Fellcia.

Otago Witness, Issue 1640, 28 April 1883, Page 24

Fellcia.

A SHOUT STORY. OUNG Mrs Hardon felt it incumbent upon her to speak to her brother. On the strength of six months of married life she arrogated to herself the function of keeping a watchful eye on all his dealings with her own sex, and this afternoon, Avhen she had met him at Brighton Station, the fact that he had

carefully deposited a fellow-traveller in a fly before even turning to shake hands with her, had naturally aroused her suspicions.

" Who was your companion down, Frank?" sho inquired, as soon as they had reached her pleasant rooms, and were sitting over the five o'clock tea-table. Frank Neville, a- tall, .finely-built young man

of about seven-and-twenty, rose fibm his seat and leanad against the mantelpiece as he answered with a laugh : " I must say, Loo, you don't beat about tha bush when you are inquisitively inclined. Suppose I say I don't know ?" •' But I see you do," persisted Mrs Hardon. " Not exactly," he replied. " She is a Mist Dale, and after travelling all. the way from Victoria with her, I made her acquaintance at Preston Park, where she discovered that she had either lost or accidentally come without her purse. Some one or other had taken her ticket for her, and apparently forgotten to give her either that or the purse. The guard began to be rather insolent, and I couldn't well avoid paying for her to shut him up. I also heard that she had come to Brighton to nurse a sister just recovering from a long illness, at school, and that is ail I know about her . ; I should think now, Loo, it would be an excellent thing if you would call and take her out for a drive occasionally : a, girl of that age is sure to get out of sorts if she is left to mope in a sick-room all day. ' Mrs Hardon's face had all along expressed a prudent disapproval of his conduct, but at his last suggestion swift alarm and amazement raised her eyebrows, and opened her lips wide.

My dear boy, where do you get' your extraordinary notions from ? she exclaimed, dropping her hand-screen and throwing herself back, in her chair. " Will you kindly make clear to me what possible business it is of mine to look after the health and spirits of a girl who is a complete stranger to me, and practically to you,- merely because it has fallen to her share to nurse an invalid sister ?," - " Oh, pooh, Loo ! " returned Her brother, more euphoniously than courteously. ''-Don't excite yourself. 1 can answer for her being a lady; you couldn't do better than, make her acquaintance." , < ;i iy . Mrs Hardon puckered up her pretty Vfaea wisely. - r ',

" I dare say you are right, dear ; Jmt;ljConfess that I prefer to make my friends in a rather less casual fashion."

" Very well," observed Neville, shrugging his shoulders, "I. put it in your way to do a kindly action, end you turn Pharisee and decline. I have no more to say." Mrs Hardon deftly turned the conversation, but she had noted with real concern- his unu&ual resentment, his curt words, and impatient gesture. A few days passed without any further reference being made to his fellow-travel-ler ; then, one morning on the pier, he drew her attention to a girl in a bath-chair, accompanied by her sister. . - ' " - . " That is the Miss Dale I came down with," he said, with a shade of pride in his" voice, as though that fact alone 'conferred distinction on him.

The sisters were at some little distance, and Mrs Hardon, while only' replying' to .hiß'Tamark by a careless " Indeed !" was able} without rudeness, to take careful stock of them both.

both. _ - ' \" The invalid was a pretty, mischievous-look-ing child of fourteen or fifteen, but there, certainly was a singularly charming air about .tha elder one. She was' simply yet gracefully dressed, and the clear-tinted, delicately ctiisefled face, spoiled by no painful adjacency of unbecoming colour, seemed' stamped 'by; 'candour, sweetness, and refinement. ' " '. Mrs Hardon was seized > by a desire to make the acquaintance she had so recently scouted, and the discovery that the la^ly in'; charge of the girls was her own old schoolmistress rendered it easy for her to obtain an introduction.' She crossed over to the quiet little- group, and soon Neville was blissfully occupied in making small talk to Miss Dale, and noting fresh ways in, which she was different and superio'r.tb any girl he had ever met before. Everything atwufc her was exquisite — her face, her voice," "her dress, and, above all, her manner, which,. for all its ease and unconsciousness, .; was' , jutt appreciably distant, as became a. lady t^ t hi« thinking.' ," * '„> ",;' After this meeting the acquaintance made rapid progress, and was watched „9,ver, by two sisters with eager curiosity and interest., , V " Felicia, what do you think of Mr Neville?" inquired Lily Dale of her sister one evening, taking an invalid's liberty of speech. , Felicia hesitated a moment, then answered without embarrassment : .- ,< " I like him. He is not clever, I dare Bay : but there is something very English and straightforward about him." " You 'like' him," repeated Lily, screwing up her eyes and looking 'intensely- knowing ; " any thing more, Fay ?" . . . ... . , " If you were not still a bit of an. invalid, I should answer that very impertinent question by a good scolding," said Felicia,, laying -her hand lightly over the child's lips. ','Asiitis, I will pass it over, on .condition that you do not transgress again. " :,.-.,' Lily sighed. Confidences were so delicious, she wished her sister would not be so chary of them. ' , , • , , 1 , > . . - ) ' In truth, Felicia could ,npt have given, tho question any very definite answer had. she wished to. ' The daughter of an eminent Q.C., Whose delight it was to gather in his drawingroom men, of note in every calling,, she had been accustomed from her childhood to society of exceptionally high intellectual lev.el.^aud Neville could not fail to compare unfavourably with many rising men in her father's circle of i friends. On the other hand, the, chords .of; her I woman's admiration for manly, physique and vigour, and of her woman's responsiveness to sincere, honestly jmanifested . love, .werebptb struck by, Neville, whose;. best qualities his simplicity, pluck, .and, power of devotion. . If he had only waited he might have been spared many "troubled hours, but. he , was* not sagacious enough to bide his time, and when the last day of nis stay^at Brighton arrived he blurted out a declaration of love, which was met by a gentle rebuke and refusal. • .' _> However, he was not so. cast down as the circumstances might have warranted, for he saw that bis error had been chiefly one of. overprecipitation, and determined to try again later on. He crossed over to Ireland to. pay a promised visit to a Mr Stedall, and .soon afterwards both the Dales and the Hardons returned to town for Christmas. - .' „ •< Felicia did not forget her love-episode at Brighton, for doubt is as persistent as hope, and it was constantly borne in upon her that she had made a mistake. ' ,' One quiet Sunday the terrible report spread like wildfire over London of an assassination in Ireland. " M urder of Mr Neville ! " roared the newspaper criers up. and down the reverberating streets. "Gallant struggle of Mr Frank Stedall with the murderer ! \'.< ; Felicia Dale was sitting with her mother and Lily when she heard the horrible words.. A cry of sudden anguish burst from her blanched lips, and she fell forward in her chair, covering her face with her hands. . '. ' ) ' Mrs Dale looked at her daughter in astonishment, but Lily understood in a moment, and hastily whispered an explanation to. her mother, who, in great anxiety, led Felicia,upstairs to her own room. The shock had been a terrible one, and all night long the girl lay, not restless or sobbing, but in a deathly stupor, conscious of nothing but that she loved Neville, and that for fcfme

indistinct, awful reason nothing but pain could ever come of her love.

Next morning Lily came rushing into the darkened room with a morning paper in her haurf.. and then, as Felicia neither spoke nor moved,' the quick hearted child flung her arms round her sister's nock, aud cried, with happy tears in her eyes : # " Fay, darling, don't be miserable It is all right ; the first telegrams jumbled up the names. It is Mr Stedall who is killed, and Mr Neville who struggled with the murderer. He is only badly hurt, not killed." Life and colour returned rapidly to Felicia's face, and she Bat up to read for herself the corrected account, in which Neville was praised to the skies for his capture of thu murderer at the imminent risk ot his own life. The girl gave open vent to her happiness, too thankful at this moment to show any false shame at the remembrance of her b.-itrayal of fueling before her mother and Lily, with whom she know her

aecret would be safe,

*' Lily, if he had been killed, I could not have borne it," she whispered, breaking into a sob of relief. It was about a fortnight after this that Neville, with his arm iv a sling, and a great Bear on his forehead, entered his sister's pretty drawing-room in Kensington. She welcomed him with a great demonstration of pride in his prowess, and delight in his safety, and then began nervously ; " Frank, you know I hadn't asked you to my musical pa ty next Tuesday, because 1 expected the Dales, aud — and I thought you would rather nob meet Miss Dale. But now

that you are the hero of the hour, your absence would bo so coimnenttfli on that 1 „ hope you will come. Would you find it very iawkward ? " [ "My dear Loo," replied her brother, " I was coining anyhow. Don't flatter yourself I should have stayed away merely because 1 wasti t invited. Besides, you are quite out of it in supposing I have the least reluctance to meet Miss Dale ; there is nothing lam more anxious to do." " Keally, dear boy !" exclaimed MrsHardon, delighted ; " that is an immense relief to mo. You see I couldn't well put off Miss Dale, be cause she has promised to sing ; aud I didn't know what to do." Neville assured her it was all right, and waited impatiently for Tuesday evening. At last it arrived, and at lasb Mr and Mrs Dale and the Misses Dale wer« announced. Frank saw only one of the group — b'elicia, far more beautiful than he had ever dreamt her, in her evening dress, with a brilliant; light in her daik eyea, and a flush upon her cheek, occasioned, had he only knowu it, by his presence. For the moment he had no chance of exchanging more than a hasty greeting with her, for every one who arrived was anxious to congratulate him on his recent exploit, and he could not, without brusquerie, fail to respond cordially to the many expi es&ions of good will. Presently Felicia was called upon to sing, and there was a general hush, for such a, voice as hers was not to be heard every day. Never iv her life had she felt so nervous, so incapable of steadying the coming and goiug of her breath, ,yet never had she sung with more effect, for the just perceptible tremor in the pure 1 contralco voice lent it, even moro sweetness and pathu.s than it always possessed, and made exquisitely perfect her re idering of the simple old English ballad .she had chosen. Immediately the song was over, Neville seized his opportunity and led her out of the room, oti the pretext of procuring h»Jr an iod. But when they reached the hall ho .suggested that it was pleas mtly cool there— should ihey wait and listen to the next song ? Felicia, iucliued her head in assent, and then, as she leant back in a convenient; recess, Neville had his Bay. I need not repeat either his words, or hera in answer ; but when, later on in the evening, after an unconscionably long absence, they returned to the drawiug-room. Lily's remonstrances and inquis tive glances were met by a triumphant whisper from Neville : •' Don't you interfere with Felicia any more ; she has put herself into my hands for good and always.