THE VALROSE MYSTERY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19242, 3 February 1926, Page 18

THE VALROSE MYSTERY.

BY WILLIAM LE QirEIJX

CHAPTER VHL—(Continued.) Pearson thanked him very much for the jfracipus way in which he had admitted liim " into his family. When Thurston spoke again, he had evidently been ruminitting over the question of finance. " Cecile likes to dress well and present 41 good appearance *, that is as it should bo. Bat she is not in the least an extravagant ghjl; in justice, I must say she takes after bar mother. lam the spendthrift member of the family. I ought to have put l!»y a great deal more than I have, but, la 1 said, I am naturally a spendthrift, and u-nforirmatejy tor my pocket. 1 have fastidious tastes; if I take a- fancy to a thing I must have it. In a word, 1 lik© oveiything thai costs money, the _bcst brands and vintages of wine, the choicest dears, tho dearest hotels." Pearson had noticed these traits already. Much in love as he was, he greatly relieved to know thai Cecil®, .took after her mother., that her tastes, were more tampio tiuw her father's. 1,1 However, I am not- ,by siny. a pauper, 1 * ocajtanned tho. genial financier. I shall give Cecils a dowry "of ten thouHnrti pounds, tins interest of which will Lelp to run the menage 'smoothly. And when, in the coarse of nature, my tune s>h© will come into everything jeci to the life-interest of her mother." Again Person thanked him for his generosity- Of- course,Jm had never dreamed of money in connection with his wife, he simply wanted her 1 Id™ hecseif. not .for what she coo id bring him. He was re-., eolved that not a farthing of her income should be expended caa anytiting or anybody but herself. " And now let tis turn fen: a moment to your affairs',*' said Thsnrston .presently. "Most, peopln would like to make a bit mors than trtey have gut, and I suppose you are not a bright, particular exception ? " I am afraid I aim not of a very amtiticrus turn of mini" replied the young man, laughing. ""In fact, I 'have always looked upon myself as a deucec. lucky chap. But I don't suppose I should grumble if I were twice as well off as I

am," " Well- I think ii might "be possible for EiE to help you. I ofi«n have things brought to my notice which are not tempting enough to the very big men, and for these I form .small private syndicates, and Che profit, made is very considerable on the snxxmt put in. Now, vera must have a tidy bit of cs-pital to bring in that fifteen hundred a year. When-something comes, along, I daresay I. oattjei invest, say, a few thousands for you thirt wcraid probably bring in anything round a hundred per cant, profit. ''' For the third time ihs young man Chankecl him. He knew ho did this sort of firing smong his friends., few Mr, Bimrie had told him he had :maSe a good deail of money through 'Gxccrston's ScSpBrang of a very csulitras hsiDit of mmd, i® personally preferred a saf« four per cart, to a ptostafeffiiicaS fifty or a, Ihtotferecl But this wwa.not the TOommt to Bay to, and -he repliisd feat -wisn lie and. Cedle were serfctbd down, he would be delighted to go fcnto the m«'dtei:. Alter all this had teen settled they went batik to th? acawitg-Tccm. wheats they found Cecile playing sjjne drerorry :nru:sic, and Mrs. Tixursl-on placidly reading a novel. It seemed a very momentous occasion to Pearson, and-lie was s.nrprised that there seramed' nc alteration in the mother's demeanour. But he conjectured that obe was one of that sort of women who' would never suffer bes-self to be unduly disturbed by anything out cf the common. ,

Cecile had' expressed herself eunfirlent of €be resoffc. but six® wasi, of course, ajjptarted daring the time the two men were «irnt m> ~m / the smoking-tooju, and j.fe iftsccl had reflected it-self in her raliiber xmcrvf.n playing., in the restless way rn which she changed from one piece of runsit: te the other.. - She rose as they entered and cam? toward them, and Hfted'r -her eyes interrogatively to her father, Tfa*ttsto» that lo'Sk, and ,sanswered promptly, "It is all r«j3b.t, my Waning. He took a Itiind of Pearson, ;a hand of his daughter £-. nd ; omens tljem C9gi ether, iiieix bestowed a fond kiss on Cea3e '* -433 happiness to -you "both, my clear iMktem. Mow go and get your mother's blessing to add to inina." At fiiete wxrds, tittered in has usual Ihearty voice, Mra. Thurston laid-down her acrvt'l, roas from heir chair and met them as they vets' cbifliag toward her..' 'Knit, she embraced Cecile, then Iwsstewed & qsiiet kiss cm her lover., and echoed her husb,4»d's good wishes. Btxt of ail ti>e party she showed the least emotion. Cecile let' £all a few tears, and ia Thurston's foe ■eyes there was a suspicion of moisture, Pearson £dt guilty that 1i» loss' of Cedle would be a great blour to this fond father. He felt intensely jreJaevod that the ordeal was over, that all Ms fears of some unexpected hitch were Liid at rest, and thai ha was free to love' his keautiful betrothed as much as he wished. He had no similar ordeal to undergo on his own side* which atado thing's perfectly easy. He had been the only isoa oiE his' father, v.ho bad also been an otdy child., so he had only a iptr very distiai paternal relatives with laost otf whom he was' um,cfuasoted, His mirtiber sSad her brother wears the only members o:c her family., so in ■ her case there were no numerous conKenans. St/thai there was nobody whom it tfas necessary to consult oh such an ' importeait step, There were just about hajf-a-dosen people to whom, as a matto of pcJiteroess rather than duty, it woiJd be aecftaiasy te impart tite important intelligence oi his eugs.gfcme-.nt, _ The young man was to® much-absorbed in his happiness to think much of ataything else, But;,' after he had gone to liis room that sight he found himself whimsically wondering wlwtther Mrs, Thurston had felt any 'mo&Sn ■ emr her own betrothal-; sjso, whetbesr oa her side, it was « real low-match, or wither; she had accepted her genial wooer lor: the practical reason that she wpuid settle herself fwivanlagixxisly in life, . Certainly she had betrayed no deep feeiinjr over the engagement of her only child, Pearson knew bow, different would hare been the attitude of his own mothe-jr,, had she been spared to see this day. The Kisi of his .stay was passed, of coarse,, in making love to his pretty betasotheti. When he left it was arranged tiiat. he should run-down twice a week' to' dinner, stopping the aigfefc and- returning to town the next morning, unifi sach time as Cecils should go on he*- visit; to her aunt. ' ■ . He learned from Thurston that this tsnni yeas very comfortably olf, with an .income of over a thousand a year which fills could leave to whom she liked. It was her avowed intention to make Cecile her- sole heiress, subject to a few legai

ciea. , No wonder that her yareatej, in ewamoa prudence, would not allow her niece to give, her the. least cause of offence. So it seemed that one day Cecile w«ild be ss well off as her husband. Of'course Pearson, with the natural impatience of a lover, would have J iked to marry her out of hand. But here Thurs ton, complaisant in most things, put his loot clown. He was a great believer in long engagementss .he held that young Ip'Kjple should know each other well before the final plunge into matrimony. He ' would have liked them to wait a voar, at Pearson's earnest entreaties he" consented to aii interval of nine months. very quickly there arrived the day, a jggg&ble one to both these ardent yoantf lows, when Cecile had to, pay her -visitrl . Peiu-son went down to fcnepperton in the morning, motored her np to town to lunch at tlie Savoy, thence to lung s Cross, where she caught an alterooon train, to "Peterborough, where Mrs. Matnjitcn's car would be waiting to' convey her to the village about four miles i distant. Iney bade each other an affectionate good-bye, and promised to relieve the dreariness of the three weeks with copious correspondence. The prospect was not a delightful one. Thurston had asked him to put in a fortnight at Shepperton, but he thought that Eosebank without Cecile s bright presence should be terribly depressing. Still, per-

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haps, he bad. better accept the invitation. He could go to his business every morning and would have Thurston s company in the evanuigs. ~ ; . He walked from King's Cross in the direction of Piccadilly, and as he strode along hill thoughts reverted to the mysterious death of Vairose, and the vice stains, and what Shaddock, had to; of the nun Lloyd. A bright idea suddenly occurred to imn. "Why should ho not have a change _o scene and indulge in a btilo w business cb his own account. Ho woiiKi go over to Paris, stay at the Hotel ler minus, and sea if he could find ou thing ' abcut this mysterious Englishman whose movements had given rise to such grave suspicions. . . , By the time he had made up bis mmd to this course of action he had arrived at tho east corner of St., James btrea, and was preparing to cross when ht f<-i • a sudden tap on tao shoulder. Turning rocind he confronted his olu friend and school-follow 1):UI5 - "Well met." ho cried heartily. Art. you coins to the club ? If so, I wish you Luid spiire inie a few minute:.. There something I want , you to g;ivo me an opinion on, something that is quite ui your line."

CHAPTER IX Dain was just the same bluff, abrupt fellow, vxib a certain restlessness thai betokened the niMi of action and adventuie, his clean-,abaven face just a trifle more bronzed perhaps than when Pearson na last met him. , . . , "With T-leMnre," lie cried m his loud Toice, "tut I'm afraid I can't give you very long,. Only in London for a low hours.- of. again to-morrow morning, and nearlv evfiiry Jiour of the rest of to-day taken up. Still, there is Just time for a drink and, a brief chat.' They -recnt into Sennet s club, that olafi\shioncd establishment which prided itself upon its antiquity, and successfully resisted the modern innovations adopted by more progiessive institutions. JJa-m at once ordered drinks, a proceeding which w<us always preliminary to a conversation. It was, however, some time before Pearson iaauM say what he wanted. Dam w?is act intensely self-centred man, wrapped up in his own affairs, and romartably indifferent to those of otlicr peopia. Even when he was apparently listening to y«w, y oa sf:e *-bat hVi mind wsi occupied with something o irnpoartanoa to himselL But, io do Mbi justice, 'irfcri you could once secure ms uudrrideti. attention, yon were store to got eooMifctriiig valuable from his shrewd commente. Pearaow could hardly ca& "to mind an occaskm <:ai wioch they had met thai Pam did not plunge at once into a recital of some of tisc adventures —very_ startling and dramatic they were as a rule—which Kari befaiikta hnaa siwie they had lust foregathered. Tho presents occasion was no exception. He had enjoyed some particularly exciting struggles with the forces opposed to him in hiis last expedition, and in spite of the fact that he was very much prisjssd fair a time, ha insisted cm giving his c&d siduooUxaliow a very lengthy descrxpticn of tism. As seamed to be always the caa?,. he had again ixsme oat victor.' The general result 'of ISbese remevrhat stereotyped narratives p3C«iiK»d the impression that _in subtleiy, luartility of iresoarce and capacity ■ for initiia.tive,. Hugia Dam could give poSnts to :uoy man in the world. At length Uki v-aixiglorious narrative com© to a "thriHiiig close, ami leaning back with a sdl-saitisfied smile on his facs, he brought tax t&ou&hts zrway from himself and tiis own exploit*;, and requested his frisnd to 114 fcre away." Urns iKJihorfced, Pearson gave him a xnimate dbsmption of the Vairose Jlystery, -froai the fanding of the body with tbase Vuix% itains ou the hand to the startfing jwtsdWaoos at the inquest winch proved that the dead man had led a double liE'3, posing to his casual acqnaintaSiceji ets a person of independent means. " As tbrtsss iss every reason to suspect that be was a member of revolutionary societies, iKbea - © lis jttst the possibility that you niijdbt htmi coiae across him ia yonx mvestijja'is c*ns, J * were Pearson's concluding wordiß. Darn jialaasJs&cl that he had seen an account d' it in ihn English papers when ;be was abroad," a:ad disclaimed any knowledge -oi .Titabowiu Not nEDiCisr that name, certainly. But if hie was isrhai you suspacrfc, li« -would _be ;suro to hn-v«5 Baoi'e tiian on;s alias. Give :ai® a deiicdpfaott of him." Peaa-sori cfe«rf>ed him very mintitely, but when he had finished, Dain shook his bead. " No, he doesn't recall anybody I have m«ft in the course of my wanderings. Ibi, of course, I don't know every member of every revolutionary isociety OKt the Contment. Good Lord, no ■?D6 ma" <»ald, it would be impossible." " The police theory seem 6 to be that !bo- was mwrdejted by his former, colleagues for reasons that can only be gnesued at, and that liis dea:b was affected by some subtle mannas lliat defied detection," said Peasrsoa. " That (Jcdaciiion seems a fairly obv;.ou-s one or this face of what evidence there is/' admitted Dain, in a voi.ee that s«emed to show , ; 3<i did not take a very great interest in ilia ca®, "Of course, although rai'o in .this cousatiy, such occurrences take place not infrequently abroad. And some of these: • organisations, rather shortsightedly I sko-tild say from th«r point of view, ■ bisiist upon putting a distingtushixig mark of some sort on their victims.'" " And I suppose these fellows, steeped in crime, as they are, are acquainted with osrta.iT! poisons, that leave no trace," imggested .IPe&TEon. "Personally, I.should 'have doiilitod if there were any ;-that would defy scientific analysis. " Heap; of them," cried this secret service man' emphatically. " Heajjs of them. All these organisations have affiliated to i£hem men who possess <in e:ihauative knowledge of subtle means of removing Itua* fellow creatures, when such removal becomes expedient," he added, vrpi.ii that big, ringing laugh of his. "Hi is on the cards that I may be polished off in that way some fine day myself, i:f I make a slip and fail to hide my tracks.." Pearson toM Mm presently that being so very envok interested in the case, he had mad«! up his mind to undertake a little investigation on his own account. The yoeung man thought be detected on his friend's face the pitying smile of the professional for.the amateur. "This is "very sporting of you, old man.?* he remark?-! "I should not have said that tie 'detective business was much in your liiM:. But if you think vou have got an unsuspected talent for it, by all means indulge it. It will give you a diversion anyway, even if it leads to nothing." "Oh, I am not anticipating any great success," replied Pearson, just a little nettled at bis friend's chaffing tone. "But to tell ywa the- truth, I am a bit fed up just now. lam engaged to a very pretty girl,- a M:is>s -Thurston, whose father is well-knovrni'in the financial world, and she has gone for a visit of three weeks to an aunt- from whom she has considerable expectations, and I am naturally very much in the dumps through her absence.'" "A quite* usual experience, I believe, when fond lovers are temporarily parted," said Dam, still with that rather exasperating aii; of not taking the matter seriously. "And when do you propose to embark on your investigations V "Vsry ithorfcly, now I have made up my mind. I shall start for Paris in three or four days from now." | "So Paris is the starting point, eh? "Where cio you intend to put up I I { might bis in Paris myself very shortly, | and could pay you a visit if I knew where j to find you." ] "The Hotel Terminus," -was the answer. ! 'Of course yon know it well." "I should think I did," said Dain, ' staved at it often. You imvc some paros U e.» ieaSOn f ° r Lhei ' e > 1 FPCEo coatirracd -dallr.)