THE WAY OF A WOMAN.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1424, 15 June 1899, Page 19

THE WAY OF A WOMAN.

(By A. E. Manning Foster, in “ M.A.P.”

When Derrick Loftus married, speculation was rife as to what kind of husband he would make. Rumour had it that his bachelor days had been rather wild. He was known to be of a roving and restless disposition, and his income of ten thousand a year allowed him to indulge in every whim that the fancy of the moment suggested. His life had not been worse—probably it had been a good deal better—than that of the average young man of means. But the fact that he preferred to roam about the world in quest of sport rather than settle down as a country gentleman, and devote himself to the management of the estate he had inherited, had caused all sorts of exaggerated rumours to be circulated about him.

But when he met Adela Vanburgli, his character underwent a transformation, and he learnt that there were depths in his nature as yet unsounded. To most people she was just a pretty girl, good to.look at and dance with; but to him she represented, almost from the first moment that he saw her, all that was lovely and lovable in womanhood. She filled in his heart a shrine, till then empty, which he had unconsciously dedicated to the highest ideal a man can have.

His reverence was so great than many times when words of passionate love rose to his lips he checked them—afraid to give them expression. And when at last he tried to tell her all he felt, his words seemed so inadequate that he could hardly believe his good fortune when she graciously consented fo be his wife. “I can't tell you one bit what I feel, darling,” lie said, taking her hand and reverently kissing it, “ but I will give my life to make you happy. There is nothing that I would not do for you.” Adela looked at him a little euriouslv.

“Are you sure you mean that ?” she said. “ Certain,” he replied, vehemently. “You have made a new man of me. I may not have been all I ought to have been in the past, but henceforward I shall simply live for you.” He stooped down gently to kiss her, blit she drew back a little.

“ Don't kiss me, please—now,” she said. “It is all so strange and new to me—l must think.”

Derrick Loftus was far 100 liapny to notice any suspicion of coldness in her manner. All that struck him was her gentleness, her modesty, her exquisite purity. There was no need tor a long engagement, and three months after Adela's acceptance of him the marriage took place. And then it was that Derrick Loftus appeared in a new character to the world—that of the devoted husband. Every wish of his wife was gratified almost before it was expressed, and his own desires he made entirely subservient to her.

He would have liked to live quietly with her in their country house. All liis old associates had lost their charm for him, and his one happiness was fo be with her. But as soon as the honeymoon was over, Adela expressed a desire to entertain her friends, and for weeks she would keep the house full of guests.

“ I never seem to see you alone, darling.” ho said to her one day after a constant succession of house parties. “ Don't you think we might have a week or so to ourselves?”

She laughed a i-.-e nervously. rr Oh nonsense,” she said; “just think how bored we should get with each oilier.” “Don't,” he said, gently; “I know you mean nothing by it, but somehow I cannot bear to hear you talk like that.'” Well, seriously, T think you should go out more,” she said. “ You so seldom do any shooting or hunting now, and you used to be such an ardent sportsman. Derrick Loftus did not broach the sub-

ject again. But he felt for the first time since bis marriage that his wife did not quite understand. He had learnt not to expect any demonstrations of affection on her part, but he never questioned her love. It was enough for him that she had chosen to niarrw him out of all the world. Loyal to the core liimself, he was not the man to suspect another o. w.sloyalty. He knew that many of the men who came to his house admired Adela—that was only natural; but it never occurred to him to feel jealous. His faith in her was so great that it would have made him blind to any indiscretion on her part. But as the months rolled on he could not help noticing - that Adela showed an increasing dislike to being alone in his company. He had taken a house for her in town, and she insisted on spending most of her time there. “ She was s» tired of the country,” she said. A sort of reserve seemed to grow up between husband and wife, which he, on his part, did his utmost to break down. His devotion to her never wavered, and often he longed passionately to take her in his arms and shower kisses upon her face. But he feared the repulse that he knew would follow any such demonstration of feeling. Only once did Derrick oppose his will to hers, and this was in connection with a certain Colonel .Stapleton. Adela was in the habit of receiving letters very constantly from India, and on one occasion Derrick, who never thought of interfering with his wife's correspondence, inquired as to the writer of one of these. “It is from Colonel Stapleton,” Adela replied. “Heis an old friend of cur family.” Derrick said nothing at the time, but a few months later, when his wife announced that Colonel Stapleton had returned to England, and that she was writing to ask him “to come down and stay,” he expressed his disapproval. “ I would much rather you did not ask him, darling. I don’t nke the man, and there are some ugly stories told about him.”

‘ Nonsense !” she replied. “ I shall most certainly invite -mi. All the tales are idle gossip. I have known Colonel Stapleton since I was a girl.” “He is not a man 1 could trust, and. as I said, his reputa.-on is bad,” continued Derrick decidedly.

Adela bit her lips. She had a hasty temper, and was inclined to be very bitter if crossed in any way.

You show great solicitude for rue,” she said, ironically. “ But perhaps it would be better if you were a little more charitable about other people. Colonel Stapleton is not the only man about whom unwarranted rumours have been circulated.” The reference was only too obvious. Derrick coloured slightly. We need not discuss the matter further, dear,” he said. ” I don’t as a rule interfere with your arrangements, but on this occasion I must ask you to respect my wishes.”

Adela looked at him with surprise as he walked out of the rooom. There was a new dignity in his manner, and she found herself liking him better at that moment than at any other time since their marriage.

“ It won’t do, though,” she said to herself, “to let him have his own way! He may develop into a perfect tyrant.” Nevertheless, she put off the ivitation to the Colonel by deciding that it was necessary for lier to run up to town. Derrick, who was engaged on some matters connected with the estate, could not accompany her, but arranged to follow in two or three days. He had begun to try to ease the heartache caused by his wife’s coldness by throwing himself into other pursuits, and he was now, with the aid of his steward, devising a plan for erecting some model cottages for the tenants. But he had exaggerated his own capacity for enduring his wife’s absence. He had not been separated from her for a whole day since his marriage, and before four and twenty hours were passed he was conscious of a great longing to see her again. To be with her, if only to gaze upon her, to hear her voice, even if it were cold and unloving, seemed to him to be his greatest good. Bofoi-e the second day was over she could bear the sense of loneliness no longer, so he caught the five o’clock train up to town, and wired to his wife that he would be with her at dinner. All through the journey, which seemed interminable, though it was only a matter of something under three hours, Derrick was consumed by a feverish restlessness. Had he been of an analytical temperament, be might have realised that some foreboding of disaster had taken possession of him; but he was not in tlie habit of probing his own emotions, and his painful anxiety seemed only the natural outcome of his all-absorbing passion. It was not until he reached the house and found that his wife was out that the real cause of' his uneasiness revealed itself to him. Madame had gone out about six o’clock, said the servant. No, she had given no orders about dinner, but bad ordered supper at half-past eleven. And then, for the first time in his life, an overpowering jealousy seized upon Derrick Loftus.

For an instant, memory supplied him with a hundred suspicious little incidents which he had passed over in silence or explained away at the time of their occurrence. Adela had never cared for him, and in his blind folly he had not realised it. All the pent up feelings in the man burst forth with uncontrollable force. The humiliation, the bitter shame of it all, the unsatisfied longing transformed him for a time into something like a madman. But his pitch of feeling w r as too intense to last, and gradually it died away

and left a sort of hopeless recklessness behind it. His habitual self-control reasserted itself, and by the time Adela arrived his outward demeanour was calm. He heal’d, as in a dream, Colonel Stapleton’s voice in the hall, bidding his wife “ Good-night,” then a few whispered words, a laugh, and the rustle of Adela’s dress as she ascended the stairs alone. She was surprised to see him. The telegram. had been delayed, and she had gone out before it had arrived. With a woman’s intuition, she felt at once the passion that lurked behind her husband's quiet greeting. I have been to the theatre,” she said, with rather a forced smile. “ Colonel Stapleton had a box at Daly’s, and kindly invited me.” Derrick closed the door and motioned his wife to a chair. " Sit down,” he said, and Adela noticed that his voice was hoarse. “ I want to talk to you.’” Adela obeyed mechanically. “ I wish you to tell me exactly,” he said, “ What you have been doing since six o’clock.” “ I have been out to dine, and to the theatre,” she said. “Have you been alone with Colonel Stapleton f” Adela flushed, and her bosom heaved convulsively. She was beginning to lose her temper. “1 refuse to be catechised!” she said. “ I'm quite at a loss to understand your extraordinary manner. ' “And I tell you I will know,” exclaimed Derrick, loudly. “You shall no longer play with me ” “ What do you suspect?” she flashed. “ Never mind what I suspect. Once and for all, will you tell me?” Adela had risen. Every trace of colour had gone from her face. The Furies had possession of her, and every word she spoke vibrated through her body. “ Yes,” she said, and there was scorn as well as anger in her voice. “ I will tell you. I have been with Colonel Stapleton to-night, and alone, and I refuse to be dictated to by you. I have never loved you. I was forced into marriage with you. I have been almost bored to death by you. So long as you did not attempt to interfere, I could just endure you, but now I hate you! I hate you with all my heart and soul!” The cruel words came upon Derrick like a lash, and cut deep into his soul. He did not attempt any reply, but without another look at the woman whom he hgd loved so blindly, went slowly out of her presence and out of her life for ever. In the morning, when her mood was softened, Adela waited in vain for him to come. But even then she did not realise that she would never see his face again. An announcement from his lawyers that he had gone abroad was the only news of him that reached her, until the papers contained an account of how Mr Derrick Loftus, well-known in England as an intrepid Sportsman, had met his death while tigershooting in India. The world’s sympathy was with his wife. It was very sad,” people said, “to be left a eighteen months. Her husband was always a wild sort of man, and we were certain nis devotion would not last long. He had no business to go tiger-shooting so soon after his marriage. But he did the right thing in leaving her all his money. '

The world, too, applauded, when a year later Adela became Mrs Stapleton. But the world is not always quite correct in its judgments.