LOVE, THE TYRANT.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXVII, Issue 11520, 3 November 1900, Page 3 (Supplement)

LOVE, THE TYRANT.

BY CHARLES GARVIGE, Author of "The Shadow of Her Life." "A Heritage of Hate," " Nell of Shorse Mills. "Heart for Heart," "By Devious .Ways," " Just A Girl," " On Love a Altar," " Queen Kate." " The Out aftst of the Family," "She Trusted Him." "Once in a, Life," " Better Than Life, Etc., Etc.. Etc.. SYNOPSIS. CHAPTER I.—The story opens in an AusItalian shepherd's hut. where live one known £?& Gordon. sick and dying of consumption and Arthur Burton, an assumed name, but heir of Sir John Vancourt's estate, wealth, and title. Arthur returned one evening and brought a letter disclosing his Identity, and urging his return to England. Jack, alter a sleep, read a, paragraph in a newspaper Arthur brought with him, which Stated that Sir John Vancourfs heir was supposed to be dead, and in that case the wealth was left to a sister of Jack's, who was really a Vancourt, The hut was attacked by robbers, and Jack was shot while trying to defend Arthur from the robbers. The police appear on the scene, and finding the letter of identification. Arthur stated that the deceased was Sir John Vancourt, and that his (Arthur's) name was Jack Gordon. Arthur told the police this little fib to enable Jack's eister, Esther Vancourt, to become the heir of the deceased baronet's wealth. CHAPTER ll.—This chapter introduces the reader to English scenes, where Esthw and other ladies arc associated at Vancourt Towers. Arthur appears on the roadside there as a tramp accompanied by his Australian clog, Bob. The dog is lame, having got a thorn in his foot the previous day. and the whole was not removed. While trying to extract the remaining portion, Esther Vancourt cams through a gate, was attracted to the dog, and spoke to hie owner. Site took him for a tramp, but his reply showed him to be a man of culture and refinement. Failing to get the thorn out. she directed him to go to the Lodge and get Borne water and a needle to extract the thorn. CHAPTERS 111. and IV.—Jack Gordon calls »t the lodge, obtains what is needful, makes the acquaintance of littlo Nettie, the keeper's daughter, and was again on the high road, when he has to stop a runaway horse attached to a cart driven by Martin, the lodgekeeper, to prevent a collision with Miss Vancourt's pony-jingle. As a result, Martin has a broken leg, and being in want of a foreman, offers the place to Jack, who reluctantly accepts. Miss Vancourt and her aunt Miss Worcester, then return to the manorhouse, where they find awaiting them a Mr. Eelby Layton. CHAPTER V. Mr. Layton* stood, hat in hand, waiting With a smile for the introduction. " This is Mr. Selby Layton, Esther," said Miss Worcester, nervously. Mr. Layton bowed, but Esther held out her hand. We are very glad to see you, Mr. Layton," she said, "and you must be vviy gl;>d to see us. I'm afraid you thought you were not going to get any dinner to-day. I am sory we are so late ; but we have had a chap—a whole volumeof accidents" " Please don't apologise," he said in a peculiarly soft voice which had something caressing in it. " 1 only arrived a short time ago, and I was afraid that it was I who would be late." Miss Worcester drew a breath of relief.

" So nice of you to say so," she murmured ; " and we will not keep you a moment longer than we can —will we, Esther?" "I do hope you will not hurry," he responded, with almost unnecessary earnestness. "The short time I have waited has been so pleasantly passed looking at the glorious view from the terrace and admiring the front of this grand old place." Now, he could not have hit upon a shorter cut to Esther's favour, for she was already proud of the Towers, and praise of it was sweet in her shell-like ears. So she smiled at him for the first time, and Selby Layton felt that he had said the right thing. "We will be very quick," said Esther. "Will you go into the drawingroom, or would you rather wait here?" They had reached the terrace by this time. " Oh, here, please, if I may," he said, ■ Boftlv. Esther ran up the stairs, followed more slowlv and sedately by Miss Worcester, and ' Selby Layton looked after her before he ' turned back to the terrace. As he did so the smile faded from his face, his well-cut lips drew together thoughtfully, and his eyes grew sharp. " She's more than pretty; she beautiful will be verv much so. A charming girl; but no fool, my dear Selby. There's a look in those grey" eves which—l—altogether like. I shall have to go slow and cantiouslv — cautiously. What a place it is !" He "looked round him slowly with a new expression in his eyes ; the expression against which the commandment "Thou shalt not covet," is especially applicable. " And all in the hands of a girl—a girl who was only a few weeks ago giving music-lessons to tradesmen's daughters! The old man's will was worse than wicked: it was absurd. What could I not have done with this '. Well, who knows? It is not too late !' He stroked his fair and carefully cultivated moustache with a hand as white and slim and as small as a woman's, and, lighting a cigarette, leant his elbows on the rail and smoked thoughtfully. _ In her eagerness for her seeming neglect of him, Miss Worcester was dressed nrst, and she went to Esther's door and knocked Esther knew the nervous, timid Knock, ana said: " Come in !" . The maid had gone down for a flower lor Esther. .„ , -J .. Q^^r " Readv alreadv, aunt?" she said. sorry to keep you waiting: and it's my fault, not Marie's." You see, I'm not used to a maid, and, as Marie savs, I don't 'keep quiet, If I'd stand like a wooden image or a dressblock she would get me dressed ever so much sooner. Poor Marie, I'm afraid I try her dreadfully." , „ ~ "Yes mv dear, I daresay you do, said Miss Worcester. "What— Jo you think of Mr. Layton, Esther?" I'm afraid I haven't thought mucn about him. aunt." responded Esther. "He seems very gentlemanly— I hate that word! It's nearly as bad as ' respectable, and if he wouldn't smile quite so much and hadnt guite so soft a voice—" " Mv dear Esther! I am sure he has an cxceedinglv pleasant smile, not to say sweet, and his voice is very—refined— " Our double refined oil,'" murmured Esther, quoting from the grocers advertiseme3 iVnd he has been exceedingly kind. He is the only one of the family who has taken the least notice of us! All me lest have been most unfriendly." Not unnaturally," remarked Esther Indeed, it was not unnatural that the vancourts should be "unfriendly" to the young girl who had " stepped into" the vast estates and fortune of Sir Richard. H was not a large family, and all the members w.re only remote relations. But they had flocked to the funeral in the hope of receiving some crumbs from the dead rich man s table and had gone away bitterly disappointed. That Sir Richard should leave everything to his nephew. Sir John, was bad enough, but that this nephew having died out in Australia the whole should go to a. girl as distantly connected as the others was infinitely worse. Some of them had maintained a sullen silence, others had threatened to upset the will-much to Messrs. Floss and Floss' amusement-but only one had extended the hand of friendship to the hen-ess. This one was Mr. Selby Layton. He was a " thirty-second cousin," or something of the sort/to Sir Richard, and had come down to the funeral with so little'expectation of deriving any benefit from the will that he was not in the least disappointed. But whereas the rest had departed shaking the dust of the Towers from their feet he had gone away cheerfully if thoughtfully, and had written a letter of congratulation to Esther, and had even called at the little, house in the dreary, dingy street. in which Esther and Miss Worcester lived. Esther had been out teaching at the time, and had not had the pleasure of seeing Mr. Selby Layton; but Miss Worcester had seen him" and been very much impressed by his good looks, his pleasant manner, and more than all by his charming smile and sweet voice. , . , It was she who had suggested that he should be asked to pay them a visit, and Esther had at once complied; and the more readily by reason of Mr. Selby Layton being one of the relations left out in the cold. She felt so much pity for them that she was anxious to do something for them, ana would have been quite willing to share, say, half Sir Richard's. money with them; but Mr. Floss, the senior partner of the firm, had his own ideas on that project, and nipped it in the bud. But the desire still remained ■vith Esther; and while her aunt was sing-

ing the praises of Mr. Selby Layton, Esther was asking herself whether that gentleman might not he able to help her in the matter. " And I am sure he is very good-natured," said Miss Worcester. "There he is on the terrace smoking a cigarette quite contentedly, though we are dreadfully late, and men do so hate being kept without their dinner. Don't you think he has a very distinguished appearance, Esther?" Esther went to the window as she put the finishing touch to her toilette, and looked down at the gentleman lounging not ungracefully on the terrace below. " Y-es, I suppose he has," she said, absently; then she flushed with a tinge of shame, for she had caught herself comparing the elegant figure of Mr. Layton with that of the young man who had stopped the runaway mare. " And he looked so clever. But I suppose all barristers are clever," remarked Miss Worcester.

" I suppose so," said Esther "it's their only excuse. I don't like lawyers, aunt, since I've seen something of them." . "But I don't think he practises," sail Miss Worcester; "in fact, I think I remember his saying so. I do hope you'll like him, my dear." " Why, of course," assented Esther. "What a lovely spray, Marie! How did you manage to get it? Mr. Gibson"— Gibson was the gardener, retained at a tremendous salary to grow flowers which he guarded jealously from the attacks of even his mistress—"is so reluctant to cut his flowers." Marie hid a smile. " I tolcl him that they were for yourself, miss," she &aid, " for you to wear, and I coaxed him into letting me choose them." Esther smiled. "I must thank him to-morrow morning when I go into the greenhouse." "Thank him for your own flowers, Esther!" exclaimed Miss Worcester. "Well, they're mine, I suppose never feel quite sure; but lam sure that Gibson considers them his. Anyway, he grows them."

Marie fixed the spray of delicate white blossoms in Esther's dress, and looked at her young mistress with approval and admiration, for the graceful figure in the soft folds of black net, which threw up the clear pallor of the beautiful face and the deep grey of tne eyes, ma die an exquisite picture of girlish loveliness. " All my warpaint on, Marie? Well, then, we'll go down and face our natural foe— Man," said Esther, smiling. Mr. Lavton was awaiting them in the drawing-room, and Palmer, the butler, with a more-in-sorrow-than-in-anger air, at once announced dinner. Mr. Lavton gave his arm to Miss Worcester, and Esther followed them into the dining-room. The daylight was beginning to wane, and the candles "had been lit, and the soft light fell pleasantly on the handsome room, with its rich but subdued decorations, and upon the magnificent plate and glass for which the Towers was as famous as for its pictures and collection of bric-a-brac. Esther, at the head of the oval table, was rather silent and absent-minded, and left most of the talking to Miss Worcester, but Mr. Selby Layton was quite at his ease, and conversed pleasantly and with that slow fluencv which obtains in good society. Every" now and then he glanced at the young girl, and at every glance his admiration increased. There was something impressive in the calm serenity of the violet eyes, an impressiveness which was deepened by the sudden animation with which she roused from her abstraction and joined in the conversation when it touched on a subject which interested her. Palmer and his two footmen waited with perfectly trained assiduity, and the dinner, notwithstanding its postponement, was an admirable one. When the dessert had appeared, and the servants departed, Esther woke up to the duties of a hostess. " Would you line port or claret, Mr. Layton?" she said. "There are both herel'll pass them; and presently you will want to smoke, won't you? All men smoke after their meals, don't they? There is a billiard and smoking-room at the end of the hall; but you won't care to sit there in solitude. Please smoke your cigarette here. We will wait until you have lighted your cigarette, because wo like the scent of it>.«

cibn't we, auntie?" Another man might have protested that ho didn't want to smoke; but Selby Layton was too clever for such a banality, and he took out his silver cigarette-case presently. Esther lingered for a minute or two, then rose. " You will find vour way to the drawingroom, Mr. Layton? But please don't hurry. Enjoy your cigarette." When he had opened the door for them, and returned to his place, Selby Lavton leant back and smoked in serene enjoyment; but he was very thoughtful as his eyes wandered round the magnificent room and rested on the pictures and the plate, the bronzes and the antique glass. "Yes, she's lovely," he murmured, and a lady. Strange how she manages to look and speak as if she'd been used to all this from her birth! Scarcely spoke to me through dinner, and wasn't even listening half the time. Wonder what she was thinking of? The old lady will be easy enough —soft as putty— the girl—! I've got my work cut out for me. Anyhow, I've got a fair start. There can't be anyone else, yet —and— , He did not finish the sentence, but turned his head and surveyed his reflection in the great mirror on the wall at his side. Esther went straight to the piano and began to play softly and dreamily, so softly that Miss Worcester could "talk through the music. „ " Remarkablv pleasant he seems, Esther, she said, taking up the knitting with which Esther had been familiar since she was a, child. "' He is a barrister, and he doesn't practise. I think he has a small income of his own. And he moves in very good society. Did you hear him mention Lady Blankyre.' "No; I wasn't listening all the time," said Esther, absently. How sternly, almost roughly that young' man, " the tramp," had ordered her to stand away from the mare— "I was thinking about something else." "You are so dreamy, my dear Esther," saw Miss Worcester, with gentle rebuke; "I remember I used to call your attention to that failing as a child. He lives in rooms in Claremont-street, May Fair, and 'ie is fond of music and——art generally. I think he is a highly-cultivated young man." "Is he?" said Esther. How quietly "the tramp" had spoken to his dog. Perhaps, if she, Esther, had been a dog he wouldn't have spoken so roughly to her? " Yes, oh, remarkably so. And did you notice his hands, Esther'" "I'm afraid I didn't, aunt." " They are really beautiful hands; almost like a woman's." " Don't think I like small hands in a man —sign of weakness. Anyway, it's poaching on our preserves, aunt!" "Nonsense, Esther! And he really is very kind and thoughtful. He has been making inquiries about the young baronet, poor Sir John" . Esther stopped her playing, and looked round with sudden interest. "Yes? Why did he do that? What has he discovered?" "Discovered? Nothing more than we know; but you can ask him. Here he comes. Now, would he like a liqueur with his coffee, or not, Esther? I've heard that men like a liqueur Esther shrugged her shoulders. " Then I daresay Palmer has given it to him." . She turned as Selby Layton came in with the slow self-possession of a man who is conscious of his grace and his good looks. " v 0 u have found out something about my cousin—is he my cousin—Sir John Vancourt, Mr. Layton?" she said, with her characteristic directness. He went to the piano and leant against it, his legs crossed, his head bent, with a mixture of ease and respect. " I have been mating some inquiries," he said; " but I have discovered little that is newvery little beyond what is already known. Sir Johnhe is your cousin, but ever so many times removedcertainly died in Australia. He was shot by bushrangers, and was discovered immediately after his deathhis murderby the police, who identified him and supplied Messrs. Floss and Floss, the lawyers, with the information and proof." . Esther bent over the piano and touched the keys softly. " Poor fellow!" she said in a low voice. " To lose his life just as it had become worth living!" , , , .• n Mr. Layton looked down sympathetically, then his lip twisted; and Esther, who was quick-eyed, looked at him inquiringly. ! " Don't you think so?" she asked.. I Selby Laytoa semed to hesitate&

"He was very ill with fever the police said—when he was shot, and would not, in all probability, have lived., I am afraid he had lived rather a wild life." Esther's fingers stopped as if she were interested. " How do you know that?" she asked. "I met a man who had been out in the same parts, and had heard of Sir John Arthur Burton, as he called himself— my informant told me that Arthur Burton was one of the maddest of the mad, that all sorts of stories were told of him. A sort of desperado, I gathered. He had for companion' chum,' they call it—a man as reckless and wild as himself. I suppose it was the man who was with him when he was killed." "What was his —this 'chum' of Arthur Burton's— is so difficult to remember that he was Sir John Vancourt," Esther said, thoughtfully. , "I don't know," replied Selby Layton. "My informant—the man who told me all this— not know his name; and strange to say, the police, in their information, failed to get it. Either they did not know it or they had forgotten it." " What became of him— other man?" asked Esther, musingly. "I should like to see him, to hear all about Sir John." Selby shrugged his shoulders. He disappeared rather suddenly, and could not be found, though the police wanted his evidence in the case. They searched for him, but could not trace him. I imagine it is easy for a man to hide himself out there; there are plenty of persons willing to aid him in escaping, disappearing." Esther's brows came together. " Why should he want to disappear—escape?" she murmured, more to herself than to Mr. Layton. He smiled and shrugged his shoulders again. " No doubt he had sufficient reasons," he said. " But he is of no importance —" —"He was Sir John's friend and companion—was present at his (death," said Esther in a low voice. "Ah, yes,.yes; just so!' murmured Mr. Layton, sympathetically. "I know that there was plenty of proof of Sir John's death without the missing man's evidence. There is no Question as to your right of possession, Miss Vancourt."

"No; I'm afraid not," said Esther, with a sigh. "Is that all you heard, Mr. Layton?''

' That is all," he said, after a moment's paise, as if he were thinking. " I thought you would like to hear it." "Thank you, yes. lam greatly obliged to you. I wonder whether I could ask you to add to the obligation?' She looked up at him with sweet gravity, and Selby Layton's eyes sparkled. There was nothing he desired more than to, place the heiress of Vancourt Towers under a real or supposed obligation to him. "I should be greatly honoured and greatly pleased if I could be of the slightest service to you, Miss Vancourt," he said with just the proper amount of eagerness. Esther hesitated a moment or two, touching the keys too softly to produce any sound. *' As you know, Mr. Layton," she said at last, and with a faint touch of colour in her face, "I have inherited got — wholeeverything that was Sir Richard's the land, and the house, and the money."

" Yes," he said, simply. " And lam sure it could not have fallen into better hands." " And I think it could scarcely have fallen (into worse!" said Esther, flushing. "A young girl, unaccustomed to wealth— But we won't, argue that; you would stick to your assertion for the sake of politeness what I wanted to say was, that I wanted to share some of the money with the other relations." Mr. Layton inclined his head. "All distant ones," ho murmured, "so remote that there is actually no one to succeed to the baronetcy, and it is therefore extinct." " They are not more remote than I am," said Esther, " and they have a right to feel disappointed and neglected. Now, I want —to make it up to them a little.' " Yes, yes," he murmured. " The lawyer, Mr. Floss" — Won't hear of it," she said, " and I' she laughed" am terribly afraid of that old man.'

Mr. Layton smiled. " He is rather fearsome," he admitted. Esther laughed again. " He has a way of knitting his brows and saying 'Tut, tut!' which fills my soul with awe. He knit his brows very much, and said 'Tut, tut!' four distinct times when I told him what I wanted to do. He said I was too young, that I had no right to play the part of a female Quixote, and, in short, browbeat me. But I have a large income, have I not?" " Very ; one might, without exaggerating, call it "immense," said Mr. Selby Layton, with a soft smile, but suppressing a sigh of envy. "Very well, then : why shouldn't I devote half of it to—to the others who were left nothing?" Mr. Selby Layton was filled with horror at the idea, for to"him such a proposal seemed absolutely wicked. " If vou could afford it," he said, thoughtfully. " ~ " Afford it! —just now you said my income was immense," remarked Esther. Ah, yes; but so also is the estate, and it will take a large sum of money to keep it going." Esther sighed and laughed with a touch of impatience. "You are almost as bad as Mr. Floss! she exclaimed. " Oh, not quite, I hope," he said, with his sweet smile. "I was merely suggesting that a half is a large amountpossibly too large." " Well, then, a third, a quarter — 1 can afford!" said Esther, impatiently. "I thought you would help me to do this without Mr. "Floss knowing anything about it. I suppose I can spend this money how I please, if I keep up the estate properly?" "Certainly!" he said. "And I shall be more than glad to help you. Need I say that I am also proud of your confidence, Miss Vancourt?" His voice was as soft as tho note of a flute, and he bent forward with a smile sweeter than ever.

Esther nodded. . "It's very good of you. I am afraid it will give you a great deal of trouble —I haven't realised yet how much, for the idea has only just come into my head. But I thought" you- would be able to find out which of them were in need of—of money, assistance—you know them, perhaps; I don't, you see." ~ " I am ashamed to say I don't," he said. " I have lived apart, they are so scattered— But I will find out, and make a list, on one condition, Miss Vancourt." "What is that?" asked Esther, looking up quickly. " That you except one person. "Yes?"' she said, curiously. "Who is that?" ; " Selby Layton," he said in a low voice. Esther coloured. " What must you think of me? It was as if I hau been offering you money!" she said, quickly. " But I didn't even know that you were poor." He laughed with an admirable assumption of frankness. " I am as poor as the proverbial church mouse," he said, lightly. " I trust lam also honest, but certainly I am proud. So exclude Selby Layton from the list: that is agreed?" Esther inclined her head. She did not know what to say. There was silence for a moment or two. Then she looked up. " This must be a secret between us, please, Mr. Layton. Ido not wish anyone to know of my idea." She glanced at Miss Worcester, nodding over her knitting, and Selby Layton, with inward exultation, bowed. " Yes, yes; I quite understand," he murmured. "You may trust me. I think I know exactly what you want: To benefit those of the family who need assistance without letting them know from whence it comes." Esther nodded. •That is it exactly!" she said, quickly, and in as low a voice. "I am very grateful to you, Mr. Layton." "The gratitude is on my side— your trust and confidence in me," he said, very sweetly. Esther threw her head back with an air of relief. "Do you care for music?" she asked. If so, I will play to you. lam afraid you will find it very dull and slow here." . She did not wait for him to protest, but began to play. He went to a chair and leant back, and begged her to play again ; and she was about to do so when she said, as if she had suddenly thought of itjj

" Perhaps you play or sing? Pray do so, if you do." , ~ 11iT He shrugged his shoulders apologetically, and hesitated, but got up at last and went to the piano. ' " ... , There were many persons who disused., not to say hated, Mr. Selby Layton; hut no one had ever possessed the temerity to deny that he was a musician. Esther had moved away from the piano, expecting the kind of performance on the piano which men generally treat us to; but as Selby Layton struck the first chords of an accompaniment she turned her her.d with a sharp and sudden surprise and interest ; and as the song progressed her eyes began to deepen to a violet hue; for the man not only had an exquisite voice but played and sang like an artist. And with Esther music was a passion. Miss Worcester, roused and startled, raised her eyebrows and whispered: " My dear Esther, what a beautiful voice!" But Esther paid no heed. The " beautiful voice" was holding her in thrall. The notes were rich and liquid and the phrasing perfect. Mr. Selby Layton at, and away from, the piano were two different persons. The colour stole into Esther's face, her eyelids dropped, and her bosom heaved slowly, and every fibre of her being responded to the flood of melody which floated, now soft and tender, now deep and solemn, through the large room. Mr. Selby Layton appearedappeared quite unconscious of the effect he was producing, and sang quite easily, looking before him as if he were trying to remember the words of the song, and as if he were doing the most natural thing in the world. When the exquisite notes of the finale had) died away Esther went straight up to the piano. " Why didn't vou say you sang like—like a Sims "Beeves she said. Selby Layton looked up at her with the sweet smile and a little air of surprise. " It's a good thing Sims Reeves can't hear you, Miss Vancourt. He'd be almost as shocked as I am," he said. " But I'm glad you liked the song," he added as he rose. "Don't think of getting up!" she said, almost imperiously. " You ought to be chained to a piano." " Rather like a monkey," he retorted, with a pleasant laugh; but he resumed his sei", and sang again. This time it was just a simple ballad ; but what a ballad Mr. Selby Layton made of it! The tears were not far from Esther's eyes as she listened. " You'd make a fortune on the stage," she said in her abrupt fashion. He smileu a modest repudiation. " Oh, no; I assure you not! There are thousands of better voices." Esther shook her hea<... "I know, I"with mock consequence— "taught music, you know.' Ho was hunting amongst the music and held up a song. "Will you do me the great favour?"' But Esther shook her head. " I'd rather not." He turned over the music again and found a duet. "Then, will you sing this with me.' he asked, very sweetly. Esther shrugged! her shoulders and went reluctantly to the piano. Tho duet went well, but Esther noticed that Mr. Selby Layton artfully—in the literal sense of the word —subordinated his voice to hers throughout the whole of it. '"You are nursing me," she said, laughing. " No, I won't sing again; I think I'm tired." Miss Worcester rose and rolled up her knitting. " You know your room, Mr. Layton. I hope everything is comfortable." * Ho bowed and accompanied them to the hall, and Esther pointed to the door of the billiard-room. " You will find there the things tho soul of a man loveth before he goes to bed, Mr. Layton," she said, as she wished him good night. Mr. Selby Layton held the small, warm hand, and would have liked to press it, but there was something in the calm gaze of the lovely grey eyes which checked him. But he went off to the billiard-room very well pleased with himself; and as ho mixed a glass of soda and whisky, and lit one of the choice Savannas which Sir Richard had left, with the rest of his worldly goods, to Miss Esther Vancourt, he smiled complacently. " Not bad for ono night. I'm in her confidence and charged with a secret mission ; and my voice did its little part. Not\bad by any means. How beautiful she is! I've always had a fancy for a good-looking wife. This girl satisfies my artistic sense." He looked round the room critically. " All very good, excepting tho frieze; I should alter that!"

When Esther had almost driven her aunt out of her room, she stood in a dressinggown before the glass humming softly the notes of Mr. Selby Lay ton's ballad, and thinking of the scheme' for benefiting Sir Richard's poor relations; but suddenly her mind switched off, and with a start she remembered the stalwart young man of whom she had seen so much that day. She went to the window and drew the curtain back a little and looked out. She could see the roof of the home farm quite plainly in the moonlight, and she stood and looked at it dreamily for a minute or two; then, with a sudden gesture of impatience, she let the curtain fall back to its place and turned away, as if she were annoyed at herself for thinking of him. But when she had fallen asleep, the tall figure, the tanned face, the deep musical voice with its masterful tone, haunted her in her dreams.

(To be continued.)