MY LADY'S KISS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 13722, 11 April 1908, Page 3 (Supplement)

MY LADY'S KISS.

PUBLISHED BY SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT.

BY NORMAN IXNES, Author of " The Surge of War." "Parson Croft." " The Lonely Guard," etc

-•». 1 — HISTORICAL ROMANCE.

[COPTKIGHT.] CHAPTER VT. THE IMrOSTOK. The Elst takes a horse-shoe course about the town of Neufels, and midway in its curve rises the castle-hill which falls in ter-raced-gardens towards the river where it is bounded by a low battlemcnted wall running between the East and West gates. Sunshine and shadow are ever at issue in these gardens, where broad walks, ablaze with flowers, lie open to the south, where alleys hedged with box and myrtle make mock of the summer's heat. In the sunlight, peacocks stmt and fountains splash, in the shade the ringdove coos; the Count's gardens in Neufels were famous, and the Count very proud of their wealth of blossom, their wide extent, and the ordered, gravelled terraces. Ignatz von Neufels had cause to be satisfied with the happenings of the day. Ho confessed as much within an hour of sunset as he walked upon one of the upper terraces with the lady of the Red House. They were a strange couple, the spare man of the sombre features and short dark beard and this lady whose beauty was famous through the Empire as her home was a byword in the city she graced with her presence. ; The Red House stood by the eastern gate of Neufels, a gloomy building with a great, yawning archway giving entrance to an inner court flanked by high walls, pierced but at rare intervals with narrow iron-barred windows. Built of red sandstone, its crumbling time-worn outlines, unrelieved by ornament whatsoever, caught the notice of the stranger so soon as he passed the gate-house a cheerless pile to outward appearance for all its great size, but life, it was rumoured, was gay enough within, thanks to the sprightly'lady who was its mistress. The fame of Cattara di Morini, of her wit and her beauty, was great in Neufels as it had been in a score of cities wherein the lady had sojourned, from Florence to Koln. Not that the burghers often set eyes on her; she was but rarely to be met with in the streets; and perhaps it was the very rarity of her appearances, the sudden and passing glimpse of a wealth of her dark hair, red lips, and deep proud eyes, of gems and silk, the breath of some costly perfume, that woke the rabble's curiosity. She was rich, nor we're her riches an idle rumour; the garnishing of her house and the horses in her stalls were evidence of the fact. She loved a horse as she loved a painting from the South, valued a hound as she valued a work of silversmith or sculptor. Whole days she would pass in the saddle, and nights as well; a journey Was nought to her, and journeys enough she made, nor cared a rush for the perilous etate of the highways, or the ruffians that scoured them. And folk came from far to the Red House as a rule after nightfall, and went again at earliest dawn, nor could the guard - at the east gate hazard a, guess at their business, though they had the count's word to give free passage to all who asked for the lady Cattara. *> She had come amongst, them some two years since from France, .from Italy, from Spain, so it was variously rumoured. 01 her life in the quiet township none could speak with certainty. Seme said she was no more than an Italian sorceress skilled in the mixing of potions and love-philtres, others that she was a pious dame of wide charity, others yet that she was one of whom some great one would be rid, and that the Red House was litti'e'better than her prison, this last rumour being wide of the mark, for Cattara di Morini went whither she listed.*. On two points alone could the gossips of -Neufels agree, hiei.' great beauty and the friendly intercourse between her and the ruler of the town. Few entered the Red House, but among them Ignatz of Neufels was one, fewwere welcome at the castle, but doors opened as if by magic to the knock of Mistress Cattara's page, the narrow wicket in the high wall between the palace gardens and those of the Red House to the key that hung at the lady's girdle. She hunted with the count, she supped with him and sung to him thereafter, and rumour grew and the burghers laughed while their wives tossed their chins and grew mighty disdainful at the mention of her name. Not that it mattered a whit to Mistress Cattara; she cared as much for the folk of Neuf el3 and their gossip as for the rats that squealed, behind the wainscot of her house. Save its lord, Captain St. Eux, and a few of the count's chief officers, she knew not a soul in the town. These to be sure paid I some court to the lady of them all it ! was St. Eux, who, to outward appearance, had least regard for her, while she had nought but cold looks and bitter speech for the captain of dragoons. Great ones envied the Count of Neufels bin guest, wrote honeyed letters to the lady, and cracked many "a coarse jest at their lucky rival's manner of living. But time brings its revenges, and the day hs i come when Ignatz von Neufela would have been rid of Mistress Cattara. Often had he cursed the hour when he had fallen beneath the woman's spell, a dozen times he had vowed to free himself, a dozen times he had faltered, and filtering had felt the yoke pressed heavier upon Hirn. For days ere he had sent St. Eux and his men on their rough mission ; to Kemmel he had dreaded the hour when he must tell her all that the needs of statecraft and policy had forced upon him. " So we have the old fox snared at last," he chuckled as he walked at the lady's side, his good fortune of the morning having banished, for the moment the matter he was so loath to touch on. " By the fiend. St. Eux's no .-fool, nor faintheart, either." His companion laughed softly. "There's little amiss with his heart," said she. " But as for his wit—" She paused, and stooping , picked a stone from the pathway to toss it over the balustrade. The count looked up in her face; he knew that there was no love lost between his companions and diets do St. Eux. "' He has served me well enough in the matter of Kemmel," he rejoined. "Do you hold the town then, my lord'/" demanded the woman. Jgnatß all bat smiled. " Nay. it were impossible, since every blade that we could muster went with him, and needs must that he and his company, should return with, all speed. Fortune stood our friend, for it seems Kemm«l was j*3 wkss Spfe^fi^i^

•. —"" ■""• ■"'■ ■— i"i, "TTT-r. —=^J...:■„■-. i8^an.,,.:,;.,;. ' • : '" ..'.' "■■.•- ■'" .. ■ ~-.; : "»: ■««:<:'>"& Ens had won the gate ere then? burgher* guessed hh bttsitifisi. " Thereafter he bo?* | himself craftily, outwitted the Frethert', : discovered that the younger "»oia ; Kenuu«&;.. : was on his road hither, and slipped-' »w*jr. J I with his men forthwith to reach the town:j in time to fed the boy in toy power. ' By..:' every saint in Paradise,';he'did well.'* -' ', The Lady : Cattara'* brows arched, i "I was tol& another tale," s&td'ahd cant. j least?. "They say St. EttX took jransotS for the town." | '* Not a florin." ' # ' " Kay. I said not a florin, sir count," r*»' joined the other. '-' ■ //-'/ ;-•■-.-:/ Yon Neufels shrugged his «ho«hkses, ; ! "Good mistress, your wit is beyond.■»». ■ Mean you that*—" __ ...,"- " She fronted him beside the felt-pond and : laughing in his face, caught up his words. "That you pin much faith to this Ossra* : - do St. Eux." Her companion's face hardened. »■-..,-. "He has ray trust so lons a* he eats my salt," said hit. ■- '-«*' The woman said nothing- but, seating herself upon the marble edge of the basin, looked the count in the eye? with the same/ incredulous m»j>. The kite* fexbtsp;Ignatz of Neufels eras jealous of his jtidg-.. meat. - "I trust my servant*, madam, and know. St. Eux; when I have done with him, I grudge no other his service-." -<.: -; '" But think, sir count, every man hag hi* price. Your neighbour's ooffers, they say., are deep." ■ -.- -.: - , v . ■;.-;- " Am 1 a boy to be Stood winked by ail adventurer from* France retorted the" man brusquely. " His ana is stout, his heart stouter, his wit shrewd enough; as for -hi* honour, 'tis no better nor worse than tittfa of others of hi.-* calling; ~ loyalty „ ; to, tho band that feeds them is the motto of t\»it trade." He paused for a moment. "Think} you he would betray roe to von Ke.mmel?" Cattara di Morini shrugged her should* ers, dabbling her hand in the water to th« terror of the frightened carp. "I know not," said she, "yet I ham beard » different tale of hit doings in Kern-., mel. St. Kux took ransom, so runs the tale." - ; ' She spoke coldly, calmly, though there was an evil light in her eye*. The man storied; all was very still ill the garden save for tho cooing of the, pigeons And that trickle of fulling water. . ' ■ -. "Not a florin, Cattara, I tell yon." The other's laughter rang discordant down the sunlit walk. "Nov, I have said it, not a florin but «§•■; kiss, Ignatz of Neufels." ■ . ... Tho woman's hints at ho treachery of hie servant Had not been without their effect upon the count's suspicious nature,. but; now he ootid afford to smile. That St. v Eux's treachery should have 'no more solid foundation than a kiss woke His amusement. "A kiss! Light of heaven!' Surely, dear • lady, one has mocked thee." Giera do St. j Eux: A kiss? The fancy moved him tw.: mirth. But his companion's face was set;' ;. " Kemmel none the- less was ransomed ny; ,1. kiss, my lord, duly paid to your servant, the Captain St. Eux.' ;.' The count lost his patience. *■'.. "Madam, there was no, question of ran* som, I tell you. My commands were that he should seize the town if fortune so favoured him, hold it- for a space, humble; the Froiherr, and thereafter make certain;;, proposals oil my behalf." ~v ,;,,// | "Yet my tale is true," rejoined Tho other; she "was laughing now, " Your officer took a kiss for the town; either Conrad von Kemmcl sets small store by lu« inheritance or the Lady von Reitth a, "featS price upon her kisses." "Yon Reuth'r" gasped the count-, swing- .'; ing round upon his companion. " Ertha von Reuth? What mean you, in th«; fiend's ; name?'* .''-.'■' Laughing merrily, the lady of tl» Bed House dropped her eyes to the water.,/ : ; "Is it not plain, my lord? The man ; held Kcmmel to ransom, and that this Mis* A tress Ertha von Reuth paid the price be- : yond doubt; there* i not a blade in tuej squadron but can back my words. "This St J Eux is ii man of taste, and" she had mark., ed the sudden pallor of the count's cheeks,; tho ravel of his brows—"ho is an exceed*, ing bold man to boot." ■ . '"" x . very white was von"Nerfels as ' he' Stood in the sunset glow. He bit his lip and clenched his hand* and stia&lecP oil the ,w>< man. . ' ■"'" ** ' "You tell me this, Cattara?** he stammered. " You dare tell me this? /And St- • Eux your lover." , , T For a moment the lady wo* taken aback, but in spite of the other's he&o her 'answer* was shrewd, ' ."," ■ .-. '■,;.'■.,.'•,: " St. Eux my lover?" she laughed; rvSip count, 'tin but idlerer gossip. " St. Ease is no more to me that the Freihevr, that?. you would have ma believe this lady of Kemmel in to yon," ''."" * The other looked up sharply, almost : guiltily. Had she spoken at hazard;' "nt was she mocking' him? Had she guessed what had been in his mind these many months past and now sought 'confirmation/ of her suspicions? His anger had mastered him; his black teeth grinned rage in ithe failing light. Fiercely he turned i upon the woman who had risen from he* : side the pond. ' :■'."/' '' " " -"""—■»*; "Of St. Eux I know nothing, nor of thee, and care e'en less. But , tlua I know" his voice was aWjuivcr, hi» ev*» full of menace" by the pit of hell; I'm.:; weary of St. Eux and of—" "Then, sir count, you would sup alone doubtless," answered Mistress Cattara,; and away she went along the gravelled.; terrace between the myrtles and the iwented box. Queen; of : those smiling garden* was she, with her proud eves and her wealth of dark hair, a .wrathful,'/resentful,' queen, yet one who could afford to smile as she took her way to the wicket that '.;■ gave entrance to her own house. . With full intent she-had drawn her bow, and the shaft had stung the man, wring- . ing confession of his purpose -/from his lips. The fcitdden paleness, ibo outburst of passion, had told their tale; she had : now assurance of that which she had long suspected. ,' - '.; ; ; : ' • ■ So this cold, liard-visaeed * schemer would find a wife, and for the sake of a powerful ally, of a. rich dowry, would wed >; the Freiliicrr'.H niece, discarding her, the fairest in the empire, for this pale beauty of the blue eyes and the brown,, hair, fit rather to flutter boys' hearts, to turn the* heads of old dotards, titan to wake the-/ life-service of a man. She knew the/ count well enough to haw foreseen this/ ending, knew that such was the way of-, those in high places, knew, too, that the v hope she had cherished in spite "of thia. knowledge had faded as do the h« - x pi, ■ those of her degree. Rub if hei -»<&rt> were scarce at ea«e she had at "least;- 'natfi. further ciuee for doubt. i; Away she went in her gown of; bind--satin, silhouetted against the eunset,' fair as any <«nnt of the empire could. hope to make his wife, and Ignatz von Nenfefs, realising his mi»take, cursed himself foil a fool and saw that he had been outwitted. He had betrayed, himself and his schemes, repented, and made haste to .repaid bis slip. . *;-.; a'/'. " Cattara," he cried, springing after, her.. "Stay, what has bewitched thee?" . She paused for a moment; she had trip-/ ped down the stops to the lower terrace lOt't beneath where lie stood, arid looked; backward with her hand upon the balustrade, where the roses yet clustered.' "Nay, my lord. What baa bewitched. you, rather? Folk live roughly in Neu-' fels, so they say, but a daughter of ths, Morini looks for fair ■speech from its ruler. •".' Aye, and for fair dealing, tsir count,'* she added, as the man stood silent halfway down the steps. Her face had hardened, her whole tearing Kpoko defiance for all the shimmer of her satins and tliir richness of the lace at wrists and throat. Ingatz von Neufels was feared in his Aw by high and low, but this Italian -' cared no more lor hint than for any charcoalburner in the fgrest. He could deal wilib>. men, men of pride and of birth, men of strength and of conning, but fronting the lady of the Red House he had to confess himself at a loss. Since she bad crossed his path two years before there had been no blinking her ever-increasing influence in the town and with its lord. For Cattara di Morini, besides heir beauty, had a wit of the keenest, and'in addition had friends scattered wide through the Haps-;; burg's dominions, men whose power; wast felt beyond their own borders, foJt who thought no scorn that a woman ■ should share their counsels. Princes, electors, had pledged those deep, clear eyes, that" shapely head poised on the ivory neck. t Many a one whose name still lingersi-oit';' Fame's breath had been proud that this- • lady should honour his house with her■;;'< beauty, that rait, triumphant beauty of the South, with its strength of feature and*. the pride* and fire of old Iconic -"'■■/" -■