COMPLETE STORY.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 258, 29 October 1907, Page 6

COMPLETE STORY.

THE WAY OF THE WIDOW.

"Love," said.Mrs. Hilary Burlash, "is . the -great selfishness ".that passes as un- j selfishness." She put down her tea-cup -with a slight rattle, and -the Infant stroked his slight moustache and flushed uncomfortably. "There are many kinds of love," he suggested. "True," replied the widow, "but. all proceeding from the parental selfishness. When Burlash married mc he loved mc, but he didn't marry mc to make mc happy. That, probably, was included in the programme, but it was not the chief thing. He wanted mc because he thought I was essential to his happiness. That's selfishness, isn't it? Yet ninety-nine out of a hundred love matches are of this description." "But there is unselfish love," argued the Infant, who bore the name -of -Viscount Hardslade. ~ .;;/ - '" "In a long experience I have never met it," said the pretty , young widow of thirty, and for a moment her eyes fell. The Infant's cheeks were crimson. He glanced nervously round the large draw-ing-room; they had the big bay window to themselves. He pulled his chair nearer. "I wish you were riot'sucli a cynic." The widow elevated her eyebrows. "My dear Hardslade, I am not a cynic; a cynic is a fool; one who acts the cync is counted clever." - ' '- ■'■ ■ "I see," said the Infant slowly. "I'm not a bit clever, Mrs. Burlash; everybody tells mc I'm an awful ass. I expect you'll think mc one when I have told you what I am " "Here comes Lady Murchison," said the widow sharply. The young man's voice had risen, and two or three people had turned their heads. "I want to have a little chat with her, just between two old women, you know;" then added with a smile as the Infant rose to his feet blushing furiously with a-mute appeal in his eyes: "Come and see mc to-morrow afternoon." ;"_' v "... _; . The boy's face lighted up joyously, and; holding her hand for a few moments more than necessary, he darted off to another part of the room, and soon afterwards left Lady Murchison's house and betook himself Piccadillywards in a whirlwind of excitement and suspense. Lady Murchison, a corpulent lady with, a kind face and the homely manner of a farmer's wife, seated herself beside the young widow. "Wasn't that young Hardslade?" she asked. "Yes," said Mrs. Hilary Burlash quietly. Lady Murchison was silent for a few moments, then she blurted out suddenly: "Do you care for him, Phyllis?" The widow fenced the question. "He's a nice boy," she said non-com-mittally. "He's a young idiot," burst out the elder woman warmly. Then she laid her hand on the widow's shoulder. "Now, don't be offended at what I am going to say, Phil; we are old friends, so' I am going to speak my mind. Before you arrived from India a few weeks ago young Hardslade made violent love to Peggy Loriston; everyone thought the engagement would be announced in due course. Now poor Peggy, who is head over heels in love with him, is brokenhearted. I saw her yesterday, and she looked a mere shadow of herself, poor child. Now, if you are only playing with this boy, abandon the game; you are making a worse idiot of him than nature already made him, and you're breaking the heart of one of the best little girls that ever breathed." It was about the longest speech that Lady Murciuson had ever delivered, and at the conclusion she sat gasping for breath, ncr shrewd, kindly eyes fixed on her friend's face. The widow's careless, half-cynical smile had vanished, and the blue eyes looked troubled. "Silly girl!" she said at length, with more pity than scorn. "No man is worth it." "You haven't answered my question," insisted her hostess, who, having screwed up her courage to make the attack, was determined not to retreat. Mrs. Burlash did not answer directly, the white, well-shaped fingers were beat ing a noiseless tatoo on the tea-table. "Well, Mabel," she said, "you have been frank with mc, with your brutal frankness that is so refreshing, and I will be frank with you. I rather like young Hardslade; he has a title and he , has money, both of which commodities' are an attraction to a young, and, shall we say, pretty widow with the beggarly pittance of three hundred a year. Without egotism I think I may say he is desperately in love with mc, andis going to propose to-morrow afternoon. I haven't; decided my answer yet; of course, he is very young and"—after a slight pause— "there are other considerations. I'm going to think about it. but I'll promise you I won't flirt and break people's hearts." * * • » . The Infant was staring dazedly at a letter, regardless of the fact that his breakfast was growing cold. "What the deuce does jshe mean ?" he gasped. ."''Go arid see Captain Chambers at the' Albany. If, after hearing what he has.to say about mc, you wish to resume our interrupted conversation, you may come, and see mc here.this afternoon. I thought you ought to.knox.'';. V The Infant-threw the across the table and gulped down some half-cold coffee. "Know what?" he asked irritably. "What's she driving at? Anyone would think that she —i—" .. . He broke off suddenly, his face growing red and then white. "By Jove! I'll go and see this Chambers Johnny at once—this is rotten!" He rang the bell furiously, and, when his valet appeared, cursed him for not having brought his boots with him. » » * * • In his rooms in the Albany, Captain John Chambers, of the 101 st Hussars, was. regarding.a, little perfumed letter, and-making very much the same continents as young-Hardslade. • "What in the name of all that's mysterious does she want mc to blacken her character for?" he gasped, reading the letter for the third time. "Dear Jack, —I expect you will receive a visit from Lord Hardslade very soon after reading this. I want you to act your part in'a little comedy; hint delicately that you do not care to say all that you know about me—he'll draw his own conclusions. Don't spare mc, he is quite a nice boy and won't talk; even if he does it will probably assist my social ambitions in these degenerate days. I hope you won't mind; I haven't seen you

for ages. • Why is it? Surely Gerald's friend should be the friend of Gerald's lonely widow!— Yours very sincerely. Millicent Hilary Burlash." , Chambers pulled thoughtfully at hia heavy black moustache. "I • suppose she's got some reason for asking ine to bluff this young Hardslade, but~hang,;me if I can think what it is! She's' as good a little woman as ever breathed; her one vice is a delight in cheap cynicism, that she doesn't understand." "Lord Hardslade to see you, sir," said his servant at the door, and in a few moments the Infant stepped nervously into the room. "I—l feel an awful ass, coming to see :you like> this,- - ?, he jerked out. "But a "dear friend of mine, for some unaccountable reason, has asked mc to do so." He stopped and looked awkwardly at the big man in the chair. "Yes," said the gentleman encouragingly. "Mrs. Hilary Burlash," jerked out the Infant, his face crimson. The captain gravely inclined his head, but said nothing; He had resolved to make silence on his part his strong card in the interview. "She said," pursued the Infant ncr- , vously, after a long pause "that you wouiu. tell mc something about her." "I would rather not," said Chambers gravely. The boyish Viscount started. "You don't mean " '- "I don't mean anything," said the captain shortly. The whole affair jarred him. '"Mrs. Burlash was out in India when I was out there, with her husband's regiment. He wasn't a bad chap, but he drank and drank, and the climate didn't agree, so he died young. Mrs. Burlash was extremely popular in Bombay." Chambers paused, and then, with an ■uncomfortable-feeling that he had not obeyed the widow's request, he added: "More I do not care to say." The-Infant .was silent for some time, ;the. elder man. was eyeing him keenly. "I see," he said slowly; then, wiping the perspiration from his brow: "By Gad, I've had a narrow escape!" A, ith great difficulty Chambers refrained from kicking him, and allowed him to depart in peace. "593, Belgrave Square," was the Infant's command to the cabby he hailed at Piccadilly Circus. 893, Belgrave Square, was the residence of broken-hearted Peggy Loriston. As soon as the boy had departed, Captain Chambers went for a long stroll in the park, -dropped into his club for hal. .anjiour or "so, and then hurried back to ;th'e" Albany.;" he lunched quietly by himself, and then startled his servant by sending him out to buy a button-hole. At half-past three, arrayed in a grey frock coat, with a deep red carnation fixed to the lapel, a glossy silk hat, and highly-polished patent boots, he shamefacedly ; presented himself at Mrs. Hilary Burlash's flat. Immediately the greeting was over, and he had carefully placed his huge form in a particularly tiny chair, he de manded an explanation of the strange letter, and related what had occurred that morning. The pretty young widow flushed. "It was in the nature of a test," she said quietly, keeping her eyes lowered "I wanted to find out if the Infant's love for mc was as great as it appeared on the surface. If he had really loved mc there would have been a scene with you, and he would have been here half an hour later, and—and I heard a poor little girl was heartbroken because he had deserted her." There was a pause. "That," said the Captain gravely, "proves the falsity of one of your pet cynicisms." "Which i" "That love is selfish." "Oh, no," replied Mrs. Burlash, with a little rippiing laugh, "it is because I wasn't in love that I was unselfish —I sacrificed a title and a fortune because 1 wasn't sufficiently in love." "Oh," said the captain. His bronzed face had taken a deeper hue; he looked up at the ceiling, and then fixed his keen, grey eyes upon the widow's face. "Supposing," he said, rather hoarsely, "supposing a man came to you and owned he was selfish, he was lonely, and he wanted you to make his dreary life worth living. Supposing he told you that he had tried to kill that love be cause he was rapidly becoming an ole man, with a strong dislike to Society— Society, as it is to-day—and would not ask a girl to tie herself to a crusty old bachelor? Would you laugh and dismiss him with a cynicism, Millicent?" Chambers had crossed over, and was' j bending over the woman's chair trj'ing to see her face. j '-'I —it would depend on the man," she ; said softly. j "I am the man." | The widow said nothing, but her eyes j met his. • » * •» » | By a peculiar coincidence, on the day , that Captain Chambers and Mrs. Hilary I Burlash were quietly married at a Registry Office off the Strand, the engagement was announced of Viscount Hardslade to Miss Margaret (Peggy) Loriston, and rumour had it that the young couple were head over heels in love with each : other. I So everyone was pleased. I —By C. Malcolm Hincks. i