A Game Of Chance.

Otago Witness, Issue 1875, 28 October 1887, Page 29

A Game Of Chance.

BY ELLA J. CURTIS (SHIRLEY SMITH),

Author of " The Favourite of Fortnne, ' " All for Herself," " His Last Stake," &c, &o.

the slightest provocation to assert themselves, she fell back on her chair, white and trembling.

Another quarter of an hour passed, but she was still alone ; then she heard a door open, and voices. They ceased after a few seconds ; the door was shut, and there were steps at last. To pour out and drink off a glass of wine was the work of a moment ; and the colour was coming back to her face when the door of the morning rootn. was opened, and a gentleman, a stranger to her, appeared.

He was a little man, smart and neat in figure ; middle-aged, with hair and whiskers that were partly grey. His bright eyes looked shrewd as well as keen, but there was no unkindness in their penetrating glance ; in fact, he looked what he was, a lawyer of experience, and he was Walter Duncombe's man of business. There was no curiosity visible in the look he bent upon Rossitur ; but, nevertheless, she was a person of whom he had heard a great deal that very morning, and a letter written By him to her was at that moment lying half finished upon the library table.

" Mrs Pottinger, I believe," he said

Rossitur was startled by being suddenly addressed by that name, but she made a movement that implied assent. . " Will you not sit down "—she had received him standing; "and," glancing at the untouched food, " Mr Duncombe hoped you would have finished luncheon by this." "I cannot eat, thank you," she said, " and I— l am a little fci?ed <?f waiting here

Chapter LXXV. (Continued.) OSSITUR glanced at the cold game, the preserved meats, the delicate home-made bread, the hothouse fruit, and the different kinds of wine; but she could neither eat nor drink. A deadly fear began to creep over

her ; her nerves, ready now at

for % M(r Duicoinbe. I believe he is at home." „ " Well — yes. He ■&&& ift th 6 house when your note was delivered 1;o wit J b& and I were transacting some business inetif frtrt 1 fancy he is out now." "Does that mean that I am not to see him 1 " she cried. " Does he not wish to see me 1 Has he sent you to tell me so 1 " " No, he did not send me to tell you so ; but, as you ask the questions, I must answer them in the affirmative. You are not to see him, and he does not wish to see you." A low, wailing cry of bitter disappointment broke from her. " Oh ! " she moaned, " I might have known ! I might have known ! " " That is what we— my client and I— feel about it ; you might have known ! " But I must beg of you, now you are here, to compos"e'yottfself, and to listen to me while I make a sfrfctft explanation, I am Mr Duncombe's lawyer, sinfl i 6ame hef 0 this morning at his request, as he wis"n£s io Consult me upon a matter of business obtrae'ete'tf with you. It is not necessary for me to 1 go 1 back to the painful and unfortunate circumstances that have lately taken place ; I know everything, and I have told Mr Duncombe very plainly what I think of his share in the deception that was practised upon Sir John Erskine. However, let that pass; I assure you he feels very deeply and acutely for all the suffering you have lately endured ; lam empowered by him to tell you this."

•• Please go on," she said, " I do not want to talk of my sufferings to anyone. I want to know what Mr Duncombe is going to do.

As you know so much, I suppose you heard that he and I were going to be married ; but now that half of my face has been carried away by a pistol shot, he is probably not very anxious to keep his promise." " What an extremely coarse-minded young woman she is I " thought the little lawyer to himself. " With the exception of a few trifling errors in detail, you have stated the case plainly enough, madam," he said aloud. " If I am not misinformed, when your impersonation of Mrs John Erskine was on the brink of discovery, and you agreed to leave England with my client, your " '• That is enough," she interrupted ; " why waste time telling pc what I know 1 I suppose you are aware that there is now no obstacle to my marriage with Mr Duncombe. It was my mad husband, George Pottinger, who gave me this mark," and she touched her cheek, " and then he shot himself." "We know the whole terrible story, madam; and nothing could well be more awful or more harrowing. My client, as I said before, has the deepest'pity for you, but he does -not consider himself bound to you, or " " Tell me the truth," cried Rossitur, and she suddenly faced round upon her Companion, and revealed the full extent of the terrible injury she had received. " Does he know how disfigured lam ? I have not seen him since the afternoon of the day it happened, months and months ago ! " "Mr Duncombe has seen you," was the reply, " and I have his assurance that it was a shock to him, from which he did not recover for days." She laughed. " I can quite believe it ! " she said. "I am a most hideous object now, and he used to say I was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. Well, I am beaten again ; the luck is against me, and it Is fortunate I am not the kind of woman to break my heart because a man throws me over. It would have been his fate, you may tell him, if the cases had been reversed, and he had lost his money as I have lost my looks. And now I may as well go back to Stillingfort, and take in needlework — my last refuge against starvation ! " " Pray stay a moment ; there is more to be said," the lawyer interposed. "My client fully acknowledges that you have a claim upon him for compensation, although you would not be able to enforce it legally ; and I came here this morning to receive his instructions for the settlement upon you, for life, of the sum of five hundred per annum, and, in case you predecease your son, of one I hundred and fifty to him for his life. 1 Neither of you is to have any power whatsoever over the principal, and your annuity will die with you ; your son's with him. I am further empowered to hand you this cheque for the quarter beginning the first of October last, and you will oblige me with the receipt for the same." ' With wide open eyes and parted lips Rossitur took the cheque, and turned it over and over as if in some doubt as to its reality. There was no sentiment or romance in her mind regarding Duncombe to make it impossible for her to accept money from him, and she took it willingly, greedily ; surprised, but not touched, by the munificence of the gift. But the place of such love as she felt for him is admirably filled by £ s. d. "You want my receipt," she said, as, satisfied that the cheque was genuine, she put it in her purse. "Where can I find a pen and ink ? " "How did she take it 7" was Duncombe's eager question when he and his adviser met again. " She did not faint or cry, I hope ?" "Neither the one nor the other. She turned the cheque over and over; looked what bank it was on, and then wrote out a receipt. And there it is for • you, duly stamped and signed." Duncombe snatched the paper and threw it into the fire. " It seems to me that she and I need not waste pity on one another," he said, bitterly. " We are well matched." (To "be concluded next week.)

— A mortgage on a railroad does no harm. It serves to hold the rails down. But a mortgage on a farm wears out the farmer •who tries to lift it.