LOVE AND THE LAW.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXII, Issue 19098, 17 August 1925, Page 5

LOVE AND THE LAW.

BY COL. HENRY CURTIES. (Author of " Blako of the R.F.C.." eto.)

(Copyright.) CHAPTER XXXlX.—(Continued.) " And what have they been dishing you out this time?" inquired Welby, cheerfully. " Brevet of major, C.M.G.," was the curt reply. "Oh, that's it, is it? What a lot you'vo got," remarked Welby, irreverently, thinking of his solitary military cross, and contemplating Sparrow's many ribbons, with a protended awe and admiration. " Which is the Order of the Boot ?" Major Sparrow emitted no answer tc this witticism, but with staff dignity, and looking straight before him through his eye-glass, passed into the club without another word. " Sparrow has a wonderful show of ribbons," Harold remarked, when they were in the taxi; "besides the C.M.G., I saw the Legion of Honour, the Croix do Guerre, the D.5.0., and the M.C., also a lot of ribbons I did not know. Ho must have seen a great deal of service." " Seen a great deal of service!" repeated Welby. " I should think he has seen a lot of service! lie was in the middle of it. Why ho was Secretary of the Headquarter Mess of the 80th Corps, ten miles from the front, for four years, and its cookery and its service wore known all over France. The man's a born epicure. Service! That's the kind of meritorious service to see, to get you tho ribbons, and the only danger you're likely to encounter in it, is a wound in tho liver !' r Tho three o'clock train to Brighton kept its word, and disgorged them from the pullman in which thoy had travelled, within a minute of the scheduled time. " No," remarked Welby, with a shiver, Brighton is not. at all like Nice. It is Nice which is in some of its least attractive attributes, like Brighton. But I am afraid it is the Brighton of our dreams it is like, and not what it really ia in the spring. Ugh! Let's get into a vehicle of some sort and get out of this beastly east wind." Tho driver of the taxi, having been persuaded with promises of double fare, eventually consented to take them to the Bedford, and he put down the arm of his taximeter with an aggressive click to clinch the bargain. Harold was flushed with anticipations of seeing Grace, and clasping her in his arms once again. It was an anticipation made doubly sweet by his many disappointments. All through the seemingly endless journey from Rome, ho had longed for this; even now the flying taxi seemed slow as it raeed along the King's Road. " Whatever made them come to Brighton I cannot think," Welby lamented, " especially at this time of the year." " I think 1 can explain that," said Harold. " Old Sir William Willoughby swears by Brighton, and spends most of the winter at tho Bedford Hotel. He is well-known, too, at the Old Ship. But come, Welby, it's a beautiful sunshiny day, though a little cold—"everything looked sunshiny to Harold!

" That reminds me," replied Welby, " if wo happen to come across the courier," he said, " I hope you will tell him from me that ho is no class at all." Harold laughed, and tho car drew up under the glass port® cochere of the Bedford. Harold's hand trembled as he got out of the taxi. Was bo really to see Grace again ? They were evidently expected, and a page led them up the broad staircase of the well-known hotel to the door of a big room on the first floor in the front, overlooking the sea. The boy opened the door and Harold flew past him into the room. The boy stood back and Welby stood for a moment contemplating the interior of the room. He saw the vision of Grace radiantly well and happy, with outstretched arms waiting for Harold. In anothor moment, ho saw Harold clasp her to him and her arms go round his neck. Then ho softly closed the door and turnei avjay, feeling as if he had shut the gate of Paradise He went to tho broad balustrade and leaned over it looking aimlessly down into the great empty hall below; there were two big tears upon his cheeks. " I suppose it's the freckles," he said softly to himself, " they don't care for me like that. Girls don't like freckles and sandy hair." A large, sirong hand was laid kindly on his shoulder, and a rich deep voice said: " What's tho matter, Welby, you seem in a brown study. Do you feel lonely ?" "Sir William Willoughby as I live!" exclaimed Welby, then added, turning away for a moment, " Yes, I feel lonely." " Then come into my room, my boy, and sit by a blading log fire, while we smoke a cigar and nave a »vhiskv and soda together Perhaps you'd like it hot instead ?" Welby hesitated a moment, and then answered with a littlo shudder, " I really think I should," " Come along, then, I've got a most interesting fellotv to introduce you to iu there." Sir William threw open tho door of a little room next to that in which wero Grace and Harold. It was as cosy a littlo room as one could find on such a cold, bright February day. ,A great fire, with a log sizzling in the middle of it, burned on an open tiled hearth, and close to it two largo comfortable armchairs were drawn. From tho farther of these two chairs, a tell, clean-shaven, very neatiydrossed gentleman with grayish hair, and a glass in his eye, rose to greet Welby: ' Mr. Hector Swears," said Sir William. CHAPTER XL. " And now, darling," said Harold, their first fond greetings over, " tell mo all about it." She sat with his arm around her and her hand in his while she told him. "You remember," sl.o said, "that I wrote you a letter from Meurice's Hotel in Paris when everything was clear between us, and there was nothing to fear." "Yes, dear," he answered, "I have the letter now." "Well, that same night, Ella camo to my room, just as I was going to bed, in awful trouble. She was sobbing so that I could hardly get her to speak. She was like a woman beside herself with fear." "Yes," said Harold, eagerly. " When she was calmer, she told mo this awful story: She said that sho and Retford, when they had boon very hard up,, had been fooiish enough to forge Mr. Mostyri's naino to two bills; that tho bills had been discounted with a banlc, and that they had both intended to retire the bills before they camo due, but both of them had had the most awful luck, and they had not been able to do anything to t&'ke up the bills. This she told me was just before wo became engaged. The bills had been presented and paid by Mostyn's bankers, the signature being a good imitation. Then came tho trouble. Mostyn discovered at once that llipy were forgeries, and camo in a fearful rage to Lucas Retford and threatened to prosecute him and Ella unless they found double tho money at once. The bills were for three thousand pounds each, and, of course they conld not find the twelve thousand pounds. There had been a terrible scene with Mostyn tho previous evening, and ho had gone out swearing that ho wonld arrest the two of them in the morning. Then Ella appealed to me to save her; she used every argument she could, reminding me how much my mother loved her and how hanDy tho three of us were together when Ella and I were children. Sho stayed in my room all -night and toward morning she told me {bat Mostyn

would not prosecute them if I broko my engagement with you and married Lucas Retford. At first I thought she was mad to ask me to do such a thing, but she persevered and tried to persuaaa me in every way she could, to give you ap, but, I of course refused to listen to her. But when the morning came, and we were all at dejeuner together in our private room in the hotel, two men appeared, and said they had come from tho Commissaire de Police to arrest Lucas and Ella. There was an awful scene, IVa clinging to me and the polico officers endeavouring to drag her away. It wast then she appealed to me to remember my mother and save her. I was beside myself with horror at the idea of Ella becoming a criminal, and to save her I promised I would write a letter to yon breaking off our engagement. was when I was half mad with fear. 1 v-Knnot tell you, Harold, what that cost me: 1 was almost beside myself with grief, but Mr. Mostyn appeared and insisted thai I should write the letter to vou at once, and he would take charge of it. I told him that if he would only wait until I was tWenty-one, in a few days, I, myself, would pay him the twelve thousand pounds, but he laughed at that, and said that when I was twenty-one I con'd snap my fingers at him, and if I wished to save Lady Clareborough from a prison, I must act now. Then in desperation I wrote the letter to you, and he took charge of it, and I suppose posted it. It was arranged that we were all to go to Nice. Mr. Mostyn was to go on first and make arrangements. They had an idea that I would marry Lucas Retford there, but I had made up my mind that I never would whatever happened. Then Lucas Retford cot ill, and it was arranged we Bhould nave a courier to take charge of us. A man was sent down to Meurice's from the agency in Paris, but it was not until we got to Marseilles that I knew it was Mr. Swears. He had no opportunity of speaking to mo alone until all the others went off at Marseilles to lunch in the restaurant-car, and I was left alone in the coupe, that he got the chance. Then ho told me who he was, and that Sir William Willoughby had sent him to take care of me, and not to leave me until he could place me in safety. Even then, though I was wild with joy at knowing I had such a friend, I was full of 3 fear of Ella. What was to be done? It was a tremendous relief to know Mr. Swears was there. He persuaded Lady Clareborough and the others not to stay at Nice, but to go forward into Italy a3 they had arranged at once. Mr. Swears told me that they had taken a little castello on the Alban Hill's beyond Rome, and that was our destination. Meanwhile, he, Mr. Swears, would make his own plans. We picked up Mr. Mostyn at Nice, and then we all crossed the frontier at Ventimiglia in motor-cars. Mr. Swears told me to feign illness at San Remo, as ho wished to stay there and communicate with Sir William Willoughby. He told me to have no more fear of Mostyn as he know all wou'd be right. It w;- at San Remo I first heard that you were following us, and I was overjoyed at it. Then, as you know, we took the train and came straight to Rome, and out to the castello, near Albano." As soon as we arrived, Mr. Swears told me to be ready to start at any moment,, as he had made all arrangements. As you know, we were leaving the castello together as soon as it was evening, when we were followed by Lucas Retford. Oh, it was awful! He fired at Mr. Swears twice, and I heaid the bullets whistle past us. Then, Mr. Swears turned and fired one shot—" Grace buried her face in her hands and burst into tears. " Don't tell me any moro, darling," Harold whispered, with his arms around her. "I know it all." "Mr. Swears got me a maid in Rome," she said, drying her tears, " and we camo on straight to Paris in the train de luxe and then here by Newhaven. Oh, how thankful I was to get back to Brighton and dear old Sir William. Mr. Swears told me ho had wirod to you as soon as wo arrived here." " Well, now it's all right, darling," Harold said, with his arm around her, " and we will lose no time ill getting married, will we dear?" "Whenever you like," mormnred Grace, hiding her head on his shoulder. There was a discreet knock at the door of communication between the room they wore in and that in which Sir William was smoking with Welby and Swears: the door opened and tbe jolly, cleanshaven face of Sir William came round it. He gave an amused look at the two lovers sitting on two chairs wide apart. "I thought," he said, addressing Harold, "that you would like to come in and hear Hector Swears' account of it all." He held the door open for them and they entered. "I hope you don't mind smoke,"Grace," Sir William continued, "though I think you have got pretty well used to it since you have been with me." "I don't mind your lovely cigar smoke a bit," Grace replied; "the smoke I minded "most was that in the salles privees at Monte Carlo. It was such a mixture and combined very often with strong scent. Harold and I would often go and piay in the public rooms to get away from it." (To be concluded To-morrow.)