LASSIE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVI, Issue 14208, 3 November 1909, Page 10

LASSIE.

' PUBLISHED BY SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT.. ' v .V>' • , '

BY HELEN MATHERS, Author of "Comin' Thro' the Bye", Lady Malincourt, Cherry «#* **. Lady Greensleevea," • Gay Lawless, Etc., Etc.

[OOFTEICIHT.3

CHAPTER XLIX. lesbia victrix.

Ltjtrer had wanted to go hot-foot to I.,sbi> and denounce her, but Coulter with difficulty restrained him. J^ ere w * s °° case against her unless Roddy died. I the evening a letter came from Eugenia to James, requesting, himto cpmo Luther LatreiUe to Hans Place on the following morning at- eleven. The hour was business-like, the summons curt, to a degree, and Coulter at once signified his own and Luther's acceptance ot it On the doorstep in Han« Place, they me Alvanlev, to James Coulter's surprise. He had no" idea what line Alvanley meant to take, nor was lie quite sure of his own; as to Luther, his sledge-hammer methods might safely be bet on, oven if they were not likely "to avail much against Lesbia s linefse. v _ But the moment they filed into the room, ■ike three Inquisitors, as Coulter's sense of humour suggested, Eugenia took control of the situation, and set the pace to a merry tune, as Luther afterwards ruefully admitted. That Lesbia was present, lolling in an -chair, and smoking a .cigarette as if to show her supreme contempt for her company, did not seem to matter; it was the girl who, erect, vibrant, controlled, dominated all present. " Gentlemen," she said, "as I have no father or brother, and in the absence of Colonel Stratton, who decline* to mix himself up in our affairs, I have called you together to correct your impression that 1 was instrumental in the poisoning of you, Lord Alvanley," she turned towards him, "or of Roderick St. Leven," she included James and Luther in her glance, "-and I challenge you to produce your proofs that I did so." ; , , . In her white cambric " waist" and plain serge-skirt, she looked at that moment an extremely pretty and very angry girl, but the oddest thingwas that in the mere way she pronounced Roddy's name, Coulter realised that in the wound to her vanity, the affront offered by Lassie before the whole world, her love 'for him had died utterly, and she now positively loathed him. " There was the marron, you know," blurted out Alvanley. " I did not believe your mother when she said you gave it me." Eugenia's eyes flashed. "When you told me that Lady Stratton had invented that lie because she was de-

tcrmined at any cost to break off our engagement. and I laughed at the clumsiness of her spite, as did you, it is only by the light of recent events that I know she must herself have placed itprepared— the cup of coffee she handed you, at the same moment distracting attention by pretending to burn iier arm."

"I really did, ,my good girl," drawled Lesbia, flicking off lie ashes of her cigarette; "both Gifford and Coulter saw the scar."

, Luther flushedif the scene-developed into a mere vulgar wrangle of assertion and ■ contradiction between the two women, each " blackguarding the other, it would be hor-' ,> rible beyond expression. . . . • "Who saw the. marron on the " saucer when I handed the cup to Alvanley?" contiuued Lesbia coolly; " did ? you?" She turned to Coulter, but he did not look at her, and made no reply. .ii J ? ; ; ' " And you?" She glanced at Gifford, and he reluctantly shook his head. " You, . Mies Stratton, pretended to take a matron from the box you had just opened, instead of which you gave him the one you had got ready. other, picked up with its lace paper great was your haste—you hid in your handkerchief; it .was accidentally found bjrme later in the evening. Ask Alvanley if he did not know itask him why he went away." -'Vi " Because yon lied to him at Aix," said Eugenia quietly. - "j - .;»*" r ''".You;' were terrified when I came into this room on my return from abroad, when I suspected that St. Levezx was being poisoned. -From your face I could* have sworn, to your sruilt," Alvanley said sullenly. > "Terrified? Yes; of the claim your vio- • lent love always sought ■. to •• impooe , upon me,"' 1 cried Eugenia, scornfully. V -".You, who pretended to worship me as queen, and ■ in reality sought to make me the slave of your passions, who could believe Lady Stratton's lies at Aix, and never ask me if they were true, come..'here prepared - .to denounce me as Roddy's murderess, yet al- . low yourself to be put off by my assurances that she had made up the whole story, merely to separate us! • You were "so completely without self-respect, self-control where I was concerned, that just to be near me, you pretended to believe me, tacitly abandoned Roddy to his fate— call that .love?":.;". ' : ' ; :

" I ( did belkwe you," cried Gifford furiously; ' even. St. Leven's breakdown,' in the church did not make me suspect foul play till you and your: mother* gave the snow away on our return here " - r- "Oh!" cried Eugenia; she pointed to Coulter, and her blue eyes kindled: " There had only been one man among you. Roderick St. - Leven—did he play the man —to me? But James. Coulter loved Lassie: Ins idea of love is not yours; he acted the part of a chivalrous gentleman all throughthinking only of hernever of himself. He is worthy of any woman's love—and because of it,-and because he never liked, or ad- » mired, me, never will, and even if he has helped to hunt me down, because he thought me a common criminal, I tell you if he ' held ; his little ■ finger up, I would follow him to the end of the world, because by his conduct he has redeemed the vilenesH of nearly all the other , men I have ever known. ; If you only. brought us here," said Alvanley, and his voice grated, "to listen to your proposals of marriage to Sir James Coulter, we may as well go—" and he turned to the door, ugly, black, anß menacing. , " We , are here, said Luther, stepping forward, "not to bandy idle talk and insults, but to find out who it was that tried to poison Lord Alvanley at Aix bf means of a sweetmeat, and the tabloids given daily in this house to Roddy St. Leven by Eugenia, and unhesitatingly I accuse Lesbia Stratton!"

" Prove your case!" said Lesbia. "If anyone is to be prosecuted—and James Coulter's is the only direct evidence—it must be Eugenia, not me." . V; < "Noyou," said Luther doggedly. "Do you remember a case of poisoning "that occurred at Stratton while I was there—only a few months before Hugo's death?" » "'Oh! you mean a dog?" she said contemptuously. " Not a dog—but the dog—the one Hugo adored, and of which you were insanely jealous by > the merest accident, for he did not suspect you—he found it out?'' Lesbia ceased smoking, and sat erect. "So he did know'/" she said. " Yes. He watched you— that you pursued certain investigations—" "Oh! brave gentleman!" sneered Lesbia, " he babbles to his friendwill not speak to his wife—tell her he disapproves of her tastes—perhaps' if he had loved her sufficiently to do so things might have been different. A fit comrade for you, sir," she - bowed to Alvanley, "who first tikes my word against my daughter, . then my daughter's word against mine, yet have not the courage to act on your own' initiative.". " But I know you now for what you are," he said savagely, " a cowardly poisoner, for whom hanging is too good." "What about Roderick St. LevenV" said Coulter drily. •, ; " The man came home a physical wreck from the coast," said Lesbia indignantly, " with his constitution gone, took no care of himself, even forgot his quinine—that's why Eugenia gave him some here when she remembered J it. . There they are—test them"she nodded towards a bottle containing tabloids on a table near" then an unqualified man gave him a tremendous over-dose of some pick-me-up drug, and it finished him up—voila tout." ~ :

It was all so true, there was literally no evidence against her, nothing was proved, nothing ever could be proved against Lesbia Stratton. Alvanley had publicly denied •that he was poisoned at allthe doses of poison given, in the quinine to Roddy were so infinitesimal, and so in complete accordance with the deadly malarial poison circulating in his veins, that neither Alison nor the shabby man could have demonstrated it, but as the three men looked in each other's eyeethey - realised without a word there was nothing more to be said Eugenia spoke. ; " 1 would to God," she cried passionately, and smote her hands together, " that I could free myself of this load of money that has never been anything but a curse— that has given me nothing but a little, little soul in a pampered —that would not even buy me love—it is only because it goes to charities at my death, ceases to benefit Lady Stratton, that 1 have been allowed to live so long as I have done. 1 never suspected her —1 knew her disposition to be underneath, that she tried to choKe off my loversbut by poison? No! At Aix I never dreamed it—it was only when we came back from the church here that she lost her head and accused me. Then 1 knew."

She turned to James Coulter, addressee him as one would a trusted friehd.

" I have asked Blanche Cotley to come with me on a journey round the world ; we shall be away two years. Lady Stratton" Lesbia looked at her intently—" will have a thousand a year, on condition that she never enters Hans Place or Stratton, or tries in any way to communicate with me. So long as she keeps silent so shall Iso will you all.'' She looked at the three men in turn, longest at Coulter, then, as they gravely bowed, she made a slight inclination of her head, and left them. •

So Lesbia was to get her punishment after all, thought Luther, as ho glanced round the exquisite white saloon, with its great bushes of rose azaleas to live without the luxury that was second nature, but there he was* mistaken.

" Listenyou men," she said, contemptuously, "since it was a man who put my life wrong and ruined it—my father, Caleb Fenwick, whom I blame for everything! How would you like —to be dependent on your own child for board and clothing, to marry a man who loved that child, not —who even left Stratton to. her, the only thing he could leave, rich as she was with my money? Let me tell you that, the failure of love was not all on my —Eugenia was always cold as ice to —a marionette jerked by fashionand even if Roddy were huried a little," she .caught, herself up, stumbled, went on— had to die, he did not fear death —how much better than a life with a doll like that, worshipping Lassie as he did! lie is well nil of herand I shall marry Hcrnside, a vulgar fellow, who has been worrying me for years, and whose millions even my gambling propensities can't make much impression on. There are plenty of nicer men who love me, and I might love, but I don't place my neck under the heel of any one of them again!" ' "Pity. you hadn't done so before, instead of qualifying yourself for the gallows," grunted Luther. "0! my good creature," she said sweetly, " you* were always so limited— as "a proof of it, you did not want for a son-in-law the only real man, as Miss Stratton just observed, of you all! But I may get him for mine yet, as the qualities a* man wants in a mistress are by no means those he looks out for in a wife, and Eugenia would do the business charmingly as mistress at Story's Gate. He must be so tired of— girls

CHAPTER L. ! "tO, THE WINTER IS PAST." All things , come to an end, or tend towards new life, and gradually the time came when the bulletins were no longer forged by Coulter, when a wavering but slight improvement became visible, and for a brief moment or two Lyndsay was allowed to see him. It was a sight from heaven compared with her first visit, but cold, spent, and ; afterwards it seemed to her"' that so in its coffin would look tbat®proud, white, soldier face, the ' face of a man who ! had never done a mean, "or cowardly, or treacherous thing in his life save one, and thatit • was, a stabbing thought her. The shabby man advised that Lassie should be allowed to see him, but Alison 1 opposed this, and, as he was in command, and Mrs. St. Lei'en was silent on the subject, there was nothing to be done but curse the stupidity of those "concerned. But he had- made Coulter a promise, and fully meant to keep his word, and had also given him his instructions.

; " Keep her in readiness," he said, " the patient may sink at any minute, but at ; the first signs I will send for her—so Lassie was not encouraged to drive, or go any distance from St. James* Place, which James seldom left now. Bob helped him in the conspiracy, and meanwhile Lassie walked on air, with that one word, "Better," shining in great letters across her 'sky, ; that James read to her daily from the bulletin. - ,

- It was only after a sharp struggle, that Lyndsay deposed herself a message one glorious April day.' When Coulter came in quickly, .and said, "Put on your hat, Fenella," the girl looked in his face, trembled, and- never' ceased trembling throughout the brief drive: : When they came to Sloane-street, Lyndsay • met them. It was the supreme renunciation of her life when she took Lassie in her arms, kissed her, then opened the door so long closed against the girl, and .let her go in alone. ' i • Roddy's-eyes were open, hungry" eyes that seemed to search the room, searched and found Lassie, and knew her—he held out- his skeleton arms, and she went straight to them.

What did they talk about—these two poor lovers— fast in each other's arms, so fast that Death himself could not have loosened : them, while kisses unnumbered stayed the yearning of their hearts?

;v. The shabby man, returning presently to give brandy, found a man in whom love ad already begun the work of restoration, but Lassie's heart quailed at the precaution—yes, she had got Roddy back—but for how long—how long? . . . . Suddenly he fell asleep in her arms, and the shabby man left them there.

■ The next day and the next Lassie came. Little by little it was all talked out between them, the recent, the past, and the clear future; they just began life over again as it had been when Roddy returned from the Gold Coast, and no one wanted to be rich, only to be happy, and well, '

Luther Latreille, who heard . this on one of his visits before returning to Colinshayes, bluntly told Roddy in private that Lassie would bring two , hundred a year the day they married, and also he had heard of a first-rate land agency that would be vacant in a few months' time and of which he had procured for Roddy the refusal.

- "So now, my boy, as soon as you have picked up, you must tackle this malaria in real earnest, and do one of the new cures—and then— for the wedding!" and Luther tramped away, ais happy as a king.

Bob loved yachting, and with all the Measure in life, hired a little yacht of ibout a hundred and fifty tons, and the :aptain had orders to be ready at any :ime that Captain St. Leven was, and in :he event, he put it in commission at the shortest possible notice. She invited James Coulter, but lie pleaded his claims for a longer holiday ibroad, and Lyndeav also refused, urging Tom Bullen (now almost recovered) as a pretext. ' •• - But Alison was coming and Bob had specially invited Lassie, whose only regret was that Waddles, now safely transported to Colinshayes, was -not permitted to be of the party. ; ' i The shabby man (who was a frequent topic of conversation as a perplexing problem, for it was' impossible to expect him to be a decent member of society as that he could be left to go on living as he had done before - coming- ■ to Sloane-etreet) had also a grievance, as he declared that if he got a relapse the' sight of those bags would instantaneously revive him. "He's a brick," and Roddy chuckled. "I believe he saved my life twice over the last time by making me laugh. Bill Rackett fitted him out with come readymade clothes, and the trousers were eo big 'and long that he walked about holding them —when I came to my right senses they .were the first thing that caught my eye—

it was like a very dirty boy, who has been washed and dressed against his will, and feels beastly"— laughed again at the thought. ' " . He was really much more picturesque when he came," said Lassie. "He was very good to me —" " When you kneeled outside my door all that time?" said Roddy, as he looked at her intently." "Alvanley is off on his travels again, and Lady Stratton married Hernside at a registrar's to-day," said Coulter, who had as naturally formed one of the party in Roddy's room from the first as later in the drawingroom when he was able to get up, and had now called to say good-bye. Even in after years, though Coulter remained Lassie's and Roddy's dearest friend (and perhaps their finest tribute to him was that they never thanked, only loved him) to Lady Coulter they simply did not exist, nor did she care one groat when the ' world called her jealous, and what was worse, ill-bred.

* » • • i fc "God bless her—l wish she would have come," said Roddy, straining his eyes for a last sight of his mother, as one splendid May morning he and Lassie stood on deck side by side, and watched the shores of England recede. ' Only we are going back to her," said Lassie, " the best son a happy woman ever had, and a new, troublesome daughter to love, and always love her!" c She drew his hand through her arm—he was very frail yet, very wasted, yet to whatever port their sails were set they faced it together, and be that voyage long o - short, with favouring wind or sullen skies—what matter? Their luck was in themselves, in their own hearts, their faith, their love, in tried comradeship, in memory of past mistakes, of future hopes, and present endeavour. "My beloved is mine, and I am his," said Las le softly. Roddy did not care who miijht be looking as he bent his 6unny head and kissed her. [THE END.]