AT BEAUTY'S BAR

Auckland Star, Volume XLI, Issue 269, 12 November 1910, Page 18

AT BEAUTY'S BAR

BY ROGER K. WENLEIGH.

CHAPTER XXXl.—(Continued.) "Well, then, I'll give you the details. At Brighton, where Frank's regiment ■was quartered, lie met ■with a. scamp called Fleetwood " "I know that part of the story," said Hiss ManwaTing, -with, a quick flush, changing soon to extreme pallor. "There, go on! I beg your, pardon for interrupting Ton!"

"I heard of the man from Algy. He Iras a friend of his, introduced to him years ago by Pemberton, Minnie's father. The follow lived by gambling and ipigeon shooting. He was a splendid shot, and he kept up the appearances of a gentleman, and always had come secret of the turf in his possession. He made good u?e of his knowledge, and what with this and his skill ■with the gun. he frot into society, and lived on it. He used to lead about ■with him to raeecoursf-3 a poor, weak eort of fellow, -whose name I forget, and 'who vrss so elaced to find himself in high company that i.c meekly submitted to "be robbed. "This man. too. t ot acquainted with Frank, and he. Fleehvood, and Algy were all mixed up together in certain betting affairs, out of which Algy crept safely, but the poor, weak victim was truite ruined. I believe Frank found Lim one day on the eve of suicide, and saved him. and promised him help. It seems he confessed then that, in order to pay Fleet wood and some sporting and noble" friend of hk. he had taken money, which he had received era behalf of his employer, for he -was only in reality a travelling agent for some great firm of seedsmen in London. "This sum thus embezzled, Frank promised to lend him, that he might restore ft before his employers discovered the theft, for Fleetwood, who knew the secret, -was threatening him with exposure, and the poor, miserable creature was half dead with feai. Now, I confess, whpn Fran.; wrote to mc for two hundred pounds for this, man, I felt angry and disinclined to help the scoundrel out of his scrape. Alexia, of course, fnnned the flame, and -while' I was hesitating, •there came a letter fFom Fleetwood, demanding payment of a large sum, which lie declared Frank owed him, and he Lad the impertinence to add he considered it -would be more to my credit to place my son in a position to pay his own debts of honour rather than aid another "man to cover a fraud. In a. rage, I -wrote back that I aided no man in such, a deed, and never intended to do co, and if my son owed him money, he most ask him for it, and not mc. By the same mail I wrote Frank a fiery let l ter of Tefusal. and said some pretty hard things besides. "Imagine my vexation when, just after the mail wae gone, I got a tele(rram from Frank, saying that, relying on receiving my consent to hjs request, he ihad drawn on mc for two hundred pounds, and expected the draft would be presented the next day. Upon this, I ■wrote to my bankers, saying I would pay this draft, but no other. A week after this—and there was a pretty little row between mc and Frank the while —■ the manager rides out to Willoughby ■with a cheque -which had just come from London for five hundred pounds, aird asks mc if the signature affixed to it is mine. My writing was so wonderfully •well forged that for a moment I was staggered; then I repudiated it indignantly. " 'Take care -what you say, Mr. Willoughby,' observed the manager, 'for this cheque cajne through your son. and. but for this, our London agents would not fca-ve cashed it without special advice.' "I was struck dumb with rage. I did rot believe a word he said. But graduellv evidence was heaped upon mc, line upon line, and I had to succumb. The chief witness—a most unwilling one — ■was the poor creature -whom Frank; - "had saved from arrest. He -wrote mc that lie saw Frank sign the cheque himself, and had ineffectually endeavoured, to dissuade him from the deed.. "Xow, when a wretched man, who iwas under the greatest obligation to Frank, had such evidence as this wrung out of him, I could not find a word to 6ay. I could only pay the money, and im'sh. tip the whole affair, as the inquiries had been made in the utmost eecrecy. and to this day the facts remain a secret between mc and the bankers." 2klr. Willoughby paused and looked at Miss Manwaxing with an.expression of anguish so deep that in pity she laid her hand upon his arm, and begged him to cease these details. ''Spare yourself," she said. "I feel certain you were deceived, but I cannot ■wonder you gave credit to a story so urell planned. ■'I -wish I could think it all untrue, resumed the squire, evidently anxious to exculpate himself in Miss Manwarbio's eyes, "but you have no idea of the mass of evidence that was brought forward to prove its truth. For a long time Alzy had been -writing confidentially to his mother, saying Frank was in desperate trouble, and ready to do anything for money. "Now, 1 knew he could not borrow much of money lenders, because 'these gentry had ascertained that my estates ■were at mv own disposal, and the general belief 'that Algy was a greater favourite than, he was made my son's chance of inheritance seem small. So, you see, I -was prepared to expect come wild act on Frank's part, and when that miserable man, who I had saved from suicide, had +he fact drawn out of him that he saw him forge tne check, after many attempts at copying the name on scraps of paper—all of which were found at his J-ooais—you must own I had no power

of disbelief in mc. t "But wiat did Frank say?" asked 3ii=s Maawaring. 5 "Woll, he seemed at first like a man in a dream. He was all amazement and hsdljrnation. and then he actually laughed , at the whole thing. But when the man . hn had saved from being a felon swore point-blank to what I have told you, ht- seenwd ove-whelmed and struck r dumb, and then it was he wrote a most i t bitter letter to Alexia, saying the plot J a was too strons for him now, and she had ; j. succeeded in covering him with disgrace j g and making him an exile, but the time' ■would come when truth would prevail. His sole resource at present was to flee y from her malice, for he had no inteu-1 , tiun to return Aα a home which held a! . Best of conspirators. Now, to mc, all : this eeemed unjust, for Alexia, as far 1 as I knew, was perfectly innocent, and Algy had really been very reluctant to jaix himself up with the affair in any way. J . '•It was long before -would ac-' knowledge that the paper with my signature copied on it was the same eort

Author of "Friends and Rivals," "An Irresistible Temptation* "4. Prolonged Truce," etc.

that Frank habitually lett in Ms desk. So I thought it unfair 'to send thk accusation of a plot, like a bombshell, at my ■wife, and, in. fact, it only widened the between us. We had not seen each other once during the inquiry, for in this I certainly yielded to Alexia, and steadfastly refused a meeting." "There you -were decidedly wrong," said Miss Manwaring. "Perhaps I was," returned the old

squire wistfully; "but—but JIOW could I shake bands -with a forger? And Alexia was so grieved at his bitterness tt her that I could 1 mean I felt obliged " "There! there! Say no more! I understand it all! Only tell mc what Frank himself eaid to you." "He -wrote mc a very simple, manlj letter, touching on my want of affection for Mm -with grief, but not -with bitterness. He knew, he said, it was useless to appeal to the memory of his unloved mother, but he appealed to the memory of my own youth, and begged mc to believe that he was as incapable of sullying his life with a crime as I was then and now. Finally he declared he would nevei return to hie home till his name was cleared from every stain, and until then he renounced mc as a father, even as 1 had long ago virtually renounced him as a son." Miss Manwaring affected not to see his agitation. s*~ "I am thankful you have spoken so frankly to mc on this matter," ehe said. "I have never heard anything but reports of evil and garbled accounts before, and not knowing the facts, I have not teen able to take Frank's part as I wished to. But my heart has always spoken for him, and I can tell you now that you did wrong to take the word of a weak, dishonest man againet your son. You counted too much on his gratitude. I can't Relieve he was so unwilling tc speak as he pretended, and in my opinion he basely lied." " You should have seen him as I did," pursued the squire; "a poor, weak creature, overwhelmed with grief, for having, as he said, ' split upon his best friend.' jHe kept wringing his hands and crying j out, 'He saved mc! He saved mc! and

have lost him I' '• Then he shed tears abundantly, and -and in fact, I loathed him, and was glad ,o sec him disappear, ■which he did the initant he knew he was to go scot-free for iis share in the transaction." " And what was his share?" " He presented the cheque for payment, m<l took my son the money, and left it it his rooms in a. packet, on which was written, 'The proceeds of your father's :heque.'" "So Frank positively had the money! ,, exclaimed Miss Manwaring, in vexed amazement. "Yes," resumed tie squire, with a great sigh. "And he immediately paid Fleetwood by messenger, for they were not on speaking terms now." " But how could he account to himself for the money reaching him?" "His explanation was that he

magined i" had sent a cheque to ileetwood, knowing of the money owed ,o him, and the other fellow had left ,he packet at his rooms by mistake. But iat poor wretch declared Frank had riven him the cheque himself, and ]»t----'ieularly impressed on him that he was to present it at the bank as eariy as xssible in the morning. All this, I must ;ell you, took place in London, Frank jeing there on leave. Ah, it's a queer jtory, and it won't bear telling to the ivorfd. There was nothing for mc to do but to pay the money, and be thankful the bank did not prosecute, and, a3 I told you before, his endorsement was on the back of the cheque. He did not deny his writing that; he only averred he had no recollection of it." There was a little silence; then Miss Manwaring said firmly: "I believe you were wrong to hush the matter up. A prosecution wouid have brought out the truth, exposed of swindlers, and cleared your son." "Alexia would not hear of it, and I was airaid of the risk." " May I ask what Fleetwood did in tn e matter?" and this time Miss Manwaring's voice trembled. " He offered mc back the money, saying he did not wish to owe the payment of Prank's debt to him to a forgery; and ne was sorry he had pressed him so hard since the result was so disastrous. Of course I made the rascal keep the money, and I 'tried to thank him when he gave mc his word he would keep the matter secret. He was a plausible viflara. Tfou know how his life ended?" "Yes he struck down and killed a poor »irl of whom he was jealous, and whom he called his wife, and then " He escaped the halter," concluded the squire. "I believe he had concealed poison in some singular way never made known, lest it should prove an example that might be followed." "Had he not an aliast" asked Miss Manwaring, getting a little pale as she SP "He had a dozen. He called himseli Pemberton at one time, and through this took the credit of some turf transactions that did no honour to the house oi Pemberton. By this means he gamed many a crisp hundred from Lady Margaret She hates him to this day. I wonder li it was on her account that Alexia was BO agitated when she heaTd of bis arrest. I have never been able to understand thai matter." . Here he paused, and his face grew shadowed with painful thought. "Have I ever told you that Alexia had something on her mind at the last-some-thing she strove to say, and could notl It was horrible to see her look of agony and know she could not speak or write. I put a pencil in her hand, but it was

useless. , " Do you think it was some confession ahe wished to make respecting this affair with Fleetwood!" " I can't tell you. I only know that, whatever it was, I should have forgiven it I loved her and believed in her to the last; and yet when the first shock was over I was startled to find I was not grieving as I expected to grieve. I felt like a man recovering from an opiate whose reason was gradually coming back to him, and I reflected on my former self with wonder. Alexia was a woman who fascinated a. man; she was loved with passion, not calmly. It was odd, but now that she was gone I began to search the house for Telies of my first wife—the gentle, patient woman who had never stirred a pulse of mine with love's fever, but wiio truly possessed my deepest tenderness and esteem. I read her old letters and looked over her favourite books, and even the flowers she \like4 I have had planted again, and to tell the truth, I think of her daily. Anne Manwaring, I believe all tills means I am i hankering after \<et cinli-my owtt-the