A LOVE DREAM.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLII, Issue 13050, 15 December 1905, Page 3

A LOVE DREAM.

■ ■■■■■■■' 'BY OWEN MASTERS, Author of "For Love of Marjorie,'*i" Her Soldier lover," r '.' Nina's - Repentance," ; ' I "The Mystery. of Woodcraft,".-;„-.. etc., etc., etc. ' ■ ...

v ~ CHAPTER Vll.—(Continued.) • " Then Miss Clovelley has evidently a little good taste," retorted Ivor. He jumped up andvpaced. the floor. "It's a -ticklish job, but I'm ready for S%, It's no joke. you. know, for a girl to v*i kmieti out of , what she has- so long ; considered her 'own, and penniless at that. lii any event, I hall make provision for her." ' ; : ,-"Not out..of my share,." Waltp?. interrupted., ,' '

i "'.' It's a pretty big slice you're, taking," the other, answered darkly, " but I haven't asked you for any of it yet, If my cousin, Rachel ; Clovelley, "■.> will \ marry ,mo I '{am ready . at any moment,.; I have pfearner ;twice only, and think her 00.2 of the finest women that walk : thy 'earth, I've made careful inquiries, and she has never been, known to have i lover."

'■" Excellent said Dick Wa'on. " Now, if ,my wife will, only fall in wit.'i my views, what a happy family we shall be!" He slapped- his companion on the shoulder. "Genius at times lurks in strange Blades, and you may pave the;, way to an'easy success. Brothers-in-law, Ivor, and brothers in—" He paused/: adding, with a laugh, " Can you guess the wind? , No? Well, old chap, go and see your cousin,^ and may fortune favour you!" , :' ;v "After lunch,'' Ivor sailsbriefly. :■ Two hours later he set out for Clovelley Park, after making an exceedingly careful toilet. He. wished to impress bis cousin favourably,.and he was not-by any means a. bad-looking fellow. That heavy jaw of his spoiled an otherwise handsome face, and his- stupid laugh betrayed a very, ordinary mind. ' < "I used to think Dick Walton a decent fellow," he thought, as he strode along, witll knitted brows, "but I am getting to dislike him heartily. • I don't want to back out qf my bargain isn't me but I know I've been 'done.' I was hard up in New York when those papers came telling me who I really was, and I couldn't raise a cent, till I met him. He made me believe that thousands of pounds would be required to establish my claim. Dash it! I can't stand his cold-blooded style, .I'd like to divide equally with my cousin, aid not with him.",/-"'.' v .

He was rather winded when he reached the top of the hill, and rested at the gates of the south lodge. He had been leading an idle life for the past few months and was not in good condition. , "I might have hired a carriage,'' he muttered. "I'm all hot and dusty."' A few minutes more and he was being interviewed and cross-questioned by a butler. "I wish to see Miss Clovelley—Miss Rachel Clovelley," he said wrath fully. - " Yes, sir, but 1 must take in your name." '*My name doesn't signify." i The butler smiled,"as only butlers can. "What is your business, sir?" .•-" "Oh. dash it, my man. I haven't got a card with me. You tell Miss Rachel Clovellev that her cousin, Ivor Clovellev. has called, and wishes to see her. Now, hurry up The butler was duly impressed, but he honed that he was talking to a maniac. Ivor was shown into a reception-room, and waited with ai wildly beating heart for Rachel Clovelley. How would "she greet' him? And what was he to say? ■■ All at once lie was conscious that the door had opened, and that Miss ) Clovelley was standing before him. ■■. ; j '; v ■',-■■■ . ' CHAPTER VIII. ■ : i , :':.; • THE iCOTSINS. " i £ Ivor i Clovelley rose, from his ■ seat,- and made an awkward bow. He felt for a moment that he was,in the presence of an angel, a vision of transcendent amiability and beauty. .■ • ~;. , '•■ ;/: / ' .- n ,p lam your cousin. Miss -Clovelley,"-"said he, flushing and stammering; . "the. only son of Ivor Clovelley, who died long years since.' I'm sorry to give you trouble" "Pray be seated," Rachel interrupted, coldly. Her face was very pale. Then she add ed faintly: " I never, heard that my uncle had been married." ■ ,

"I, knew "nothing of.';the : real circumstances myself until a few months back. I thought that my name was Carter, and that my parents were shopkeepers in a Staffordshire village; and yet I've wondered 'why they made a gentleman of me, with nothing to keep it up. I've been to Rugby, 'you know, and have knocked about the world a bit." He Was regaining his confidence. " And I 'should like to settle down now, without putting you to amy inconvenience."

'•• " One minute," Rachel whispered. " Let mo realise what this means. You are my uncle's son, and therefore legally the heir to everything he left?" , "I suppose so, but his will was in your favour."

" Valueless in the circumstances. Your father believed you to be dead. You have only to produce and Ican go.'' • . ' * ■*■"-- , " No, no, Miss Clovelley. I won't have it like —not by long chalks— mean," he added, blushing, " not upon my account. I'm no cad. Will you be so good as to sit down and listen? "I'm not bad-hearted or selfish."

He spoke appealingly, and Rachel was glad to drop into the nearest chair. Her limbs 'were trembling under her.

'. "The proofs are all here," Ivor Clovelley continued, tapping his "marriage certificate, photographs, and letters. Then there are the people who 'brought me up, and my another is on hand somewhere, but 'I don't feel very loving toward her: she deserted me when I was a baby, and that's unnatural. The story runs like this, Miss Clovelley. When a young man, my father married a showy-looking barmaid, but he was always ashamed of Iter, and she only married him to be a lady. Disappointed in this, she left him one fine day. It's an ugly story. After that my father sent me. to some tradespeople in Staffordshire, to bring up as their own. and paid them raither liberally, so I understand. The good souls became fond of me, and. to make sure that I should not be taken away from them, my death was reported to Mr. Clovelley. No doubt he was glad of it. Then he disappeared, aiiid the old people have only just discovered that he inherited the Sussex property. Now, as they have practically brought themselves to beggary making a gentleman of me, it's only right 1" should do something for them."- I He looked rather wistfully at Rachel, adding: t " It sha'n't make much difference to you. I'd rather jump into the well, among the pines, than see you suffer!" . "It is rather sudden," Rachel faltered, " and yet I was half prepared. Your friend"—her lip curled involuntarily—"Mr. Walton, has been here." "Hum I" Ivor Clovelley gritted his teeth, and his free darkened with passion. Ho had forg.rftan Richard Walton. He jumped up, and turned his face to the window to hide his hatred. ■ Rachel rose also. "I will send for Mr. Lester, tho family lawyer," she said, " and——arrangements shall be made to give you immediate possession, Mr. Clovelley. You will let him see the papers—the proofs" "•;■■ "Here they are"he flung ai packet upon the table"and you can destroy them if you like. I came to Laleland intending to | lake all I could get, but, since I've seen you, i I'm—l'mgoing to dividebut not with J Dick Walton, nor with my shameless '< mother either. Walton lent me a few! pounds, and it was an unlucky day when I met the ' scoundrel. You see, I knew . nothing about business, amd ■ law, and I was penniless in New York. We chummed together, and I told him about this, and he said it would take thou- I sands to establish my chum—thousands of pounds, not dollars. He stuck tight to me,and offered to finance me on conditions.. Like ft fool, I agreed, and all the money he had was about £250 "I don't think this has anything to do with-me.' Mr. Clovelley," Rachel said. gently. " I am sorry if I have treated yovi coldlr. We are cousins, and should bit friends, but I will not consent to:touch a shilling of what ii rightfully yours. . T have been a good steward, and a great deal oi

!D-,.. / lias accumulated at the■ bankers/ , Mr, 'tester .was',considering how this should {be inverted; but now, of course, the mat-.' I ter is out of our hands." ' ...^>; l "Let it rest, please," Ivor pleaded. "I'm going ito call at Mr. Lester's place. 3 We've not had 'time''•■ to '■ properly discuss anything yet."" He smiled cheerfully into ..her .face. "I'm not v a daylight robber, nor ■"' a<, robber of any sort. I'm only % poor devil, who has been a sort of . ;aa:i.lo&>iv-d«in the battledore of fate, fro>; lie :* ii .-ni 7. was born.. I already like "yen, VAn: C^ov', I ':y, and it wouldn't^ take ka<& to love. —as we are relations,:- you know—and nobody shall co.me between us and our transactions. i I'm going now. ') Shall I: call to-morrow, j and stay to tea with you and your sister, and have a stroll over the place.'". " It is your right, Mr. Clovelley." " Right': be hanged .'Excuse my coarseness: v I've.'been - among J a rough ■■ lot, •-■ and unconsciously; picked up slang, but I will be more careful in future." He.clinched his hands .: viciously. :'i > "It's a. shame,: fa calamity,"that your sister is the -.wife-of Dick Walton. " That's the difficulty— that other marriage. ' She , must; be far j different from you! ...- Well,-I'll see the'lawyer,' and' report .to-morrow." :"v ' - * He held out his hand, and, -when" it touched Rachel's, -the blood rushed through his veins.like molten fire. •■■■■■;■-:■.- " Good-bye for the .present, Miss Rachel. If my mother should call here, - annoying you, just let me know. I've stood her oft' so far, but she fancies she has a big claim upon me. I think otherwise. Of, course, I'll provide for her. She's married again— to a publican this time, in business in a small way; but I've never seen the man." He went away in a very uncertain mood. He could not analyse his feelings. He only knew that lie admired and loved Rachel Clovelley, and that be hated and feared Richard Walton. - Once he stopped and looked back at the house. Fully 40 windows were Hashing like jewels in the suri; the terraces were rilled With glowing flowers, and the air was heavy with sweet odours. He walked through the leafy colonnade of trees, and his thoughts were of hatred and love. " I will not submit to Walton's rascality he muttered. "He is a human leper; misery everywhere follows his pestilential presence; From this day lam a changed man. Hitherto I have only cared for an easy life, and for money badgered the man I believed to be my father. I can't think why he let me live in poverty for so long. Poor old souls! they hated to lose me, but now they: shall be my first care." He went straight to Mr. Lester's office in the High-street, and. the old lawyer listened to his story almost despairingly. " This is ' very hard, on' Miss Rachel Clovelley," said fie, sighing. ' His keen eyes • were searching the young man's face ; then they wandered over the tall, well-knit form. " Perhaps you don't know, sir, that I, as Mr. Ivor Clovelley's representative, attended your funeral some six or seven and twenty years since? .'A child certainly was buried, and your name is on the gravestone. : I once suggested that the remains should, be brought to Laleland, but your father would not hear of it. He wanted no scandal here, on account of his niece. Mr. and Mrs. Carter should be punished severely for this deception." , .'"■: " I hope you don't doubt me," Ivor said, doggedly ; " and, as for the,old folks, they have been very good to me in one way. They didn't hear anything about Mr. Clovelley's accession to wealth until recently,and even then they wouldn't have owned up but for their poverty. And I've got no trade either, and was. in low, water, j Mr. Lester ' " I don't doubt you, sir; you are the image of your father, but I wish that you had died when a child. You have no business to be resurrected in this way! ■'■ Of course, the whole thing hasi to be cleared up now, and I should like the name of your legal adviser." ■ "I have none," Ivor :laughed.', Can you act for me? What's the good of the business leaving you ? It's all in the family,: and I'm going to divide with Miss Clovelley." . ■' ■ ,:'■-'- ' ,' , He flushed, and Mr. Lester wondered why. The lawyer considered for, a minute; then he answered: /-V . < ■• "You are a remarkable young man, Mr. Clovelley!" ' ■ ; . They were closeted together for an hour after- this, and Mr. Lester became the recipient of all Ivor's confidences. Moreover, the lawyer advanced. him a sum of money to go on with. ' ' • ; " I like you," said he, finally, " for several, reasons. You wish to be generous toward Miss Clovelley, and generous to your fosterparents, although, in my opinion, they have done you a. great wrong. As for Richard Walton, he is a, scoundrel, and perhaps 1 had better deal with him. Anyway, we will let matters'; rest until tomorrow. •'• Will you call here at eleven, o'clock in the morning, Mr. .Clovelley?" Ivor promised that he .would. ." And I should strongly advise you to break with Walton. You can come to my house as a guest, if you like." "I accept with pleasure. Fact is, I am half afraid of Walton., I owe him about £200— says,£2so—and am quite willing to give him a" couple of'thousand to get rid of him. Do you think quite honourable?" ,< ' • „..*.. . '„, .-•-;; "Honourable! I call it insanity.^ " But remember what he expects!. Mr. Lester made an impatient movement. Well, it's your money, not mine. Good day Air. Clovelley." Then ho added, " Mrs. Lester and I will be glad to welcome you at any time." . - , (To be continued daily.)