FAIR MARGARET

Auckland Star, Volume XXXIX, Issue 7, 8 January 1908, Page 11

FAIR MARGARET

By RIDER H&GrGARD.

intlior of "King Solomon's Mines," "She," "Ayesfca," etc., etc.

CHAPTER XVII. THE PLOT. If the morning following these "W* conversations, just after MarI garet and Betty h.ad breakfasted,. I Inez appeared before them, and, -*- as before, locked the door behind her., "Senoras," she said, calmly, "I have arranged that little business of which I spoke to you yesterday, or at least the first act of the play, since it remains for you to write the rest. Now I am E ent to say that the noble Marquis of Jlorella craves leave to see you, Dona Margaret, and within an hour. So there j 5 no time to lose." "Tell us what you have done, Inez?" said Margaret. "I have seen your worshipful father, Dona Margaret; here is the token of it, which you will do well to destroy when you have read." And she handed her a Blip o5 paper, whereon was written in ier father's writing, and in English .- Beloved Daughter — TISs messenger, who I think may be trusted by you, has made arrangements ■Kith mc which she will explain. I approve, though the risk is great. Your consul is a brave girl. but. understand, I do not force her to this dangerous enterprise. She must choose her own road, only I promise that if she escapes and we live I will not forget her deed. The messenger will bring mc your answer God be with us all. and fare-well. J. C. Margaret read this letter, first to herself and then aloud to Betty, and, havjjg read, tore it into tiny fragments and threw them from the turret window. "Speak now,' , sbe said; and Inez told her everything. •■'Can you trust the first?" asked Margaret, when she had finished. i; He is a great villain, as I have reason to know, still. I think I can," she answered, '"while the carrot is in front o f the donkey's nose —I mean, until he has got all the money. Also, he has committed himself by taking some on account But hefore we go further, the question is— does this lady play?"' and she pointed to Betty. "Yes, I play." said Betty, when she understood everything. "I won't go hack upon my word; there is too much at stake. It "is an ugly business for mc, I know well enough, but.' , she added j ilorfy. setting her firm mouth, "'I have debts to pay all round, and I am no Spanish patty to be squeezed fiat—like j some people,'' and slie glanced at the hwnbk-hoking Inez; ''so before all is doae, it may be uglier for him." ■When she had mastered the meaning of this speech the soft-voiced Inez lifted lei oentle eyes in admiration, and murmured a Spanish proverb as to what is supposed to occur when Satan encounter Beelzebub in a high-walled lane. Then, being a lady of resource and experience, the plot having been finally decided upon, not altogether with Margaret's approval, who feared for Betty's j fate when it should be discovered, Inez tieean to instruct them both in various practical expedients, by means of which tie undoubted general resemblance of fee cousins might be heightened and ilar. differences toned down, to which ad she promised to furnish them with certain hair-washes, pigments, and articles'of apparel. *lt is of small use," said Betty, glancing first at herself and then at the lovely Margaret, "for even if they chang-e | Ekhs, -who can make the calf look like ' tie fawn, though they chance to feed in the same meadow? Still, bring tout stuffs and I will dc my best; but I think that a thick veil and a shut mouth will help mc more than any of ; them; also a long gown to hide my feot." "Surely they are charming feet," said Inez politely,*adding to herself, "to carry you whither you wish to go." Then she turned to Margaret and reminded her that the marquis desired to see her, and waited for an answer. "I will not meet him alone," said Margaret, decidedly. "That is awkward," answered Inez, is I think he has words to say to you which he does not wish others to hear, specially the Senora yonder," and she nodded towards Betty. '1 will not meet him alone," repeated Margaret. let, if things are to go forward as W have arranged, you must meet him, Dona Margaret, and give him that itnsWγ which he desires. Well, I think it tan be arranged. The court below is 'Wge. Now, while you and the marquis tali at one end of it, the Senora Betty •m I might walk out of earshot at the other. She needs more instruction in m s P an ish tongue; it would be a good opportunity to begin our lessons." But what am 1 to say to him?" asked Margaret nervously. "1 think," answered Inez, "that you J™* copy the example of that wonderm actor, the Senor Peter, and play a f n you saw him do, or even better, "possible." "It must be a very different part ™V replied Margaret, stiffening visibly at certain recollections. «egentle Inez smiled as she said: "s, but surely you can seem jeal- ™-> lor that is natural to us all, and m can yj e i d by degrecSi and you caa r« i bargain ws the price of yourself tt jnarriage.' , bargain must I make?" 1 timuc that you shall be securely anHi /, Fiest of your own Church, .J Uat ktters, signed by that priest - announcing the marriage, should be to the Archbishop of Seville, * Jicir Majesties King Ferdinand Els t ella - -' lso ' ofeoune, you JOttr f « n that the Senor B rome and »'Bi. t?h' Senor Castell > and our *'L Betty here shall be escorted' safe an'l+w da before ™'- ir marriage, «*»££ tw 1 Jour turret window, fcttc I s t • at nightfall of the iti '?' the priest shall do his office make you Morella's wife. By that :«a 7jf 8^ ould be well upon their If the rite is l-riest „! A™* Sl gned papers from the bride tTJ 0 *?'" tte*. living the false \r P art as best she can." te =»ed hesitate <i; the thing fa. El ,?° and full of dana ffie to- , she bought, a. knock 'That - r " '"T an^ t0 ffle that Morel] a awaits "So* J?\ ? the court," said Inez. Out there •ISik to be? Remember orll n ° ° theT chance of escape W-atUf^ 15 . from this guarded Gad h'rin Mar garet, hurriedly, f he »P,us a", f or we AaU nce a

"And you, Senora Betty?" "Oh! I made up my mind long ago," answered Betty, coolly. "We can only I fail, when we shall be no worse off than before." ! '"Good. Then play your parts well, . both of you. After all," they should not I be so difficult, for the priest is safe, and I the marquis will never scent such a trick as this. Fix the marriage for this day I week, I have much to think of and I make ready," and she went. Half an hour later Margaret sat under the cool arcade of the marble court, ; and with her Morella, while upon the . further side of its splashing fountain, I and out of earshot, Betty and Inez walked to and fro in the shadow. '"You sent for mc, Marquis," said Margaret presently, "and, being your prisoner, I have come because I must. What is your pleasure with mc?" "Dona Margaret," he answered gTavei ly, "can you not guess? Well, I will j tell you, lest you should guess wrong. First, it is to ask your forgiveness, a 8 1 have done before, for the many crimes to which my love, my true love, for you ha.s driven mc. This time yesterday I : knew well that I could expect none. Toj day I dare to hope that it may be otherwise." "Why so, Marquis?" -juust; evening you looked into a cerI tain garden and saw two people walking I there—yonder is one of them," and he ! nodded towards Inez. "Shall 1 go on?" '"No," she answered in a low voice, and passing her hands before her face. "Only tell mc who and what is that woman?" and in her turn she looked towards Inez. "Is it necessary?'. , he asked. "Well, if you wish to know, she is a Spaniard of good blood who, with her sister, was ! taken captive by the Moors. A certain I priest, who took an interest in the sister, brought her to my notice, and I bought her from them; so, as her parents were dead, and she had nowhere else to go, I she electe dto stay in my house. You j must not judge such things too harshly; they are common here. Also, she has been very useful to ?ne, being clever, for through her I have intelligence of many I things. Of late, however, she has grown tired of this life, and wishes to earn her freedom, which I have promised her in return for certain services, and to leave Granda." "Was the nursing of my betrothed one of those services, Marquis?" He shrugged his shoulders. "As you will, Senora. Certainly I forgive ]ier this indiscretion, if at Jast I she has shoT.vn you the truth about that man for whose sake you have endured I so much. Margaret, now that you know (him for what he is, say, do you still cling to him ?" She rose and walked a few steps down the arcade, then came back and asked: "Are you any better than this fallen man ?'* "I think so, Margaret, for since I knew you I am a risen man; all my old self is left behind mc, I am a new creature, and my sins have been for you, not (against you. Hear mc, I beseecll you. I stole you away, it is true, but I have done you no other harm, and will do you none. For your sake also I have spared your father" when I had but to make a sign to remove him from my path. I suffered him to escape from the prison where he was confined, and I know the place where -he thinks himself hidden to-day among the Jews of Granada, Also, I nursed Peter Brome back to life, when at any hour I could have let him die, lest afterwards I might have it on my conscience that, but for my love for you, he mi"ht perhaps still be living. Well, you have seen him as ho is, and what say you now? Will you still reject mc. Look on mc," and he drew up his tall and stately shape, "and tell mc, am I ''such a man r* a woman should be ashamed to own as husband? Remember too that I have much to gave you in this land of Spain, whereoi you shall become one of the greatest ladies, or perhaps in the future," he added signifi"even more. War draws near, Margaret; this city and all sts rich territories will fall into the hands of Spain, and afterwards I shall be their governor, almost their king." "And if I refuse?" asked Margaret. "Tnen" sic answered sternly, you bide here, and that false lover of yours bides here, and your father bides here to take the chance of war as Christian captives with a thousand °«iers who languish in the dungeons of the AUiammy mission ended, I go hence to Play my part in battle amongst my Sterns but o your heart, for I seek your love and your dear companionship through life, and, if 1 can help it, desire to work i you and yours no harm." i "You desire to work them no harm. Then if I were to fall in with your humour would you let them go in safety, m> father and the Senor isromc and my Tousin Betty, whom, if you were as honi est as you pretend to be, you should ask to Hde 3 with you as your wife, and not m ?-The"last I cannot do," he answered flushing "God knows, I meant her no for a sample serving-girl, and to whom, [f need be! I am ready to make all that which is due to a woman you £2 asked to be your wife and who ! in our country could claim the fulfilment ! ox your promise, or declare you shamed j But you have not answered. Would they ; e °4 r ffr'ee as air-especially the Senora ; B-ttv " he added with a little smile for to speak the truth, theiv is something n that woman's eyes which frighten. ™ at times. I think that she has a long I memory. Within an hour of our marriage you shall look down from your wm.doVand see tb«B depart under escort, J every one, to go whither they will. ! "Nay" answered Margaret, "it is not enough.' I should need to see them go I before, and then, if I consented not till ! the sun had nt would I pay the price ' of their ransom." i "Then do you consent?" he asked ea "Mv'lord Marquis, it would seem that T must My betrothed has played mc ' false. For a month or more I have b«n a prisoner in your palace, which I understand has no good name, and, if I refuse you tell mc tnat all of us will be least into yonder dungeon to be sold as slaves or die as prisoners of the Moors. , Mγ lord Marquis, fate and you leave mo I but little choice. On this day week I

will marry you, but blame mc not if you find mc other than you think, as you have found my cousin whom you befooled. Till then, also, I pray you that .you will leave mc untroubled. If you have arrangements to make or commands to send, tiie woman Inez yonder will serve as messenger, for of her I know the worst." "I will obey you in all tilings, Dona Margaret," he answered humbly. "Do you desire to see your father or " and he paused. '■"Neither of them," she answered. "I will write to them and send my letters by this Inez. Why should I see them," she added passionately, "who have done witli the old days when I was free and happy, and am about to become the wife of the most noble Marquis of Morella, tnat honourable grandee of Spain, who tricked a poor girl by a false promise of marriage, and used her blind and loving folly to trap and steal mc from my home? My lord, till this day week I bid you farewell," and, walking from the arcade to the fountain, she called aloud to Betty to accompany her t-j-----their rooms. The week for which Margaret had bargp.ined had gone by. All was prepared. Inez had shown to Morella the letters that his bride to be wrote to her father and to Peter Brome; also the answers, imploring and passionate, to the same. But there were other letters and other l answers which she had not shown. It was afternoon, swift horses were ready : in the courtyard, and with an effort, while, disguised as Moors, Castell arii Feter waited under guard in a chamber rlose at hand. Betty, dressed in the 'obes of a Moorish woman, stood before Mcnella, to whom Inez had led her. "I come to tell you," she said, "that as sundown, three hours after wj have passed beneath her window, my cousin an , .! mistress will wait to be made your wife, but if you try to disturb her before then she will be no wife of yours, or am man's." "'I obey," answered Morella; "and Senora Betty, I pray your pardon, and that you will accept this gift from mc in token of your forgiveness." Ami wii.h a low bow he handed to her a beautiful necklace of pearls. "I take them." said Betty, with a bitter laugh, "as they may serve to buy mc a passage back to England. But forgive you I in not. Marquis of Morella, and I warn you that there is a scori between us which I may yet live to settle. You seem to have won, but God in Heaven takes note of the wickedness "f men. and in this way or in that He a- ,- ways pays His debts. Now I go to bid farewell to my cousin Margaret, but to you I do not bid farewell, for I think that we shall meet again," and with a sol) she let fall her veil, which ihe h*.d lifted above her lips to speak, .md departed with Inez, to whom she .vhispered as they went, "He will not linger for any move good-byes with Betty Dene." They entered Margaret's room and locked the door behind them. She wfcs seated on a low divan wrapt in a loose r-jht. and by her side, glittering wir.h silver and with gems, lay her bridal vc-U and garment. "Ec swift," said Inez to Betty, who stripped of her Moorish dress and the long, flowing- veil that was vrnppptl about her head, whereon it was seen that her hair had changed greatly in colour, from yellow to dark chestnut indeed, while her eyes, ringed round with pigments, and made lustrous by drugs dropped into them,. looked no longer blue, but black like Margaret's. Yes. and wonder of wonders, on the right side of the chin and on the back of the left hand wore moles, or beauty-spots, just such as Margaret had borne there from her birth! In short, their stature being much thi same, though Betty was more thickly built, except in the strongest light It would not have been easy to distinguish them apart, even unveiled, for at all such arts of the altering of the looks of women, Inez waa an adept, and she had done her best. Now Margaret clothed herself in the white robes and the .thick head-dress that hid her face, all except a little crack left for the eyes to peep through, whilst Betty, with the help of Inez, arrayed herself in the wondrous wedding robe beset with jewels that was Morella's bridal gift, and hid her dyed tresses beneath the pearl-sewn veil. Within ten mm utes all was finished, even to the dagger that Betty had tied about her beneath her robe, and the two transformed women stood staring- at each other. "It is time to go," said Inez. Then Margaret broke out: "I do not like this business; I never did. When he discovers all, that man's rage will be terrible, and he will kill her. I repent that I have consented to the plot." "It is too iate to repent now, Senora." said Inez. "Cannot Betty be got away also?" asked Margaret desperately. "It is just possible," answered Inez; "thus: before the marriage, according to our old custom here, I hand the cups of } wine to the bridegroom and the bride. j That for the marquis will drugged. : since lie must not see too clear to-night. Well, I might brew it stronger so that within half an hour he would not know whether he were married or single, and then, perhaps, she might escape with mc aDd come to join you. But it is very risky, and, of course, if we were discovered—the stitch would be out of t'le wineskin, and the cellar floor might be stained!" Now Betty interrupted: "Keep your stitches whole, cousin; if any skms are to be pricked it can't bhelped, and at least you won't have to wipe up the mess. lam not going to run away from the man; more likely he will run away from mc. I look well in this line dress of yours, and I mean to wear it out. Now begone—begone, before some of them come to seek mc. Don't you grieve for mc; 111 lie in the bed that I have made, and if the worst comes to the worst, I have money in my pocket—or its worth—and we will meet agnin in England. Come, give my love and duty to Master Peter and your father, and if I should see them no more, bid them think kindly of Betty Der.p, who was such a plague to them." Then, taking Margaret in her strong arms, she kissed her again and again, and fairly thrust her from the room. But when they were gone, poor Uetty sat down and cried a little, till she remembered that hot tears might melt the paint upon her face, and, drying them, wMit to the window and watched. A while later, from her lofty windowplace, she saw six Moorish horsemen riding i>long the white road to the erabattled gate. After them came two men and a woman, all splendidly mounted, also dressed as Moors, and then six other horsemen. They passed the jate which was opened for them and began to moimt the slope beyond. At the crast of it the woman halted and, turning, waved z. handkerchief. Betty answered the signal, and in another minute they had vanished, and she was alone. Never did she spend a more weary afterncon. Two hours later, still watcnipg at her window, she saw the Moorish escort return, and knew that all w:^s wjll, and that by now, Margaret, her

lover, and her father were safely started on tliejr journey. So she had not risked her life in vain. (To be continued next Saturday).