkerehicf, for the man loitered about, moved the chairs, and seemed disinclined to leave (hem alone. He went at last, however, and then the girl began to play wlial was now her last frump card. It was a risky game, but she bad everything I<> win and little fir nothing to lose. and she now told the infatuated young fellow that she had been heart-broken when she heard of his imprisonment. and that she then resolved never to marry his rival. "1 was afraid to come and see yon when you wore in prison," site said sweetly, "for fe-.u- my feelings should overcome me and I should make a scene, and, besides,'' she added, with a little outburst of spite, "I was disgusted with Isola for parading her love for you so openly."

"Her love for me!" echoed Jack in genuine surprise; ''her pity, you meail|. 1 never sought Isola Longford's love," he went on; "and," he added slowly and meditatively, "1 don't think I deserve if."

Words would fail to describe the sudden rage that filled Charlotte Car ringtou's heart as Jack Ihus spoke.

This was the second of her lovers who spoke of a woman whom she regarded as a rival as being too good for him. and therefore superior to herself.

lint her experience with Egbert Aldcrson had taught her the wisdom of controlling her tongue, and she ouly said bitterly:

"it is scarcely a compliment to me to say so." Whereupon .hick protested that lie meant, no disrespect to his fair companion, and that the cases were widely different, because he had told Charlotte thai he had loved her, and not a thought for Isola had ever entered his heart. But even as he made the assertion lie mentally contrasted the different conduct of the two girls, and he half audibly murmured: "I was sick and in prison, and she visited me." "What are you saying." demanded Charlotte, suspiciously. "Nothing, dear, nothing," lie replied; "but tell me about yourself: things are going on as usual. I suppose, at. the Cedars. 1 have not been able to accustom myself to -call'it home." "J don't know what has happened at Tjittlrde.ii-," she answered, evasively, while a frown darkened her fair face. "1 have been on a visit lo some friends for the last few months, but I shall be going- back to the Cedars soon; and now, .lack., I II me again that you forgive my seeming unkindness and thai you still love me."

The young- man's answer was warm and demonstrative enough, but it did not satisfy Charlotte, who had arranged thi" meeting to-day with a definite, determination to attain a given purpose. Professions of love were all very well, but what she wanted was a proposition of marriage.

Jack would one day be a rich man, for his father was wealthy, and his mother's fortune would likewise be sure to come to him, so thai in the long' run he would really be a better match for her than Egbert Alderson would have been.

She remembered well that Jack had wanted her to marry him in the old days, but then .he laughed the suggestion to scorn. -Off she wanted him to repeat his offer, for she could not, with all her easy-going assurance, assume that anything like an eng-agement existed between them until he did so.

But Jack seemed quite satisfied with protesting his love for her, and iri bestowing upon her the most lover-like of caresses. At length Charlotte grew impatient. It was necessary that she should know what Jack's intentions toward her really were, without much delay, for she must shape her course accordingly. She knew that both of his parents would object to bis marrying- her. but she did not care for that provided he was himself determined on the subject, for they, sooner or later, must give. in.

If Jack intended to be influenced by either his father or his mothei*. however, in the choice of a wife, then she knew that ber own chance was hopeless, and she bad quite resolved

to get his doubt decided without delay! Unl it is a difficult (hing to make a man talk about marriage when he is evidently intent upon carefully avoiding the subject, and Charlotte tried all her little arts to get the matter settled to her own liking, but iv vain. ''You may take a horse to the water, but you rau't make him drink," was the hon,' ly proverb that came into her mind as Jack in the most natural manner evaded the dan"vrnus (|iicstiou time after time. In poinl of fuel the young man was ready enough to ask this woman again if sin- would marry him. Ilr did not resent her refusal in the past, and lie fully intended to repeat Ihe question al sonic future day, but .lack's word was his bond. If lie ever made a promise he was (juitc sure to keep it, and therefore

his promise to his father was sacred. So scrupulous was lie about such matters, indeed, that he would have considered it a breach of faith to have told Charlotte of his promise as an excuse for his present line of con-j duct. That she would wait a few months for him he had no doubt, particularly after her professions of devotion; and therefore he did not trouble himself about any definite engagement. All would come right at last, of course. The old people would not approve of his marriage with his cousin, perhaps, but they would come round, and then his happiness would be perfect, (To be concluded.)