A London Fog.

Hastings Standard, Issue 119, 12 September 1896, Page 4

A London Fog.

A thick yellow fog was hanging over London like a pall one November evening, making all locomotion dangerous. The London " gamins," ever ready for some new method of gaining a livelihood, were flitting like ghostly figures through the fog armed with blazing torches. Edward Brabant, as he cautiously felt his way home after a busy day at the courts, was congratulating himself on his safe arrival at the corner of Russell square when he collided violently with the stooping figure of a man. The shock nearly threw him off his feet, and he exclaimed " What the deuce do you mean by " As he spoke the other man straightened himself up, and by the light of the lantern which he carried, the helmet and familiar uniform of a policeman shone big through the mist. "Beg pardon, sir! But I've got a baddish case here, and I may want help. I was just stooping down to see what was the matter." " Is it a man or a woman ?" queried Brabant, forseeing in the future attendance at a draughty and evil-smelling police court. " It's a lady, sir," with a strong emphasis on the word. " I can find no sign of violence ; but she's insensible. Something must be done." As he spoke Brabant took the lantern and the two men closely scrutinised the unconscious woman's face and figure. His heart filled with pitv for the girl, who was evidently not more than twenty or so years old. She was quietly but fashionable dressed, but his attention was riveted by her face, which struck him as the the sweetest, he had ever seen. a " Has she any papers or anything to identify her by, constable '? There will be sore hearts over this accident tonight." " Lor' bless you, sir—how do you suppose she could lay here two hours, and not be robbed of everything? Why, a woman slipped away from here as I came up," said the policeman. " Now, sir, it's no use wasting more time—you stand by and I'll try and get a cab and take her to the hospital or workhouse." Brabant shuddered. To take this poor friendless unconscious woman to either refuge seemed to be almost sacrilege. Five minutes age, and he and she had never met, yet now here he was actually wondering how he could help her. He was a well-to-do bachelor, and had a house in Russell square which was presided over by his two elder sisters. They had spoilt him from boyhood, and his home had always been a happy one, so that he had reached the age of thirty-five without any of the worries and annoyances which beset" the single man as a rule. Dare he risk taking the woman to his home ? he wondered, looking down at the face, which by its purity answered the question satisfactorily, for he abruptly said : " Stay—my house is not more than a couple of hundred yards off—l'll take her there for the night. My sisters will take care of her," at the same time slipping half a sovereign into the man's hand. " Thanky, sir, it would be a kind act —I've no fear that she won't be Mir inquired for." So saying, the I- > policeman picked up the woman, •■■in, etmed but a light weight, and, c-.-led by Brabant, walked cautiously :ow?,r.!s his house. f;. - acute lawyer and man of the w-irM felt strongly nervous as he I his door. What if his sisters did not care for the charge he had so lightly undertaken'? Suppose they were annoyed ? But the die was cast, and letting himself in with his latchkey he hurried to the drawing room, leaving the policeman in the hall. In a few hasty words he told the kindly women what he had done, and drew a deep breath of relief when they heartily approved of his action. They hurried to the door, and, with women's instinct, as soon as they saw the girl knew that their brother had done well. The house was soon astir, and a procession, with the policeman in the rear, was soon ascending the stairs. Meanwhile Brabant had slipped out of the house, and was hurrying as fast as the fog would permit to his friend and neighbor Dr. Sidney Buxton, who fortunately was in and at dinner. " Why, Brabant, old man—come in—l'm delighted to see you." 44 My dear fellow, I cannot stop—l ■want you to come at once to my house. I picked up a young lady just now who was insensible. Do hurry up." It is a singular fact and one often noticed by eager claimants on a doctor's attention that they almost invariably wear lace-up boots. These they will in a most annoying way persist in lacing up when sent for in a harry, when a human being's life may perhaps hang on a thread. The doctor, who knew Brabant's " habits and general composure, smiled a quiet smile to himself, and in a few minutes he was ascending the stairs to his patient, while his friend tried to smoke, and miserably failed. It was but half an hour, but it seemed much longer before Buxton rejoined his companion. Brabant was struck bv the gravity of his expression and by his omisual silence. " Come, tell me, how's the patient'?" " Better, and yet worse." " Oh, hang your paradoxes. What do you mean ?" " It's like this," gravely remarked Buxton from the vantage ground of 1 the fireplace, " the young lady upstairs is a sigular example of the intricacy of the human brain. From some cause, probably from the breaking of some small vessel in the brain, she becomes insensible. Under treatment she recbVera consciousness." He paused. " I am glad to hear it. Did she say ;ifdbo she is and where she lives'?" niiiiiiHinT Ttinhimf SffKpfßSFmflk'' Buxton,

" for the simple reason that she does not knew." ' : What! Man alive, you're chaffing." " I'm not. She has completely lost her memory of the past, and will, from the way I consider it has been lost, never recover it." " But that will return one day," said Brabant anxiously. "It only returns in books and periodicals—not in real life. No, Brabant, I'm afraid you've got into a most serious hole. Of course to me it is most interesting, but to you I can only offer one piece of advice, and that is to send the girl away to-morrow, and I'll advertise freely." Buxton's kindly twinkling eyes followed the indignant man, who, careless of the way in which he was showing his inmost thoughts, was striding up and down. " Listen, my friend, and don't be an ass. You know we've been friends for fifteen years, and have chaffed each other often enough. I see ahead troubles galore for you if you persist in the Quixotic scheme. Here is a young and marvellously attractive woman thrown into your society. Her brain has received some obscure injury from which in all probability it will never recover. Suppose she by some chance is not claimed, what are you going to do ? She'll require teaching in everything. Is it fair for you to see her always and gain her affections ? Are you sure she is free to marry ? Answer me that." The two men stood gazing hard at each other, both admirable types of their kind. Then Brabant, with a forced laugh, said: " What a fuss about nothing ! She'll go home tomorrow, and there will be an anxious crowd of relatives to claim her." Six months bad passed, and the doctor's words had proved true. Indeed, Brabant knew them to be true at the time, but, blinded by love, had not allowed wiser thoughts to influence him. In spite of advertisements inserted in various papers no one had appeared to claim the girl who had become under such strange auspices a resident of his house. Her charm of face was only equalled by her charm of manner, and the whole house conspired to make much of her. Her loss of memory was absolute, and it did not in any way worry her. As a matter of fact, she was not conscious of it, and took tolessons and reading as an apt pupil. Brabant, as we have seen, succumbed at once, and he was desperately in love with her. His sisters saw it and scarcely hid their satisfaction, so great a hold had Olive, as they had named her, upon their'affections. At length his passion culminated in an open declaration, and to his intense joy bis love was reciprocated. But on one point his sisters were firm. A full year was to elapse before the wedding, and they decided that Brabant had better move into chambers. Time slipped away, and at length the marriage day was fixed. A few friends only were taken into the secret, and Buxton was among them. Hot and angry words passed between" the two old friends. Buxton reiterated his objections, and by their very potency only angered his friend the more. He flatly refused to share any responsibility, and they parted for the first time as enemies. It was the first night of a celebrated play, and Brabant had secured seats for the occasion. It was but one week before his marriage, and he and his fiancee were utterly happy. Dressed in white, with some handsome jewels that he had given her, Olive was enjoying the play immensely. During the performance Brabant, with the jealous eye of a lover, had noted a man in one of the boxes staring hard through his glasses at the beautiful girl beside him. Finally he caught the stranger's eye, and was surprised at his expression of deadly hatred. In a few moments the man left the box, and Brabant was surprised to receive a short note handed him by one of the attendants. It ran thus, and was written on the back of a card : Colonel Lestrange, " Prince of Wales' Own Regiment. " Sir, —I have a few words to say to you in the lobby. " R. Lestbange." Passing the letter to the lady with a smile, he whispered : " It'll only be a minute, darling. I expect he's mistaken his man." Slipping out amid the audible disapproval of the audience he entered the lobby as Colonel Lestrange was walking up and down. On seeing the newcomer the Colonel rushed forward as if to strike, but Brabant, an old 'Varsity man, was prepared, and for a moment neither said a word. " You villain," finally gasped the infuriated man, " how dare you flout your infamy before London—but now I've found you —one of us has got to die!" " My dear sir, you have mistaken your man. I have done nothing to be ashamed of, so I'll wish you better luck with the next man you wish to make charges against." " Do you mean to tell me that the girl I saw sitting with you not three minutes ago was not my wife just a year ago "? Do you mean to say " But Brabant said and heard nothing, for he fell into a chair half senseless. A bolt from the blue had hit him, and hit him hard. With white, ashen face he looked up at the Colonel and said : "My God! What a crime I've been saved from. I found your wife twelve months ago senseless in the street. She has lost her memory absolutely— I advertised in all quarters—she has lived with my sisters until now, and I was to marry her in a week ? Oh, Heaven?" he moaned, rocking himself from side to side. Lestrange, hardly believing his ears, said : 44 Do you mean to say she will not remember me?*' " Did she recognise you in the box'? She »w you, and inquired if I could BmtotijWl, .3 r . >*L 1 i -s^l

not stop your staring," muttered Brabant in a dry voice. It was Lestrange's turn now, and he cried: "We had only been married two years, and had one little baby of six months old. I was forced to go on active service in Afghanistan, and I left her, as I thought, in safe hands, she having no relations. The baby, I heard a year ago, had died, and then her letters ceased. I could not return, and suffered agonies. When I did return the landlady of the flat I took for my wife had left, and I have had no news since. I have haunted every place of amusement since, and now I meet her like this. If your story is true I owe you deepest thanks." Then these two men, so strangely brought together, the one owning the body, the other the mind, of the woman they both adored, touched hands. " Wait a minute," at length said Brabant, " the play is nearly over. Stand close by the door and speak to us as we go out." With uncertain footsteps he re-en-tered the stalls and made his way to his seat. In the excitement of the final act his altered face was not noticed, and in a few minutes the crowd was streaming out of the theatre. At the door, just as the Misses Brabant and Olive were leaving, Lestrange stepped forward and said, with a face working with excitement, to Olive : " Excuse me, is your name Lestrange ? " Olive blushed and paled with fright, and said at once : " Oh, no ; my name is " But Lestrange had gone ! One would hardly have recognised, in the prematurely aged-looking man, the bright, eager Brabant of but three months before. His home was broken up for he had arranged, with Lestrage's consent, for his sisters to stay for a time at Richmond with Olive. The door softly opened and Dr Buxton paused for a few moments, looking at the bent, dejected look of his old friend. He knew full well that for him all hope in life had gone. He coughed, and as Brabant turned he heard Buxton's cheery, well-remem-bered tones, saying : " Dear old chum, don't send me away—l've come to have a chat; will you let me stay ?" In a second the long parted friends were friends again, and the much-tried man poured out his heart to his sympathiser. " Read that," he said, thrusting a letter turned down into Buxton's hand. "My Deak Edward, —I am sorry to send you bad news Olive loses health daily. Colonel Lestrange calls every day, and is kindness itself, but his wife cannot endure his presence for long. What solution of this dreadful problem will eventually be found I do not know, but you must stay away." " There, that's what I get every day. W 7 hat am I to do ?"

Buxton, used as he was to ministering to minds diseased, had no advise for a case like this, and said nothing. Suddenly, with a bound, Brabant was was off his chair and out af the room, leaving the doctor seriously thinking his friend has gone mad. In an incredibly short time he reappeared with Olive in a fainting condition in his arms. " Did you not hear her call to me ?" he gasped. " I did, and found her on the steps." Buxton, lost in surprise, did what he could for the unfortunate creature, but all to no purpose, for after a faint sigh or two she quietly passed away. Dry-eyed Brabant stood by watching the scene. A sound of a galloping horse shook the windows, and a cab stopped violently at the door. A thunderous peal sounded through the house, and Brabant himself went out to meet, as he guessed, Lestrange. "Too late, Colonel you're too late—she came back to me to die."