A BITTER BIRTHRIGHT; OR, LADY GILMORE'S TEMPTATION.

Otago Witness, Issue 1900, 3 July 1890, Page 33

A BITTER BIRTHRIGHT; OR, LADY GILMORE'S TEMPTATION.

By BORA. RUSSELL, Author of " Footprints in the Snow," " The Broken Seal," " The Track of the Btorm," &o. [ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.] Chapter XV. Not at the Tryst. ND now shall we see how it; was fairing with Gilmore, while the ! girl who had won his fancy lay dreaming of him, after being ignominiously sent forth from under his roof for his sake ? He was, however, in a state of happy ignorance of this fact until the next evenii g after Nancy had left Wrothsley. Lady Gilmore, in truth, exhausted with the rage and excitement she had gone through, felt quite unequal to face her son, and made the same excuse as Miss Butler had done the day before for not appearing either at dinner after her stormy interview with Nancy, nor yet on the following morning. Miss Butler also was too angry and sore to care to speak to Gilmore, and he was thus left by the two ladies to amuse himself as best he could. Gilmore never cared very long to do this. He was no great reader, and the time hung rather heavy on his hands ; lightened, however, by pleasing excitement when he thought again and again of his late interviews with Nancy, and dreamed of those to come. It was, of course, very well known in the household that the governess had been turned out of it, and it was also pretty ehrewdly guessed why. One of the head gardeners had not forgotten the evening when Miss Loftus had walked under the spreading palms with the young lord, and they had been seen together, too, in the park. The fact that the butler had been sent to town with Miss Loftus spoke volumes ; and ihus Gilmore's valet, when he was attending to him in the evening before he retired to bed and helping him to dress the next mornirg, did not dare to presume to mention Miss Loftus' name to him, not knowing how much his lord knew and did not know. Gilmore therefore was in complete ignorance of his mother's conduct, and poor Nancy's banishment, and spent the mornis >g in reading a French novel, smoking cigarettes, and thinking of her. " My little beauty, my little darling," he said softly to himself again and again, recalling the soft light in Nancy's dark eyes, and the smiles on her rosy lips. The time, in truth, seemed endless to him until he could go to keep their tryst; and he watched the shadows darkening, and the mist lying over the park deepening from grey to dusk with absolute impatience. At last the hour oame, and Gilmore made his way to the corridor, where he expected to meet Nancy; but as we know, no Nanoy was

there. He went at half-past i, and he waited until a quarter-past 5 by the green baize door, and then he could bear it no longer. He therefore walked down the corridor to the schoolroom door, and having rapped, and been told to enter by I'ossy's voice from within, did so, and found the only occupants of the room where the two children and the schoolroom maid. " Gilmore I " cried both the little girls with delight, as they jumped up from the table and ran towards him. The maid now retired, and Gilmore finding himself alone with his young sisters, at once asked them were Miss Loftus was. "Oh 1 don't you know," said Dossy, " about the awful row?" " What row ? " inquired Gilmore sharply. "Oh 1 mother made a fearful row yesterday evening," explained Dossy. "Miss Loftus had been walking in the corridor, as she always does, you know, and then she came in here to give us some tea, and we were just sitting down when mother and Miss Butler walked in, and mother was in such a rage we were quite frightened." " What did she say ? " asked Gilmore with a darkening brow. "Hhe called Miss Loftus bad names— a disgraceful creature, and a reprobate, I think, and she said she should never stay another night in the house — that she wasn't fit to be in a house at all — and she packed her off there and then, and she sent Graham away with her, and we are so sorry." " Sent her out of the house ? " repeated Gilmore angrily, " Bather ; but I don't know what she had done, Gilmore, but mother snatched a jewel case off the mantelpiece that Miss Loftus had laid down there a few minutes before, and shouted out— for oh I didn't she bawl — something about inducing someone to meet her in dark passages, and she said ' Don't deny it — this is my evidence 1 ' And she flung the case on the floor, and such lovely diamonds came out, and— we are afraid she had been trying to steal them." Gilmore's face had grown a dusky red during the narrative, and now something very like a curse burst from his lips. "And what did Miss Loftus say?" he asked the next moment, trying to speak calmly. "Oh, she looked very proud, and told mother she was speaking to her and treating her disgracefully, and she said, 'Send for Lord Gilmore, and ask him the truth about this ' — I think that was what she said. And didn't they go on at her after that, mother and Miss Butler too; and mother said she should never have a chance of seeing you again, and enticing you— I am sure she said that— and they twitted her about her mother, and said no end of horrid things." "They ought to be ashamed of themselves," said Gilmore passionately. " I thought so too," answered Dossy with dignity ; " and I asked what she had done — if she had stolen the diamonds, and they had caught her— but they told me to hold my tongue." "What folly! Stolen the diamonds indeed. Why, I could not induce her to take them." II Oh ! I'm so glad 1 " cried Dossy. « You gave them to her, then, Gilmore 1 I thought as much." " I gave them to her, and I bought them for her, and I suppose Miss Butler is at the bottom of all this, and it is out of jealousy and spite that they have insulted this poor girl. But my mother shall repent it, bitterly repent it," continued Gilmore, beginning to walk up and down the schoolroom with hasty steps and a frown upon his brow. "Now when I think of it," said Dossy, sagely, " I do believe Miss Butler has been at the bottom of the row, Gilmore, foi I remember her asking me questions about you and Miss Loftus; if you knew her, and I said 'Oh yes ; ' and if you came to the schoolroom ever, and if you ever walked with us, and so on." " And what did you say ? " 11 1 told her you never came to the schoolroom, though you were so near to us, and I showed her the door at the end of the corridor that leads to your rooms, you know ; but I said you walked with us sometimes." " With you and Miss Loftus ? " " Yes ; we had a good long talk about it, and she asked about the unused bedrooms at the end of the corridor, and no end of things -she was very curious, now I remember." Gilmore gave a hard and bitter laugh. He understood it all now ; this girl had acted as a spy, and had probably seen and overheard some of his interviews with Nancy. He remembered, too, how he had spoken of Miss Butler, and he laughed again at the thought. But he was very angry. He stood silent, with his back to the fire, as his little sister went prattling on ; telling him all the details of Nancy's departure, and how the schoolroom maid had said that Graham had come back from town in the mid-day train ; and how the coachman had told the maid he was sorry for Miss Loffcus, for that when they got to the station her eyes were all red and swollen with crying, and she seemed in a very bad way." "Do you know her address in town, Dossy 7 " presently asked Gilmore, abruptly interrupting Dossy's discoirse. But, Dossy did not know it. 11 Mother would not even let us say goodly c to her, you know," she told Gilmore, who nodded twice, then stooped down and kissed both his little sisters. " Thank you for telling me all this," he said ; " but don't tell mother that you have done so, nor that spy Miss Butler. Keep it a secret, Dossy and Flossy " ; and with a smile and another nod he went away. He proceeded straight to his own suite of rooms, and when he reached them rang the bell, and ordered Graham, the butler, to be sent to him at once. This was such an unusual proceeding that under the circumstances Graham received the message with a troubled heart. But it had to be obeyed, and a few minutes later the butler was standing before the young lord. Gilmore did not beat about the bush, but made the inquiries he intended to ask in a tone of authority. " You were sent by Lady Gilmore up to town last evening with Miss Loftus," he said. 11 To what address there did you take her ? " Graham hesitated a moment, He quite

understood the situation. "My lady has Bent the governess away on account of my lord," he knew ; and Graham was a prudent man, and wise wherewithal in his generation, and would very much have preferred not to have been asked this question. He therefore cast down his eyes, and assumed an air of thoughtful consideration. "It was towards the West Hampstead way, my lord," he said, •• but of course not being acquainted with that district, the exact name of the street just at the present moment has escaped my mind." " Please recall it, then, and give me an exact answer," said Gilmore, sharply ; ani Graham after another moment's hesitation.and also remembering that he was dealing with his lord, and that after all Lady Gilmore was only the dowager, discreetly drew out a pocketbook to which he referred. 11 1 may have it here, my lord," he remarked, "excuse my looking — yes, my lord here it is— Mrs Loftus, 17 Priory road, West Hampstead ; the young lady gave it to me I remember now to direct the cabman." Gilmore took down the address in silence, and then drew out a £5 -note. " Thank you," he said, " and as I do nofc wish to get you into any trouble with Lady Gilmore, you need not mention to anyone that you gave me the address— take this for your trouble " Graham bowed low as the crisp note touched his fingers, and was satisfied now that he had answered prudently. "And send Foster to me at once," continued Gilmore, looking at his watch, " and order a carriage round, to take me to the station to catch the 10 minutes past 7 train. lam going to town, but do not mention this in the household until after I am gone." Again Graham bowed low, and then hurried away to obey the orders of his lord. "She's too 'igh 'anded, is my lady," he reflected as he went; "she was the same with the late 'un, and they won't stand it, it's no good." He was mentally referring to the late Lord Gilmore, whose quarrels with his wife, and their causes, Graham had been very well acquainted with. But he made haste to send Gilmore's valet, Foster, to him, and when he appeared Gilmore ordered him at once to pack. " I am going to town for some time, so gather up all my belongings," he told the valet ; and while Foster was busy doing this he sat down to write a note to his mother. " Dear mother," he wrote, " I am leaving Wrothsley this evening for an indefinite time, as I do not choose to have a spy set to watch my actions, not that a young lady should be insulted merely because I have been civil to her. — I remain, yours truly, " Gilmore." "P.S. — Kindly return the diamond necklace which belongs to me, to the house at Eaton Square." He gave this note to the butler to deliver before he left. " Give it to Lady Gilmore at dinner time but not before," he told him. "If she inquires if you gave me the address I asked for, you can tell a lie about it if you likesay you didn't." Once more Graham bowed low, and smiled a little grimly. " Very well, my lord," he said. Many lies had this discreet man told itt the old days, and somehow ho always happened never to be found out. He had a quiet tongue for one thing which never babbled unnecessarily, and this is a great and precious gift. And before the night was over he thought it incumbent upon him to lie again. In the meanwhile Gilmore had left Wrothsley, and while his mother was trying to summon up courage to reproach him for his conduct with Miss Loftus, he was quickly speeding out of her way. She made up her mind at last, and about 8 o'clock in the even ing Vent to his rooms, which to her immense surprise and consternation she found empty. She violently rang the bell, which was answered by one of the footmen. " Where is Lord Gilmore 1 " she asked impatiently. "I cannot say, my lady," answered the footman, who knew perfectly well, but who thought the storm might as well fall on other shoulders tnan his own. " Send his valet to me," commanded my lady. The footman bowed and retired, well knowing that the valet was at this moment travelling with his lord to London, but that of course was no business of his. He returned in a few minutes. "Foster, my lord's valet, is not in the castle, my lady," he said ; "he has gone to town with my lord in the 7 o'clock train." " To town ! " repeated Lady Gilmore, and her face grew pallid, and she staggered forward and grasped the back of a chair. "Who told you this?" she asked the next moment. " The butler, my lady," answered the footman. 41 Tell him instantly to come here," cried Lady Gilmore ; and Graham went, feeling thal.'he had been thrust into a most unfair and iiifficult position. " What does this mean ? " asked Lady Gilmore the moment he appeared. "Am I to understand that Lord Gilmoro is gone without seeing me; without telling me of his intentions?" " My lord left a note for you, my lady," answered Graham, quietly. A note 1 Then why was it not delivered to me at once ? " " My lord gave me particular orders not to do so, my lady ; he said 'Give this to Lady Gilmore at dinner time, but not before,' this is the note, my lady." Lady Gilmore snatched it impulsively from the man's hand, and as she read the hard words it contained she gave a hoarse cry of anguish and passion. " Who has told him all this ? Who has told him about that girl ? " she asked, the next moment, turning like a fury on the butler. " Did you, Graham ? It must have been you 1 " " It certainly was not, my lady," answered the butler, firmly. " Who told him then ? " " That I cannot say ; certainly not me ; but this evening my lord sent for me, and he knew then that I had taken Miss Loftus last} night to town, for he told me bo."

11 Did he ask for her address ? " _ "No, my lady, he made no inquiries," said the butler, unblushingly. "He simply told me he was going to town, and that I was to give you the note at dinner-time." " She has written to him," thought Lady Gilmore, despairingly ; " and Kate Butler has done all this." The poor woman in her anger and fear next acted very unjustly. She ran to Miss Butler's room, carrying Gilmore's note in her hand, and to the great indignation of that young lady began to abuse her without stint. " Look what you have made me do I " she cried. " Gilmore is gone— he has gone after that girl, and he says we have been spying on his actions, and so we have ? " " His conduct was very disgraceful," said Miss Butler, turning suddenly red. "You have only made it worse; you watched him, and got me to watch him, and this is the end ! " Miss Butler shrugged her shoulders. " The end would probably have been the same in any case," she said; "the girl, I suppose, has written to him, and you would not have cared, under the circumstances, I conclude, to have kept her in the house 1 " " You have only done harm I " raged Lady Gilmore, "and you have sent my son away from me ! " But it is needless to write any more of her unseemly words. The quarrel ran so high that Miss Butler wrote to her mother the same evening to say that she would return home the next day. * "As for Gilmore," Miss Butler added, " his conduct is such that it would be impossible for any respectable girl to marry him ; I shall tell you more when I see you," and so on. Thus ended Lady Gilmore's scheme about the marriage of her son; and when the grand -aunt at Gateford Manor House heard of her failure, and the story about the governess— for she always contrived to know everything that happened at Wrothsley— she said, spitefully, that she was not surprised. "My lady always puts her foot into everything," she said ; " and as for Gilmore, he's his father over again, every inch."