HER HEART'S DESIRE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXIV, Issue 10425, 24 April 1897, Page 3 (Supplement)

HER HEART'S DESIRE.

BY OHAEIES QARVICK, lltlior of "By Devious Ways," "Just a Girl,' "Queen Kate," "In Cupid's Chains," "The Outcast of tfao Family," etc., etc. CHAPTER 111. Tie two men stood and looked at each other; Lord Gaunt white and stern, the visitor with a pleasant but half-mocking smile.

He was a fair man—one of those delicately fair men whose age it is so difficult to tell— with a gooa-looking, almost handsome face, with bright blue eyes, and shapely lips

which were not concealed by a moustache,

but seemed, together with the eyes, to say,

•' Believe me, my owner is the personification of innocence and guilelessness. He has nothing to conceal, no bad conscience to worry, no remorse to torturo him, and so he . faces the world with a bland and child-like smile, and wishes all men well." This is what the face had been trained to gay, and it said it with almost invariable success; only on very rare occasions did the mask slip and the real nature behind it reveal iwelt; for, with all bis smiling lips and his blue eyes, Morgan Thorpe was as unscrupulous a villain, as false a man, as ever trod this villain-ridden earth. He was dressed in a suit of light tweed which fitted his graceful figure to perfection, and as he raised his hand—white and wellformed as a woman's lightly pushed back his heavy hair, which had been ruflled by the silken sofa cushion, a splendid ring ilione on the taper finger. The two men formed a marked contrast.

Lord Gaunt, with his classical face, tragic and almost awe-inspiring in its whiteness and sternness, with his dark eyes lighted as Dy a smouldering fire ; the other man fair and debonair with tho smile of an audacious child, or a heartless woman laughing us she wounds. It was Morgan Thorpe who spoke first. How do you do?" he said. His voice was low and soft, the voice that teems to sing, so supple, so flute-like is it. They have that kind of voice iu sunny Tuscany, and there must have been some southern blood in Thorpe's reins to account for the voice and the smile. Lord Gaunt's eyes remained fixed on the pleasant, boyish face. "You have found me," he said, with that kind uf calm which comes to the brave man in supreme moments. Morgan Thorpe laughed. "My dear fellow, how curb, how brusque! Is this the way in which to receive an old friend who has been searching for you for—how many weary mouths, years?" Lord Gaunt placed his hat on the table, and going to the tern-filled fireplace, leaned his elbow on the mantel-shelf and regarded his visitor steadily. "How did you find me?" he asked, as a man asks of the physician how he had discovered the fatal disease. The other man dropped back on the couch, stretched out his hand to the cigarette box of sandalwood which stood on a table within reach, took a cigarette and lighted it, arranged tho cushions comfortably, and smiled up at Gaunt's stern, get face. "My dear Barnard—l beg your pardon. I should say, my dear Lord Gaunt I—why do you glare at me so reproachfully, and like a Banquo's ghost- ?" he said, with the soft voice pitched in a tone of banter which mado Gaunt's teeth close tightly and caused his hands to clinch at bis side. "It is I who ought to look black and overwhelm you with reproaches. Just think of it. Two years ago--" Gaunt's face worked, but bis voice was stern and cold as he broko in:

"There is no need to go back to the past." "Pardon me; but I really think there is!" retorted Morgan Thorpe, stretching himself luxuriously, like a cat on a soft hearth-rug. " Your manner is so—what shall I say T—inhospitable, not to say repellent, that I feel it to be absolutely necessary to state the case for, shall we say, the plaintiff?" Gaunt did not move a limb or tho eyes which rested upon the face upturned to him. "What is thecaso ?" continued Morgan Thorpe, delicately knocking the ash from bis cigarette on to the inlaid table. " Three years ago"— half closed his eyes and regarded the white-faced man before him through the narrow slits, as a cat regards the wretched mouse lying between hor paws —"you and I, and another who shall bo nameless, were the closest friends. We had met as fellow-travellers in an Alpine pass. Alpine pass sounds quite ' novelist),' doesn t it? I like the sound: Alpine pass ! We spent, the night with sundry guides and porters in a snow-bound hut. The acquaintance thus pleasantly commenced ripened into a friendship which, I trust, may con-

tinue." Gaunt made a gesture of impatience, but Morgan Thorpe only smiled, as the cat. might smile at tliccontortions of tho mouse. "You are travelling alone and are solitary. I have my sister with mo, a charming girl whom to see and to know iB to—love I" Gaunt bit his lip and drew a long breath. "You see, you learn to know, you love her I For reasons best known to yourself you travel incog* You state that your name is Edward Barnard, a gentleman of independent means, travelling for pleasure and instruction. As Edward Barnard you lay siege to my sister's heart, and you take by storm that precious citadel." Gaunt shifted one foot, but his eyes never left the smiling, mocking face. As the tortured man on the rack watches the executioner, so he watched Morgan Thorpe. "Tho lady is, of course, virtuous. There is only one road to happiness—the path which leads to matrimony, and, as Edward Barnard, you take it. You and the beauteous Laura are married at the little English church at Vevey, on—what is the date ?" Lord Gaunt remained stonily silent. He was like the figure of the Sphinx in his set Calmness. "No matter; I have the date on tho certificate in my pocket-book. You are married with all ihe forms and ceremonies prescribed by rigid law and exacting church, and you sot out for your honeymoon. Alas 1 it is a short honeymoon 1 Before it has scarce begun to wane, you— Gaunt's self-restraint seemed to fail him at this point, and he broke in with scarcely repressed passion : "I discovered that the woman I had married was an adventuressi woman who- " "Pardon!" said Morgan Thorpe, softly, sweetly. " Kemcmbor I am her brother, and spare mo ! 1)" not lot us indulge in recriminations ; it is childish, useless. Let us say that you discovered that there was such incompatibility of temper that you found it impossible to live with her. Shall we put it that way ?" Lord Gaunt made no response, and tho soft and musical voice went on.

"One day you left your wife, your bride —my dear fellow, how could you be so heartless?--with the intimation that you did nob intend to return. She was heartbrokon, desolate ! Not even the addendum , to your letter which informed her that a liberal allowance would be made to her a, while she refrained from molesting you, !'; • consoled her. Alas, she loved you 1" f- Lord Gaunt moved slightly, and a grim | smile played upon his lips for a moment, to be followed by the set sternness which hud :j. dominated his expression hitherto. ), " She loved you. She charged mo with the task of following and finding you. I, as her devoted brother, accepted that task. gMy dear Barnard, these Turkish cigarettes of yours arc dry—vory dry." _ y.- Lord Gaunt went to the Bidoboard and if got out; a spirit caafi and a siphon, and W,\ placed them on the table. &£?■; ' 11 Will you not join me?" asked Thorpe. Wi "No? Well, I am doing all the talking, M and talking is thirsty work." fey, .' Ha sipped the beverage with slow, exas£'.'V perating slowness, and Gaunt watchod him |& with a fierce, burning impatience. The man's presencehis voice, were an absolute fe torture. -v : V "I commenced my search," said Morgan 0-. Thorpe. " I try, first, the south of ranee. |fo'f : It is the winter, you will remember; but js/.i nowhere do I find a handsome man by the name of Barnard—you are devilish goodr/.looking, you know, Barnard!—a hundred Pardons, Lord Gauntand then I come to London, As well look (or a needle in a bundle of hay m look (or a man in this

place. I like London ; 1 love it, excepting when lam on the hunt for a man. Then it is a beastly maze. At last, one day, to be particular—we must speak by the card, as Hamlet says—what a lot of Hamlets I hare seen—l happen actually to see you—you yourself—going into this very houso." He laughed softly and blew the smoke from hit cigarette in a series of rings, and watched them with lazy interest and amusement as they floated to the ceiling. "I rang the bell and knocked, as directed, and inquired for ' Mr. Barnard. 1 I*o one knew the name. Then I watched again, and inquired again, and described you. And I found that, instead of a plain, common ' Mr. Barnard,' my sister—ray dearly beloved sister, for whom I would lay down my life, had married no less a personage than my Lord Gaunt I" Gaunt took up a cigar from the mantelshelf, and lighted it; but after a momonfc lie threw it among the ferns in the grate, and resumed his old attitude.

Morgan Thorpe turned on his side into a more comfortable position. "Yes; I found that my dear sister had married no less a personage than Lord Gaunt— of the United Kingdom, Earl Gaunt of Ireland, Viscount Bascardine of Scotland, Lord-Lieutenant of Downshire,"

Gaunt moved his hand spasmodically; but the soft, musical voice went on with tho even flow of a river.

" With residences in Devonshire and Scotland, a house in Park Lane, and an Italian palace on the banks of the Arno." Gaunt turned from the fern-filled fireplace, and strode across the room, then came back to his old placo and attitude; and Morgan Thorpe still watched him as the cat watches the mouse when ib ventures a despairing run. " This was the man who had married my sister, and heartlessly abandoned hor. Lord Gaunt, baron, Scotch earl, lordlieutenant, In a word, a nobleman of the highest rank, and worth—shall wo say a million of money ?" Gaunt took up a cigar again, and lighted it with the stoicism of desperation. " Well," be said, grimly, " having made your discovery, what do you propose to do!"

Morgan Thorpe leaned back and closed his eyes. "An eminently practical question," ho murmured. "It is the question I have been asking myself evor since I have been hero, ray dear Barnard—pardon, Lord Gaunt! Two courses are open to me, as a famous statesman might say. I might gc to my sisterthe mourning bride, so t( speak— acquaint her with my discovery Whereupon she would of courso hasten b England and claim her husband. Ah, 111; dear Barnard—t-j-you havi no conception of the extont of the lovo on dear Laura bears for you, Sho would clain her husband and insist upon taking lie place in the world of rank and fashioi which, as you know, she would adorn 91 conspicuously." He smiled up mocking; at the white, strained face. " And I Imvi very strong conviction that sho would maki things huui, as our cousins on the othe sido say." He closed his eyes and smilei as if at some mental picture. " The othe course, as the famous statesman would say which presented itself to me, was one 0 caution and or—reserve. Nothing is mor

lisagreeable than to live with a person who is completely uncongenial, find I felt that I should be doing you a signal service if I wore to conceal your identity and whereabouts from our dear Laura. In othor words, my friend, I felt that I should bu proving the warm affection I cherish for you if I were to say nothing about my discovery." Gaunt raised his head.

"You would betray her trust in you ?" lie said.

Morgan Thorpe smiled and shrugged hiß shouldors shrugged them bo hard that he displaced the cushions and had to rearrange them before replying. " As to that, what is confidence and what is betraying it? Ethical questions both, my dear Gaunt.." Gaunt strode across the room again. " Whore is she?" he asked, hoarsely. "At Vevey," replied Morgan Thorpe. "A most charming place, but dull—devilish dull. She is there amusing herself as best, she can, and awaiting the result of my search. I have only to wire: 'Found him. Come to London ; the Metropole,' and she will be here in loss than thirty-six hours." "Gaunt sunk into a chair, then stood up again, as if reluctant to show any sign of weariness. " On the other hand," continued Morgan Thorpe, " I have only to write ' Cannot find him; believe lie has left the country,' and she will remain at that God-forsaken boleor go to Paris." Gaunt looked at him steadily. "If Blie came, she would not find me here," he said. " 1 shall start for Africa in a few hours' time." Morgan Thorpe shrugged his shouldors and laughed softly. "My dear Lord Gaunt, she would not care whether sho found you or not, whether you were hero or baking on Africa's burning sands. She would be quite happy sotting up hor claim to be my Lady Gaunt, Baroness of Gaunt, Countess of Gaunt of Ireland, or Viscountess Baacardine of Scotland. That would bo quite enough amusement for her." Gaunt went to a book-case and stared at a line of books without seeing them. Then he came back to the fireplace. " You mean to blackmail me," he said, with an awful calmness. ''How much do you want? Say as quickly and shortly as you can—for my temper is rough and I can scarcely hold myself in hand." " My dear Barnard 1" jeered the other. Lord Gaunt sprung across the room and seized him by the throat, and the soft, mocking laughter ceased with grotesque suddenness. " How much, you devil ?" lie said, between his teeth. "You and she havo me in your power; I know it. Name your price 1' Then, ashamed of himself, ho flung the mail from him, and strode away, his own face working, his lips livid, as if it had boon himself who had been half choked, Morgan Thorpe, struggling for broath, felt his throat tenderly. " What—what a savage you are 1" he said, huskily "No wonder ray poor sister—'' " Say no more !" broke in (jaunt, with an ominous gesture. "Nothing will induce me to acknowledge your sister as my wife and you know it. Name your price— price of your silence." Morgan Thorpe stood up, and with rather a shaky hand look a fresh drink. "You mean my price for concealing your identity ?" ho said. "For holding your tongue; yes," ho said. "Well," drawled Thorpe, "suppose we say a couple of thousand pounds? Gaunt looked at him with loathing eyes for a moment; then ho went to his writingtable, unlocked a drawer, and took up a cheque-book. He filled in the clique, laid it on the table, and pointed to it. " That is for a thousand pounds," he said. " I will pay you that every yoar so long as I am unmolested by—" " Your wife, Lady Gaunt," said Morgan Thorpe. "I aereo. Leave the matter to mo, my dear Barnard—tush ! how the old name clings ! I'll undertake to keep hor quiet. Now, shall we dino togother —" Gaunt opened the door. " For God's sake, go!" he said, very quietly, with the quietude of a man goaded almost beyond the point of endurance. "Go before I do you any harm." Morgan Thorpe lonked at the white face with its veins standing out, at the stalwart, muscular figure with the strength of a Hercules, ai.d laughed. "My dear fellow, ] only wanted to be friendly. But if you will not— Well 1 So long 1" He put his hat on with careful precision, adjusting his neck-tie in the Venetian mirror beside the door, and then held out

his. hand. Gaunt looked at the hand, then raised his smouldering eyes to the mocking blue ones, and something in the lambent fire of the eyes of the man he had been torturing, prompted Morgan Thorpe to make his exit without an attempt at another turn of the rack. " So long, dear boy 1" he murmured, and passed out. [To continued.)