Our Novelettes.

Bruce Herald, Volume XXI, Issue 2182, 11 July 1890, Page 6

Our Novelettes.

MOLLY'S MYSTERY.

' Come down and he introduced to our nearest nrighbour,' he said.

Molly shook her head, made a grimace signifying intense horror, and h»ld her bleeding arms out for his inspection. But her father did not see them, for a voice belonging to someone out of eight had asked him a question and drawn his attention from her.

She went bnck to her room, sat down, and folded her arms with a quaint expression of determination on her flushed face. Sho remained perfectly still for quite ten minutes ; at the end of which time Esther came up with a message.

The master told me ti say, miss, that lie particularly wished you to come down.' With all her s o lf-will in small matters, whenever her father definitely stated his wishes Molly never dreamed of disobeying ; but she did feel a little rebellious at heart over this business.

• Ho has gone as mad as everybody else oror this young man ! ' she thought angrily. ' It's he first time he has ever made me sec a visitor against my will.'

Notwithstanding her annoyance, she would not show disrespect to her father, and blip began to pull off her garden-glove?, tearing her damaged cotton gown in her hot haste.

' Say I'll be down in fire minutes,' she said to Esther ; and scarcely more than that time had elapsed before she swept into the drawingroom, with her hair piled high on the top of her head, and looking like a dressed-up doll in a gorgeous and wonderfully-befrilled blue costume of aomo soft silken material, trimmed with ptle-brown lac?. Blue silk mittens hid the lacerations on her arms, and her feet were encased in slippers of buff leather. This was oerrible enough ; but she had evidontly determined toout-Herod Herod in the matter of bad taste, for she wore jewelled bracelets on her wrists, and diamonds at her throat and in her oars.

' Why, Molly ! ' cried her father in astonishment, as he turned to introduce her. But he said no more ; for, though he could not understand all the meaning of her glance, he read enough to know that she was begging him not to make remarks on her appearance.

The next moment she was bowing profoundly in reply to her father's words of introduction ; but she did not raise her eyes to the visitor's face, and, with a barelymurmured ' Delighted to know you,' turned at once to Mr. Westmacott and began a series of voluble inquiries after Jael's health.

For the next ten minutes she kept the Rector by her side at the open window, conversing with a forced animation very unlike her usual free-and-easy-chatter, and keeping her back turned towards the other people in the room ; then suddenly her father upset nil her elaborate plans for keeping this odious young man at arm's length.

'Molly,' he siid, 'take Mr. Wynne and show him the stone wall behind the stable — he is going to put it in repair for us.' Molly could not quite conceal from Lloydd Wynne the distaste she felt for this expedition ; he saw it, and threw himself bodily into the breach.

'There is no need to troubli Miss Wynne,' he observed quietly, smiling; wickedly as he glanced at Molly. ' I know the stable-yard better than she doss, I think, and I can find my way alone.'

But Mr. Wynne persisted, much to the surprise of Molly, who began to wonder 1 what was up ' with the dad to-day ; and she meekly led the way through the open window and across the lawn.

The young fellow kept a pace behind her, and she half believed that he was averting his face on purpose to hide his amusement at her extraordinary costume.

' He's patting himself on the back, and thinking how clever he is ! ' she reflected grimly. 'He i* telling himself, ' Here is the little savage with all her war-paint on.' I wish he would give me a chance to upset his self-concait ! '

' I nm really grieved to have given you this trouble, Mian Wynne,' said Lloydd, with elaborately-assumed penitence, as he stepped forward, hat in hand, and held the little gate open for her.

*He really is hatefully good-looking ! ' thought Molly, as she glanced at him for the second time. ' Don't be grieved, please,' she said aloud ; ' I always make a point of carrying out my father's wishes, no matter how unpleasant they may be to me personally.'

At this unpardonable remark she had the pleasure of seeing her companion flush crimson, and compress his lips savagely.

'He hss a temper— that's a comfort ! - thought Molly gleefully. ' There's no plea sure in fighting an amiable mm.'

But his annoyance did not last a moment, and perhaps was caused rather by the BuddenDess of the attack than by wounded vanUy, as Molly ohose to believe. A Subdued smile of amusement quickly rep'aood the fleeting look of vexed surprise, and, when he saw the damaged wall which they had come to inspect, he turned to her with a perfectly unclouded face and spoke with pleasant unconcern.

'It must be seen to at once,' he said. • I had no notion it was in this state. We shall have the dear straying in from the park one of these nights, and then you will never forgive me for the ruin they will cause among your flowers.'

'Why 'my' fibers P' queried Molly, with calm indifference. 'Should we nob rather say my father's flwers ? '

' I be{< Mr. Wynne's pardon ; but I thought, from what ho snid just now, that the garden was your especial department.'

It was Molly's turn to blush now. She wondered whether there wa9 any hiddont allusion in the commonplace remark. Wns he so ill-bred oa to refer to her accident oven indireotly ?

She had felt bad-tempered enough before ; but the thought that he should dare to take the liberty of alluding to her contretemps mado her indignant, and urged her on to fresh incivilities.

• I will send someone down at onco to see to things generally,' remarked Lloydd, as he moved suggestively in tbo direction of the house. ' I mostly leavn theße matters in the hands of my land-steward. Ho has certainly been very remiss hero.'

•It was not his fault,' returned Molly bluutly. 'My father v»as in too great a hurry to leave time for nny ropairs ; he found the noise of London so intolerable that he insisted upon coming at once or not at all. A.nd really,' she added, ' I don't boo why you should worry to do more than is positively necessary, for we are not at all likely to remain hero any length of time. The neighbourhood would bo insufferable after the novelty had worn off.'

' Quite bo,' agreed Lloydd, in a tone so utterly free from any sign of emotion beyond a desire to be polite that Molly groaned in Bpirit at her own inability to arouse him. ' What vessel do you go baok by P ' wbb his next inquiry; and Molly, taken off her guard by the quiet assurance of his tone, looked at him in sudden surprise. ' Isn't your return passage booked yet, then ? ' he asked gently, meeting her questioning glance with a look of grave concern. •It mubt be bo distressing not to know when your present discomfort is likely to end ! '

' Diacomfort ? ' echoed M >lly, as if not quite understanding. 'The discomfort of daily asgosition with uncongenial people. It must bo so desperately null for you down bore ! '

•That is true,' she remarked, reassuming her uir of boredom. 'Of course the country round about is chnrming enough ; but I want it to myself, you know. The people are so intensely slow that I find my own society and my father's about tue most enlivening in the pluco.' ' You miss the briskness of Colonial intercourse, no doubt,' observed Lloydd, with deep sympathy- ' Miss it ? ' sho cried gushingly, clasping her hands. ' None but those who know it can understand what we have lost. Ah, Melbourne is the city to live and die in ! I wonder,' she continued, turning her innocent gray eyes plaintively to him, ' I wonder why the young men in England are bo terribly behind the Colonials in looks and manners ! Can you account for it ?

He paused, somewhat discomposed by the impertinence of the quostioo, but, with her eyes fixed upon him full of inquiry, he felt bound to make some answer.

' I don't, tbink your opinion is general/ he said quietly. ' I should think your experience of Englishmen lias been rather unfortunate.'

'But you are almost the only young Englishman I have spokon to yet,' she observed. • Still, perhaps you are right though,' she added, with an air of sweet concaasion. 'As you say, it would not bo fair to judge the whole class by a solitary specimen. With a more extended experience I may like them better.' He bowed in silent assent as she passed before him into the house.

She certainly was a littlo savage of the most pronounced type — there could be no two opinions concerning that. Tho only point open to doubt was her intention. Was her insolence merely the result of her barbarism, or did she really mean him to understand that she thought him a detestable cad ? Not that it mattered what such an awful girl thought; and yet his spirit rose against the insinuation that he had failed to bear himself becomingly to a woman. As for Molly, she felt alternately triumphant and remorseful at the success of her vicious snubbing. Ono moment she gloated over the recollection of his spooohless amazement at that last insinuation of hers ; and the next she was blushing with shame as she i-eciUed her unpardonable conduct all through the interview. Not that it Beemod to have had muoh effect upon him, she thought, as she noted his pleasant easy manner a 9 he discussed business-matters with her father.

*Do you know, Mr. Wynnp,' said Lloydd presently, "When the conversation had drifted into a more perjonal channel, ' I have been wondering if by any chance you are a relation of mine P We both spell our name with a finil ' c,' I see, and in times past members of my family have emigrated.' •At last ! ' thought Mr. Weßtraacott ; and it wa? with very apparent interest that he turned from his chat with Molly to hear Mr. Wynne's reply. When it came however, there w*s no real satisfaction in it ; and, without being able to reason out the why and wherefore of his belief, Mr. Westmscott at once formed the opinion that his host had expocted ti have some such question put to him, and had prepared himself and his answer beforehand.

'It is possible, of course,' he said, with calm deliberation. 'In these stirring times relatives are so easily lost sight of, more especially after the lapße of a generation. Now interests, new ideas — a new nationality, in fact — gradually, but most inevitably, create divisions between distant branches of families, until to all intents and purposes they cease to be of the same family at all.' 1 Ah, then you cannot help me to establish the relationship ? ' ' No,' returned Mr. Wynne, smiling, as ho shook his head, ' I cannot help you.' .jg' Of course, being so thoroughly an Australian at heart, you would not be so thoroughly interested in tlio matter us I,' said the younger man, with a tone of regret in his voice ; ' and, bosides, you are not so absolutely alone in the world as I am. I have tieither kith nor kin that I know of, and I h-ilf hoped thut I had stumbled upon some cousins.' Mr. Wynne" only shook his head again ; and, with a sigh, Llojdd rose to take his leave. Molly was still standin; at the open window when her father turned towards the house ofter sooing his visitors from the gate, and ho came straight to her. ♦ Whore did you get that wondo ful costumo from, Molly ? ' he asked, holding her from him, and looking her over with quizzical arauso-nont. 'I hirily know you for the moment when you first came into the room.' ' Isn't it an awful frock ? ' b!io returned | lau4hingly. •It is one of the few I left to the discretion of that French dressmaker in Kagent Street.' 'It is very magnificent,' remarked her father, still looking at the garment with halfdubious admiration ;_' but .is it quite the thing for the reception of an informal caller before luncheon ? '

' I was in such a hurry, dad ' — insinuatingly — ' that I waß glad to put on the first thing that came to hind.'

' But why did you change your dress at all ? Was it in honour of Mr. Lloydd Wynne that you mado yourself so Splendid ? Did you want to impress him ? *

' What a fcamble notion ! ' cried Molly, m hot haste. ' I don't think he is worth going out of one'B way for. I don't liko him a bit. dad.'

« Why ? '

The s'larp directness of the inquiry rather took Molly by surprise for a moment ; but she hastily blurted out a for her dislike.

' Because 1 1 hink bo is abominably conceited and self-conscious — font you ? '

1 No, little gH ; I paw no signs of such faults in him.' answered hor father; and she wondered why ho sighed heavily as he spoke.

Ho had wantod her to be good frionds with this now acquaintance, and was ho disappointed ? ' Ho took hor faco botweon his hands and looked at hor koouly for a fuw moments. Sho felt she was growing crimson under his scrutiny, and ho smiled and kissed her t indorly.

' Now I wonder why you have decided to act yourself up against this poor young man before you know anything at nil about him ? he said, half in f.m, half in earuest. ' What incomprehensible crentureß women sre ! ' * And then, with a swift change of manner, he exclaimed, ' Child, child, how liko you are to your mother ! ' and walked away from her, out on to the lawn, and round to the back of the house, loaving her with an odd feeling upon her that sho had been guilty of an unkindness lo him in recalling her dead mother's memofy. Chapter 111. As the weeks slipped by and the summer matured, mellowed, and molted into A.utumn, Molly Wynne, instead of being better' known by the Fyllortyn people, became a perfect enigma to them.

A few liked her cordially ; bnfc the majority set her down as presumptuous, arrogant, and ill-bred. Indood, even her warmest MoncU

wore obliged to admit that she did occasionally give herself litt'o airs; but to thosn whom she liked she was always so abjectly humble after these attacks of self-importance, she was so ready to admit to them privately that she was a hateful little upstart, eho would abuse herself so heartily and beg so earnestly to be forgiven, that her friends grow to look uoon her fit* of self-assertion as a foolish whim rather than a part of her real character, and laughed at even while they scolded her for them.

On the other hand, those who did not know her so well naturally resented the air of superiority which she sometimes chose to assume, and she acquired a reputation for unreliability of temper. Pleasant as sunlight, one day, the next she would be slangy and boastful; and it happened that whenever Lloydd Wynne was present she posed in the latter character.

' I cannot help it, J.iel ! ' she would cry, when her friend remonstrated. 'He acts on mo as a red rag acts on a bull ! ' It was not to be expected, as Jael pointed out to her, that people would continue to proffer friendship on such unequal terms ; and slowly but surely pretty Molly grew unpopular with the young ladies round about Fyllertyn. The young men still kept her in countenance ; but even they were getting rather tired of her vagaries by the time the shooting began, and, had it not been fir the party of mon who arrived at Druce-Wynne to help Lloydd thin his coverts, she would have found herself rather out in the cold.

As for Lloydd Wynne himself, he had, ever slnca that first meeting of theirs, kept studiously aloof from her. If they met each other on the road they passed with an exohange of stiff bows, and, when speech was absolutely unavoidable between them, it was confined to the barest civilities.

And yet, in spite of his abhorrence of her pronounced stylo of conversation — a style rarely adopted by her except when in his presence — he found himself sometimes bestowing grudging admiration on ' the perverse little savage ' — admiration which no amount of ovordressfng or slang could destroy This was notably the case on the occasion of his second picnic with the guns in the DruceWjnne woods.

For a wonder, Molly was more quietly dressed than usual, in a tweed costume of sober brown.

When tho horn sounded for lunch, Lloydd Btayod a few minutes behind his visitors to arrange for the afternoon beat with his keepers; and it happened that whon he climbed up the side of a shallow gravel-pit, which he had plunged through to save time, he camo upon Miss Wynne lying on the ground with her chin renting on the palms of her brown gloves, gazing across the pit to the tender blue of the Welsh hills. Her face was scarcely a yard from the edge of the pit as he reached the tip, and, as his head came suddenly into view, she uttered a loud oxclamation of fear. Startled, Lloydd lost his hold, and slipped back a step or two out of sight, but recovered his grip immediately, and sprang to her side before she waß well upon her feet.

' Did I frighten you so terribly ? ' he asked penitently, seeing her blanched face and quivering lips. ' I did not expect to 6nd anyone so far from tho feast. Did you take me for some weird gnome riring from the earth to claim you as a victim ? '

'I thought you had fallen to the bottom of the pit,' she saH, not having recovered from the shock.

' Oh, that was it 1 ' he returned lightly ' You expected to find mo injured when you peeped over tho edge ? It would not have hurt me much if I had rolled to the bottom — I've had miny a worse fall in Switzerland and thought nothing of it. Still, I'm sorry I frightened you.' • Don't trouble about that,' she said, moving away and putting her hand upon the trunk ot tho nearest tree to stoady herself. ' Don't wait, pray ; I will follow you presently.'

' But I really can't leave you like this, you know,' he urged, following her anxiously, and fooling, for the first time, no inclination to seize the first excuse that offorod for loiving hor. ' I could not be such a brute as to leave you by yourself after nearly frightening you to death ! You must let me wait until you have quita recovered.' She did not answer. She was afraid shi would make a scone if she tried to speak just yet; so she stood perfectly quiet, exerting all her powers of self-control to keep her lips from trembling and the tears from her eye*. ' I would rather die than sbowemotitn before him ! ' she thought. 'He would perhaps think I was doing it to win atten'ion.' Lloydd watched her vory gravely. Ho woul i have soon man >ged any other girl in similar circumstances ; but he folt that it was more than he dared do to s^at this little spitfire on the grass, take off her hat and tan hor with it, and chuff her out of her hysterical fright. So he stood quietly by waiting till a little colour should come back to her fuce, and that toll-tale heaving of her breast should lessen.

'you

' I'm better now,' she said presantly ; need not wait any longer, thank you.'

The words in themselves tvere ungracious enough ; but there was a quaver in the voice which proved that some deepor feeling wus still at work, and the knowledge that Molly Wynne had a heart capable of Btrong emotion and vivid sympathies came upon Lloydd almost wi f h a shock. He had admired her prettiness before in exactly the same way as ho admired a good picture or stntue. As for the girl herself, apart frooi hor good looks, he had judged her by her manner, so far as he had thought of her at all, and condemned her as vulgar and shallow. Now, all lit once, he aakoi himself, Hud he been wrong — had he commits a gross injustice? Under the impulse of this new impression his manner became a little winner.

• I do wish you would take my arm,' he said, ' and let me help you on your way bank ! I'm sure you are not fib to walk alone. Why are you co terribly independent ? '

M)lly looked ut him angrily as he bont. over lior. In spite of her efforts at self-control, he hid made the tnistako she had expected he would. He believed she wis making a fuss to attract his attontion. H<r sonso of annoyance restored her self-possessioa for a moment.

' I am quite able to go alone, and I would lather you went,' she returned quietly.

He saw she really meant whut she a»id, >md he felt competed to obey her wish ; but he did not go far.

The moment he knew she could no longer see him ho doubled, keeping well behind the bushes, and presently ho saw her iv^ain, still loming against tho tree, with one hand n>w pri>B3ed to her bosm, evidently struggling to keep down her emotion. Her lips were still pule, her oys were filled with tears, and she was speaking rapidly as though taking bersslf to task.

' What an idiot I am ! ' eh* gasped hysterically. ' How could I have made such an exhibition of myeelf ! My terror got such a hold on me for the moment though I pictured him terribly injured, lying in a heap at the bottom of that pit.' To be oontinued.

Be not angry that you cannov make others as you wish them to tie, since you cannot; make youraolf what ycm wish to bo.