THE ROMANCE OF THE CORONET.

Otago Witness, Issue 2661, 15 March 1905, Page 82

THE ROMANCE OF THE CORONET.

* By W. W. HUTCHIXGS,

Author of " Giulty or Xot Guilty'" "His torica' Tragedies ox London Life," " Humours of Life," &c, &c. [CorriucHT.] XI. THE STRANGE CASE OF LADY PRIMROSE. ' Among all the romances of the peei.ige, for which the reading world is indebted to the erudite researches cf the late Sir Bernard Burke, none is more marvellous than that in which figures the Lady Primrose, grand-daughter of that Earl of Loudoun who under Charles I narrowly escaped the block on recount of his sympathies with the Covenanters. So marvellous is it indeed that it is necessary for me to premise that Sir Bernard certifies it to be a "genuine fragment of family history" and that it was familiar to Sir Walter Scott, to whom it suggested the tale which he entitled " My Aunt Margaret's Mirror." The lady's husband, Viscount Primrose, was a man of dissolute habits and brutal temper, who gradually came to feel towards the wife whom he neglected and crossly wronged a sentiment, of malignant hatred. One night stung by a song of a baron bold who well could rule full fourscore men, but could not rule his wife, he went home with his mind made up to murder her. It was a wicked resolve dictated by a conscience perverted: it was because he had treated his wife basely and cruelly that her presence had become to him and since he had it not in him to mend his life, he determined, in an access of half drunken frenzy, to rid himself of his victim. A Fkrnzied Httsbaxd. He reached home in the early morning, just when his wife was sitting at her toilette. Suddenly, to her terror, she saw in tlie - beside her own features, the face ,1 of her husband, " swollen to blackness," j to quote from Sir Bernard Burkes pages, " with the intensity of evil passions. So gently had he entered that she had not heard his footfall, and it was plain from the slow stealthy manner with which^ he still crept en ihat he was totally unaware of her watching every movement of his reflected in the mirror. Always rapid in decision, she at once saw and embraced the only means that could possibly save her ; high as the window was from the ground, no other chance of escape remained ; and jumping from it with the boldness of desperation, she alighted safely on her feet below, and fled for refuge to her husband's mother." This was the end of things between Lady Primrose and her husband. That he had so narrowly escaped adding to the tale of his sins the crime of murder brought him into no better mood as it might have done had his conscience been less seared. By this time he had broken with bis own class and before long he went abroad. What became of him there, no one knew. Some believed that he had died ; others would have it he had changed his name and begun a new career. Thk Mysterious Wizard. Some years after his disappearance, there established himself in the Canongate at Edinburgh a foreigner who was credited not merely with the power of second sight, but with the faculty of enabling le&s gifted mortals than himself to see what friends of theirs in. Avhom they were specially interested might be doing at a distance. To \tiiis wizard Lady Primrose, accompanied by a lady friend, one night betook her- ; self. She found him, says Sir Bernard \ Burke, "a talt muscular man, dressed in black garments of a foreign aud unusual fashion, and of singularly stcru and forbidding features ; yet there was nothing mean or vulgar either in his face or manners ; on the contrary, his carriage was cTgnified, and a habit of command' showed itself in the lofty forehead and iron features. His complexion was a deep olive, and a pair of large black eyes burned like two live coals from under the massive brow that oveihung them." The ladies were startled to find that the magician was expecting them, and drawing Lady Primrose aside he uttered a name which showed that he cleaily knew the errand that had brought her there, and the nature of wnich the reader will have no difficulty in divining. Lady Primrose alone was allowed to enter the chamber in which the mystic rites were to be celebrated, her friend, much to that lady's ' alarm, being left alone in the ante-room, ' while Lady Primrose was ushered into a large attic, the windows draped with dark cloth, a large mirror suspended at one end, ancl before it a Inazier full of something that gave forth a low, blue flame, i the only light with which the room was i provided. * Ax Uxcaxxy G'etcqiont. J The necromancer began the uncanny cere- . mony by lighting at the brazier a yellow I i wax taper, which he carried to a corner ! of the room and fixed against the wall. i i This done, he bowed before the taper t thrice^ and uttered an indentation, Jgot

long had he and his visitor to wait for responsf. Plaintive sounds were heaid float-, ing about the room ; and thus encouraged to proceed, the magician scattered red powder over the fire. Instantly the flames been me crimson, and Avere of sufficient volume to be reflected in the mirror. Then clouds of smoke rolled over the face of the muror, breaking into flashes of light and foam ;is they reached the framework. Next came a sharp cij> eking sound, t'nd the smoke began to resolve itself into "a sort of distent picture, representing the interior of n, church, the light and shadows of the bcene fluctuating every instant, and Ihe colouis being now iaint, and new again vivid, like clouds vrenthed in fantastic shapes about the setting sun, ;nd perpetually changing uiKlev its influence from ihe palest to tho brightest ciimson." Presently a priest appeared with his attendants at the altar, and a wedding train stood before him. Suddenly the whole =eene seemed to be lighted up, and as the figures showed in bold relief, what was Lady Primrose's astonishment to recognise in the bridegroom her own husband ! At this—^moment one came hurrying into the church, his face partly hidden by a cloak ; and at the moment when the priest motioned to tha bridal pair to join hands he rushed forward. As he did so Lady Primrcs-e saw that he was tLe very image of her brother, who was then travelling abroad. His irtervention threw everything into confusion, swords were drawn, and whole drama was so real to Lady Primrose that, clasping lier hands together, she exclaimed, " Gracious Heaven ! my brother will be killed!" By this exclamation the spell was broken. The scene began, to dissolve until the mirror was once more naught but a plate of refecting glass, and the taper in the corner of the room went out with a hissing sound. Tklepathy ? j When Lady Primrose had recovered from the shock of the vision, so pregnant with significance for her, she carefully wrote down so much of it as she could* recall, together with th 9 date, and even the hour, at which it had come to her, sealing the document in her friend's presence and depositing it in a private drawer. Some time afterwards the brother whom she had seen in the mirror returned from his travels and without assigning her immediate reason for socking the information, she asked him whether he had heard anything of her husband. At first he evaded the question ; but pressing it home, she learned that he had not merely heard of Lord Primrose, but had seen him. Plied with further questions he related that when at Amsterdam he was requested by a rich merchant of that city to be present at the marriage of his only child to a fellow-countryman of his ; that he promised to join the party in church if some business which he was obliged to transact were over in^time; that _pn entering the church he recognised in the bridegroom the man who was already the husband of his sibter, and beside himself with rage at the s-pectacle of such villainy he had drawn his sword and called upon the scoundrel to defend himself. Before blood could be shed they were parted, and next day when li 9 j would have carried the matter further he found that his antagonist had vanished, nor had he heard anything of him since. '" Do you recollect the date of the occurrence?" asked Ms sister. "I recollect it well," was the reply, "from its connection with the other business I have mentioned, and hare it set down in my jocketbook.'' Tire Vision Verified. The date was given, and was found to correspond with that of the document which, recorded Lady Primrose's vision. She related what it was that she had seen in j the magician's mirror, but though it was j borne out by her written account of it, ■ and corresponded so exactly with the scene \ in which he bad played his part, she found it difficult to convince her brother that the necromancer was anything but an imposter. But had there been a Psychical Research Society in these days it would no doubt have classified the vision as " veridical," whatever may be the explanation of such phenomena. I may add that some time after the brother's return authentic news of Lord Primrose's death reached his widow. She was still, in spite of her melancholy experience, a woman of much charm, and she had no lack of suitors, one of whom, the celebrated Loi'cl Stair, succeeded by a ruse in inducing her to depart from her resolution to remain a widow to the end of her days Him also she survived, dying in 1759 at Edinburgh, where she had for many years been, a well-known figure in high life. ••—Alaska, with its inlands, Is saicT to have a coast-line of 25.000 milos, equal to the circumfeienco of the globe. Valuable Discover? fob the Hair. — If your hair is turning grey or white, or falling off, use " The Mexican Hair Renewer," for it will positively restore in every case Grey or White hair^ to its original colour, without leaving the disagreeable smell of most "Restorers." It makesr the hair charmingly beautiful, as well as promoting the growth of the hair on bald spots, where the glands are not decayed. Ask your Chemist for il The Mexican Hair Rekewee," sold by Chemists and Perfumers everywhere. 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