A HERITAGE OF HATE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXVI, Issue 11203, 25 October 1899, Page 3

A HERITAGE OF HATE.

BY CHAELES GAR VICE. Anther of "Nell of Shorne Mills," "Heart for Heart," " By Devious Ways," " Just a Girl," "Queen Kate," "Once in a Life," "The Outcast of the Family," etc., etc. CHAPTER XXHI. Stella had no sooner consented to go home with the Lisles than she, of course, regretted it. Lisle Abbey was not the way back to Rath and the island; and it was to the island she wanted to go with all the longing of her heart, now awakened to a sense of her overwhelming love. But what could she do? Being absolutely penniless, she could not pay her fare out to Vancouver; and even if she were able to reach it, she could not make her way alone across the land to Rath. Besides, she felt too grateful to the brother and sister who had rescued her to pain them by a refusal. And, indeed, where else could she go? As she had said so pathetically to Lord Lisle, she knew no one, there was no place in which she could find asylum. As the yacht sailed swiftly towards port, she reflected on her strange and singular position. She knew absolutely nothing of her belongings. She and her mother had always lived together; and her mother had told her nothing of her history, or even mentioned a relative. That seemed natural enough and in no way extraordinary until now: but during these latter days Stella pondered over her curious ignorance, and asked herself what was to become of her. Of course she couldn ot remain a burden on the hands of these kind friends for long, and she formed some vague idea of earning her own living, though how she was to accomplish that seemingly commonplace achievement she did not know. It is a problem which presents many difficulties even to those who are better equipped for its solution than poor Stella was. As they neared port and she more fully realised her position, her distress increased, and Lady Cecilia, coming upon her suddenly, found her sitting with her face buried in her hands.

" What is it, dear?" she murmured, seating Herself beside Stella and gently drawing her hands down. "You mustn't fret like this, for our sakes, for it makes me—to say nothing of Cecil— unhappy. Is there anything we can do to help you, to console you?" . Help me!" echoed Stella, almost desperately, "as if you were not helping me enough. I am homeless and penniless, and you are taking me to your home, and— The very clothes I wear are yours, and—— I haven't any money to buy others." Cecilia listened, almost shocked.

" My dear Stella, one does not expect to pick up shipwrecked people with a complete wardrobe in tow, and, of course, you have had to wear mine. Why should you mind? Just reverse our cases, and suppose that it was you who had found me in an open boat; would you object to lending me a few frocks and so on, and do you think I should mind accepting them?" " All! that is very different," said Stella; "you— are rich, and have friends and relations and some place to go to, while — Why, you do not even know who I am "Yes; you are Stella Mordaunt, a very sweet and charming girl of whom I have grown very fond," said Lady Cecilia. " And you are alone and helpless, and that is as much as I want to know, dear. Some day, perhaps, you will tell me more about yourself-"

" But I don't know anything I" interrupted poor Stella; and then she confessed her ignorance of her history. Lady Cecilia concealed her surprise, and soothed her newly-found friend. "It is very romantic, dear," she said in her sweet, low-pitched voice; "but lam sure your loneliness is no fault of yours, and it only increases my interest in you. Now, see, Stella, you have consented to come to the Abbey, and you must make us both happier—my brother and me—by permitting lis to be of some real use to you. To speak plainly, you must let us lend you somo money." Stella winced. " But—but I shall never be able to pay yon back." she faltered. Lady Cecilia laughed. " How tragically you said that! My dear Stella, you can't tell. Perhaps you will find your relations; perhaps they may turn up ami claim you, and tear you away from us— but you won't desert us. Stella?—sooner than you expect-. The world is a small place, after all, and it is wonderful how one runs across people. But even if you must repay Whv, Stella, an idea has occurred to me! Why shouldn't you be a companion to me?"

She laughed and blushed as she made the suggestion prompted by her desire to save the lonely girl's pride. "A companion?" said Stella, vaguely. Lady Cecilia nodded brightly, "Yes. It- is not an uncommon thing for a solitary girl like myself to have a companion ; and I am very solitary, dear. I have no one but Cecil, who is, so'to speak, a part of myself, and therefore does not count; and if you will accept the position, I should be delighted, and everything will be easy." What shall I have to do?" asked btella, gravely. "I am afraid— There are so few tilings I can do"— faint smile crossed her sad face—" except milk cows and catch trout and snare wild duck."

Lady Cecilia stared at her laughingly. "Why, what an accomplished person you must be! My dear girl, lam ashamed of offering you such a poor place. A lady with such a variety of accomplishments ought to look for something ever so much higher." Stella tried to laugh, but her lips quivered. " I learnt to do these things on— the island," she said-; and Lady Cecilia, seeing her eyes filling with tears, hastened to change the subject. "You can be just what you have been since we picked— I knew you, dearjust the sweetest and nicest companion to a lonely girl. We can go out calling and do needle-work and read together; and of course you will have a salary, and you shall pay me back out of it any money you want now. Is it agreed, dear?" she wound up, gently. Stella nodded. She was too moved to speak. "I know you are only proposing this to help me," she said. " But perhaps I can be of some little use to you, and— so repay you." Then she grew thoughtful for a moment, for she remembered that- if she could get back to the island there was gold enough there, not to repay Lady Cecilia for her infinite kindness and affection— gold could repay that— for her more material assistance. It struck Stella even at that moment as strangely curious, that she should be sitting there penniless and a recipient of charity, while she and Rath were, as a matter of fact, immensely rich! The reflection comforted and cheered her, because it restored her self-respect, and she smiled pensively as Lord Lisle came up, singing as usual, and his sister explained the arrangement. "It was a happy idea, Cecil," she said, when they were alone shortly afterwards. "She was fretting over her position, and would have made herself ill again. And when one thinks of it, it is a trying situation for her: to be absolutely penniless and friendless." "Not friendless, Cis," he put it, quickly. "She has us; she will always have you." "Yes, Cecil,".she assented, gravely. She was silent for a moment or two. When he had made the startling announcement that he loved Stella, he had left the _ cabin abruptlv, and neither he nor Cecilia had referred to his avowal since; but now, after the pause, she said in a low voice: " Cecil, that was a very serious thing you said the other evening." He coloured, but met her grave, anxious

gaze stendilr. " I know 'it is. But though I am sorry I spoke out so plainly, I've no intention of taking it back. I do love her, Cis." ; "It is so soon!" she murmured. "And yet I am not surprised. She is so beautiful—l don't think I have ever seen a lovelier face, or one with a eater charm and she is altogether so fascinating." He'nodded, eagerly. • "Yes, that is it. She is so unlike any other girl I have met. She is a roman, and yet she is like a child, so simple, so natural, so fearless. Oh, I can't explain! "I think I know, dear," she said, her eyes following him lovingly, as he paced up and down the narrow saloon! "Have I not'also felt the peculiar charm she exercises? Think of it! She has been with us only this' short time;, and .yet I \ have grown so-fond of -her that, the mere thought of parting with her is painful to me. I

thought at first that I was drawn to like her because we had rescued her and befriended her; but that is not the only reason; it is something in herself. But then we know nothing about her! Cecil, isn't that also a reason why you should —should be careful? Remember, dear, that though we like her so much, are so drawn towards her, that we know absolutely nothing about her. Why, she knows nothing of her own history!" She told him so much of Stella's story as Stella had told her.

"It is strange!" he said; then he sighed. "I've stated to myself all the objections you could put before me Cis; but it's of no use! Love and prudence have nothing to say to each other; and— love her! It came upon me suddenly, as I saw her lying in your arms on the deck; and it has grown and grown each day until it has taken complete possession of me, lam glad she is coming to the Abbey. lam glad you have hit upon this 1 companion' idea as an excuse for helping her; for, to speak plainly, Cis, if she had gone I should have had to follow her! Yes; it is madness, if you like, but it is a madness from which I shall not recover; it will last me my life. We know nothing about her—"

" Except that she is good and pure," said his sister, softly. "I am sure, quite sure, of that!"

He laughed, as if the assertion were superfluous. " Good and pure! Yes, she is an angel," he said. " And I have got to woo and win her, or my life's happiness has gone." " You—you must" not let her see—must not frighten her," said Lady Cecilia. He nodded and sighed. " I know! I have got to be very careful. I must keep a guard upon my lips, my very glances. She is like a delicate flower that shrinks from a rough breath of wind. Do you think I don't know that?" He laughed half sadly and pushed his hair from his forehead. " Oh, I'll be careful, trust me."

He went up the deck where Stella was sitting, thinking over the arrangements which Lady Cecilia and she had made, and wondering whether indeed she could be of any use to her; whether she could earn enough to take her back to Rath; and she started from her reverie as Lisle, humming a tune as usual, came up to her chair. He had been the most light-hearted of men until this waif of the ocean had floated " cross his ken," and be resolved not to play the forlorn lover. He was wise enough to see that Stella was sad enough as it was, and needed a cheerful and amusing companion. So, though his heart throbbed with the love that had sprung so suddenly into being, he smiled and nodded in his almost boyish fashion, and said: "The nearer one gets to England, home, and beauty, the more time seems to lag, doesn't it, Miss Mordaunt?"

Stella, though she felt that she was going farther and farther from her home—her heart's home—assented. "What do you say to a game of quoits?" he asked, brightly. Stella said that she had never played the game, but he made light of the objection. "Oh, that's of no consequence! The beginner often does better than the veteran ; and you'll soon learn." One of the crew, looking as smart as a mau-o'-war's man, brought the quoits and set up the pins, and Lisle showed her how to hold the ring of rope and canvas and pitch it on to the "jack." It seemed easy enough as be did it, but she made a score of misses before she succeeded in throwing the quoit on to the pin, and insensibly she began to get interested in the game. Lisle played in the most matter-of-fact way, and, strangely enough, though he was a very good hand at the game, made a great many misses. His sister, as she lay back in the chair and looked on, could scarcely repress a smile as she saw the almost audacious way in which lie just permitted himself to win the game. " That was a near thing," lie said, cheerfully. " I only got it by one point. Shall we havo another, or are you tired;" For a moment bis anxiety showed through his caution, and his eyes dwelt upon her earnestly ; but Stella said that she was not tired, and they played again. During her stay in the island, Stella had acquired a supple wrist and a dextorjtv at most things requiring a quick eye and manual skill, and she soon picked up the game and began to score. Lisle was delighted with her success, and glanced covertly and proudly at the smiling and amused Cecilia. " I never knew anyone pick up the game so quickly," lie declared. "Most people, women especially, take days before they can get home with one quoit. You must have a good eye, Miss Mordaunt, to say nothing of a steady hand." But he would not let her play a third game, and insisted upon her going back to her chair, and when he had wrapped her up ho lit a cigarette and went off to the other end of the yacht, leaving her and Cecilia alone, though he longed to remain beside her, if not to talk to her, to sit and glance at her occasionally. He pursued these tactics for the remainder of the voyage. Sometimes they played the games with which people pass the time on ship-board, sometimes he would lean over her chair and toll her stories of his college days, and of his travels; and once or twice lie offered her his arm, and got her to walk with him up and down the deck; talking all the time in the casual, unconcerned way into which he had schooled himself, though his heart was beating painfully as he felt the light weight of her arm, and he had hard work to meet her glance with a calm and matter-of-fact expression in his own. And day by day Stella grew stronger, and if not happier, less utterly wretched. She was still pic-occupied and absentminded — how could she be otherwise when she was for ever thinking of Rath? — and often Lisle knew, by the sad, far-away look in her eyes, that she was not listening to him; but love, though impatient enough, can also bo patient; which is a paradox, but true; and Lisle "served and waited," as the old song says, as your true lover will. But with her recovered health, Stella's natural courage revived. Hope whispered that she might win her way back to Rath, and Hope is the grandest medicine and tonic known to the College of Physicians; so that when the Kingfisher glided to the crowded quay, she leant on the taffrail and looked about her with something like colour in her clear cheeks and a light in her eyes. "Welcome to England!" said Lisle, coming up to her, " and in a few hours I shall be able to say, 'Welcome to the Abbey!' We are going straight on there, as you know. No, don't worry about anything"— Stella had turned with " I must see if I can help Lady Cecilia!"— thing is done and ready; and you must not forget that you are not yet quite off the sick-list." Stella laughed softly. "I am quite well, Lord Lisle," she said, emphatically; " and you must not treat me any longer as an invalid!" and she left him and went down to the saloon. He looked after her with a sigh, then forced a resolute smile, as lie told himself that a time should come when he would be able to say, "Stay here by my side, dearest!" and she would stay. So that they should not have the tedium of a wait at the noisy port, he had ordered a special train; and towards evening they reached the station, where the Abbey carriage was awaiting them. On their way to the house, Lisle leant from his seat, and pointed to Stella the various objects of interest.

"It is a lovely county," she said in a low voice, but with an absent look in her eyes; for she was thinking of the fairylike beauty of the island. Lisle was as delighted with her approval as if he were, trying to sell her the whole county. " I think you will like it when you have seen something of it," he said. "Here is the Abbey." Stella looked in the direction indicated, and saw an old mansion covered with ivy, which emphasised rather than obscured the beauty of the building, and she uttered an exclamation of admiration. " How beautiful!" she said. " Howproud you must be of it!" " He is," said Cecilia, laughing, " though lie is always grumbling because the rooms aren't lofty, and are sometimes damp." "Oh, they're not damp now," he said, falling into the trap. "Don't permit yourself to be alarmed, Miss Mordaunt. ■ lady Cecilia laughed. "f thought thai would nettle him," she said. "Yes, dear, we are;both proud of the Abbey. You see, Cecil has - not possessed it very long, though the Lisles have been there, for five centuries. * I think we " bought y it—i>r . stole-it, -was it, Cecil?— about 1100." V-

As the carriage drove up to the entrance, Lisle handed them out, and, passing through a lane of servants who looked and spoke their welcome to their young lord, they went into the hall. A fire was burning in a fire-place almost as large as a room, and its glow gave a cheerful aspect to tse walls of panelled oak, the big family pictures, and the effigies in armour which stood grimly beneath them. "And now I can say, 'Welcome to the Abbey!'" said Lisle. "And a cup of tea!" added Lady Cecilia, lightly and quickly, lest Stella should notice the scarcely-veiled passion in her brother's eyes; and she went to the table where the stately butler stood beside the costly tea equipage. A great deerhound, which had welcomed his master and mistress with affectionate but dignified dilght, came up to Stella and thrust his nose in her hand, and, bending over him, she was enabled to conceal the tears caused by the kindness of her friends and rescuers.

" Of course I'm dying to show you over the place," said Lisle; " but I'm not going to yield to the temptation. You must both rest until dinner time; I insist upon it! To-morrow morning we will make a round of inspection." "During which you will have to praise everything you see, whether you admire it or not, Stella," said Lady Cecilia. " Cecil is firmly convinced that there is no place in England, in the county, at any rate, to compare with the Abbey for beauty and antiquity!" Lisle laughed as he lit a cigarette. " Don't you believe that I'm such an idiot, Miss Mordaunt! If you admire the Abbey, you wait until you see some of the other places—Ratton Hall, for instance." "Well, we will wait!" said Cecilia. "Come along, Stella!" She linked her arm in that of her companion, and led Stella to the room set apart for her. It was one of the best in the old house, and Stella, its she looked round it, could only murmur her appreciation and admiration.

"It is beautiful!" she said, in a low voice; then, shyly and hurriedly, she added: "You are treating me as a guest, Lady Cecilia!" " Well, and aren't you?" retorted Cecilia, opening her blue eyes. "Oh, I forgot; you are my ' companion!' Oh, yes, that is all right; but, you see, I want my companion to be happy, and so I give* her a pleasant room—it is pleasant, isn't it, dear? Isn't that a lovely view?" She led Stella to the window. "My dear child, there are thirty or more bedrooms in the old place; why shouldn't you have one of the best? Now, you must lie down— is a tyrant in his way, and will be angry if we disobey him—and when you hear the dressing-bell ring a maid shall come to you." But Stella drew the line at this.

"No, no!" she said, with a laugh. "Please do not send her! I have never had a maid, and I should not know what to do with her."

" Oh, Susy will know what to do," said Lady Cecilia, easily. " Don't bother, there's a dear girl." When she was left alone, Stella sat down and looked round her like one in a dream. It seemed only the other day that she was running about the island like—like a boy, and here she was in an English mansion, surrounded by luxury, the guest of an English nobleman and his sister! It was so strange, so sudden a change that she felt confused; but Stella was not lacking in common sense and will power, and she resolved that the arrangement she had made with Lady Cecilia should be carried out.

She was a companion a dependant, and she could at least endeavour to earn the money with which she would make her way back to Rath. Meanwhile, Cecilia was lecturing her brother in his own room.

"You really must be careful, Cecil," she said, half laughingly. " The way in which you said ' Welcome to the Abbey,' the expression of your face, were too plain." " I know," he said, penitently. " I know I gave myself away. I could not help it. To sec her here, under my roof, see her with the innocent wonder in her lovely eves as she looked round— But she did ■not notice?" Ladv Cecilia shook her head thoughtfully. " No, she did not notice your tone and manner, Cecil. She is quite innocent and blind, at present. I wonder what it is that so completely occupies her mind, that keeps her so ignorant of your infatuation for her?" "Don't call it infatuation," lie said. "It is an ignoble word for such a love as mine. But I will be careful, Cis." " You must, i.f — you hope to win her," she said. "I have a feeling, a presentiment, that if she knew you loved her, she would—" " What?" "Tnko flight," said his sister, gravely; "so be cautious for my sake, for I have grown very fond of her, and I don't want to lose her."

"To lose her!" he echoed, with dismay. (To be continued on Saturday noxt.)