THE HOUSE OF EVIL.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19453, 8 October 1926, Page 18

THE HOUSE OF EVIL.

BY WILLIAM LE QUEUX,

CHAPTER V.—(Continued). Whitehouse left directly alter bicakfast on the Monday morning, and Lydon hailed his departure with pleasure. There was something lather repellent alx ut the man, with his taciturnity, his ui.siufiiiig gravity, his deep-set eyes and sombre gaze. For himself, he ac :0.)te.l Kter'i.oi t s cordial invitation to May another d. y, during which he enjoyed the soiiety of the charming Gloria to tile lull. Ho had expected that his host would accompany him to town on the Tuesday morning, but Stormont announced that, as tho weather was so fine, he had mado up his mind to take a week's holiday. Lydon thought it must be a very accommodating business that allowed him so much leisure, more especially in view of the fact, inadvertently dropped by Gloria, that ho was, in a certain sense, living from hand to mouth, at any rate spending money as fast as ho mado it. Mrs. Barnard said good-bye to him ' in tho dining room after breakfast. Stormont and his nieco went with him into the hall. When he had shaken bauds with them, rather a lingering process in tho case of Gloria, Stormont detained him with a gesture, and went out to tell the chauffeur to drive down to tho lodge gates and await them there. "Just a word with you, my boy, before you go," he said, linking his arm in that of the young man and conducting him slowly down the avenue, leaving a rather surprised Gloria behind. When they were well out of earshot, he spoke. "Look here, my dear Leonard, 1 hope you don't mind me calling you by your Christian name, but I think we aro now intimate enough to excuse tho liberty." "Not in the least," answered Lydon, who wondered what was coming. "Thanks. I want to tell you that I'm rot blind, neither is my sister. You are in lovo with Gloria, aren't you ?" Leonard was rather taken aback by the direct question. In his confusion he could not make any coherent reply. '*l am," he stammered, "But, of course, I—l—l ." He could not finish tho sentence. "I quite understand, my dear fellow," said Stormont, his broad, rubicund face relaxing into a smile. "You admit you love Gloria; I wanted you to ho quite frank and open with mo in the matter. I don't wonder at it, for she is a sweet girl, one out of a thousand, charming, honest, open as the day. Well, I will let you into a little secret. If my observations are correct, I believe she returns your affection. My sister thinks so, too, and women can read each other pretty we'll as a rule." He spoke in his hearty, breezy way. In spite of Craig's caustic criticism of him, there was something engaging about tho personality "of tho homelv-looking man. Lydon could not help flushing. "It makes me inexpressibly happy, sir, to hear you say that. I take it, from your telling me so mnch, that you do not disapprove. Have I your permission to speak to Miss Stormont?" "When and as soon as you please," was the hearty response. " I had half made up my mind to tell you yesterday. I wish 1 had; I dare say by now I should have been congratulating you and my niece. Personally I am very pleased that you have fixed your affections on Gloria. So .is Mrs. Barnard, who is a shrewd judge of character. In common with myself, she likes you very much and thinks you would make an excellent husband. Well, I can't say more, can I ? Run down here again next week, and fix it up. Come as often as you like. My sister and I love young people about the house." " Lydon thanked him in warm terms for having made hi 3 wooing so easy. True, Gloria had not given him a positive answer, but in his heart he had not much doubt what it would be. But Stormont had not yet said all ho "wanted.* As they drew near to the lodge gates, where the car was waiting, he motioned the young man to a halt. "Just a little something more, to make everything plain and clear. Very possibly you have thought that Gloria is the niece of a rich man and will come into a tidy sum when I die?" The young man interrupted him hastily. *'l assure you, on my word of honour. Mr. Stormont, I never speculated on such a contingency. If I gave it a thought, I was rather depressed by the circumstance than otherwise. I felt a natural reluctance to ask a girl brought up so luxuriously to share a very modest fortune." "You're not the sort of which fortunehunters are made. I could r"'- that at a glance, or I should not have been so open •with you," was the generous reply. He sunk his voice very low when ho continued: " Well, I must let you into a little secret which I think nobody suspects. I am not in the true sense of the term a rich man. T make nlenty of money and I believe I shall continue to do so, if my luck holds, as long as I live. But I am an incurable spendthrift; I flitter as fast as I make. Of course, you aro a totally different temperament from me. At such an admission you will shrug your ehoulders and think I am an insensate fool." Lydon preserved an embarrassed silence. Had he expressed in words what he really felt, they would have been far from palatable to the hearer. After a short pause. Stormont spoke in a tone of considerable emotion, as if ho were voicing his real remorse. "You cannot blame me anv more than T blame myself. But this love of spending for Spending sake, when it once gets hold of a man, is as deadly as any other form of vice—as drink or gambling. Dozens of times I have tried to check myself, to act prudently, but to no purpose." Again there was a pause, arid again Lydon could find nothing so say, since if he had spoken he would have been compelled to condemn, in no measured terms, the man's contemptible and selfish weakness. And Stormont went on in that halfapologetic, wholly shamed voice. "So when I do die, I shall have lived my life to the full, but I shall leave next to nothing behind. Mrs. Barnard is provided for; she will always be able to live in comfort, and luxury makes little appeal to her. It is on Gloria's account that I feel remorse, the selfishness of my conduct." And then at last the yonrig man found something to say: "There is one thing I should like you to tell Mr. Stormont, without attempting to criticise you in any way—a thing 1 have no right to do. So far as Gloria, is concerned, I am glad she is not likely to be an heiress. I love her for herself. I want no dowry with her." » " It is just what I should have expected from you," replied the rubicund financier with a rather melancholy smile. " Well, things may not turn out so badly for Gloria after all. My brother, her father, is the exact opposite of myself, a prudent, evenly-balanced man who counts Iho cost of everything, looks long before }io leaps, and I should say out, of every pound he earns, saves ten shillings. He has a splendid position, and only another child, n son. He is one the justest men I know, and whatever he leaves — I'll wager it will be no in err. sum—will bo divided equitably between his . family. So my dear Gloria may be an heiress in a small way,, in the end. Now I' have kept you talking too long, you have got your train to catch.Good-bye for the present. We shall expect you next week." Ihe two men shook hands and Lydon • . drove to the station, thinking very much >vftr Storniont's somewhat humiliating con- - ession. How, deceitful are appearances! < u !i^' M local circle round Effingmust I™" w 'th *his lavish expenditure * v<l P» SR ed as a person of consider- ■ ' ■

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able wealth. And yet the real truth was that he was living, in a sense, from hand to mouth, and that any day might seo him stripped of his fair possessions. Well, the way was perfectly clear to him now. He would run down again next week and ask Gloria to marry hutt* He would make a clear statement of his pASI*. tion to her uncle, if he were not already aware of it. Stormont was a weak man, a foolish man in most important respects, but he was certainly not simple-minded, and he seemed to possess an amazing amount of information about other people. He had probably seen a report of the elder Lydon's will in the. papers soon after his death, and knew the exact extent of Leonard's fortune. The next week, availing himself of Stormont's general invitation, ho went down on tho Friday, having written his host to that effect. Tho car met him as usual at the station, and to his groat delight Gloria was on the platform to meet him. This was, of course, the first time she had ever done such a thing, as on previous occasions he had travelled down with her uncle. When they reached the lodge gates, Lydon halted the car and suggested to the girl that they should walk up the avenue. She agreed, not without blushing slightly. He had been unusually quiet during the journey, as if he were .pondering very deeply. No doubt with womanly intuition she guessed what was in his mind. Having resolved upon the step he was taking, he lost no time; as soon as the chauffeur was out of earshot, he spoke: " I was delighted to see you on the platform; somehow it seemed so intimate. The last time I was at Effington, your uncle brought me along hero, and we had a very serious talk together. Perhaps he has told you something of this?" With a deep l)lu,sh, the girl admitted that ho was correct in his surmise, and this answer encouraged him to proceed. " I love you very much, Gloria. I wonder if you can caro for me a little." Her bosom heaved, there was a tender light in the deep blue eyes, her lips trembled slightly as she gave him her answer: " I think I can caro for you more than a little." The car by now had reached the stables: a bend in the avenue hid the lodge gates : there was nobody in sight, lie did what any lover worthy of tho name would do under such circumstances. He bent down and pressed his first kiss upon the sweet lips that made a tremulous response o this. He and this charming girl, whom he had fallen in love with at first sight, were now betrothed lovers. They walked up to the entrance to the picturesque Tudor house, both perhaps a little shy from their new-found happiness, the great event that had happened in their young lives. The door was wide open. Stormont and his sister stood in the hall to greet them; there was no white-haired butler, no inconvenient servants to extend a silent welcoming. Lydon shook hands with his host and hostess, and then turned with a radiant face to his financee. " Gloria has made me very happy," he said simply, by way of announcing the tremendous fact. Mrs. Barnard first kissed her niece, and then bestowed an affectionate salute upon Leonard. Stormont literally hugged and wrung the young man's hand heartily. " We must celebrate this at once," he cried, in his loud, ringing voice. " Come along. There is only one wine worthy of the occasion. I have still left in the cellar a few bottles of a matchless Krug. We will open one.'' And, as they went along to the. dining room, Stormont and his sister leading the way. the young couple following them, Gloria laid her slender hand on her lover's arm and whispered, " You have made me very happy too, dear.." CHAPTER VI. The week-end was a very quiet one, Lydon being the only guest. The young man thought this might be due to Storniont's delicacy, that he felt it was only kind to allow the lovers to pursue their courtship in comparative seclusion. But in the following week the phenomenon was repeated. Nobody came down from London; none of the neighbours were asked to luncheon or dinner. Stormont occupied his time in pottering about the grounds and taking long walks. But there war. a certain restlessness about him, an air of boredom which showed that this somewhat unusual isolation was not agreeing with him. Leonard commented on it to his sweetheart. . Gloria shrugged her shoulders. " He's always like that when he leads a quiet, life: he is never really happy unless he is surrounded by plenty of people. He loves crowds. " Perhaps he is sacrificing himself for our sakes." suggested Leonard. The girl's smile was good-humoured but sceptical. " Uncle Howard has a heap of good qualities, but I don't think selfsacrifice is conspicuous among them. To tell you the truth. I think he's going a bit slow because he is compelled to." They were walking in the beautifullykept gardens which required a small army of gardeners to keep them in order, which must cost a pretty penny to maintain them in such perfection. Only one. interpretation could be put upon her words. " You mean to infer that he is a bit hard up," said Lydon bluntly. She nodded her pretty head. " Yes, from what auntie told me, he has been spending a lot more than he ought, and has got to pull up for a time. These sort of crises occur now and again. We have had about a dozen of them at least since we came here, and at such time.4 entertaining has to be cut down with a ruthless hand. In Ctirzon Street I don't suppose the outgoings were a quarter what they are here. Auntie says he ought never to have bought the place, considering the expense it entails. He gets a lot of enjoyment out of if. of course, but he also gets a lot of worry." " And yet I suppose he is a shrewd business man ?" " Ha must be, or he could not make the money he does. Hut you see he has got the spendthrift temperament. If he takes a fancy to a thing, he will have it. whether he can afford it or not.. And the fatal thing about him, and it is that which worries my aunt more, he has no hesitation about going into debt if he hasn't got ready money to pay for his whims.'' " Your aunt does not share his extravagant ideas, then ?" " Oh, dear no. She has a nice littleincome of her own which she lives up to, but I am sure she never exceeds it. And she has a most wholesome horror of debt. I know she is awfullv worried now because some of the tradespeople's accounts are overdue; they are getting a bit pressing." 1 Delightful .is KHi net on was, and perfectly satisfying to the lover of natural beauty, Lydon thought residence there was dearly purchased l>v these crises to which she alluded. So Mr. Stormont was behindhand with the local tradespeople! What a horrible situation! They would begin to gossip presently, and then the bubble would be burst among the neighbours. " There was a perfect orgy of spending for a couple of •nonths just before you paid us your first visit. '* said Gloria after a short pause during which her lover was ruminating on the hollowness of the position at this splendid country residence. " A big dinner party nearly every day in Ihe week, on the usual lavish scale, and all this time he was giving liberally, not. to say ostentatiously, to all the local charities. I suppose it was then he overran the constable. 1 - You came in at the fag end of it. Since then the motto seems to have been retrenchment all round, with a disastrous effect on my uncle's spirits." "These crises worry you a good bit, don't they?" queried her lover. "To tell the truth..they do. Much as I love the place—and nr©idy could live at Effington without lovi-ig it—l often wish that we could have a place that entailed'smaller outgoings. And, of course, one is always haunted bv the fear that one day he will get himself into a terrible, mess from which he cannollexlricato himself." (Tn be continued daily,)