THE SCALES OF JUSTICE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 13355, 8 December 1906, Page 3 (Supplement)

THE SCALES OF JUSTICE.

BY FRED. M. WHITE. Am-or of ""■■The'.' Nether Millstone. "The Comer House." "The Slave of Sil'iice." ' Craven Fortune." etc., etc

[COPYRIGHT.]

CHAPTER XXlX.—(Continued.) "SYBIL Told' me that,"' Flora whispered. "Oh, I cannot say how glad I am.' And Sybil spoke so nicely about it, too. She is a good girl, George.'' •' .Yes*, J hope that she will have a. good husband some day. There is one man who

has waited faithfully lor a long time, only Card row came along and the old love vanished. But it is early days to talk about that. So long a* you are satisfied with me'' "Ot course 1 am," Flora said. "I have always been. Did I not know from the very* first, thai you ivwe the victim of a hideous mistake? Did 1 not deem you innocent, when all the world was against you? And now i am going to have my reward." " And 1 am going to have mv reward also, dearest." Flora looked up at the frosty sky and then down at the brown, dead leaves at

I her feet. She was not in the least embarrassed—a pure joy shone in her eyes. " Yes," she said simply. " When you said that you '.loved me my heart told mo that 1 loved you in return. I did not know till you spoke, '. and then it seemed to me as if the whole thing had been arranged long ago. I love you, George. I could not say more than that- if 1 had the most eloquent tongue in the world at my command." She head out her two hands to him. and lie took her in his arms and kissed her lips. They had forgotten the world and all its troubles in that blissful moment. It was some time before they came out into the high road again, where they parted without • arriving ■■-■ at any decision as to what they had better do in the case of Winifred. As George -took his way back in the direction of-Grange Court he found himself face to face with one of the Virginians'. The latter paused and addressed George with a certain old-world politeness. His face , was grave and set; there was a. grim expression about the mouth that denoted j "trouble for somebody. i " You will excuse me. Captain Drum- ; mond,' 1 he said, "'but may I have a lew words with you? My name is Deiameie. , 1 am staying for the present at the Moat. House.'' ! '; "With .your brother." George said. ; "What, can'] do for you?" ' "Well, in the first place, 1 may'.ask you a few questions. You were at Brecklaod I'odge last night, at the residence, of Mrs. i i>unlop-Gordon. Mrs. Dualop-Gordou, Ira*

another name, but perhaps you may not.be aware of that." . •

"If you mean Madame Regnier, I may say that the name is no new one to me.''

"Very good," Delamere smiled. "I see you know a gtetii deal. To be candid. I am having the house yonder watched, and that is why I knew that you were there last night. I presume your visit there had something to do with the man who calls himself Captain Cardrew. It is surprising what a number of our acquaintances seem to have two names, is it not? Did you see anything of the young lady called Winifred Cawdor?"

George staggered before the question. He was disposed to say nothing. Delamere seemed to understand what was passing in his mind.

"I see I shall hare to be still move frank with you," he said. M The young lady I am speaking of i* known generally as Miss Winifred Cawdor. The paternity of Miss Mary Cawdor I do not question —that shebonestly deems Miss Winifred to he her sister is obvious. But that is not our point of view or belief. We regard Miss Winifred as Bernard Beard's child." '"In which I am sure you are absolutely wrong,", said George, recalling vividly the storv that Marston had told to Gilbert Doyle of the borrowing of the Cawdor child to save the worthless husband of Ada Delamere. " Beard has deceived you. He is deceiving you still, so as to save his neck from your vengeance." " So we begin to believe," Delamere went on. " But that man would battle the cleverest lawyer that ever lived. We begin to have our doubts, and just at the moment when the truth is likely to come to light Miss Winifred vanishes." Her disappearance is so convenient to Beard that we had our suspicions. We did not quite believe in the suicide business. It would pay Beard to get Miss Winifred out of the way for a time. He must have her somewhere near. Where, then, a more convenient place than the residence of his old associate. Madame Regnier? When we saw you there last night it occurred to us that you had a hand in the mystery, but a few questions have dissipated that idea. Did you see anything?" "Before I answer that question I am going to speak plainly to you," George said. " I know why you are here; I know what you came for. " , I deeply sympathise with your prejudices, and can imagine your anger and grief over the way that scoundrel Beard treated your sister. But vengeaence is no more yours than it is mine or any other man's - . In my eyes you are no more than a pair of cold-blooded murderers. When I think how you are planning and scheming this thing," you have nursed your wrath to keep it warm all these years, I have hardly the patience to stand here and talk to you. ' Vengeance is Mine,' God says, ' I will repay.' Oh, it is such a cowardly thing!" "You are wrong," Delamere said, without the slightest emotion. " Nor is it possible for you to look at things from our point, of view. What we came originally for does not matter. I may say that Beard's skin is safe so far as we are concerned. We have discovered how the land lies; we have thought of a way to strike Beard a blowthat will be worse than death, whether his story is true or not. And now, can you tell me anything of Winifred Cawdor?" " I can," George replied. " I believe your word as to Beard. I saw Miss Winifred last night quite by accident. She is detained at Breckland Lodge."

CHAPTER XXX. THE AP.MS OF HER LOVER.

The Virginian bowed and thanked George warmly. He hinted that he was going to take the matter into his own hands, and George could see no objection to that course. Let the strangers fight Beard in their own way. At any rate, that would prevent Beard from rinding out that his own household were conspiring against him in this matter. " You have met me very fairly," Delamere said. " And I have to thank you sincerely. Whether Beard's story is true or not matters very little. We shall find a way to prove it or disprove it. Meanwhile, the circumstance had better be forgotten. lam walking to Breckland Lodge now. The poor girl is pretty well at the end of her troubles." It was still early when the Virginian arrived at Breckland Lodge, and Mrs. Dun-lop-Gordon was not yet ready to receive visitors, to which Delamere responded coolly that he was prepared to wait. He pushed his way into the house and seated himself in the drawing-room. An hour passed, but he gave no sign of impatience. His dogged, resolute face never changed ; it was as still and sphinx-like us Madame Regnier came into the room, resplendent in lace and blue satin. She swept a kind of half-mocking curtsey to her visitor. " Really, lam honoured!" she cried. " This is twice that you, have come here in a few hours. Is there anything I can do for you. David Delamere?" " Yes, you can do a great deal for me, Madame Regnier," the other responded. "For instance, you can tell the truth. I have no doubt that the effort will be a trying one, but a clever woman like you might easily accomplish a more difficult'task than that.'"

The woman laughed as she settled herself in a chair. It was no use to pose before a man who was thoroughly acquainted with her chequered past. "You were always candid," she said. "What can I do for you this time?" " You can tell me where to find Winifred Cawdor. She wax brought here at dusk last night in charge of a nurse, and I expect you had the nurse waiting for her. She was sent here by Dr. Beard, with instructions that her presence in the house was to be kept secret. I want to take the girl away with me." t

" And if I say that you are entirely mistaken, David Delamere?"

• "Then 1 should be under the painful necessity of disbelieving what, you said. We know that the child came here yesterday; she was seen here last night. What is the. use of trying to lie to me in this manner? Falsehoods will do you no good whatever." "Softly, softly."'Madame Puguier laughed. "There is nothing to be gained by his heat. I have not yet said that Winifred Cawdor has not l>ee'it in this house. But I am going to ask you to'believo that she is not in the house now."

" You mean that you sent her away when I came, guqssing'my errand?" " Nothing of the kind. ' I never expected to find that you knew so much. To be candid, it was rather a shock to learn that you had followed our movements so closelv. But Winifred Cawdor" is • not in the house now. She has vanished."

"You mean to say that she has run awav?"

" You can put it that way it you please. She passed a very bad night, so the nurse said, and did not sleep at all. I should say that the poor girl was subject to tHese bad night?. The nurse knew nothing of liei- charge, not even her name. She thought that she had come to look after a relative of mine whose intellect was weak. She came to me at nine o'clock today, and said that her charge was sleeping peacefully at last. She asked if she could go_ to the village, and, of course, I said '.Yes.' When she. came back the patient had vanished. Nobody saw her leave the i house; nobody knows where she. has gone." j The woman was obviously speaking the j truth. Delamere was not going till he had . seen the nurse, and he said so.

The nurse came in, upset and anxious; there was no kind of collusion. Her replies to Delamere's questions were frank and plain. She had deemed her patient to De safe for some hours, and now she had vanished, taking with her nothing but a shabby old jewel-case which she seemed to prize much as a child cherishes a rag doll in preference to more expensive toys. The little jewel-case was locked, and the key had been lost. It contained nothing so far- as the nurse knew.

"Oh, she has not been spirited'away and robbed of any valuables!" Delamere exclaimed. "You said just now that she asked for her sister a .great deal. Obviously she has gone to seek her sister. I have no doubt that the police will find her in the course of the day." Delamere spoke calmly, but with an irritating sense of failure upon him. He wondered if Winifred had found her way back to the Moat House. But that Mas hardly to be expected in her weak state of intellect and her slight knowledge of the locality. By the time that Delamere had reached the Moat House he had made up his mind what to do. The plan was arranged after a short discussion with his brother. He made his way to the library, where Beard was busy: writing something in the way of a reward bill for the. recovery of the body of Winifred Cawdor. Delamere reached over and took the paper from Beard's hands, and tore it into fragments.

" I fancy there will be no need for your literary skill." he said drily- ';" I : suppose nothing about the missing girl has been ascertained in my absence?" "Nothing is likely to tome to light," Beard said, gloomily. "We shall never seethe child again.*' " Oh, yes, we shall." Detainer* responded. "It is merely a matter of time. If I had been a couple of hours earlier in my call at Breckland Lodge I should have brought the young lady back with me. Unfortunately'. Fate was too strong for me in that direction." (To be continued on Wednesday next)