CHAPTER L1I.

Te Aroha News, Volume VI, Issue 295, 1 September 1888, Page 5

CHAPTER LII.

KIDSAIU'KD IN OI'EX I)AV. A suddkx thrill of terror shot through .Maggie's heart at the sight of the young peer's face, for it was getting to be a very wicked imd unpleasant face to look upon ; but she met him boldly, her brown eyes steady ard serene. 'Good afternoon, my lord!" she said, quietly, .slipping the • wonderful paper in t&e pocket of hoi dress, an'? making a demure little eourtsey. '1 beg your pardon, but Mrs Keith, is in the habit of receiving visitors through her front entrance, and not by wiy of her bedroom windows.' "The young man Hushed hotly. The girl's cooKnsolentfe angered him. • I am here to see you, my stubborn little beauty,' he *>aid, -* not Mrs Keith, and as I happened- to see you in this window as I came up,*l ventured upon the terrace. You must blairie yourself, not me. for the impertHience— - your Lraauty- dra.vs me like a ujagnet ;• • I caif b help but follow you Don't yoi< see— ytiu lefKme in Northumberland a week 01 two ago, and here I am J You can't escape me : if you were to fly to the"other end of the world, I should follow. 5 .'. ", Maggie broke into an amused laugh despite her indignation. 'Really, Lord Strathspey,' she said, "I did not think you- w ere so silly. Will you oblige me - by ieaving this window? lam not in the habit of having gentlemen hanging round my windows, and I'm quite sure my father and aunt would be surprised— to use a mild term— if they should return and find you -here." - ' That doesn't signify,' he.xeplicd, with his evil, insulting smile. *lf you'll admit me at the front entrance, and give me your company, for an-hour or two, 111 go down — will you.?* " r . .'No, Sir!' . , • * Theft I shall remain here. Ive come all the way from England to have a talk, with you, and I will. ' • I've but om; word for you-, my lord, and that's quickly spoken. Good-afternoon !' * She was sweeping- from the room with the air of a queen, but, with one agile spring, he cleared the open window,. and grasped her arm" like ay vise. .Maggie confronted < him witfii blazing eyes. 'How. dare you, sir!" she cried; 'you shall ba sorry for this ! Let me go this instant, I. command you.' But he only laughed in her face, tightening his hold "upon her arm, till she could have cried out with pain. • On one condition,' he replied, with provoking calmness ; ' promise that you \\ ill be ray wife ?' 'Your, wife?' she cried, carried away by her passion : ' you, a usurper, a nameless pretender, to ask me to be your wife? How dare you ?' • What do you mean ?' he asked, a savage light blazing up in his eyes. ' I mean that you are a brute, a coward,' continued the »irl, half frantic with impotent rage, and vainly struggling to free her arm from his grasp," 'that you are not Lord Strathspey's son.' 4 You lie ' he hissed ; ' 1 am his son, and heir to the earldom — there is no proof ' ' There is proof,' cried Maggie, lost to all reason and caution in her excitement, 4 ample proof — and I have it in my possession — -you are not the earl's son !' A look of deadly determination settled on his face. 'That does not matter,' he replied; *I shall be bis heir all the same ; and when you are my wife, you'll not prate and babble of what you know. Once more, will you marry me in peace, and share my wealth and honours ?' She- tore herself tree by^ a sudden and superhuman effort, and retreated to the other side of the room. 'No,' she cried, facing him in her passionate young beauty, her eyes on fire, her pearl-fair cheeks ablaze, the shining bronze hair tumbling to her waist like a golden torrent. £ a thousand times no ! I would die first !' ' Very well ! We'll see '.' He caught her again in his bteel-like grasp, and held her while he drew a small vial from his pocket. ' I've other iobs on hand, and this one might as well be done at once,' he muttered. Maggie uttered a piercing cry for help, which rang out awfully upon the sunimer silence : bub the Scotch cook, clattering her pans in the basement below, did not hear ; neither did the footman, who was taking: a nap in the grape arbour ; and the two maids taking advantage of the absence of their master and mistress, had run out for a gossip. There was no response to poor Maggie's j cry. The young peer drew the cork from his vial, and holding her beautiful head back by brute force, he put the vial to her nostrils, and held it there. In less than five minutes she lay quiet in his gr<isp, her eyes closed, her cheeks colourless, her hands hanging limp and nerveles3 beside her. He broke into a chuckle of exultation, and taking her in his arms, leaped lightly through the open window, and descended from the terrace to the grounds in the rear of the house. Just below stood a light buggy, with one handsome horse attached to it. In two minutes he was in it, and Maggie was lying on the floor with her uncovered head on the seat. ' A deuced bold thing to do in open daylight,' he muttered, as he grasped the reins. { I had no thought of such a thing, bub she drove me to it with her sharp tongue. J'm pretty sure of running into a scrape, bub the spice of the thing is the danger— so here ?oes !' And giving his fine horse a sharp lash, he shot off down the lonely mountain road. At the very same hour, just as the summer sun was going down, and the distant peaks of the Scottish mountains were in a glitter of reflected glory, and all the purple twilight musical with rural melody, Captain Fossbrooke guided his dainty ponies along an unfrequented .lane, beneath the arching boughs of a whispering fir forest. His handsome brown eyes were very grave and tender, and he was leaning toward his lovely companion, and speaking in a low and earnest voice. 1 It is all settled, then,' he was saying— ' settled and irrevocably, Lady Marguerite V ' It is all settled,' she replied, with sorrow in her sweet voice, despair in her lovely eyes, 'and as irrevocable as fate. The wedding Lrous'stan has been ordered, the wedding-day appointed — in November I am to marry him.' * And, Lady Marguerite,' continued the captain, his voice unstea^ as he put the question, 'are you sure— sure beyond all doubt — that you have no likinc for this man— for tho baronet ?'

'Oh, Captain Fossbrooke, yes' she replied, covering her face with her hands ; • the very sight of him makes me shudder. I cannot even regard him with the ordinary feelings of friendship ; and 1 shall die,' she moaned, pifceously. 'I shall die if they make me marry him !' The captain's brown eyes shone like stars. • Lady Marguerite,' he went on, dropping the^ reins upon the ponies' necks, and taking her fair hand in his, ' if you were free from this marriage, free to choose whom you might, could you over— would it.be possible for you ever to care for me ? It is a bold question, but. I love you. little l^earl, as no obher man in all the world will ever love you." Marguerite withdrew hor hand. 4 1 have no right to answer the question, Captain Fossbrooke,' she replied, • nor you to ask it, While I am pledged to marry another.' ' I know, 1 know •' he oried, ' and I beg your pardon. You are a thousand times too good for me. and yet T dare to love you ! I can't help it, Lady Marguerite : T loved you the moment my eyes rested on your sweet face ! My darling, my darling ! it will be like death to see you another's !' | Poor little Peail struggled hard to keep up her maidenly dignity"; but with all her proud blood, like the most of her ?ex, her heart was stronger than her will. She co\ ered her face with her hands and burst into passionate sobbing. The captain bowed clown until his black locks swept her bowed head. 4My peerless darling ! my beautiful Pearl !' he murmured, ' you do care for me !' ' Oh. if I could die " moaned the poor girl. ' Surely the wide earth does not hold another being so miserable as I am !' Captain Fossbrooko caressed the bowed head with tender reverence. ' Little Pearl,' he entreated, 'answer me ! It Mill do no harm, and my soul hunger? to know. Do yon love me ?' ' I love you '.' The words were just above her breath, but his quick ear caught them. ' My darling !' he cried, oxultingly, ' look up, little Pearl !' She obeyed, her blue eyes overflowing, her cheeks burning with blushes. He drew her close to his he-irt. ' I have won !' he exclaimed ; ' the prize is mine ! You love me, Lady Marguerite, and no living man shall take you from me ! You shall never marry the baronet !' Pearl looked at him in consternation. ' But papa — the countess ' she began. 'Never mind,' he interrupted. 'I can manage it, and make it all right. Only love me and be true to me, and you shall never marry the baronet, my darling !' His thrilling voice, the steady light ot his brown eyes, inspired her with hope and courage. She clung to him in a transport or bliss. c Oh, if J could believe it,' she murmured, ' I should be the happiest girl alive. ' 'You may believe it,' he replied: : for, as sure as the sun is. going down behind the mountains, it shall be so.' They drove along for several minutes in blissful silence, the ponies spurning the sna Sgy heath beneath their feet, and skimming along like birds. About midway in the lonely lane a buyey passed them, going northward like the wind. ' Who was that ?' cried Marguerite, ga/.intr after the flying vehicle ; 'he looked so much like Angus.' 1 So he did/ replied Captain Fossbrooke ; ' but there was a woman on the seat — some person taken ill, I dai-e say.' Lady Marguerite watched the carriage till it disappeared in the purple gloom, lit/tic di earning whom it contained.