His Heart's Queen.

Taranaki Herald, Volume L, Issue 12288, 22 June 1903, Page 6

His Heart's Queen.

CHAPTER XT.- CWinuoi. , "You comprehend, I perceive," she said, airily ; "you know that yoii ha\e captured a prize — that the Earl ol Sutherland is ready and waiting' to offer you a name • and position such as does not fall to the lot ol one girl in ten thousand." "Nonsense, Belle ! I wish you would not talk so to me ' about ' Lord Cameron," Violet petulantly' exclaimed. j "It is nonsense, child, for Vane i Cameron has formally proposed for ( your hand in marriage — has asked Will's and my consent to win you if he can." "Belle !" Violet turned upon her sister, > crimson to the roots of her hair, blank dismay written upon every feature of her fair 'face. "It is true," Mrs Men eke con- j tinued, "and it is wonderful luck ; for you. Just think, Violet, what J it means to step into such a posi- j tion ! I am proud of your con- ; quest." , . Violet suddenly grew cold* and'} ; pale as snow. s j j "Belle, you know it can never bo," ! 'she began with white lips, when j Mrs Mencke interrupted her angrily. ''It can be — it must be — it shall be ; for I have given my unqualified consent to his lordship's proposal," she cried, actually trembling from excitement. I "Belle, you have dared to do [ such a thing ! You know that I J am promised to another," the} ■young girl cried, with blazing eyes. ) A queer look shot over Mrs 'Mencke's face at this replyi and she ! j opened her lips as if to make one J '.sharp, unguarded retort. Then she ; suddenly checked herself, and, after t a moment, remarked, in a repress- I ed tone : , i j "You know well enough that that foolish escapade of yours I counts for nothing, and that young j j Richardson has no right to hold j {you bound by any promise youi may have impu\s ; .v"ely given him. in a feeling of gratitude." I "I hold -myself bound, nevertheless," Violet returned, with trejmulous lips, "and not from any feeling of gratitude, either ; but beJ cause I love him with all my heart." j "You shall never marry him," i retorted her sister, angrily. "Are yoii mad to think of throwing away such a chance as this for a low-born fellow like that ? It is i not to be thought of for one mo- j ment ; and, Violet, you shall marry Vane Cameron." j 1 "Take care, Belle, you are going i a little too far now," Violet cried, a dangerous flame leaping into her eyes. "I shall not marry Lord Cameron. I have given my word j to Wallace, and 1 shall abide b,y ' it." " | "Violet !" cried her sister, stern-; ly, . and she was now as white as j the snowy lace about her neck, "there shall be no more of this chjld's play. You shall not ruin your life by any such foolishness. What will Vane Cameron think of I me for granting him the permission • he craved ? It was equivalent to j admitting that he would .find no j obstacle in his path. What could i you tell him ?" "The truth— that I do not love him ; that I do love some else," j bravely and steadfastly returned , the young girl. ' "You shall not ! I should die with mortification and disappointment," cried Mrs Mencke, wringing] her hands in distress. Then brid- J ling again, she went on, in an in- I ; flexible tone : ''I will give you just one week to consider your folly ; I will intimate to Lord Cameron jthat you are a little shy of the subject — that it will be just ■as well for him not to speak foe perhaps a couple ol weeks ; but — hear me, Violet — if you refuse to come to my terms at the end of that time, I will take youto France and shut i j'ou up in a convent, where you shall stay until you will solemnly i J promise that }'ou will give up your i miserable Yankee lover." She turned and abruptly left the room, without giving , Violet a chance to reply. Violet stood still a moment, looking wretched enough to break ft. w; s , heart ; then throwing herself upon ' her bed, she gave way to a passion of tears and sobbing. I "Oh, Wallace, where are you ?" ( >she moaned ; "why don't you write to me ? I feel as if I were being ', .led into a trap, and"' — with a sudj den light seeming to burst upon ! her — "I believe they have been intercepting our letters, for I know that you would be faithful to me. ]

„ Oh, I am homesick for you, and now that Belle and Will' have come I know they wiU not let me go back at the end of three months. What shall I do ? * Of course, I cannot marry Lord Cameron, and I shall tell him the truth if he asks me." She lay for a long timejfcrying to think of some way out of her troubles J At last, when, she had ' become more calm, she arose, ex- ' changed her, beautiful , evening dress | for a wrapper, and< then wrote a [long letter to Wallace, telling him ( all about- her perplexity and-suspic- j ions, begging him to send her some news of himself and to address his | letter to Nellie. "•' - ' ' J Not having received, any of his ; i letters, she, of course, did hot know that he had removed fromCincinnati ; therefore, she directed her letter as usual, and, of course, !he never got it ; although she shy\ly posted it in the letter box on j one of the public .buildings of the j city while she was out sightseeing, ; the next day. I At the end of the week Mrs MenI eke sought Violet and renewed the* ! subject of Vane Cameron's piro- ! posal. , ' '„_,'-' j "I wish you would let me "alone about that, Belle," the young girl responded, wearily. "It is useless for you to try to change, my decision — my word is pledged to Wallace, and only death will everrelease me from it, for if I live to I go home 1 shall 1 redeem it." j "That is your, ultimatum, 1 is it?" 1 demanded her sister, with a face as | hard as adamant. . - ' I "Yes.", . > > I ' 'Then you oblige me to commun- ! icate a fact which ? for several rea1 sons, I should have preferred to I withhold from you,';' .said J Mrs , Mencke, bending a strange lookAip-^ ' on her. . \ | "What do you mean ?" Violet inquired, startled by her manner. "Death has released, you from your promise to that fellow. Read | that," was the stunning" reply, as I the woman drew a paper from i.« r, pocket, and, faying it before Violet, pointed to a .marked paragraph. > "Belle 1" came in a low, shudder? ing from the blanched lips of the beautiful girl before, as she seemed instinctively to know what was printed there. " ' M "Read," commanded Mrs Mencke 1 relentlessly. ' x ' " . - With hands that shoot like, leaves in the wind, Violet' picked up. the paper. It was the Cincinnati ! Times-Star, and she read, with a [look of horror on her young face : I "Died, on the twenty-eighth instant, Wallace Richardson, aged | twenty-three years. ,and six months." ~~ The next moment a .piercing shriek rang through the room, and { Violet lay stretched senseless "at • her sister's feet. ' ' ' j "Heavens ! I did not think she • would take "it to heart like th'iSj" { cried the now thoroughly frightened woman, as she threw Herself 'up- ! on her knees beside ' the motionless* girl and began to loosen her clothing and chafe her hands. i '■' , That heart-broken cry had been i lieard in the adjoining room, and j Mrs .Hawley and Nellie came rushI ing upon the scene to ascertain the cause of it. " , They assisted in getting Violet to bed, and a physician was imI mediately sent for. "She has had' some sudden and •■ violent shock," he said at once, while he regarded jMrs Mencke. searchingly. "Yes," she .confessed, with as much composure as her guilty conscience would allow her to assume;, "she; read ail' account of the death of a — a friend, in an American; paper." ' "Hem !" was the medical man's brief comment, as he again turned 1 his attention to his patient, whom, j it was evident, he considered ,to be tin. a critical state. It was *t>ng before he could restore suspended animation, and | even then Violet did not come back jto consciousness ; fever followed; ' and she began to Vave in the wildest delirium. ■ "It's going to be a neck-and-n'eck race between' life and death," the doctor frankly told« her friends, "and you must be vigilant and •patient." ' ' | This unforseen calamity, of course, put an end tp all gaiety. | It was thought best that Nellie ,- should at once repair to Milan, and ;Mrs Hawley left two days later to see her safely and comfortably settled at her work, after which she returned to \)<o:id on ti assist TvjTj\s | Mencke. in the tare o licr sister. s j It was more than a month be- [ fore Violet was pronounced out of

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Idanger ; and then, as soon, as she )was able to sit up,, the physician advised a change of climate ; weeks at Mentone, he thoiight, would do her good. - , , The poor girl looked as if , a rude breath would quench what,- ' little -, life she had, and Mrs Mencke; who still 1 secretly clung to the 1 hope of effecting an alliance between "her Lord Cameron, was anxious to do cverytnihg to Jjaild Ler tip : -conrequentlV, she immediately, posted - off witn invalid- to that/farfamed resort. • She had a private , interview first, • however, with -his * lordship, from whom the real catise of Violet's ilness had 1 been kept a . : profound secret, and promise r d send for him just as soon*as/her sister was able to see him:, *" V The mild and genial atnfospliere of Mentone produced a favorable change in the invalid almost immediately. Her appetite improved and W^ n i* strength, and something of Sier' natural colour. But the child was pitifully - sad — heart-broken. Nothing appeared to interest her/ and she seemed to live^. from day to. day only because nature .was stronger than her grief. -----*'. She never spoke of Wallace, nor referred to the -fact- that her illness had. been caused by tUe dreadful tidings of his 1 death/: She ~was j>atient, x gentle, and sußmissibe, dj^lng > whatever she f was told to do, ': simply because it was. easier than to resist^ and, as she slowly but surely gained, Mrs JVlencke told herself that the way, was now., dear, to the .consummation of her ambitious hopes. . , • - - x A- month, passed thus, and then . .Vane Cameron- ,a.ppear«i iir o:i the scene,! having"- been sujrinjbned- by ■ an encouraging letter- from Violet's sisters-* -' ' '^ - r -*.•--' , (To be continued.)

Aaihor of " Stella Rovseveit," " Sibyl's Inftuence," "The Forsaken BrWe," " Q'jesK Bess," " Brownie's Triumph^' " That Dcwdy,'? $c, &c.

■♦ By Mn QEORQSE SHELDON,