LADY LIL.

Auckland Star, Volume XLIV, Issue 185, 5 August 1913, Page 10

LADY LIL.

___J£EIiSATIONAIi STORY OF A ~ "„.,... SOCIETY BEAUTY. A ROMANCE OP LOVE AifD THE . SALVATION AKMY.

"ißy ARTHUR APPLIN.)

'A-utuor of "The Ctiorus Gik," "Tlie-Girl \Vlio Saver His Honour," "The Stage Door" etc. etc. CHAPTER XXXVll.—(Continued.) Sir Rupert moved towards Lil. then stopped and stretched out his hands and switched on the lights. Ho stood quite still, t-taring at her. T'nc background of -black fog made a striking silhouette of her figure. The light shone on her pale face and caught the burnished gold of her luvir. Her slender figure was vividly outlined. He saw the ruse and fa.ll of her boeom. the blue veins beneath the white skin of ■her arms. He had scarcely glanced at s woman isincp Tip had left Yandjali and the hideous, black creatures entombed in it* jungle. Her clean, virginal beauty staggered him for the moment. Tie felt the blood leap in his reins 3nd hot. Love -warmed him and set. hir= heart beating ojiickly.- He drew ia-hiss- breath sharply. " -""i)o yoir bear what I say ? \ love you." he whispered. "I admit 1 Tvas -a- fool to leave you. even for a day. Vet I'm not eorry that I waited! I{ was worth it—to come-back and find yon like this.' . He took another step towards her, then stopped again. He sa-vv that while his emotions "were at white heat she remained, cold as iej , . But the knowledge ■only served to excite him. He opened his arms. Instead of going to hnr he would make Lil come to him. Hie lips parted, sh/owing his -white teeth. '"Come Lil. I'm impatient--for a kies-i Tiove you',"!" want you." I've waited long enough. C'.ome £o mc!" . ?he did not stir. Her eyes remained fixed ou his face—yet still looking ■through him rather than.at liiin. '/X>o you hear what I say? Come— come heTe and kiss n\. I love you. -. He did not speak as a lover pleading, but as a husband commanding. The primeval jnan. The.jnan.jwio only knew on-e law. the J.aw. of the.club. The law of force. But Lil took no notice. -Rupert made two quielc steps- towards her. He did rot touch her. Something, he knew not -''what, stopped him. At last she spoke t — "I saw you in that village in the forest west- of MTJaseai. The village >where the agent of the' Congo Government, called Bhohn. punish-ed the ■ na-tiVes."" , • ■ Roper-stood as etill -ns 'Jjil herself now. Hie fa«- ekrwly became the colour of putty. His 1-rps -moved. He moistened them_w'uh hie tongue.. "TV-hat do you mean? , ' lie gulped. "T'saw the punishment."' Again Roper moistened his lips. "What do you mean";" His voice Tose piercingly, like a. woman's voice. "One of your victims, -Toe Savage, took meAhrough the forest, five days' march, "thai 1 might see. You have forgotten what happened on my wedding night. I'll remind you. . ."■ '.""■ 'It was "tHen that the past- was temporarily blotted ..out. It was. Joe Savage himself, who suggested that you should TPturn to the country that made you -n-lmt you are. I wouldn't believe, I couldn't believe, the things he told mc. T was your wife. J had sworn an oath to love, honour, and obey you. . . I wafr mad—but I wouldn't beli-eve until T"d seen with my own ey.-s. I have seen. I--se° it now—T shall see it until I die. Perhaps afterwards! ... I saw you euinding thore in the. -midst of your vie- - <i-imis.-rev-eTfmg..in , st—yon who'would have taken mc as your wife, and given mc little children to be cursed even as you are cursed -" For a moment Sir Rupert Roper seemed Fhrivelled upy 'He no longer _looked big and -stroag like * man-; but ugly, little, deformed—like he-had made Joe Savage. STveafc broke oirt on his face. Then -with a. great oath he broke the epcJl that >was om him. He drew himsejf erect and the Ted light shone in. his ■eyes again. He drew Ihceelf up and stretched ent" his arms, and he laughed. a.nd Twoold have seized and crushed HI .to 'bis breaet. '- ra-i&ed her arm—the arm that Ihad been etretcSed- fceiind her back with the hnnd resting on the drawer of the snrreau. A revolver'gleamed before his -ej=es. 'Btrt the barrel was riot pointed at him. It was pressed against .. ."If JOT touch ,mc Leiall kill myself." She spok-e quite quirtly. Her voice irever once been- raised.' Never once had it shown any -feeling, Tt was not co imich the threat which stopped him as the expression in Irer ■eyes. Ho had seen something of the came expression in the eyes of the niggers 'before the/ torture' came. They Jrad been bound or 'helpless. And so they stood face to face, these two, husband, and 'wife. The silence ee'emed intermlba'ble.' Then Lil put one r|uestion to .Roperrr-^.. *TV .l-oe .Savage one of your victims?" He replied -automatically. "He was one of the company's servants. He disobeyed commands. He attempted my life. Tt was many y'ears'ego. He had to ■be punished.'* times Sir Ttupe'rf; -friea to "speak. Only meaningless sotinds -eGcaped lvie dry lipe. Bnt- Lil had 'received her answer. She pointed In-the door: , — • "Go!" JSir "Rupert obeyed. But when he had' opened' the door he turned. And he found his voice again. '"I shall come back. You are my, wife. You belong "fo'me. and no one -else shall take you. I fh;ill enmc back tind claim you—soon! Ji&*: ??.e n - Dpn't forge* that." rt T"m <Tnins"to' divorce you." There was etill no feolmg in the quici .voice. And >ir Rrrpert forced a~lauerh. ,as ,he» riiMPd tli-e door. 'Ton eau't. You have n.o grountlSi' T- ■shall come - back": Be ready for mc." - ■ • ■ CHAPTER XXXVHI. Lady Lil locked the door of the morning ronm directly it had closed on her huf-band. .She "wanted to be quite alone. 3nd, a.l 'the same time., she felt unsafe - She felt! It was a shock, this sudden .and.unexpected rdnrn of fppiinor. Uor senses -hml ~lieeu -dead for-eo long that eh<? did not expect ever to feel again. She belii'vrd evßry emotion had ,boen. killed tiia.;. dreadful morning in the forest beyond M'Basea. It was uurious that her husband, of all people in the world, should make her feel again. Hie threit echoed in her cans as ehe ovrer ths. fiife, etairihg -with cold eyes-Jnto-the- flames. "She. switdied off the viiid-<Zkt~to<m -was- left

"almost in" darkness. Shadows leant and ! danced around the bookcases and crept ' quivering up the walls. It was imagination, of course, but Lil 6till saw the great shadow of Rupert. It filled tbe ; room. It danced spectre-like between her and freedom. Outside the fog thickened. .Scarcely a ray of daylight pierced the blackness now. It was easy to fancy that this groom was covering the whole -earth. It made Lil think of the green gloom of the jungle, damp, mysterious, too—yet, in spite of the great trees, the wonderful foliage, the purple flowers, the staring orchids, and the multi-coloured ; birds with Aflame-like wings, that clean, green, gloom of the forest was w-oree than this* filthy, soot-black gloom of the city! This only hid away wealth and poverty, ■kuKksess and cruelty endeavour and death. The other gloom hid the unknown. Lil shivered, and rising crossed the room and sat down by the bureau. She still held the revolver in her hand. Opening the drawer again she slipped it back into its place. She hesitated for a moment, glancing ont of the window. The fog hid everything. Perhaps Rupert wae waiting outside, watchintr! She shivered. Leaning forward she hastily pulled down the blind. Then she sat with her hands folded over her face. Yes, feeling had returned. And soon would come in its train hope and fear, love and hate —all the emotions that go to make mankind. All the emotions that go to make the burden mankind must ever bear on its shoulders; the burden of responsibility. For a little while Lil suffered in silence.. This return of feeling,' this coming back from the grave to her mental and spiritual life, was agony. An agony that the average man and woman is not asked to bear. It could be likened to the return of consciousness to a person who has been rescued from drowning, or to one who has been half frozen to death and begins to feel warm life pulsing his veins again. The agony of the first few breaths is unspeakable—the agony of the awakening from the sleep of death. Only those ' who have gone down into the "Valley of the Shadow can appreciate it. And even t"hey. feeling the tardy return of life, cry aloud to be left alone and not to be awakened from the grave. Even so did Lady Lil feel: and with : bowed head and clasped hands she | pleaded to remain spiritually dead, for the continuation of mental inertia. But she knew that she prayed in vain. Before the day was far advanced she could bear the loneliness of soul no longer. She dressed and went out. -Directly she stepped into the fog the old fear she had not known for many months dogged her footsteps. }>o longer the fear of the unknown. But an intense, definite terror now. . Terror of the man to whom she belonged. And the jeering words he had east at her as she sent him away echoed continually in her ears: — 'You cannot divorce mc. You have no grounds. T shall come back. Be ready for me."' She knew he would keep his threat. And she would be ready—ready to face even death itself rather than 6uffer his proximity. Lil found herself walking up Piccadilly. The electric-light standards shone, cheerfully through! the gloom; the shops were ablaze with light. The pavement thronged with people. Well-dressed men and women, the majority with children walking by their side, for the Christmas holidays had begun and everywhere were signs that people still tried to keep up the old, brave command: — "Peace on earth. Goodwill to men!" Lil heard herself laugh aloud as she read these words emblazoned in letters of gold across one shop window. "Peace on earth. (Jood will to men" She heard the shrieks of the tortured and the groans of the dying echoing in her ears. Tortured and killed to fill the coffers of a. Christian nation. The wealth and fashion and careless gaiety of .the town mocked her She called a cab and drove to the City. As best she could she laid her case ■before her lawyer*. A kindly old r,- entleman. who knew her family history perhaps better than she, listened attentively, questioned and cross-questioned her. Then with the best intentions, offered her his advice. It was. probably the same advice that Adam offered to Eve after the betrayal Oo home and talk it over. Surely you will be able to come to some a£ rangenient. At ail costs avoid a Scandal. And at present you haven't the faintest grounds for a dn-orce; you couldn't even get a separation." pSuJv 1 s Tefn r ed lo . be evinced. -, : 7 t George Bowan read her extracts from the law of divorce while 6he listened in silence Lady xn smiled. "If my , msband is a thief I must S fll live with him? If he* a murderer, so long as the law doesn't interfere, I still belong to him? Even if he is unfaithful I can't leave him? I must tolerate everything except continuous physical violence?" she asked the lawyer who nodded assent. " ' For a moment hope came again "But supposing that I can prove that he is mad—not responsible for his actions?" Sir George Bowan slowly shook his head. He took off his glasses, polished them and re-adjusted them. Then he looked at his manicured nails. "I'm afraid at present—even if your husband was put under restraint, 'supposing he were mad — I'm afraid you couldn't get a divorce on those grounds. You would still remain his wife." Lady Li] continued to smile. The lawyer transferred his gaze to his nicelvpolished boots. "My dear Lady Lilian. I trust you will do nothing rash." he said; 'yoiir posi-' tion is a difficult one. It would be a thousand pities if you were to sell the lease of the house in Bronnington Gardens. To dispose of the furniture, pictures, and family plate would seem like sacrilege to mc. You surely don't intend to do this?" "T must." Lil replied, firmly. "Now all the debts are settled my own personal income is something less' than seventy pounds a year." The lawyer nodded. "I am afraid, by the terms of the marriage settlement—if you leave your husband, which of course, legally you can't do—he might be able to claim the furniture and effects of Bronnington Gardens. 1 implore you Lady Lilian, to do nothing rash." She rose and held out her hand, "You speak as if I were going to smash win.dows or blow up the house! I am not!'' She smiled. "Though I'm beginning to understand why women do those apparently foolish things. The road to freedom, .Sir Oeorge. is not a pretty or a pleasant one. Bistory tells us that." "What do women want with freedom'" he asked, lamely, not knowing what else to say. "Men, who are free, and the sons of women, ought to know," she whispered. Then she .went ont into the fog again to Bronnington Gardens. Her loneliness had increased. She -wondered if there were anyone in *11-* he world

who could help her. At one moment she thought of appealing to Joe Savage. She no longer resented him, she no longer feared him. Since their return, to London he had left her quite alone. He had evidently judged to a nicety what would happen. His revenge for the awful wrongs he had suffered had commenced. She took a little bundle of letters from her bureau, and looked at them. The letter from Armande Silvestre, her unknown lover! But it was not love she wanted now— or, rather, it was not a lover. A friend, perhaps, someone strong and gentle and kind, to whom she could go, and who. for a time, would hide her and her shame. Such a one might have been this Armande Silvestre—had he not loved her. She read his letters again. They were the letters of a strong man, one who asked nothing, one who wanted to giveUnconsciously, perhaps, he had drawn a vivid picture of himself. Physically she imagined him something like Captain Horace Stokes, just big and clean and fearless. As gentle as he was strong. Tbe last letter she had received, only a couple of days ago, begged her to send her photograph that he might take itj back with him to his castle in Spain. He said:— "My travels are at an end. I shall never leave my home among the mountains of mv native country again. It is all I ask. Just a photograph or some little personal possession to take back with mc. I shall leave on Christmas Eve, and I shall make my last journey to the bank in the city on that morning hoping I shall find waiting for mc there the small thing I crave and which means so much to mc. You are the only woman in the world I have ever loved.. The only woman of whom I have asked a favour. —Armande Silvestre." Lil took up a pen and drew forward a sheet of paper as if she were going to write to him. Then, suddenly altering her mind, she picked up the receiver of the telephone and asked for Peter Allen's number. Half an hour later he was standing beside her in the morning-room, pressing her hand to his lips. [To be continued, daily. )