THE STOLEN LADY.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 14899, 30 July 1910, Page 2

THE STOLEN LADY.

Br Alice ahd CiiA-eue Askew AutlJon of tr Tho Shukmife,''" -eta

CSMt xM

"It's all for the best, iny gnUf Otom ITOBans Bat back & the graft carved oak chair, his arms folded in front of him. ■At any otter time Muriel eeeing him t-has, ;coxdd havo langlrod at tile domeanoiir of the man. For so a king might have sat upon his tlirono and yet. he—this Owed,wlliamfl—•was nothing more ton a peasant, whom a word from Ihsr oould j overthrow from tiro ridiculous position In which ho had fortified! himself.

And sha would spoilt iMJiai word— when tbo risgSi-t time came, ■ At the present moment, however, she was too Overcome with the sense of her own wionjj to feol ran vindictive. She had imagined, thongh w!hy she should havo done bo sho could not havo explained !to herself, thai Queniin would havo resigned himself to a bachelor existence for ; her sake. He had professed to bo <so vory .much in love, he had so often told her .that there cooldi ncror ho another woman in liis life but .herself. He had vowed that if she did not marry Hum he would never marry at all and she, like a fool, had believed him.

Bnt this was tho -way he had kept his word. It was not yet a year since he had lost lier, and ho : had already found comfort elw where. _ His love had not been worth much after all. '

And Ltuira Wilbraham—to think that it was she who had captaed Quentin's volatile affections! If Quentm only knew .the woman' ho was going to nKtrry as well as .Muriel did!* If he ■knew how spiteful she could bo, how heartless sha was, how feline! Yee, that was tfhe right word; Muriel.had always said,'laughingly, that Laura was a cat.

How iie would suffer for. his choice; he would be bitterly punished' for his lack of constancy. All - of whwb reflections passed quickly through Muriel's head as she dried her ©yes, ashaimcd of her first outburst of ! emotion, • hor display of grief over her lover'e of his vows. She drew heisolf up proudly and laid the paper doivn upon the table before which Owi-ai was seated. Whatever she' might foci inwardly, 1 she had no intention of be $ttling Qiwntin in the eyes of her tyrant. "It's you, you wicked old man," she said warmly, " who are tho cause of this as of eveiythiDE. else. You defamed me in the, eyes of the man wham I loved' and who loved mo, and it is little wonder that he has put me out of his thoughts altogether. But_ a day will come wlhen you chafl be punished You think your position is a strong one, but you are.wrong, wrong, and in your heart you know it. The whole fa'brie that you havo built up for yourself is falsa, its foundations are on, the sand. Tho day is not far distant when, it will »2 be swept away." ; She had' never ventured to address him like this b&fore, but now, in her wrath, sho did not care.what she said.

"You'll be punished," she went on, raising her voice a little and fixing him with her black eyes, "for though you have imagined yourself superior to it,, there is still a law in this country of ours. There's a place too, where, they put roadmen, a place with great - walls -round it like this has—sin asylum:—an asyksm-for-the criminally insane—for that's wiiat you |ue —madman, mad with your own imagined grc*tnoss, and the fact will bodear to every one <is soon as Prince Fritz returns to t«ke possession of his own," Her breast was heaving with the passion. of her words, She die! not care, at that moment, if this great heavy man, whom she was defying, rose from his chair and sfcuck her. He might kill her if- lie liked; she bad had : her say and she was deriving the satisfaction, dear-to the feminine heart, of having voiced a frank opinion. But Owsn Williams hade no attempt to retaliate upon her. He shifted his position a little in his chair, and stroked liis grey heard thoughtfully, while he gazed at her from under his shaggy brows. •" You're a silly little girl,"' he said at last, "and an ungrateful,one, too. You seem to forget that all that has happened w you has .been of .your ■ own seeking. There was a time, before we took you away from your home, when you could do nothing -but talk about'his Highness Prince IVitz of Starenßoi, when you ■ set him up as your ideal of all that a man should be, when he played the part of the Fairy Prince,inyour.girlish, dreams. You set^ your lover aside for his' sake. "Yon caa't deny this, for it is the absolute Wrath, and I had it upon certain authority. The fact that you held these ideas relieved' my mind completely, when- it became necessary, for my purposes, to abduct you from your home, I was only giving you what you asked for yourself." Muriel began to tremble as she listened tfl this accusation directed against herself. Never bofore had it been stated in such •'"finite terms. Mrs Williams had .hinted flow and again that she and her husband had known something of Muriel's avowed predilection for the Prince, but she had never need the fact as a weapon against . the girl. : But now—she stood abashed and confused, condemned out of her own lips. For over a-nd over again, not only to Iter i uncle and aunt and Quantify had she re- | peated' the story of Prince Fritz's chivalry, she was wont to call it, and expressed herself envious of the girl to whom lie had devoted himself. She had made the statement to Laura, to chance i friends whom she happened to meet, and even before the servants. It was impossible for her to guess who had repeated j IHjr words j ifc might vevy *\voil have be-en Mary, lier maid, a quite notorious chatterbox.

And yet slio meant nothing by all those foolish assertions, nothing at all. She had spoken in the mere exuberance of her spirits and to onforco upon others an appreciation of her own love to the romantic. _ Sho had never really had the smallest wish to be in Elsa's position. She had only, wanted to te-ise Quentin a ,nd> stir him a little out of his usual' i phlt|whi. : She hung her head dolorously. 3 "I didn't mean- what I said," she faltered. No one who knows, me would have dreamed of .taking my words seriously." ' How was I .to know that you didn't mean what you.said?" retorted the man. " It seemed to -me ; that everything' was falling out exactly as 11 desired it. I knew that it was no g&d to approach you directly with my scheme.,. for your relations would most certainly have rofused to allow you to entertain it. So I arranged everything in order that all diDicnltiee should'be flnoothed oat of the way. You had been flirting with Mr Gilford, so I decided, thatit should be with bim that your fiionds must imagine you had eloped. As it happened the thing . was quite easily arranged. The pursuit' after you was brought to an end and nothing remained but that you should quietly accept the wealth and the high position and the love that were offered to yon. But you have opposed us in every way. You haw imagined yourself a martyr, an innocent victim of designing people. You have threatened me'with the Jaw and with condign punishment." He drew hiaself up and fixed a stei-n regard upon her. "But understand me dearly," he went-on, "there must be an ond of all. this. You must be- content with your lot, for there can be no departure from it."

1 «Ull not content," panted MuneL "X never shall be content, All I said about the Prince was only girlish foolish316SS, <'ind nobody hi then* right senses could liavo taken it for anything else. I can't pretend to be somebody that I'm not. I can't keep up the farce. My tongiie will betray me—you can't prevent me froin speaking the truth." " I think I can." He was tugging at Ins beard again, and now he leant forward over the table, resting his chin on his Jkhhl. " I think I can. We have a Md over you, young lady, which will compel your obedience. We have already proved to you—in a niild way—what we can do. But should you drive us to it we should not hesitate to take more violent measures. Understand' this, and let my wordp sink in : Should you b&fcray us, wo will avenge ourselves croon those you love most dearly. Their, bclod "—he'retreated the wotJs very slowly—" their blood will be upon your head.' Quentm Ford is a young' man of .promise,, and it --'i

®*'OE, step, step," Mtn&J almost pressing tor hands to her ewg 4 , W -Y<ju . .wouldn't -be ; guilty. of, mirrder— Jijh tronWn't retaliate tipon the - innocent—-"

"Tf you betrayed me to the police," he retorted slowly, "I should be a mined man—and desperate. I should use the resources that remained to me to ', take the best revenge in my power.' I shouldn't hesitate."

Muriel sank" down upon her kneegj her arm thrown out on the table, and- die rested her wary head upon it. " Oh, what shall I do," she sobbed "what shall I do ?"

He kid his heavy hand upon her ; arm, iWgfi she shuddered at the contact of it. ""What you must do," he said, "is to cheer, up and make the best of things, Your Qneufcm is safe, your uncle ami sunt are safe, as long as you put a proper restraint upon yqur tongue. . Remember that there is a wonderful. future before you, that you will be the wife of a Prince, that you will enjoy boundless riches. All that we have given you, we whom you are ready to lead with ■ insult.' Forget yonr lover, Elsa, as he has forgotten yoa. He has shown you the worth of his affection, and you should bo glad that you have realised it in time. Forget what is past, my girl, and look to the fntnro. His Highness Prineo Fritz, with his steward, Count Paid of Dauerheim, ape dne to at rive here in three days' time. See that you are prepared to. give, your regal lover a proper meeting." He, rose , slowly from . his chair'- and lifted Muriel to her feet. "There," he said!,, " now .dry your eyes and get you gone. It pains me to see yon in tears, it pains me to hurt you.'' His eyes softened. " I loved my niece," he said, "I ■ was\proud .of her and'of .the'great future before 'her. Her niantle has fallen upon you, be worthy of it." And so Muriel, still sobbing quietly to herself, left the'presence of the tyrannical old man and made her way to lier rooms, where she sank down into a chair by the window, and, luckily undisturbed by Eesie or anyone else, gave full. license t-o her tears.

Mora than for anything else she moitrrtad over Quentm's {aithlessness. Hotw soon he kid forgotten her—how soon! In the first shock of the news of his .engagement she had-cried out that nothing, mattered-now, and perhaps this was tho wisest light, after : all, in. which. to see things. For what further inducement was there for her to make her escapo? Qnentin belonger to another, and as for her uncle •and aunt, they had dotibtless long ago recovered frobi their griof at her loss. Her little world must have thought ill of her, her nam© been scaindalously bruited abroad—there could be no-doubt' in .hor mind as to ithis, —and if she were to return could she ever live down the evil things that had been said? No, now that things had; come to this pass Owen AYilliams, fiend and madman though he was, wa6 right. It.was best for:her to accept the inevitable, forget Muriel Latimer and play the part of Elsa WiHirfms, bride of the Prinos 7 of Stareahof, • to the end. It was wisest so-njuite apart from the terrible threats which Owen Williams had spoken, and which she shuddered to remember. Madman as he was, she' had little doubt that, were he driven to it, he would cany out his threat. She picked up. a photograph of the Prince that stood-upon a chiffonier, andl gazed at it intently, more intently than she had ever done before. Yes, he was undoubtedly a handsome man, a man whom any girl might be proud to love. The photograph was a., three-quarter length one, and it showed him in a rich uniform that became him well. He was very fair, of Teuton type^ 1 and he wore a heavy moustache. His nose was aristocratically long and his hair curled a little. Then lis was broad of shoulder and heavy of limb. Altogether there was something about him which reminded her- painfully of Quentin; her tears fell afresh as she realised the fact. This was the 'man that she must love—that she must pretend to love. Hpr fafcure lay in his hands, a ! future that appeared to be bounded by the great outer wall of the Plas Arth estate. For beyond that it seemed more than likely, if she had gauged his ideals aright, she 'would never be allowed to .wander.

And, oh, how her heart pined for what lay beyond those walls! She had grumbled the monotony of her existence at Hedworth Grange, she had pined for ■ a wider field, but -now, with the romance that she had craved for, she was to be immured for the rest of'. hei life within the limits of a narrow kingdom. Oh, for the little flat in London—with Quentin—at which she had scoffed! Oh,, for the freedom to come arid go as she chose, to wear the clothes of ordinary civilisation, to be iback again in- the' twentieth'century!

Muriel pleaded a headache, and kept to her own rooms that evening and • for the best, part of the following, day. It was not till la-ttf in the afternoon that she admitted .Rosie, andi then it'was only upon a very imperious summons from the latter, who had, as she cried , through the keyhole, something of importance to communicate.

Eosie entered the room, tip-toeing with excitement, her eyes shrouded in mystery. " Something has happened, Elsa,"'she wflispered. " I've been forbidden to tell yon myself what it is, but, dear, all yoijr future mil depend upon how you behave to-day. I've got my own part to play, too, find it isn't an easy one." "Can't you speak more openly?" asked Muriel petulantly. " I detest being kept in the dark."

But Eosie would not, ot could not, say ;mything beyond that Mr Williams wished to speak with Muriel once more in his study; he would tell her everything that she was to know. Muriel, who had been wearing a tea-gown all diiy, must drees quickly and hurry down; Eosie would help her.

Between them thoy, chose the gown that she should wear. It was cuty as most of her dresses were cut, and it-.was ' a ibin "white cloth with the,.lull sleeves hanging, nearly ,to the-.ground,".the ,hem '. of' rich embroidery • and - the inevitable girdle of gold work studded with jewels. Muriel knew that- these, dresses; became her well and that she'looked like x a princess or great-lady of old times,-but, 1 for all tliis, she co.uld never .'get. over.' the desire to wear more modern raiment, feeling that she was but acting a part and".that these clothes were too -fstatistic for reality; but she was Elsa 1 Williams now, and no longer acting a part, so what did it matter? She wondered as she dressed herself, if, by chance, the Prince and his steward had arrived earlier than they were expected, and she pressed Rosie with (iiiestions, to which, however, she could obtain no response, When .she had dressed her hair in the appointed fashion and donned the little jewelled cap, she made her way tremulously down the long corridor and the wide staircase to the room where Mr Williams awaited her, At tho door Rosie halted.

"You must go in alone, Elsa," she whispered, nervously for her. "Don't bo frightened.- And, oli, my dear, .for the love of Heaven, do as he bids you. All mil be well if you obey. But it'a a matter of life and death. Elsa—don't forget that, life and death."

She was about to beat a retreat, then, as SlAirie], trembling «l little in' her ignorance of what was before her, lifted her head to. knock at the door, Rosie turned and kissed her hurriedly, hut with real affection.

"Do as he bids you," she whispered again,' then she sped lightly awxiy. Owen Williams was seated on his chair that looked so much like a throw, and there was a frown upon'his face, though the glance he cast at the girl, as she approached -him slowly, was not unkindly. _ "Sit down, Elsa," he said, modulating his rough voice as he always tried to do in her presence. "There is a task which I must ask you to perform, a. hard task, I have no doubt it will prove, but it is one that must be carried through without flinching. I have sent for you in order to explain what you have to do. If you obey me now, there will be no difficulties in the future; if you disobey, tits consequences will bo upon_your own head."

"'What is- it?" Muriel clasped her Angers tightly together, .wondering what

fresh terror was in store 'for her, bnt guess as she might, all her guesses were veiy far from the troth. Owen Williams leant fomid, punctuating what he. had to say with an outstretched forefinger. "Mr Quentin Ford -where," he,said, " m the castle—and he wishes, Elsa, to speak with you." (To be continued).