A WOMAN'S SOUL.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLI, Issue 12545, 12 April 1904, Page 3

A WOMAN'S SOUL.

BY CHARLES VICE, Author of " Claire," " Her Heart's Desire," "Her Ransom," "Elaine," " Nell of Eliorne Mills," "A Coronet of ' Shame." " The Story of a Passion." etc. CHAPTER XX.—(Continued.) Spenser Churchill war about to answer in the negative, and dilate upon Doris' beauty, but he stopped himself and made a gesture of denial with his hands. By no means, my dear Percy. This I will say, that she is refined, accomplished, , amiable" " And quiet in single or doubleespecially doubleharness T' in sporting parlance, my dear Percy, that exactly describes my charming ward." The young man took a turn up and down the room, and then, resuming his old attitude. looked down upon the smooth face of the tempter with a curious and half-troubled regard. _ " You don't offer me a penny for my thoughts, Churchill, and so I'll just make you a present of them. 1 am wondering what—the—devil—you are going to gain in this business. Wait a moment. Yon come hare and otter this young girl to me—is she young, by the way?" Spenser Churchill nodded and smiled.

"To mca penniless man, without position or anything else, that makes a man eligible for a husband—" " You forget your youth and good looks your undoubted' talents, dear Percy," murmured -lie philanthropist. " A most undesirable match in even; way," wen on the other, taking no notice" of this interpolation. "Why do you do it? Of course, you have some game " My dear Percy !"' " Oh, nonsense. For heaven's sake, let us have no hypocrisy. You offer to sell this girl to me. with her fortune in the future what is the price I am to pay for it?" "If you insist upon putting it with such barbaric directness—"

"Yes, I do. I want the thing plain and distinct. I don't suppose it is for any love of ma that you come, as you say, to 'make my fortune "

"Not altogether; though I have always regarded you as a very dear friend, Percy." The young man made a movement of* impatience. "Yes, yes, I know! But you have some object in view ; what is it? You don't want me to believe that 1' am to give you nothing in return for a wealthy wife. What i- it?'* Spenser Churchill drew a paper from his pocket.

"Really it- is marvellously like Faust and Tilephhtopheles, isn't it?" " It that s a document I am to sign, it really is," assented Percy, with a grim smile. "Well. I shall want your signature, my dear Percy, but only in ordinary ink—only in ordinary ink." " What does it contain?" asked (he young fellow. " One moment before you tell me. If it is anything detrimentalanything that would interfere with the happiness of this young girl, you can put your precious paper back in your pocket and light your pipe with it." "Right, quite right; your caution does credit to your heart and" honour, my dear Percy," said Spenser Churchill. "I say nothing of the injustice you've done to me by your suspicion. I forgive you! In a word, this is a little bond by which you undertake three things. To marry the young lady when I shall request you, and not till thou; to keep the marriage secret until I give you permission to disclose it, and oil your wedding day to pay me ten thousand pounds, or give me a bond for that amount." "Is that all?" demanded Percy Levant, staring at him with knitted brows. "Yes; and I don't think the conditions over-hard. Consider, my dear Percy; I don't think you would have a chance of knowing who the young lady is without I tell you, you certainly haven't a chance of marrying her without my assistance. As to the secrecy of the affair—why, that is cot a great hardship: and for ten thousand pounds, believe me, my dear Percy, that it will be but a bagatelle to the man who shall marry my ward." I " She will be very rich, then?" ," Very rich." " How am I to know that this is not a trick of yours, my good Churchill?—that I may marry this protege of your, and wake up to find that it is 'beggar mated to beggar V"

Spenser Churchill nodded a smiling approval.

." A veiy proper question, very proper. If you will look over this bond you will see that the- payment of the ten thousand pounds is contingent upon the young lady's becoming possessed of at. least twenty thousand a year. Do me the favour of perusing it; it is very short and very simple." "And very sweet, said Percy, and he rapidly ran over he paper. " I see you have left- a blank where the young lady's name should go:" " Which I will fill in when you have signed."

"Ah ! How long will you give me to consider this extraordinary proposal of yours?" Exactly five minutes," said Spenser Churchill, blandly." "I cannot resist it!" he said, iu a low voice, whose tremor belied his faint smile. " You are rightmore right than you guess—when you said I was ambitious. lam sick and weary of this life of squalid drudgerv. I feel as if I would sell my soul — perhaps I am doing it!—to get out of it. Give me the paper and I'll sign it'!" Spenser Churchill spread it on the table, and Percy Levant snatched up a pen and wrote bis name.

"There!" he said, pushing it from him, folding his arms, and looking down at Spenser Churchill with an almost defiant light in his dark eyes. And now what next I am all attention! Who and where is my future bride, and wheu shall I see her?"

"Her name is Doris Marlowe,"- said Spenser Churchill, softly, writing the name in the blank left for the purpose as he spoke. She is at present acting as companion to Lady Despard and you will see her in p. day or two."

" Doris Marlowe!" repeated Percy Levant. " Doris Marlowe; it sounds pretty, but ' a rose by any other name,' etc. ; and she is acting as companion to Lady Despard, is she? And has no suspicion of the wealth that will be hers? Churchill, are you sure that this is not a fiction bom of your too fertile imagination?" " You will see in a day or two," said Spenser Churchill.

"It is really genuine? And what ir tat plan to be adopted? . You will, J suppose, introduce me as a prince travelling incog., a millionaire in embryo, a something brilliant enough to dazzle the eyes of the young lady and carry her fancy captive? If this to be the line?" The philanthropist shoo 1 his head with an indulgent smile. "No, my dear Percy; I'm free to admit that that "i« the kind of thing most men would do; b;:t I think that you and I are too wise, not to say too honourable, to adopt such a course of deception." Percy Levant laughed sardonically. " Pardon; I forgot that you were a man of high principle, and a light of Exeter Hall. Well, what will you do?" "I shall tell the truth," said Spenser Churchill, with a virtuous uplifting of the eyes. " I shall introduce you to Lady Desp"ard as a musical genius— are a genius, you know, my dear Percy! —struggling against the difficulties and obstacles insuperable to poverty and—er—that kind of thing. Lady Despard is never so happy as when she "is assisting struggling talent, and she will receive an roue whom I recommend; dear Lady Desp;f d ! The rest I leave to you. If you cannot fine 1 a way to Miss Marlowe's heart, then I will confess that I am very much mistaken in you." "Thanks foi your flattering opinion," said Percy, with a short bow. "1 will do my best—or my worst, which is it?" CHAPTER XXI. AS ART PATRON. "Dear me, how interesting!'' said Lady Despard. . , . , It was the third day after Dons arrival, and they were sitting at breakfast in a small room, beautifully -00l and shady, and furnished with an elaborate simplicity which, while it avoided all garish colour, was fresh and bright. ■ , Dori looked up from the softee cup she was filling from the great silver urn with a faint smile of curiosity. In three days she had learned all that there was ti> '.earn of

Lady Despard's character, and had grown to like her. As for her ladyship, she had already taken to the beautiful girl and her quaint, graceful-ways and sort, musical voice, and, twenty times in each of the days, had congratulated herself and blessed Mr. Spenser Churchill on having scut her such a treasure. .

" Really very interesting!" she repeated, turning over the note she was reading, and regarding it with a pensive smile. It is from our friend, Mr. Churchill, dear," she said; " one of his charming little letters. The good that man does i_a a quiet, unobtrusive way, is really astounding!" "What has he been doing now?" asked Doris, quietly. " Why, ho has written asking me to help him in assisting ft youne friend of his who has had a great deal of trouble and all that. He is a great musician—that is, he ought to i be great, knowbut ho is poor and friendless, and Mr. Churchill wants me to take him by the hand. He says that I have such immense influence in the arts and musical world that 1 can do anything. Of course that's nonsense; that is only his nice way of putting it. But there's the note. Just read it out, dear." Doris took the letter and read it. Charmingly worded as was the epistle, Doris, as she read it, felt a strange and vaguely indefinite want of faith in it; an incredulity for which she at once took herselt to task, as she reminded herself that Mr. Churchill was only doing for the young man that which he had done for her.

"It is a nic* letter," she said, handing it back. " Shall you ask him. Lady Despard?" "Well, yes. dear; I think so," said her ladyship. " 1 don't know that I can do much for the young man ; you see, we go to Florence in a week's time. 1 might give a concert, and so introduce him to the musical people; but I daresay Mr. Churchill has a plan ready is always so systematic. I wonder what the young man is like? Percy Levant is the name, isn't it? Sounds Greek, doesn't it? I hope he isn't a foreigner; they generally smell so of tobacco, and it's so dreadfully difficult- to understand them, and they are not always presentable. Just write a lino and tell Mr. Churchill to bring him to dinner to-night! 1 —doubtfully—" that we'd better not have anybody 1" "In case this genius should eat with his knife," said Doris, with a laugh: and pre sently she rose and, going to a davenport, wrote the required note. Lady Despard, with her head on one side, watched her with pensive admiration. " How lovely you look in that pose, dear," sliC'said. " You certainly have the loveliest profile! And how quickly and—and easily you write! It takes me no end of a time to get my sentences together, and the spelling—l suppose you can spell like a- dictionary ?" Not quite so well," said Doris, with a smile "but, fortunately, there aren't manv words of ten syllables required for this note, 1 ' and siio handed it for Lady Despard's inspection, but her ladyship extended both hands with a gesture of refusal. "No, dear; I don't want to see it, and won't! 1 can trust to your taste and discretion, and shouldn't think of being so rude and presumiug as to read it! I'm sure it's even-thing that's nice!"

Doris laughed again. "You are not very hard to please, Lady Despard," she said, with a little Hush. " I should be, if I were not pleased with you. you little snake charmer," responded her ladyship, leaning over her and gently pulling the tiny, shell-like ear. And now let's go for a drive 1 I want you to get some roses in those pule cheeks of yours. I think you are looking better already, do you know?" " I should be very ungrateful if! were not," said Doris. " But hadn't I better tell the butler that these two gentlemen are coming to dinner?"

" I declare you think of everything!" exclaimed her ladyship. '' You must have been wonderfully trained, Doris!"

Doris gave the butler the necessary information. Although she had only been three days in the house, Lady Despard had almost handed over the management of it to her. and the servants had commenced to look to her for their orders. It was a strange change from her old life of dependence and excitement, but it. was a change which Doris found very grateful: the quiet of tho magnificently-appointed house gave her a sense of repose which she needed greatly, and but for the memory of her loss of Jeffrey, but for the dull, aching pain which smote her heart- whenever she thought of the man who had stolen her heart in Barton meadows, and tossed it almost contemptuously back to her, she could have been happy. All day long she strove to put the memory of Cecil Neville away from her, but it haunted her sleeping and waking, and a great, dread assailed her that all her life she should strive for forgetfuluess and find it:- not. As they drove in the park she leaned back in the carriage, and—lost to all sense of the crowded drive and the long lines of pedestrians, nearly all of whom plucked off their hats to the well-known Lady Despard—let her mind wander back to Barton meadows. She did not observe that she attracted as much attention as pretty Lady Despard herself, and woke with a start when her ladyship. with an arch little laugh, said: '"I never got so much notice before! I wonder why it is. Can you guess, Doris?" "T! No," said Doris, innocently. "Really, no"' Well, for a really pretty girl I think you are the most modest I have ever met, my dear." Doris laughed and drew farther back. "There!" exclaimed her ladyship. "I've put my foot, in it again ! Never mind, dear, we'll go home now; I'm tired of bowing; besides, it's scarcely fair for me to do all, when half ought to be your share." (To be continued daily.)