"A SECRET SORROW.'

Thames Star, Volume XXIX, Issue 8620, 26 March 1897, Page 1

"A SECRET SORROW.'

BY MRS MAY AGNES FLEMING.

Author of " A Mad Marriage," " Carried By Storm."

CHAPTER XXIV.

TU« WITCH OF THE M::0R. There was silence for a f»w moments* deep and profound. Ka*e sat weeping j silently, the earl wrung his hands iti ; hopsless aniuiah; my lady sat immoTable \ gazing steadily on the floor—a gray I ehadoir, a sort of dead white, lyin* on her I pale fa°e. I Starting snddenly to his feot, the earl exclaimed, Teheroently— ! 'Why do I ait here? Where is hep Lead me to him. Ob, Walter! friendless and alone you hare lived, and shvl not kindred hands lay you at least in the grave?' . • 'He if in the old Moor Manor,' said Sate, risiae, and rin^infi tta bsll; 'we can reach it in a few hoars.' The old Moor Manor! The very namo fell like a curse on the stricken ears of the earl. 'Bringround the carriage immediately,' said Kate, to ths servant when catered. The mm hastened to obey. Liftine her eyes from the floor,the conniets fixed tbam. oaKnU'titttotminAA; q*wtty~-- ~ ' Bins.' Wondering a little, Kate obeyed. A spruce wsiun^-miid answered tha snmmons.

'Bring ma my bonnet and shawl,' said the counten. - 'My dear aunt!' exclaimed Kite, in surprise and distress,' you surely <lo not intend to accompany us. Do not, I beg of you.' . Without answering her, the countess turned the girl, and said, steadily— ' Brinz me my bonnet and shawl!' The girl left the room to obey. Kate knelt beside h*r, took her band, and said, imploringly— ' Dear aunt MadoUne, I beseech y^u not to go. Think of the long, uncotAforsab'e >ide to the moor, the fatigue* you must necessarily undergo, and, after all, what use will it be ? Pray, pray dp not go!' She did not reply, but .fixiautfher •?•■ again on the floor seemedlosTin thought* At I his moment the girl entered with the things, followed by Miss Diekett, to announce the carriage was in waiting. Tbc countess arose and motioned the girl to approach. Seeing she was sti 1 determined, Kate wrung h«r hinds in hopeless trouble and exol<uaed vebemently: •Ob, Aunt MadoUne! why will you persist in this ? My lord, can yon not persuade her to s^ay P 1 ' It ia useless/ said the counttts firmly ' I must go. Come.' She held out hr hand. Ka*e;wi'h a sigh drew it through her arm, and followed by the earl, entered the carriage. The neit |raoment they were whirling rapidly away, • -v: Of what were those thr.ee thinking as they sat side by side silent and sad P The earl's thoughts wandered back to to that wild, tempe tuous night a few short months before, when, amid all the storm and gloom, they had approached the fatal old Manor. , Bow many and how strange were the events that, bad taken pine < since then. The scene was almoßt the same. Outside all was dark and dreary; inside two women were his companions, just as they were that night. He almost fancied that night had returned. The countess 'ay back in the corner just as Alice had done; and be almost fancied he saw poor injnred Janie in the erect figure and gte'n sad face of Kate, But, oh! how different was his errand to-niuht I , His el lest son—bis firstborn—lay cold and dead in the old Moor Manor. And Kate—her thoughts were divided between her cousin and Alice—wandering sometimes to the wild, pissionate Byra. Poor lost Syra. What a s»d fate had been hers, And then Walter and Hadoline- what a meeting fortbese two, so long and sadly separated! She glanced towards her, but she could ace no trace of thought or passion in that white, calm, marble-like face and veiled eyes, Of what was ahe thinking P Fcrchaiice of one whose blue eyes had once been dearer to her than all the world besides, of that strong, fearless heart, whose every throb bad bern for her, until death had stilled its pulse. Ifcer drew up at last before the old Manor. They alighted, and preceded by Kate, entered the secret passage that led to the subterranean chambers. Here they found every thing just as she hadleHdt. In a shadowy corner lay the lifeless body of the earl's son. Old Moll sat over the fire. stilt humming to herself her dreary cheat,, and rocking to and fro in her trouble. . •. Ihe eduntew.sriio had borne up during ./ « journey, nearly sank as she entered Ik- Bloomy room. She tottered, and .„,,! * lwe fallen, had not Kate rannor <•* her '• and leadinK fcer ? ently towJrds *he incer 'P« rtmfnt- ihe re" . A \ B t bonnet, and laid her on a Tuch li^^bU ringlets fell. in heavvmasV w over her should*,-, »a*in« w/«wu ««»ce seemßtili«fhitar and fontra.tas.be lay a. .til. atavtgtr\^rpas?ed to the outer roJS! T Rhe earfs «oJ bending over the lifers form with a «ot"»tenanee of utter utter despair. K«te c»™ ">«* "ood besido him and gaae 1 dov n» , , . How calm and qoitft he k™™ «•* »« there! Death had left no k' h"gj "£ print oo his countexunoe; the t ?« 1« »« of response betokened that he hav 1 P*»* away almost withomt bodily p»in. , J"" 10 could dream that the calm, white v vDrow had often frowned daath to otheri*"^" 1 those lips, wreathed with a half-«mtl«« Kate cculd hardly realize that she h«4, heard them shout the death-cry of h\t\ countrymen. . Ihe earl pushed back the fair bngbt locks, almost fancying he «lept The eyelids were closed so naturally over the blue eyes that it was bard to realise he was indeed dead. But the heart would never throb more the dee* dark eyes would never open sgain. •He cannot be dead!' exclaimed the earl, wildly. ' Walter ! Waited Wake! It is your old father who oalliS! Ob. KattJ will he not speak again ?' • Oh, my poor, poor uncle V said Kate, oompassionately, 'jou cannot deceive yourself. It ia betted as it is. Better he; should die thus, than Jive to suffer tylhe hand of the l»w.' The earl groaned in his anguish, and wrung his hands. Then sinking into a; seat by the bedside, he took one of the cold hands in both bis, and continued gazing steadily and mournfully into the face of the dead. Kate moved noiselepssly through the apartment, cow whispering a few words of consolation to poor old Mollie, who sti! ■ eat on the floor clasping her knees with her hands, and droning drearily to herself —now gazing piyingly on the earl, and again flitting softly into the inner room where the countess lay. She seemed noi to have moved from the position in which Kate had laid her. An in*oluntary feelof awe stole orer her as ahe gazed into that death-like face, She looked like a shadow herself, too, flitting silently among shadows. So sad, so pale, so careworn, she looked very different from the happy, careless Kate Sidney of a few months before. So the hours passed on, and midnigb appioached, Midnight approached, that strange, solemn hour, when the gieat world seems for a moment to pause to take breath wh> n the veil that stpaiate the living and dead grows thin. Strange, mystic hour, when a'l is hushed and

•till—when the dark past rises before our eyes with fearful power. ./ There was a sodden noise, as of footsteps without. Kate's heart stood sti I with fear; then the door was thrown open, and Mother Wail, the Witch of the Moor, stood before then. By tha hand she held the child Magdalen, who stood mazing around with her great wondering dark eyes. Ah sprang to tru ir feet in dismay. For a moment the old woman's eye? wandered around the spartment, then rested on the life'ess form extended in the farther corner. Going over, she folded her arms across her breast, and stood gaging down into the calm face of the dead, with a moekin« smile of triumph on her lip. ' So,'she hiaaed, between her clenched . teeth,' the farce is over—and he who left her full of youth and heath, has returned a corpse. It is well! Baid.l not. lady,' she added, turning to Kate with a jeering smile, ' that disgrace hung over the house of Danemore, and that the viper its matter had w>rmed into Ufa sheuld be the first, to sting him P Yet, methinks, thsre is one wanting to comple'c this assembly. Where is she P Where is the Countess of Danemore f Kate's eyes invo'uotsriy turned towards the inner room. The old woman noticed it, and. droppiax the hand of Magda'en, she said, imperiously, ' Stay here/ The next moment, she raisud the curtain and was standing iatbe presence '$$£&iS& tm** - - XH had passed so quickly that Kat# was bewildered. Now, howerer, she) strove to prevent her ant«ring; but aha was too late; the old woman waa already face'o face with LadyDanemore. TrestbU inn for the comequeneei, Kate want m after her. Mother Wail stood gating on the countess with the same bitter, jeering tini'eonherfaee. And the coutets, st* had h«lf railed herself on bar elbow, bar large, black eyes glaring wiliily into tb* hideous face above her, her lipaaliviA. bus ; she strove to apeak, but a choking gasp was the only audible sound to . which she could tire utterance. •How.iforc you en er here, wretebtd old bag ?' exclaimed Kate, passionary; ' leave the house instantly 1 % what right dare you presnme to en-er ieraf • lfiy»< is ri^ht" said tha old woman,' . with a mocking laosn; ' did I not daw you once m your proud balls to fores ma out P I repeat it now, force me out if you dare!' (To be Contnued)