PAYING THE PRICE.

Evening Star, Issue 11677, 8 February 1902, Page 2

PAYING THE PRICE.

By John W. Matali, (Author of ‘Bitter Blocd,’ ‘Dr Juvenal’s Patient,’ ‘A Girl of Resource,’ ‘Grasp- . ing the. Shadow,’ etc., etc.).

i A PEEP AT THE PLOT, i The story pens with a scene between two tramps—a man and his wife; the woman a good-looking, clean, sad-eyed creature, the i man a typical villain, stout, sturdy, and bulletheaded.' They are sitting under a hedge on the high road. The man has been sleeping, and upon waking finds bis wife in tears. He curses Per for her “sniyeUvo"/’ she pleads i with him to give up his evil calling of burglarv. Exasperated at her reproaches and i pleading, ho strikes her a heavy blow, which knocks her into the ditch as though dead. The ruffian is alarmed at his deod, and upon heming footsteps lie turns and fiees. The person approaching is a woman, young and beautiful, and evidently a lady of rank and wcajth. Startled by the sight of _the bleeding woman in Use ditch, she hastens to her arsislar.ee, and when the poor creature revives she questions her. The woman tells her story, recounting the brutal behaviour of her husband, hut confessing that in spite of ail she. loves him, and would never leave him. The lady is astonished, and confides to her humble companion that she, too, is married, and ill-treated by her husband, but that she hates him, and if he dared to strike her she would leave him for ever. These few words give a glimpse of the sad story of Lady Edith Morrison. She is another victim of that hateful practice a “ marriage of convenience.” The daughter of Sir James Prendergast, an aristocrat of flue family, but overwhelmed in dobt by luxury and gambling, she has been sacrificed to save her father from ruin and shame—a voluntary sacrifice-, which she faced with cold, unflinching will, though in her heart smouldered the fire of love for one who would have made her happy. The man who bought her, as he would have bought a house or a fine piece of furniture, was Richard Morrison, a man risen from the ranks by sheer force of will and keen business I enterprise—hard, rugged, unpolished, brutal, but wealthy; and wealth covers a multitude of sins. Ho tried to win the love of Lady Edith, whom lie wished to marry for-thc sake of the social position ha caveied; but she told him she hutod him, and yet would marry him for the sake of her father and the old name. Upon these terms he took her, vowing in bis heart to break the spirit of this haughty, beautiful creature. So they married, and ho tried to bend her will to his, hut failedShe put him to scorn before friends and servants, flouted him when ho gave her commands, repelled him wficn ho tried caresses. One day he raised his hand to strike her, but the blow is checked by the entranoe of his secretary—a young man who plays a prominent part later on. Thai gesture, however, was enough. The haughty woman who hides a broken heart under an icy demeanor will have her revenge. Richard Morrison has invited a great crowd of influential friends to an evening “at home,” It is a matter of business, for his rich hospitality is but a bribe to help an important financial venture. It is a decisive day in his career, and the man who has made a great fortune by his sharp intellect is nervous and anxious for the success of the evening. The guests arc about to arrive when Morrison is struck down in anger and amazement by the news that Lady Morrison, is nowhere to be found. She has left a note for him, and opening it with trembling fingers her husband learns tiiat she has left him for ever. With tliia dramatic opening the reader’s interest is at once aroused, and the story is developed in such a vigorous and entertaining manner that the absorbing interest never slackens to the end. READ PAYING THE PRICE.