BY THE LIGHT OF LOVE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 13435, 13 March 1907, Page 10

BY THE LIGHT OF LOVE.

[PUBLISHED BY SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT.]

BY ARTHUR W. MAECHMONT, ; » Attthor of *' By Eight of Sword," " For Love : or Crown." "In the Name of a Woman,"

"The Greatest Gift," etc.

[ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.]

CHAPTER XXVI. THE PLOT SUCCEEDS.

' ' " Sir Ughtred'jj visit had, in . fact, , been fully planned by Mrs. Freshfield, who had been making a somewhat elaborate little plot. She had withheld from Eleanor the fact that it was Sir Ughtred who had really been instrumental in saving her life, and had kept him waiting on in London. She had written to him to come to Alderbury, and' now, as *• soon as she explained that it was Sir Ughtred who had rescued Eleanor, she hurried out of the room. "Have I really to thank:you for having rescued me?" asked Eleanor. "I have so wondered who that mysterious visitor was." , "I was the mysterious visitor, it is true. IJf I was leaving England early the next day, and could not go without seeing you to thank you in person for all your kindness at Gorliam. Well, on that day 1 did not reach London until nearly ten o'clock, in fact. But as my passage was booked, I . risked conventionalities and drove to your flat. Anxious not to miss you I questioned Martha, and she told me you had gone to Mayne's Court after that most wonderful woman-child had been for you. Then I hunted, her up, and.she told me where you k were." ;■&•■';■? '", ' " Little Polly Jenkins, you mean the little mother 1 call her." < > " Yes, a most wonderful child; and what ... she said alarmed me. I knew that those men, Cavita and Breschia, were dangerous men—" ..-,'-'.

' "I remember"you surprised mo before by telling me that.- How did you know it?" interposed Eleanor. Sir Ughtred smiled. " Very simply indeed. I. am the owner of about ball the land on which Mayne'e Court stands, and I " ""learnt that the place, was a nest of foreign suspects, with that scoundrel Breschia, the signer, at their head." ' ■' ' " Now I understand," said Eleanor) smil- * ing. ' . ;■:." '■:•' ' \, H i "Well, what the child said determined ■*me to call at the house for you. I saw angeio, the glass-blower, as they called him, and ho admitted you had been, but gone. He took me upstairs to show that his wife was alone, and that you were not there. My suspicions were confirmed, however, and that child in some way ferreted out the truth, and we were going to the house when we found it in flames. We got m, rescued the woman upstairs, and she told us /to break into the cellars. Thank heaven, you were saved. Nothing else matters." /-• _ "How can I thank you?" said Eleanor, fc . who had listened to the briefly-told recital ",, with quickened breath. > , .ii ..... "By saying ;no more about it. I did nothing to call for any great thanks. Itwas more .than enough reward that, under * heaven's guidance, x was able to save ■ you and Mr. Mordaunt. lam glad to .bring you good news of him, too. He is recovering fast. I saw him this morning. The shock was, in his case, very serious, and he gave me a graphic description of the awful peril througti which you two passed. , He has . resigned the living of St. ..'Alpha, and has accepted a chaplaincy on the Continent. He gave me this letter for _ you." , . „ : '. <: '"' ..'. .». .. ,■ .■■ • Y>"Elaanor took the letter and laid it un-

opened on her' lap, and the sight of the handwriting and dread of the contents made her< tremble. ',

'-;;..;."I. am afraid I am not so strong as I »• thought," -she- said, rather faintly; and she leant back, looking so white that Sir T Ughtred -sentfor Mrs. Freshfield. v . i But Eleanor made an effort, and had ral-

lied when her aunt came hurrying in. 'It's nothing serious, really. I was foolish ►*i» and gave way. Sir Ughtred was telling me the story of the rescue, and I was frightened, 1 suppose, or something, and for the moment felt a little faint." ''*'.. "Then I kawv Sir Ughtred will excuse me if I suggest in an invalid's interest that he comes \ again to-morrow," said Mrs. Freshfield. • ■; ,;■■■:.-■:■■>■■;,■'■' ;■.:■' :■'■ ',- " I—l think have said everything, ex- - cept that I have not yet thanked Sir Ughm tred sufficiently," said Eleanor, hesitating- ; ly. ' "But I do thank you, Sir Ughtred, earnestly. Words "are' such poor things to express gratitude for'the saving of one's V 'life.*'. And so you are going; abroad. Well, then, ; good-oye," aid she held out her . .r, band. .■•'..'"': "■-■'.--. .... ;..-.- -.;,■, "But I have some further news for you about iVlayne's Court matters, and i people * that I think will interest you," he said, smiling. "And, if you will let me, I will come again to-morrow." -. v ; " Certainly,;, Sir % Ughtred," said Mrs. Freshiield, % promptly. And before • Eleanor could say anything against the arrangement he had left. " Why did you make a secret of the fact V. that it was Sir.: Ughtred Gorham who rescued me, Aunt Gertrude?" •. . •," I knew ■■- you'd ask that very awkward , question, child, and really I have no an- _ swer to it that will quite satisfy you.'' • " You. misled him alse into believing that I wished to see him to thank him, and in this way kept hhn from going away." " Yes,' my dear, I know I did, and I ", think he is very much obliged to me. If '*'he isn't *he ought to be, and so ought you, Eleanor. You do ; make such a muddle of

some of your : affairs that it's quite time .. someone helped you," declared Mrs. FreshI field, jsententiously. „. ~ ? <,„ '•Eleanor smiled. "You might have made j matters very awkward for both of us, I, think." • './■'. "A little embarrassment is sometimes a

capital preface to a better understanding. And I am resolved that you and he shall understand one another." .'■' "I think I ought to be very angry." -«.,-.,! "I don't in . the,least mind if you are, my dear. It's an anger that wouldn't last long, or I'm no judge of things." '»>.<.* Bat' I'm 1 , not angry." X.',:- , Mrs. Freslifield smiled. She was'satisfied with her little plot. Eleanor opened her letter when she was upstairs in her room alone, and her ner- \ vousness as to the contents was so great that she kept dallying with it -sven then, afraid to break the sea!. Would Mr. Mordaunt claim the fulfilment of the halfpromise? If so, what should she do to get out af it? Then it occurred to her that it was incongruous he should have chosen such a messenger as Sir Ughtred , for a letter of that kind and the thought made her heart quicken its beat as she tore open the envelope and commenced to read the, letter. "My dear Miss Temple," it began, and these first four weeks evoked a sigh of relief .

"My Dear Miss Temple, letter: comes to you by the hand of our mutual friend and rescuer, Sir Ughtred Gorham. You will have heard that but for him, his courage, shrewdness, and determination we should never have escaped the death which loomed so perilously near to us on that night Df our awful experiences. By the" blessing of the Almighty he was the chosen messenger for our rescue, and my gratitude to him is too great foi expression. "He will bring you the news of me. I am better in health, but my nervous system is so broken down that not for years, even if ever, could I again face the cares, work, and responsibilities of a populous London parish. I am going to the Continent, the bishop having most kindlv found for me a chaplaincy to which 1 can exchange from here. ~I start in abotit a week Vr fortnight, if I have strength. ' "If I do not ask to see you before I go will you pardon roe? I can see what your future should and, I hope, will be. In the long hours of my illness I have been reviewing tho past, ind i see that we were , not destined to come together as man and wife. I see . how at times I pressed you against your judgment in order to satisfy I the". strong feelings which possessed me ; and I see also how great and grave, might -■■ have been the f Injury -to our future real happiness had you not proved stroager in resistance than I in insistence. Under -; ; these circumstances you will not deem me .J unjust or wrong-doing iif ■', I urge you to • ( consider yourself 're: from all kind -of bond pr pledge to me*,' tacit or 'expressed..'

" I have but one word to add. After you left the vicarage Sir Ughtred Gorliam came to me- constantly and proved a kind; friend, a true helper, and an earnest Christian yes," an earnest Christian, thanks to God. If you take the course which I believe and hope you will take in the near future, which I know he desires, and to which there can be now no possible obstacle, I pray that, the blessing of God* will rest upon you both, and that you may have a full share of that happiness which should be the portion of the pure in heart, the doer of good, and the sympathetic Christian.— Ever your sincere friend and well-wisher, Stephen Mordaunt. ; * -

"P.S.— Ughtred Gorham knows of the general purport of this letter." The letter rilled Eleanor with intense and almost affectionate pity for the writer. She read in it the evidences jf Mr Mordaunt's acute distress and disappointment alike at his shattered hopes and broken life. At ft stroke everything was'changed. His health .was broken, his work stopped, the marriage recognised as impracticable, and lie himself about to go into a strange land, solitary and companionless. The chastening hand of Providence had fallen heavily indeed upon him. When Sir Ughtred came Eleanor saw him -alone, and as his eyes fell on the letter which lay outspread on her lap she caught the half-eager,, half-smiling glance of his eyes, and smiled in return. Poor Mordaunt!" he said, compassionately. " You can scarcely think how completely he is broken. T never saw a man so changed. The shock very nearly unhinged his mind ; but Dr. Ferguson thinks that a year or two's rest in the quiet atmosphere of 'i Continental town will almost entirely build him up again." "I trust with all my heart he will find both health and happiness," said Eleanor, earnestly. "But you must have a thought or two for your people in St. Alpha. Without either you or Mr. Mordaunt some of them may feel deserted. I have thought of one family, at any rate, and have already done one little stroke. I have brought that Jenkins family down to Alderbury, and put them in a cottage, and have given the man a chance to earn his living.. That extraordinary child, the little mother, is already ' setting down , : nto a most energetic villager, and has considerably astonished the people round about her by her marvellous precocity. Had "t not been for her that night we should have been too late to rescue you, you know, and her future must, therefore, be our care."

Eleanor started and looked up quickly at the word "our," and then smiled.

My care, you mean," she said. "Yes, your :are, I should have said that is, while lam away. I shall be away some months, but when I come back I hope to share the responsibility. W can talk of it then." It was very quietly spoken, but the tone and the look said more than the words; and Eleanor understood.

"Yes, we can talk of it then," she said after a pause, meeting his gaze frankly. "That if a pledge," he answered, in the same restrained tone; and then both sat for a time silent but understanding. "I am very glad you have brought them down here; and while you are away I shall go back for a while to the flat and cany out the plans I have to help some others who deserve to be helped. Where are you going, and when?" "Almost directly, I think. It is better so. 'I was going to the Cape and Australia, but they seem so far away now. I don't know that I shall have the pluck to go so far and stop so long." "It will best on all accounts, I think," said Eleanor.

"But how am I to know how matters are. going on here at home?" asked Sir Ughtred. "I should think it would be quite possible to find someone who would write to you occasionally," she answered, smiling. Occasionally?" ' ! "Well, on regular occasions, then." They both smiled then.

. "Do you think you could find someone, or, failing to find anyone else, would you undertake it?" . .

"I always make it a rule to answer letters,'"' she said. ; " Then that is an understanding," declared Sir Ughtred; "and, relying upon it, I will try to keep away." As ..arrived at that agreement Mrs. Freshfield came into the room, and when Sir Ughtred and she had shaken hands Eleanor said: ' '

"Sir Ughtred is going to Australia, Aunt Gertrude. '

"To Australia!" cried Mrs. Freshfield, in surprise, as she glanced from one to the other, and saw them both smiling and evidently happy. " Why, what on earth for?" /

" I think I am going as a concession to the Alderbury gossips," he said. He, is coming back, however, in six months."

And that will be to satisfy ourselves," he replied, "and as-a concession" "Shall we say to, Aunt Gertrude?" interposed Eleanor, quickly. Airs. Freshfield smiled ari*u kissed her, understanding everything. "Six months is.a long time to hold one's tongue," she said. ■'• - "There is nothing to tell," cried Eleanor, with a happy blush. "Not yet," corrected' Sir Ughtred. But there was a good deal to' tell some months later, and when Alderbury heard it there was the customary discussion and canvassing and tea-table chatter, with a general agreement that perhaps, after all, it was the best solution of what had been once a tangled problem. . V .'■'-' [The End.]