A BROKEN WEDDING RING.

Auckland Star, Volume XL, Issue 87, 13 April 1909, Page 6

A BROKEN WEDDING RING.

BY BERTHA M. CLAY.

CHAPTER XXllL—Cor_£nued.

The general and Leah went back to Rrentwood, Sir Basil returned to Glen, , and the "months that followed were full iof quiet happiness. Every day brought I the master of Glen over to Brentwood. ■- As the whole mansion was in the hands of J workmen, he often remained at the gener- ! al's long days together. The more Sir Arthur saw of him the more he liked . him; he never wearied of sounding his i praises to his niece—he ioved him as he would have loved a son of his own. Those happy weeks bound the heart of 1 Leah so completely to her lover, made her life so entirely one with his, that nothing but death could have taken her from him. . When Christinas came the snow was ; lying on the ground. As Leah was one day watching the whirl of the soft snowflakes, her mind went back to the little house in Manchester, where she and Hettie had been so long together. Suddenly she went in search of her uncle, whom she found in the library. He wondered at the emotion on her face. '"Uncle," she said, "give mc permission to speak to you. I would not ask it but that I am ill with suspense." "Say what you will, my dear," responded Sir Arthur, drawing the beautiful face to him and kissing it. "You have forbidden mc to speak on the subject," she said. "I hardly like to presume upon the permission you now give mc, but I had a terrible dream last night, and it has troubled mc so much." "Surely you do not believe in dreams, I Leah?" laughed the general. "I do not," she replied, "but this has haunted mc all day. I dreamed that, although I was going to marry Basil, something always parted us; that I never i could see him, though I could hear his voice; and then, when I followed it, I ! . could not find him. If I was in his pre- ] ! sehce, there .was always a thick - veil of crape between us, which -I could not tear ! away. I cannot tell you how nervous it has made mc. It seems like a foreboding that we are to part." j "Nonserse, Leah!" laughed the general. "There must be -many partings in this ! worid, : -but rest assured that while you both .live there will never be one between Sir Basil and you." I She looked a little relieved, but the cloud still rested on the fair face. - ;"I thought you would perhaps laugh, uncle-, but you must listen to something else-that-L have to say.- 1 have been trying tio think if there is anything on earth which could part us, and I have come to I the.conclusion that the only thing 1 have ~to leaf- fs.'lthe-announcement of the fact that"lT.ath Martin Ray's daughter. He must know that." "Certainly. I shall tell him myself," said the general. "I have always intend, ed to do so, but not yet—not yet, Leah. Believe mc that it will make no difference. I have talked a great deal with him on political matters and his opinions are not one-half so strong as mine are. You need not have the least fear on that score, Leah, I assure you. I shall tell him of your parentage, and he will be surprised; but you are the child of my sisteiras well as of Martin Bay. Do not forget that. There has been no deceit. The simple fact is that in adopting you I have given you my name, because I did not care to have your prospects in life spoiled by associating yours with Martin Ray. Any one would understand that. I know Sir Basil thoroughly. He will not mind. There are some men who" might" object,' but he is ~ not one of them." JSL- shall be glad when you have told hfin;" she said, quietly. "I do not like even; the" shadow of a secret between us. ;But_yau have taken all fear fromi "mc. —I never remember to have been .nervous before. I wonder of what it is the sign?" Sir Arthur smiled as he raised the beautiful face, aud kissed it. | .__" l ca 9. tell you, Leah,", he replied; "it is a sign that you love Sir Basil with all your heart, and that the faintest I fear of ever being parted from him is to you like the overshadowing of a great calamity." "Yes," she assented, with a happy smile. "But is it not better to love too " much ffian not to love at all?" ".""I cannot say," replied the general; -".of the love you speak about, that fills your heart, I know nothing." "Perhaps you would be quite a different man', uncle, if such were not the case," she said, laughing in her charming fashion. CHAPTER XXIV. Christmas passed by: the reign of King Winter was ended. Spring was come; the odour of violets filled the air, the birds began to build, and the hedges clothed themselves with green. After sundry flying visits to the metropolis, Sir Arthur decided to take up his residence in London at the end of April. ■ "You will not mind that, Leah?" he , asked. "No, though, if it were possible, 1 . would rather stay here at. Brentwood than go to London at all." would cause a revolution," said Sir Arthur. "I dare not think of such . a thing." . .. "One thing is certain," remarked Leah ."--'everyone will know of ,my engagement, and I shall - have more time to myself. I wonder when Basil will go?" "I think he spoke of going next week; he will not- remain at his country seat alone. He will be compelled, however, to leave town every now and then, and , spend a few hours at Glen, to see how the work progresses." "I shall be glad when the season is over, and we are here in peace again," said Leah. "Are you beginning to tire of gaieties, . Leah?" asked Sir Arthur. "I think it is not that, uncle." she said, gently; "it is that my heart is more at rest here." Sir Basil was spending a few days at , Brentwood before the general and his niece started for London. He asked Leah ' one morning, when she was giving orders about the packing, if she could spare him five minutes; he had something very particular to say to her. She.smiled to herself at the request. ' How cheerfully and gladly she would

have given " him every moment of her time if he had wanted it! "You look very serious, Basil," she said. "I want to speak to you on a grave subject," he replied. They were standing in-the deep recess of a large bay window; the odour of violets filled the room. Sir Basil took from' his pocket a small morocco ring case. "I do not know," he said, "whether our family custom will please you, Leah. I have heard that some of the Ladies Carlton did not like the fashion; and, if it does not find favour in your eyes, 1 will lay the old custom aside." " "Anything will please mc," she told him, "that pleases you." "Every family has, I suppose, its own traditions and custcins," said Sir Basil. •'I can tell you the origin of this custom. One of our ancestors saved his sovereign's life. He was out hunting with his royal master, who was wont to brag of his prowess, yet at heart was a coward. The -details would not interest you, but our ancestor covered an act of arrant cowardice of the king's, and at the same time saved his life. The incident happened a few days before the wedding-day of Hugh Carlton, and the king insisted upon presenting the wedding-ring. It was a magnificent circlet of thick, pale gold, with the royal arms engraved within. The then Lady Carlton wore it with vast satisfaction, and was proud of it. When she lay dead in her coffin it was taken from her hand. Hugh Carlton did not care to bury the gift of a king; he took the ring from her finger, and kept it by him. In the course of a few years he married again, and he used the same wedding-ring. During all the succeeding generations the same thing has been done; all the heads of the house of Carlton have married their wives with this ring. Two hundred years since it was a thick, gold circlet with superb diamonds; now the diamonds are all gone; and the ring has grown thin by constant wear. I am not quite sure; but I think it was melted down once, and more gold added to it, and then re-made. My grandmother, Lady Dorothea Carlton, wore it; my dear mother wore it; and now I offer it to you, my love. It shall be just as you like, Leah; if you would prefer a I new one, I will get one—if you would | like to wear the same that so many Ladies Carlton have worn, then keep j it." ' ! "What would you like mc to do?" she asked. "The tradition is of your house, i not of mine. Is there any legend about j the wedding-ring?" "Yes, this—that whoever weaz'S it lives long and happily. If you ask mc what j I should like you best to do, I say most certainly let it he your wedding-ring. Let mc see, Leah, if it will fit you." I He took it from the little case, and ] she looked at it with some reverence. So this was the king's gift, and this wa:< the famous Carlton wedding-ring. On ] how many slender girlish hands had iti been placed? From how many dead, white fingers had it been taken? There I was something almost weird and uncanny about it." "My mother had a beautiful little I hand," he said, "but the legend did not: hold good in her case; her life was not a long or a happy one. My father died when she was quite young, and the ter-1 rible tragedy of my sister's death came I soon after. She had a troubled life." He took her hand and placed the ring ' upon her finger. It fitted her exactly as though it had been made for her. | "Have those who wore this ring been I happy wives, do you think, Basil?" she asked, tremblingly, looking up at her I lover. I "I hope that all wives are happy. Why should they not be?" He was thinking of something else, and hardly knew what he was saying. "I have seen many wives who were not happy. What wife could be happy if her husband did not love her?" """But; my dearest Leah, we must presume that every husband does love his wife." "Yes, at first," she said, slowly. "No honourable man would ask a woman to I unless he loved her." ■ She spoke <ver.v earnestly, her face j slightly flushed, holding the old-fashion-ed wedding-ring in her hand. Something' in her words struck him with pain; yet , she did not doubt him. He thanked Heaven at that moment that she would never know how her uncle's affection for her had caused him to interfere I in her behalf. ' "If this ring coidd speak," she said, "if it could tell the history of all thej wives who have worn it—the happy and the unhappy, the loved ami the unloved —it would fill a volume, Basil. Andi some ; ,day—it may be soon or many years may pass first—when I lie dead, it wiH be drawn from my finger. If you Basil, should be the one to remove it. you will think of the hour when you first gave it to mc." She raised her face for tTim to caress her, and he kissed the beautiful lips. He drew her to his breast and said.- — "My darling, I hope it will be many long years before that time, and I hope I shall die first." He knew how much she loved him then, for she clung to him with passionate words and bitter tears. "Ah a no!" she cried. "If ever you offer up a prayer for mc, Basil, let it be that, when Heaven calls you, I may go with you. I —ah mc, you know, Basil, I could not live without you! I could not even try." "Because you love mc so, my Leah?" he asked, tenderly. "Yes, because I love yon so. Do you not feel so as regards myself? If I died, could you live? Would not the world become a dreary blank to you? Ah, Basil. I am sure . that if you died I should never eat, never sleep, never smile again!" He was greatly touched by her words. " "You love mc so much?" he said again. "Yes, I love you so dearly," she replied—"you will never know how dearly. There are times when I think that men never appreciate or never understand the great love of women." "I will try to understand yours.. Leah," he said, gently. "I hope," he added, with g'euuine earnestness, "I shall make you happy.. Leah." "Happy," she repeated, as though the word surprised her —"happy. You love mc. Basil, do you not?" "Yes," he replied. . "Then how can I help being happy? I could not be anything else. Many people live with divided loves; they share their affections; they have mothers brothers. I have only you. I mean that all my love is concentrated on you. The other lesser loves are absorbed by it, as thej river absorbs the waters of its, tributary brooklets. Ah, Basil, I shall always be so pleased that you brought this wedding-ring to mc! Iti seems to have made it easier for mc to talk to you about my love." "Has it not always been so, Leah?" he asked. She had half hidden her face against his breast. She raised it now, bright with unutterable tenderness. "No, not always," she replied. "Sometimes my heart is. quite full", and T'try

to tell you, but I cannot. Sometimes, when y«WL are away from mc, I think of all that I shall.say when I see you. nextj a thousand thoughts come to mc, a. thousand- wards that.l long to speak. And then, when yon- ccimp. I am. mute; my fancies leave mc in- tfieVsweet reality ofyouT presence. Yo.U; v know, what Shakespeare says, Basil?— " * " 'Oh, sweet love. I always write to you. And you and love are still my argument! So all my best is dressing old words new, Spending again what is already spent; For, as the sun Is new ami old, •So is my love still telling what is told!' Are they not noble lines, Basil?" "Yes, very. How well you understand all this wonderful science of love, Leah!" "And you?" she said, looking up at him. "Do you not understand it, too?" "I have had the sweetest teacher the world ever saw!" cried Sir Basil. "I can understand men losing the whole world for the love of one woman." "Would you lose it, dear, for mc?" she asked, putting her arms around his neck. "Yes," he answered unthinkingly. "I shall feel doubly married when I wear this," she said, still holding the little ring in her hand. "It will not only bind mc to you, but to all the race of Carltons. Let mc keep it Basil, until our wedding-day." "Certainly." he said. "I am glad it is in such safe, sweet IFeeping, Leah. If you like, it can be made to look just like a new ring." "No." she replied, touching it with her lips, "I like it bettpr as your mother wore it. All the new wedding-rings in the world would be nothing by the side of this." "You must not wear it till we are married," he said; "that would be unlucky." He watched her as, with a happy smile, she placed the ring in the case and then closed it. A few days after that TTiey were in London; and Leah's heart beat more quickly and lightly when she thought of the treasure, hidden in the jewel, case. (To be continued daily.)