HIS LAWFUL WIFE.

Thames Star, Volume LVII, Issue 14725, 2 August 1921, Page 7

HIS LAWFUL WIFE.

(All Rights Reserved.)

By JEAN MIDDLEMASS Author of "The Yellow Badge," "In Storm and Strife," "Hush Monoy," " The Case of David Lisle," "A Life's Surrender," &c.

Published By Special Arrangement.

CHAPTER XVlll.— {Continued*}

"Not leave Phil? He seems _ to have left you. But never mind, stay where you are if you prefer it, only I give you notice we shall never be out of the house."

Mab had suddenly come to the conclusion that there might be another reason why Ninette did not wish to come to Kelton, her suspicion being strengthened by the <;»ct.that Ninette put her arms round her and kissed her by way of answer, while two great tear-drops stood in her eyes. Mab, however, took no notice in words: she only returned Ninette's embrace very affectionately. : Once more back among her pillows Ninette said:

"We have done nothing but talk about me, and all the time you two are quite wet. Do take off your jackets." ''That we will and ring for tea, for we are going to stay a whole hour, so be prepared to be bored. The waggonette horse come in to the farrier so we took the opportunity of coming to see you and told the coachman to call for us jn an hour." "Bravo !"cried Ninette, who was striving to appear in high spirits, but she did not. deceive the sisters ; they prattled away about their trip to Eastbourne, and a dozen different subjects;, till they had refreshed themselves with tea and the time was approaching for the dark, dismal return drive to Kelton, which, however, was p r f no* consideration to Mab and Di; they never minded either' weather or darkness. But they both wanted to know a little rr/.re about Kitty before they departed, and Mab'once more ventured to introduce her name.

Days came and went, and during most of them the cheery little pair from the Court appeared at Orchard Cottage, desirous if possible to lighten the burden of life for Ninette. That it oppressed her somewhat heavily they did not fail to see; nor were they backward in believing that Lionel had something to do with the change that had come over sweet Ninette. Free of speech and off-hand though the sisters were, they were much more richly endowed with delicacy than many of their acquaintances gave them credit for, who themselves possessed less of. that priceless gift. Fearful to pain her', they never mentioned Lionel's name to Ninette, little guessing' how she was longing to hear about him. In their opinion if was more seemly that they should first hear what Lionel had to say about the strained feeling that evidently existed between him and the inmates of the Cottage. But Lionel was not wont to make confidantes in connection with his private affairs, so they must go to work carefullv.

The day after the unpleasant interview with Dr. Wrottesley, Lionel went off to Scotland to a shooting box where he had been due for some time. Owing to his mother wanting him home about the draining of the pond and his developing love for Ninette, he ha'., however, dawdled on till it was already late in the year for grouse-shcoting. He stayed a very sbcrt time in Scotland, and then betook himself to Paris where he still-v. as.

"So Mrs. Wheatley has left you for good and all?" she said. "You ought to have another companion-" "I do not know that she has. f % '-; fsaicl she hoped to return later. She has left a good many things here."

"Where does she live m town?"

"I don't know. She arid her mothr- wore going to move, she tokl me. She would write when their p'ans v, -cc' sett'.ed; but I have not had a line vet."

'.'"•he is an enigmatical woman," •rb.irvcd Di, laughing. "If I had a '! ■ .-.V; friend I should like to know n.o-e" about her."

Ninette eolcred and looked patnrrl. It was a sore roint with her i'.vl: she knew so lili'e.

"Well, we shall have to go," was the next_romnrk. • "There is tho. waggonette. We must not 1.-. to it waiting in the wet but we will 'happen over' to-morrow; if it is on. cur feet.".

To the gay capita! Mab and Di addressed letters telling him ail that had been going on in the neighborhood in and about Orchard Cottage. but never a word of answer d'd they receive, that is, never a word of reference to either or the Wrottesleys, or to the information that Kitty had lost her father and had not returned to the Cottage. That Lionel appeared so uninterested puzzled his sisters, or rather, his determined appearance of want of interest puzzled them. They asked him if he were coming home for Christmas, and said his mother would be glad/to see-him. In answer they were told that he was going to the Riviera with a friend, and did not expect to be back before Easter. "Easter!" they cried in chorus. Poor Ninette will no longer be with us at Easter if something does not happen to improve her condition." Still their tongues were tied, and they said nothing about Lionel, only waited as patiently, as their active minds permitted, for the developemerit of events.

"It is so rood of you to look up fW.i'Ttc little me. v You are dear

"I hor-'i thesdoctor is coming back to right?" said Di. Mab had been a little afraid of venturing on the question. ."I hope so, but it'is uncertain, lie goes /to Loudon every week now; sometimes twice."

"Whatever for?" The query 1 was spontaneous and irrepressible.

"He has got an'appointment on some consulting board. You see the practice'here is not very big, especially m the summer, and a few hundreds a year is a consideration."

"And if any one is taken ill here, who attends?"

"No one has been taken ill since Ph'l got the appointment. He is only away a few hours or so; not much longer than when he goes on a good round. More easily got at, too, as we can wire. In the winter if people get ill he will have an assistant."

No one but Mab and Di took any particular notice of Ninette's ailing state. The doctor was disappointed that her health did not improve by her residence at Burn side; but she was always a poor thing in the winter" he decided. She would be better in the spring." Besides, the doctor saw the best of Ninette who always tried to brisk up when with him, and since he had of late been very little at home this' was not difficult. Every week he> passed more and more time in London. A shrewd, middle-aged assistant had come into a lodging near the Cottage and had taken possession of the surgery, which opened into a side lane at the back of the house. .Ninette ■ never saw him during Philip Wrottesley's absences, but he attended to any urgent cases, and so frequently replaced the doctor in the more trivial ones that people were beginning to think Wrottesley would lose his position altogether if he were not more attentive.

This was evideiitly -the lesson Ninette had been taught; and the girls who were wise in their generation, accepted it as such. "Well, when he does rclurn, ask him to come over and see mother," was all they said. Nevertheless, as they drove home, thev conversed not a little on the subject, and came to the conclusion that Burnsidc might as well not have a doctor as be dependant on a.man who was always in London.

"It was only for the winter," he told everyone. "In the cause of science and to obtain greater knowledge in his profession he had taken this hospital appointment for a few months,"

That Dr. Wrottesley was m some way mysteriously mixed up with .Kitty they decided; for they were very q-.rck-headed, astute young women, not at all backward' in reading signs. 'After their departure Ninette, instead of being cheered by their coming- as they had hoped, lav .back among the pillows where they had left her, n"d cried as if her heart would break.

During .-ill this conversation nbt ace had Lionel's name teen men-

ded,/and what cared she'for the \ ring's of either. Phil or Kitty, in comparison with those of Lionel, whom she had not seen or even heard of since ,she saw him walk along the road on leaving the doctor's private room.

/ So the time went on, sadly and monotonously for Ninette. Christmas came and went, but it brought no gladness. Phil, and she dined alone in the middle of the day; afterwards he went to town as he had to attend an operation early next morning, he informed her. Still he was not wilfully neglectful of Ninette, whom he loved very dearly, and if a lovely bracelet could have made up for a solitary Christmas night the beautiful one that the doctor gave her would assuredly have done so. Kitty never wrote a line or sent a card. Of course Lionel was silent. Altogether the poor little girl felt very miser- . able and wretched. Nor did greater happiness or joy come to her as the days lengthened and spring in all its' vernal beauty, smiled on Burnside and should have brought back hope and gladness to her young heart.

For Ninette hope and gladness seemed to have died. She seldom left her sofa now, and-was never seen to smile. She was too weak even to make an effort to appear what she was not.

Although it was already May the

change tor the better that the doctor had predicted had not come to her. As usual, she was lying on the sofa in the drawing-room. A' carnage stopped at the gate; not the sisters from Keltjn whom she now daily expected. "Phil and a lady. Who can it

be?" ■ Another moment and she heard a well-known laugh. "Kitty!" "Yes, Kitty in real flesh and' blood come to look after you always now, you poor little white mouse. I was married to Phil last Tuesday."

Such an announcement was too much for fragile Ninette; she lay back in Kitty's arms in a dead faint.

CHAPTER XIX.

IS IT A MYSTERY?

"Phil married to Kitty! Could it be possible that she quite understood?

This was the refrain Ninette repeated over and over again during the night that succeeded this unexpected arrival. When the morning dawned and she was sitting looking out of the window —so unlike her usual habits, for Ninette was fond of her bed — she was still undecided as to what she thought about.the matter. Whether she was going to be glad or sorry puzzled her. She liked Kitty, of course—-she had always believed herself to be exceedingl> fond of her; but for her to come home as Phil's wife, to have to give up the reins of government, no longer to be mistress of 1 the Cottage—"aye, there was the rub!" • Ninette did not like that.' Added to which she* was still impressed by a sense of mystery, and nothing that either of them had told her served in any way to rid her of this feeling. "Why had they married' without announcing to anyone that they were engaged? Who were Kitty's people?" were questions that always remained unanswered.

Altogether Ninette-felt left out in the cold and thoroughly miserable. Cold, too, she was in more than a metaphorical sense, as she sat'shivering by the window ; for, "though it was a sunny May morning, the wind was very chill. She was just thinking of crawling back to bed and seeing if she could doze for a while, when the door opened and Kitty came in.

"I thought I heard you moving, '\ she said, in her cheery way. "You naughty child! I shall have you quite ill on my hands. You don't look up to much; and how cold you are!" and, without more ado, she took the fragile Ninette up in her arms, and popped her into bed, tucked her up, anct, kissed and cossetted her till the bewildered girl began to,think that it was a pleasure to , have Kitty back; and that now she was Phil's wife there would be no chance of her going away again. No one understands me as you do—not even Phil. You are very good to me," she murmured, thoroughly won, over, as Ninette always was, by kindness. Yes, Kitty Ninette, and she had seen at a glance on the previous evening that all was not well with her dainty little friend; that something more than the mere dulness of being left alone was weighing her down, and naturally Kitty began to wonder what'she personally had to do with it. . Conscience, that never wholly slumbers, reminded her of the systematic course of deception that had been adopted towards Ninette; and she began to imagine that during her absence Ninette had heard that to her discredit which' would make her consider her quondam friend no fitting wife for Dr. Wrottesley. That she would find Ninette awake and brooding over this, she felt fully persuaded; and since she herself was by no means "-sleepily 'inclined, she resolved, during the early hours, when no interruption was likely to interfere, to try if she could not satsfactorily settle the question of.their future relations. "Are you glad I have vcome back?" she asked, having returned Ninette's affectionate little outburst by a caress. "Yes—yes. I hated being alone, and you never even wrote." Kitty smiled, but waived the subject. Lies on paper she was never inclined for-; acting lies did not seem to weigh nearly so heavily. "I wonder if you are'glad that I am Phil's wife?" was her next remark, put rather suddenly, so as to get at the truth, if possible. "I am more surprised than glad," was the truthful answer, which was not very reassuring to Kitty. "Why surprised?" "Because 1 did not know that you cared for Phil or that Phil cared for you. Why did neither of you tell me anything about it?" .< "Why should we? People who talk about their love never have much. Don't you think so?"

Ninette blushed crimson, which a little bit astonished Kitty, who could see no reason for it. Nor did she receive any answer. Ninette was contemplating whether Kitty loved Phil as well and devotedly as she loved the absent Lionel.

{To be Continued.) L.W.—l7.