HER PROMISE TRUE.

Otago Witness, Issue 2210, 9 July 1896, Page 41

HER PROMISE TRUE.

By 808 A RUSSELL. Author of " Footprints in the Sbow," *" A Country Sweetheart," " A Man's Privilege," &c. [Copyright.] ■ Chapter XIV. j jV^jfaJL TheEvfe of the Wedding. lipjifcv ELLE'S engagement to Stanmore i JmlgSfflb was, by Lady Stanmore's advice, l||[§|2JJKr kept for the present a family ifisMgte, seoret. But it was a secret <Pf|v|j(i which gave her new importance «jM3tf in the family, Mrs Wayland |H&f being especially pleased. *qfi " You have managed It very • well," she said to her sister, Lady Stanmore, when she was first told the news. " I generally do manage well what I take in hand," replied Lady Stanmore, smiling. "But I should like to have the pleasure of seeing Mrs Seymour's face when she hears that Jack is a benedict." " She will be in a rage, of course 1 w "Of course she will ; but she will be in a rage too late. But there is one thing I want to warn you about, Belinda — be sure when you congratulate Belle that you make no allusion to that other absurd affair." "Of course, I won't. Really, Lucy, you evidently think no one has a grain of sense jjstiouMolf."

"Oh, no," answered Lady Stanmore calmly,' " but I know I have more tact than you haye — more taot and temper." Mrs Wayland's face flushed. " Any other perfection 7 " she asked with a sneer. "Yes," retorted Lady Stanmore 5 "Belle's marriage is entirely due to me, so I think you should show me some gratitude." "/I told you from the first that he admired her." "Ye?," answered Lady Stanmore, with a slight shrug, " but Jack's admirations have been many. It would have come to nothing but for me." Mrs Wayland could not gafneay this, ; and she therefore grumbled something inaudible. "It bad best be as soon as possible," continued Lady Stanmore ; " before we leave here." " Bat will Belle consent to this 7 " " I think I can persuade her ; she must I see what an extremely luoky gtrl she has i been." "She has Indeed," said Mrs Wayland; and she sat thinking somewhat grimly of Belle's " luck " after her sister had left her. 11 It's her looks, I suppose," she reflected. " I wonder if she Is like " And then she moved uneasily, as though some painful and disturbing thought had crossed her mind. But when she saw Belle she did her best to be very graoious. Belle was going to make a good match; she was off her hands ; she would no longer have any expenses connected with her. "So you are going to marry Sfcanmore7." she said, holdicg out her hand. " Well, Belle, it's the very best thing you could do, and I am very glad." "I thought you would be pleased," answered Belle, smiling, but with ever so faint a touch of bitterness in her tone. •' lam very pleased— and your Aunt Luoy says she supposes it will be soon." " They can settle it," replied Bslle with apparent carelessness ; and then she went to the window of her mother's room, and stood looking out ©n tbe^misty park. What matter did it make, she was thinking, whether it wss soon or late if it had to be? She sighed restlessly, and her mother heard the agh. " You are a most lucky girl, Belle," she said with hor usual want of taste. " I suppose so," answered Belle, turning round and looking at her mother's face; 41 but I doubt very muoh whether Stanmore can be called a lucky man." "Yon mnst do your beat to show your gratitude to him." " But I have none. What do you suppose he is marrying me for 1 Merely because I am good-looking." > "There are hundreds of good-looking girls in the world," " Then I mnst be his style of good looks," said Belle with a little laugh.-" Everyone to their taste, jou.know." Mrs Wayland was abont to make .an angry retort, but she remembered in time that Belle would soon be Lady Stanmore and have a great deal in her power to beßtow. " Stanmore is rich," she said after a little pause. . " That's a blessing. Poverty is an odious thing ; it drags people down ; it degrades them." " Well, you'll have no more poverty at all events. You must persuade Stanmore to go to Monte Oarlo, Belle, before the winter is over, and I should not mind joining you there. In the spring, of course, you'll be presented." "I hope I'll do honour to my new honours," replied Belle lightly. "Well, good-bye for the present, mother; I am going for a drive with Stanmore." Belle nodded her head as she said this, and left the 100 m, and a quarter of an hour later she was eittjng by Stanmore's side in a high open phaeton* which he was driving. He waß a good whip, and his two bays were almost perfect, and he felt content and happy. But Belle did not feel so. " What i& strain it will alwaya be," she thought. " But I suppose I'll get used to it in time " ; and agiln ahe could hardly repress a restless sigh. " Well, have you told your nfother, Belle 7 " presently asked Stanmore. "And what did she say?" " She seemed exceedingly pleased at the prospect of getting rid of me," answered Belle; and then with that quiok [change of mood which was becoming habitual to her, she gave a little, laugh. Stanmoro laughed also. " What a child you are, Belle I" he said. "She also remarked," continued Belle brightly, " that she thought I was an exceedingly lucky girl, and I replied that I supposed I was, but that I did not consider you a lucky man." "I do then ; to marry a lovely girl one loves is surely being a luckly man ! " " Bat suppose the lovely girl is wilful, is bad to manage, and does all sorts of foolish things 7 " " I don't believe that you will do all sorts of foolish things. Of course I can\ expect that at your age you will be as sedate and : steady as a man of mine." And again Stan- ' more laughed. " The difference of our age is the worst of it," he added more seriously. " I don't care in the least for that," said Belle, truthfully. "And lam very glad you i intend to begin to be so sedate and steady." " Belle, what do you mean by that 7 " asked Stanmore, turning round and looking qaickly at her smiling face. Belle laughed softly. "I* remember you as Jack Dudley, you know," she answered. ! " And what do you know about Jack . Dudley?" j Again Belle laughed. "Do not look so alarmed," she said. " I really know nothing about Jack Dudley, except that he had a general reputation for not bßing very sedate." " I suppose yous Aunt Luoy told you this 7 " And Stanmore's brow clouded. •• No ; Aunt Lucy always Bpeaks well of you ; you are a favourite of hew." "Well, I don't say I was very sedate, Belle, as Jack Dudley ] but a man has a hundred temptations." "Jaok Dudley has ceased to exist, you know," said Belle gaily j "and Lord Stanmow, tfith t&e owes and. «oxdss of bis

position and; of a frivolous young wife, is sure to be a very different person."

"At all events I shall try to make you happy, Belle." "Yoa are very good and kind, I know," said Belle. But she thought at the same moment, " You oan neither make me happy nor unhappy." Her heart was, in truth, quite cold to him. The touch of his hand gave ber no thrill ; the look of love in his eyes stirred no emotion in her breast. She did not dislike him— nay, she thought him kindly, gentlemanly, and pleasant. Bat that whioh alone makes the bond on which she was about to enter saored was totally absent In her feelings towards Stanmore.

But this did not prevent the arrangements going on, to all appearance, perfectly satisfactorily. The day after his engagement to Belle Stanmore paid a flyiDg visit to town and purchased for Belle a really magnificent diamond engagement ring and a beautiful set of pearls. There were other diamonds— heirlooms of the Stanmores— of which she would soon also ° become the possossor. It must be admitted that the present Lady Stanmore grudged her niece these sparkling gauds, which she had worn so often and so long. But she knew that If Belle did not get them In all probability some other woman would. Therefore; as was her wont, Lady Staomore made the best of the situation.

"Better Belle than anyone eke," she told herself, " and I hear that wretched fool Seymour i 6 drifting fast into' consumption, and then madam would have expected Jack to marry her. It would have killed me, I think, to see my diamonds on her." So the family jewels wero shown to Belle, and Stanmore placed the engagement ring on her slender finger, and kissed her haud after he had done so. And Lady Stanmore and Belle paid a brief visit to town also, and Belle's trouaseau was ordered from Lady Staamote's own milliner, who was desired, however, to keep the approaohing marriage a secret. Neither Stanmore nor Lady Btanmore visited any of their friends while in town, and no one was told of the engagement, either there or in the country. "We shall take them all by surprise, Jack," Lady Stanmore Bald gaily. But Scanmore only nodded, and as the days passed quickly away before his approaching marriage he sometimes did not look quite at ease in his mind.

Three weeks after he had asked Belle to marry him Lady Stanmore decided that it was qnite time that the ceremony should take phco, and "Belle made no objections. She was excited and restless in her manner sometimes dnring this Interval, but she aeked for no delay. Then came the eve of the marriage ; the trousseau arrived from town ; the biide's dreßß— a marvel of beauty and simplicity— was fitted on, and the girl stood looking at herself in the longmirrqr, when suddenly as she did. so a strange ohange passed over her face. - She grew pals and began to tremble, and then hastily asked the maid to remove the white shining garment, and left the admiring little circle around her without a word. For as she stood 'gazing at her fair reflection, in the glass) a presence — invisible to others, but distinct to her— in a moment seemed near ber. The face of Hugh Gilbert, shadowy, and yet defined, was before her, and there was 'reproach and pain in his grey eyes. That such visions do come to those whose souls are near akin there Is no doubt. In the silent watches of the night, in the grey dawn, sometimes in the shining midday hours, though we be parted far and wide from those we love, they yet come nigh ua. Belle saw Gilbert with her mental sight— that strange gift given to few — and a flood of recollections and unspeakable pain swept over her heart.

" Miss Wayland does not eeem very well," explained Lady Stanmore, who had been one of the admirers of the wedding dress, to the milliner's assistant, who had brought it from town.

" She looks lovely in it, my lady," replied the assistant, and Lady Stanmore agreed with her.

In the meanwhile Belle had retired to her own room — the little scene of fitting on the dress had taken place in Lady Stanmore's dressing room— and when she was alone she sank down by the bed utterly overcome. ••I saw his face," she murmured, half aloud, covering her own with one of her trembling hands. " Then he loves me still I Hugh, Hugh, how could you break my heart P.

Earlier in the afternoon she had taken from her jewel case a blue turquoise ring which had been given her by Hugh Gilbert, and which she had always .worn until the miserable day when she had learnt of his marriage. A simple little love token this, suitable to the slender purse of the giver, but which had been graatly prizsd by Belle, and kissed many and many a time while she believed him true. Now, on the eve of her marriage, she had opened her jewel case for the purpose of destroying it. She had lifted it up, and a» she did so her eyes fell on the magnificent diamonds sparkling on her fingers that Stanmore had presented to her. A half bitter, half sad smile stole over her lips. "We have both sold ourselves," she thought. Bat as she held the blue circlet in her hand she felt that she could not part with it. She remembered Hngh's words, the thrill that passed through her being as she placed it on her finger, the look of love in his grey eyes. She replacsd it with a weary sigh and locked the case, and was shortly afterwards summoned to inspect the wedding finery that had arrived from town. All this flashed back to her mind as she sat alone after that strange mental vision that she had seen of Hugh Gilbert's fade. It seemed to her almost as if he were near her still. She* stretched out her arms; and a tide of love, of tenderness, came back to her lately benumbed heart. "Had anyone deceived him about herself 7 " she thought. But no, he had sought no explanation, sent no word. " I suppose he believed.it to be hopeless," she reflected, with a heavy sigh ; " and this rich girl came in his way. But it was cruel, very oruel, and I believe now he loves me still I »

While Belle Wayland sat upstairs on her wedding eve thinking fondly and regretfully o£ her left tow, downalgiw in the library

Btanmore was pacing restlesely to and fra with a oloud upon his brow, The morning's post had indeed brought him a letter which filled him with dis< quietude. It was couched in terms of ten* dernesi, and told of the writer* unchanged affection to a friend of many years. Bat Id was the concluding portion of this letter that gave Stanmore great uneasiness. " I have just heard an absurd report about yon," he had read more than once daring the day with an anxious heart, " but which, of course, I do not for a moment believe — that you are to be married shortly to that Miss* W*yland, who, I think, U a niece o£ your sister-in-law, Lady Stanmore. This ridiculous invention came, I am told, in the first place from Madame Ventnor, the milliner, ; and was, of course, repeated by one of my i delightfully candid friends to me 1 I have no doubt that it originated from that odious woman Lady Stanmore herself. Very likely she has a design on you for this penniless girl, but I know yon too well to dream for on instant that it could succeed. Still, dear Jack, I was silly enough not to like to hear this 1 Poor Fred is drifting fast away, and before long I shall be free — free to marry the only man I have ever loved. But yet when , you receive this wire me four words, ' It Is all folly,' and thus still the vague uneasiness, of this restless heart. .« A. S." , Bat Lord Stanmore had sent no telegram to his old friend, and his soul was diiquieted within him. Chapter XV. The Marriage Day. It was a cold, bleak, wet day the next ' morning, and nothing could be more dismal than the prospect outside. The drifting rain was beating against the window-paneß and . the wind soughlr.g among the lea flags branches of the trees. Stanmore gave a slight shudder when he rose and went to the window and gazsd at the gloomy soene. The cloudy sky seemed as an ill omen to him ; the darksome olouds as foreshadows of coming ' fate. But he was a man not aasily depressed. He shook off,, or tried to shake off at least, the feeling which in spite of himself had entered into bis heart. "What folly," he thought, "to be scared by a rainstorm. But poor Belle will get her finery half spoilt; and what a day for travelling." And again Stanmore slightly shuddered. - And the bride-elect shuddered also when she saw the grey drifting olouds and the ' rain-steeped earth. Did they seam omens to . her, too — omens of disaster and woe ? " Yet the sun shone on the last day I spent with biro," she remembered dUmally, " and ' with Stanmore I can have no happiness." " I shall grow like the rest, I suppose,"-' went on her reflections— "like Aunt Lucy and j mother— hard and cold ; but I shall be Lady ' Stanmore, and people will matte. much of me . because I shall have money and good looks, - andpcrhapß in time I shall forget— forgefc that I was onoe happy, that I once loved, ' •What a strange thing love is— living In ' another's life ; the world being made bright or dark for another's sake. I loved Hugh : like that, yet this is the end." t ' She turned away from the window as she thought this— turned away to prepare to take her new position. She did not expect or look for happineis, that life-flower which bloom* only under the bub of love ; what she did expect she knew she would obtain— adulation, flattery, and success. For the sake of these she was about to marry Stanmoie, and the. little world around her gave her them all on her wedding morn, Presantly her Aunt Lucy hurried to her room, and the bridal toilet was begun. Even Mrs Wayland was ready to tell her iow beautiful she looked' in the shining vffite robes in which they decked her. She wore the costly pearls that Stanmore had given her, but no other jewels, and a veil of great price floated from her bright hair. When Stanmore saw her he forgot in his admiration for her beauty certain- uneasy qualms which before had disturbed bid mind. "Why, Belle," he said, "you look like ft princess, only no princess was ever half 00 l fair." Belle swept him a graceful and somewhat coquettish little curtsey. " I wonder you can pay compliments on suoh a damp morning," she answered. "It is a. confounded morning, certainly,but we mustn't /think of It. I hear the, oarriages coming round, so let me help you; on with your cloak, as we must not have you' take cold." " No," said Belle, Smiling, and rejecting the cloak with a little gesture ; " I'll be seen* I In all my bravery by the verger and the par-, son, even if I do take cold." "Wilful woman I" answered Stanmore, good-naturedly shaking his head. "My dear Jack, whoever heard of anyone being married in a cloak 7 " said Lady Stanmore ; " and with suoh a beautiful dress on, too I " So Belle went in her bridal robes to the cold, dark village ohurch, where, as she had said, only the parson and verger awaited her. The marriage had been kept a seoret In the place from all but these two, and the clergyman, good, easy man, felt half startled when the graceful, white-clad figure appeared before him. He had expected, as tjie marriage was to be kept quiet, that the bride would wear a more sombre garb; Bat no; Belle was adorned as a bride, and bore herself bravely during the ceremony which bound her for life to John Dudley, Lord Stanmore, until the clergyman had spoken the words : "I pronounce that they be man and wife together." At this moment Belle raised her eyes, and as she did so a slight cry escaped her lips, Her mother, who had given her away, Lady Stanmore, and Stanmore all looked at her, and there was something in ,tbe expression of her face that frightened them. Her large eyes were wide open, with a strange, faraway look, her lips slightly apart, and she was deadly pale. " Are you 111, Belle 1 " whispered Btanmore, Who was kneeling by her side. Bat Belle made no answer. She was looki ingT apparently, at something beyond— at something the others did not see j and after a slight pause the clergyman went on with the ceremony, but just as it conoluded Belle fell forward as one dead. Stanmore caught her In his arms, and lifted her head on his breast in great aUusg

and her mother and aunt came round her. " She bas fainted," said Stamnore in some agitation; "I had better carry her into the vestry." He accordingly did this, and Lady Stanxnore produced her amelliEg salts and Stanxnors bis brandy flask. But it was some minutes before Belle gave any eigns of life. Then, with a kind of shuddering sigh, she opened her eyes and looked around her. " Where ami?" she asked in al ow feeble Toice. "In the vestry, dear Belle. You were a little overcome with the excitement, but you are all right now," answered Lady Sfcanmore soothingly. " Yon gave me a great fright, Belle," said Stanmore, now helping himself to some brandy from his flask. " And use also,' my dear young lady," remarked tbe clergyman. Stanmore took the hint, and presented his flask tb the vicar! who took advantage of his courtesy. '"It is a dreary morning," he said. " One really requires something to warm one in «uoh weather." " Take another sip, Belle; it will do you good," urged Lady Stanmore. But Belle pushed tbe flask away. * " Where is my oloak I " she asked, and Bhe shivered, as she spoke. " Can anyone lend me a cloak'?" Lady Stanmore had prudently brought one, and Stanmore went ' for it to the carriage. It was a black velvet/ fur-lined cloak, and in this the bride was wrapped and her white shining robe's hidden away. "Someone take off my veil," the said ftexr. " My dear Balls, wait until you get home," suggested Lady Stanmore. But Belle wonld have her way, and Lady Btanmore therefore unfastened her veil, and thus not like a bride she' returned to Redvers 'Court, and 89 she passed through the hall leaning on Stanmore's arm tbe servants made secret comments on her -changed appearance. ' « 1 She went straight to her own room, and iat down there, pale and trembling. " So he came to my wedding," she thought, and she shuddered at the recollection. What OBelle, did see at the altar before she fainted, nr at least always believed that she saw, was this : Standing by the clergyman's side when ibe raised her eyes was the same shadowy Vision ot Hugh Gilbert that she had beheld Jthe night before, and on his lace the same look of reproach and pain. But she was not long allowed to indulge In such memories. Lady Stanmoie hurried into the room, and affected great concern about her health. . "What made you faint, my dear?" she jwked. H i M I don't know; the feeling came on 10 suddenly," was Belle's faltering reply. /"Poor Jack fa in a. great way' "about it. ,j3ufr come, |et^mo ring for Pole; and/change your" TlresOincf put "on your pretty ,gr,eeri velvet frock, and then come down and haye v s&inelnnob." "" '" ""' ' '* '" ; r - Belle did as her aunt wished her. Pole, the tnaid who was' to travel with her, came and changed her lady's dress, and for the first time Brflle heard herself called by her new title. Then she went downstair?, and Stanmore, who was standing by the fire, advanced to meet her as she entered the room. ' ■ ■ "Are you -all right now, Belle?" he eaid kipdly. " Yes, I am all right," she answered. "Did you faint for effect, Belle ?" asked' Mrs Wayland, whosa bones were beginning to ache again witb the damp and cold in the church. "Yes, of course, for effect," replied Belle. >'I hope I did it graoefully." ! , Stanmore laughed at the retort, bnt still be did not look at ease. Presently, however, they all tiat down to lunch, and the. hot soup champagne raised Stanmore's drooping g>irits, and Belle's colour stole baok into her jbarming face. At 2 o'clock It had been Arranged they were to commence their journey, Paris being their proposed destination, and at 2 o'clock th« oarriage came round \p convey them to tbe station. Bells retired to don her costly wraps, and then reappeared in her velvet and sables— fitanmore's gift'; and after this tbe farewell , words we're spoken, and the bride started in the still drifting storm to begin her new life. • \ " '• • ' Her mother and aunt went into the entrance,' hall to see them leave, and Belle waved her hand to them as she was being, driven away by StanmoreVside. , " What a frightful draught there is here," said Mrs Wayland a moment later. • „ "Frightful,"' replied Lady t Stanmore, with her handkerchief over her mouth. \ The two ladies then returned to the dining ybom and stood by the glowing fire. "It is certainly a wonderful match for her," began Mrs Wayland ; " but one never can tell how it will end ; there's a taint in her blood, yon know." " Why prophesy evil ? I, for one, mean to drink her health and happiness in an extra Mass of champagne. Will you join me ? " , "Ob, yes, I'll do that. I feel as if I had jot my death of oold in that damp church." The sisters drank their ohampagne, and .<hen sat down by tbe fire, and were still sitting there when, about half an.hour later, the jbound of carriage wheels on the gravel below the windows of the room was beard. "Who oan that be on such a day?" laid Lady Stanmore, rising and going to one of the windows to look who their unexpected visitor might be. But the next moment she gave a sudden exclamation. "Linda, who do you think it is?—absolutely who ? " she cried. " Who ? " said Mrs Wayland, also starting to her feet. r "Mrs Seymour, it is a fact; she must have Dome to try and stop Jaok's marriage, but ghe's too late, l" ' Lady Stanmore was now brimful of exoiteiinent. The dining room, where they were, opened into the entrance ball, and Lady Btanmore hurried to the door. A lady's voice was inquiring of tbe footman for Lord Stanmore. - " His lordship is not at home," replied'the man, • " Not at home I" repeated the lady sharply. ." When did he leave home ?" "A little more than half an hour ago,' l answered the footman, ? And Yfheifl Is he £ona g " wlj«a tbe lady,

"JSnrovte, I believe, madam, for Paris." Lady Stanmore could contain her triumphant feelings no longer. She advanced from the half-open dining-room door Into the ball and confronted the handsome woman who was inquiring for her brother-in-law. " Good morning, Mrs Seymour," she said ; " this is an unexpected pleasure." Mrs Seymour looked much disconcerted. 11 1 wrb in this part of the world," she heal- j tated, " and I thought as I passed Reavers j Court I would call to see Lord Stanmore." "You have, however, missed him," an- ! swered Lady Stanmore with a hard smile; " he bas just left on his wedding tour." Mrs Seymour started baok as if she had | been struck. She grew pale, and her breath came short. 11 What ? " she gasped out. " Perhaps you had better come in here and I will tell you all about it," oontinued Lady Stanmore, waving her. hand towards the dining-room door; and after a moment's hesitation Mrs Seymour followed her into the room, and Lady Stanmore dosed the door behind her. "Ye?," the went on, her eyes gleaming witb triumph, " Lord Stanmore was married this morning to my niece, Miss Belle Wayland. This is the bride's mother," she added, slightly waving her hand in tbe direction of Mrs Wayland. Mrs Seymour, stood befdre her with heaving breast and flashing eyes. She was a woman of strong and passionate emotions, &nd if Lady 'Sfcanmore's news were true it was a death-blow to her. , "Is this true?" she asked hoarsely, a moment.lateV. "Certainly it is," answered Lady Stanmore calmly. "They have been engaged for some little time, but Lord Stanmore wished it kept a sscret - perhaps ho had reasons for wishing this." Then the storm of Mrs Seymour's passion and disappointment broke forth. 41 This is your doing," she hissed out, white with rage and emotion; "yon plotted and planned this, as you have plotted and planned all your life 1" "Oh 1 no, it was certainly not my doing, but simply that a middle-aged man fell in love with a very pretty girl. Indeed, he did not know whether Bell^ would accept him or not until he risked his life to save her from drowning. It is quite a romantio affair, I assure you." Every word of this speeob was like plunging a fresh dagger into Mrs Seymour's heart. She panted and gasped, all the while glaricg at tbe woman who was tormenting her, and ! Lady Stanmore felt her triumph was oom- ; plete. | " I thought it would surprise you," she said sneeringly. . " Surprise ma ! " echoed Mrs Seymour. "It is shameful— too shameful 1 But he shall repsnt it ; 'if I live he shall rue this day 1 " She eaid not another, word, but turned andleft tbe room, and a few moments later the sisters heard the sound of her carriage wheels rowing; away on the gravel ' below. They looked "a£ each other, and Lady Stanmore laughed softly. ' ' ' ' " I have had my revenge I " she said. " She tried to take Stanmore from me, and now I have taken Jack from her." i (To be continued.)