His Heart's Queen.

Taranaki Herald, Volume L, Issue 12281, 13 June 1903, Page 6

His Heart's Queen.

% Mrs GEORQSE SHELDON,

Author cf " SteHa RovseveSt," " Sibyl's Influence," v The Forsaken Brttt'e," " $ueßn Sessj" " Brownie's lYmmph," " That Scwdy," &c, &c.

CHAPTER VIII. | & 'TW, BREAK HER WIU,!" ' Mr Meneke here interposed. When his wile's temper was aroused she (w as liable to be. rash and uurea[sonable. He thought if they could "v?but get rid of Wallace they could sj perhaps coax Violet iuto a more f pliable frame oi mind. I ' I7e turned to the young man, ll'aud said, sternly: * "We have had enough of this to5 night, but I will conicr with you i later about this matter.'' I ■ Wallace bowed a courteous, but I ! dignified, assent to his broad hint I 1 to take his departure. 1 1 He bade Violet good-night in a \\ low tone, tenderly pressing her 111 1 hand bclore releasing it, then, alter f, a polite bow to Mrs Mencke, <ji which she did not deign to notice, || he walked with a linn, manly 1 1 bearing irom the house, bidding 1 1 its master a gentlemanly good1 evening at the door. \ ' In spite oi her rage against VioI let and her poverty-stricken lover, | Mrs Menckc, cotdd help admiring' \\ the latter's selF-possessed exit, i'j she secretly confessed that "the fellow was uncommonly good-look-ing.'' ' When the door had closed after j him, she turned again to her | sister. "Violet, I am scandalized " | she began, wlieu that young lady I interrupted her. ■A '"There is no need, I assure you, h Belle," she said, coldly. "I confess '!{ I would have preieiTed that you J did not see us just as you did, .but I have been guilty oi nothing which I should cause \ou to feel scandaiiz- | cd. We may a:s well understand | each other iirst as last, and you I may as well make up your mind to \ the inevitable, for, ii I live, I shall | marry Wallace Richardson. If I f { cannot do so legal!}'- until I am of ■ ll ,agc, I shall wait until then, and, — I you know, Belle, when I take a _,jtakc a stand like this, I mean it." I] With .this parting shalt, Violet, with uplifted head and flashing eyes, walked deliberately from lier sister's presence and up to her' own' i v. ; room. I\\ "The little vixen will do it, s ! Belle, as sure as you live," re111 1 marked Wilhelm Mencke, who had j, returned to the drawing-room in ; £ season to catch the latter portion ;|.of Violet's remarks. :|! "She Khali not !" cried his wife, angrily. "Marry that low-born . j carpenter who lias to labour with j his hands for daily bread ! Never!" ■(I "I do not see how you are going ! to help it; you know she has the I grit oi a dozen common women in ! that small body, ' and a will of | iron," replied Mr Mencke. 1 "Then I'll break her will ! I I came of a resolute stock, too, and j it will be Roman against Roman, '. 111 1 with the advantage on 'my side. j She shall never compromise her- [ self, nor iis, by any such mes- | alliance." I Mr Mencke looked a trifle sheepI ish at this spirited speech. He I could not forget, if his wife did, i .some fourteen years previous he jjhad been as badly off, ii not w^orse, '.than this young carpenter. Jlc had , been a labourer in the employ of - Miss Belle Huntiugton's father, and she had not felt that she was compromising herself or her parents by marrying him, and the wealthy pork-packer's daughter had run away with the man w"hom she * loved. "What will you do to prevent it ?" he • a«ked, after a few moments of awkward silence. "The girl can marry him any day if she takes a notion ; the will says we are to be the guardians of the property 'until she is twenty-one or marries.' It would make it rather awkward for me if she should, ' for her husband would have right to demand her fortune, and — Belle, the deuce would be to pay if I lose my . hold on that money. "What is the matter, Will ?" del mauded Mrs Mencke, looking startled. "Hum — nothing much, only — it is 0 so mixed up with my own affairs 1 it would cripjslc me to have to 1 fork it over on short notice," Mr Mencke replied, looking exceedingly " glum. "You may rest satisfied upon one point ; you will never have to surrender it to that fellow," his wife returned, decisively. "I will scud Violet to a convent first, and she would be kept straight enough 1 there." "That is v.-sll thougHt 0f,.8e11e," said her husband, eagerly, his usually stolid face lightiug up greedily. " "It would never do, though, to sei:'! her to one here ; suppose

Iwe get her off to Montreal, where s there will -be no one to interfere ; we can keep her there as long as we like, and meantime I will make Cincinnati too hot to hold that younsrster." "\Ve will do it, Will, and she shail stay there until she promises to give up 'this silly love afiair." "You are a very conscientious and affectionate sister, Belle," said her husband, with a sarcastic laugh. "What do you suppose Kdea Himtington would say to — -" "Hush'!" returned Airs Mencke, with an authoritative gesture,' "that is a secret that must never be breathed aloud ; but all - things are fair in love and wa J r, and to Montreal and into a convent Violetshall go without delay." i But if Mrs Mencke could have, caught a glimpse of the wliite, resolute face of her young sister, as she stood at that moment just outside the drawing-room door, she | might not have felt quite so confident of her power to carry out her : jroject, Violet, after leaving Mrs Mencke, intended to go at once to her room, but, upon reaching the top of the stairs, she remembered that she ■ had left upon the piano, in the library, Wallace's letter, in a book that she had been reading. ; Not wishing other eyes than her own to peruse it, she stole quietly down again to ,get it, and happened to pass the drawing-room door just as hex sister made her threat to send her to a convent. She had always had a horror of convent life, arid, though Mrs Mencke had been educated at one, Violet would 'never consent to go to oue, and had attended the pub-, lie schools of . the city, until she graduated from the high school, after which she spent a year at a noted institution in Columbus to "finish off." _„\ ', She was greatly agitated as 'she' listened to the conversation of her two guardians, and she wondered' how they could scheme so against her, It was cruel, heartless. There had never been open wardare between them before, though Violet had not always been as happy as young girls, usually are/ There was much about her honie life that was not congenial, but she was naturally gentle and affectionate, and where principle was not at j stake, she- would yield a • point -i rather than create dissension. Occasionally, however, there would, arise a question of conscience, and then she had shown the "grit" and j "will of iron" of which Mr Mencke J had spoken. ' " Mrs Mencke, arose as she made her Jast remark^ and. Violet, fearing j |to be found eavesdrppping, sped noiselessly on injt.6 the library, . where she Secured', her book aiid i letter \ then fleeing %y -a door op- | p'osite the one she 'had entered, and up a back stairway, she reached her owm room without exciting the suspicion of any one that she had overheard the plot concerning her. ■'- - \ Locking herself in, she sat down at once and wrote al} that she had overheard to Wallace, telling, him that she should certainly, grieve herself to death if she was* immured in a convent, and asking him what she should do in this emergency. She. informed him that she should take a German lesson at three the next afternoon, and begged him to meet her in the pupils' reception parlour ot the institute at four" o'clock. She was , so wrought up that she could not sleep, and tossed restlessly most of the night, while. -she wondered .why Belle arid Wilhelm were so cruel to her, and what the secret was to which, Belle had .referred ; she had not; until "then, ,beeii r aware that there - was anything Mysterious connected with their family history. ,v, v She arose very early the next morning, ' and stole forth to post her letter, long before' any of the household were astir, after which she crept back to bed and fell into a 1 heavy dreamless slumber, which lasted until late in the iorenoon. (To be Continued.) Ladies gum bools %; \S/Vat the A.B.C* One of the 1 revsults bihthe enthroning of Edward' VII has been the introduction of a tea -i known as "Coronation Tea." This is a choice tea put up in* a very handsome camster bearing portraits of ihe Royalties and views oi Westminster Abbey at the time of the. coronation, • - inaking a "'useful '--'■ and handsome memento of this auspicious and historic event. Obtainable onljat A. J. Clarke and Co., Dovonatreet..* s