CHAPTER II

Star (Christchurch), Issue 7088, 2 May 1901, Page 4

CHAPTER II

\ MB CHOUDERTON'S IMP. " ■ '

. ".Yes, madame, an elegant and spacious residence, Filton Park. The phbt© 1 ? Here' ifc is, madame. And &<&ts is a very eligible county —^socially speaKng, remarkably eligible; I've sent several families to Notts. That photo, madame? Hatchley Manor, in Sussex. Y^, '^otod position— a trifle low perhaps^l have heard complaints of— er— Afiwwiiiift. frsn t]he river— Poi anxious- to tfive _ j^d*perfߣt satisfaction, madame. It woulife't pay mie not to; ■ I want you to cdmd back, liiadame, another shmm^r. n»_. I^^&^ W. 'jSHe break, if I may so piit it— l b% pardon! Yes, Birdcup is really * a palatial residence — Hants, yes— a beautiful <!6uii%. Bufc between ojurselves, madeihe, his lord* ship is a little hard to deal with. Dilftipidations I refer to, yes— his lordship is e±« acting as to dilapidations. On the 'wlKd^, I should prefer to recommend Wonderhutst —near Maidstone — a pleasant town. Maidstone, and the clergy, I'm informed, ex- j tremejy active amd sympathetic." "It's a vfery ugly house," reinairked Madame Zabriska, throwing ftway the phonograph of- Winderhurst with a g&ture of decided refusal. •> Mr Sloj^d stroked hie sleek hair and smiled depreoa^ingly. "With residences as with— <r — ladies, beauty is only skin deep," said he. "A thoroughly modern residence, madame — 'hot ahd cold— south aspect." He stopped suddenly, perceiving that the queer dark little wbman in the big chair wae laughing at mta. "I doh't Wtend 'to ccinvOy," he resumed with dignity, " that the mansion is hot and cold, but tie bathrooms — — ' "Oh, I know," she interrupted, her great black eyek still deriding him, while her thin face was screwed up initi seriousness, as she regarded Mr Sloyd's blameless garments o- springtime grey, his black and White tie, his hair sb viaiy. sleek, his drooping moustache, and his pdhk cheeks. &lbe in^d taken his measure v as ectly as iSie s tailor himself, andi yss enjojfihg the counterfeit presentment real London dandy whb came to, her ih the shape of a house a^nt. " I don't want > big place," she explained in English, with a foreign touch about it. "There's only myself and my uncle, Major Duplay— ;he'll be in directly, I expect — and we've no more money than we want, Mr Sloyd." ■\ Sloyd's eyes wandered round the large and handsome sitting-room in , Berridge's Hotel; where he found his client established. " Oh, it doesn't matter for * few days," she added, detecting his idea and smiling again. " Among second-olass but eminently genteel residences,' he began, "I could confidently recommend ; ' "Where's this?" she interrupted, picking up amother photograph, and regarding it with apparent liking. Looking at the foot, she read aloud, " Merrion Lodge, property of the Bight Honourable Baroness Tristram of Merit." She looked up sharply at Sloyd". " Ye-eS, ye-es," said Sloyd, without much enthusiasm, "A very pretty neighbourhood—a few miles from Blentmouth— rising 'place, Blentmouth. And it's a cheap horf&e — small,, you see, and 1 oldfashioned." ''•'■' "Not hot and cold?',' she asked with apparent innocence. : Sloyd smiled uncomfortably. "I could ascertain all that for you madame." He waited for her to speak again', but she had turned thoughtful as shje sat fingerihg the photograph. Presently she smiled again and said, *' Yes, find out about Merrion Lodge for^me, Mr Sloyd." He began to gather up his pictures and papers. .'

"IjS Baron Tristram alive?" she asked suddehiy. ■'.<. -^_i- >.-• Sloycrtfecovered his air of superiority.. *'l*Hßfe Jftdyshi^ is a pfieress. in hot own 'rifhtTlie explained. •**«»• '■^Mk^Xx.y- " *, "She's not married, then? ,^4*ippsT*&- - s'\A widow, madame." l " r '*'"' '"" J|"Ahd wasn' f t her husband Baron Tristram T\r ■■■■'*--" -- ' '> " Her husband would not have been Lord — exouse me, madame, we say Lord — Tristram bf Blent. Her son will succeed to the title, of course. The faiftily reside at Blent Hall, only a few hundred yards from Merrion Lodge, a picturesque .mansion* in the valley. The lodge, you perceive^ stands high." » *■ "I 'don't unaerßtand the^family arrangements," remarked M&ak&f Zabnska, "but I daresay I shall le&n it sill if I go." * "If you had a 'Peerage,' madame he suggested, being himself rather vague about the mysteries of a barony by writ. " I'll get one from the^waiter. presently. Good-morning, Mr Sloyd,". i r Sloyd wad making his bow when tne *dobr opened and a matt cattle in. He was %\l, erect', find gbdd-lookifig. Both air and rit&riher w*fe youthful, although perhaps, iffth a tracfe of artifice; he wou.a? pass pr thixW-five bn a casiiai glance, but not after a Wer one. - .~***m „^^.£ *"My uncle, Major Duplay," uaA; „-&». •little woman. "This is Mr ; Sloyd, whoa--come*about the house, uncle. *&.•* f*., | * Duplay greeted the ; house-agent ■; with graVe courtesy, and entered into . opnvasalion with him, while Madame Zabt^ka. relapsed again into am alert silence, watched the bair -- • "• &*'^ ' ; '-• thing that Madame Zabriska— the style sat oldhron her child-bke f ace and. fee, but Mina Zabriska at the age of twenty-eight had been a w:dhw thr*e years-desired to do was harm; lhe thing She loved to make was mischief. \iaa ! %s?ence of mischief lay for her— perhaps tor Wfer?body-in curiosity; it was *<> put •people in the situations m wh:ch they .least expected to find themselves, and to observe how they comported themselves therein. As for hurting their interests, *r even their feelings-no ; she was certain that she did not want that ; was she not always terribly sorry when that happened, as it Sometimes, and .quite <hd. She' would w&p then— but for their ms foHunTbe it understood, not for any fault of he* People did not always understand her -i mother had understood her perfectly,'id consequently had never *rtjrfered With her ways. Mma loved aj myrti Son to, and y es P ecially mysti J jnde Diinlav who thought himself so oievet SSver Wdeed mien went, *a actagledcred ff6nerouslv; but men did uot go iar. itWd befan to choose Merrjon Lodge for hit ■ sunimer home, first her S&fe* W*,ft' £* tome yiK ,mtest«ndms tlat W IMSi/I «•* *», OTStom wrtk * c I*™ ■whim (Up w«| » kl %.- .. „m lie "wbat '-^the Wst, r expect, and I want to economise." ' ; „„ a ,« tlWve eot S m^Vo"-r D eTUpay as P I am, y °^nC?no^^on.» This wa, air Jfk^g more than she had meant to 5a «Which you don't mean to tell me?" took out his cigarette™f V *:* Effort TJ£r heexdaimed goodtai^. "Really, »£5 fhan ea*n myfceep by Jj-^fij you in not telling me things. And t^en Imp, seeming not a day, more than ten, in spite of her smoking cigarettes. and her smart costume. _ . . . " Luckily Tin. not curious— and I can trust you to do nothing wrong." • , "Well, I suppose so," she agreed with scornful 'compete. "Did you ever hear mother speak of a Mrs Fitzhubert .' • The major smiled, under his heavy moustache as he answered "Never." _ "Well I have," said Mma with a world of significance. "I heather first th rough the door," she added with a candid smile. "I was listening." „ ' " You often were in those days. " Oh, lam still— but on the inside bf the door now. And she told me about it after-, wards of her own accord. But it wouldn t interest you, uncle." „ "Not in the present stage of revelataon, he agreed, with a little yawn. "The funny old Englishmaa^-you never saw him, did you?-Mr Ch^derton-he knew her. He rather admired her, too. He was there when she rushed %w» d ~ Never mind ! I was there too— such a guy !• I had corkscrew curls, you know, and, a very short, frock, and very long^other thiSgs. Oh. those frills !-Aitf I su ppose I really was tta uglpt child ev&r bdrn Old Cholderton halted, 7 me-Wd fm^V^ box my ears, I Mow. J*k he was a little in love rfk-h Mrs Pitzhhbert. Oh, I've never asked for that ' Peerage ! Major Du^iy had resigned ,h«nself to a. patient endurafcoe of inadequate Jhjjvts. Hib wits w«re not equal to putting together the pieces or 'conducting a sort of musing or missing lifflc^exeMse -to a tntraiuhairfc WsuS. In time he^wbuldjkljow aIVBupposihg, feb is, tWfct there wene really 4hy&ig to know. 'M&nwhale he was not dinQUs about Whei; p^op^'s affai«; he minded his oWh business. Keeping young ocoupied niuch of his thne ; and then there wds always the question of how it might prove possible to'iupp%ent the haM-^y to whidh his years of service, in Ohe Swiss Army entitled Jam; it was Scanty, and bub for his mtaee's Oiospitality really insufficient. He though that he was a clever man, he had remaifted alrf" honesty piaTO, and hie saw ho Reason why fortune should not some day make him a comfortable man ; she had never done so yet, having sent him, i-tffe t)he world as <the fifth tfhild of a.Protfeait&nt jpastor in a Frehch -speaking canton, and never having giveh him lo much as' a well to-do relative (even Madß'me de Kries' , villa was on a modest scale) until MinaJ married Adolph Zebjiska and kfpt thati gefttiewian's money although, she 'had the misfortune to lose.te' r ooitfbany. His death seemed to Duplay at leait no great calamity ; that he m.d died childless did not appear to have disappointed Mine, and was eufrfcainly no ground of oomplaint on her uhole'sparb. ■' ■■•• ' Prejsutaably Mr, Sloyd's inquiries elicited satisfactory information/; perhaps Mina was liat hard to please. At all events, a week later she and, the Major /got out ab Blentritoiith Station and : found Sloyd himself waiting to drive with yxem to Merrion Lodge ; he had insisted on seeing them installed, doubtless he was, as h» pjt it, pla.yfor the .bjf^ik again. He Sat in the th^i. horses, and '•'tfoiQted^oiiji'the .watuiE'es^f iiteresjb on Hh.e m^d,i "his .jSouple of day^Jß sfcay.in theoeiglibo^nood'^seemed ito have made 'him an old ..•"Five hundred? S'Pppi^Btion fi,ve year^ ago,", ihe observed, waving his 'hand over Btettifeou^ in encouragement. " Tw6thoi|6and Ttinter, tihree to five summer months' h^w-^^rgeily due to "Vpilliaim Iver, Esquire, of Falrholane— *rre slhiUl pass Fairholme directly— -a wealthy gentleman who. takes 'great inberestJ in the; development of. ; th^ town."' It was all Greek to the Ms'd 01 '* but he nodded politely. Mana was looking aboufcj her with keen eyes. 'U -- .. .-$ " That's' Fairholme," Sloyd went on, as

Found, in High Street, a magnificent | head of hair ; anyone may have same by applying to Strange and Co., drapers, for bottle of Hehdv's celebrated " Juleptia," or Egg Julep, which produces an abundant and luxurious growth of hair on all who use it. A certain cutfe for dandruff, etc. Bottles, ls. A. M. fieiidy, Hair Specialist-, Dunedin, sole nknufaoturer. W. Strange and Co., Leading Drapers, Sols Agjnts for Ohristchurch. X2533 Jj

they came to a large and rather new house situated on tho skirts of Bleatmottfe. " Observe the glass — those housw oost thousands of pounds — grows pbaches all the ." year, th!ey tell i-u me. •' *M this point, Madame ZaßMska, < we turn and pursue the road by th* ' riveri." And so he oeased not to play guide-book till he landed them at the door of Merrion Lodge itself, after a slow crawl of a quarter of a mile uphill. Below them in the valley lay the little Blent, sparkling in the sunshine of a summer afternoon, and beyond the river, facing them on the opposite bank, no more, perhaps, then five hundred yards away, was Blent Hall. Mina ran to bhe parapet of the levelled terrace on which the lodge stood, ajid looked down. Blent Hall made three sides of a square of old redbrick masonry, with a tower in the centre ; it faced the river, 'and broad gravel walks, and broader lawns of level close-shaven turf ran down to the water's edge. " Among the minor seats of the nobility Blent is considered & very perfect example," she heard Sloyd say to the Major, who was unobtrusively but steadily urging him in the direction of the landau. She turned to bid Jth^m^ood-bye, and he came up tb her hat |mjh|ind^|^*>^-i^r **.-< , s&m, ■* " Tl&nk ydutyl like, the place.'; she said. %• Do you— do ybu tKink^we shalfeiftl^e $- ;§uaintance -yith thjf people at BleiftHaM" poor health, I hear, but I should 1 imagine she 'would* make an ef . fort to call, or at least sehd cards. . Goodbye, Madame." jK Duplay succeeded in starting the zealqua man on his homeward journejr, ;and tlien j went into t£e hougfr Mittai re&aicjjig still outside, engaged H tS &ntem£lati<in of her new surroundings, aWe all of Blent fHUI, which was inveat^d'^Hth.a special interesfc tor her e?es. It was the abode df M^i^UlMrt.'-i^^ujgo^,^. «ftv^^ k Wtth-ahttle start, she tiirned to'fea young man stafidm|>& p&m oth^fde C^» P^fPftJ ,fK^*st(i&tic^d^s proach till he hmg%^Vmooighto%tract her attention. As he ifsS his Ut, her quick vision took hint in, as it werS.'in picture-^ thm- yet well-made bo^r^the slight stoop in'fejhbujders,. the high forehead, bordered' WitK' thick black hai*,. growing in such a shape, that the brow seemed, to rise almo^-l^ peak, alofignpse, ajen^tive mouth, a pointed chin, 'dark e|es' with lids. The young man— she would have guessed him afc twenty^two or three— had a complete.cbmpose of manner: somehow she felt her^lf in th*!fosence of th^lord of the soil-^n absurd thing to feel, she told herself. <$$:*|jr &. V ;^^ ' V^Madame Zabriska? My mother, Lady Tnitram, has sent me to bid^Su m her name, but hot to disturb yiu by ? om i n ? »«S. ?«* jou4ey. It is dhr tSa^on tf Welcome guestfe at the moment of their arrival." <#. .^ voice b&t with 'southing in' his ;&. Mt pulled Mma. It seemed^liker'a-sortioJ watchftdness-not a slyiie& r\tiha% i^uld ■have fitted so badly, iwith the rest of him) but perhaps one might say a warinesswhether directed against her or himself dt was too soon for her even. to conjecture. Still rather startled, she forgot to express her thanks, and said simply • Mr Fitzhubert Tristram?" Mr Tristram, '* he corrected her* and she noticed, now f Or the Brat time the slowmoving sirnle whioh soon became his leading characterise in her thoughts. It took suoh a Jarn^ to spread; it seemed to feel its way; but it was a success when it came. I use my father's name only as a Christian name now. • Trisbram ia mv surname; that ailso, if I may repeat myselfis one of our traditions." "What, to change your names? The men, I mean?" she asked, laughing a little "For anybody in the direct line to take the name of Tristram— so that, in spite of the failure of male heirs from time to time, the Tristrams of Blent should always be Tristrams, you know, and hot Fitzhuberts, or Leighs, or Merrions " '.* Merrion?" "My great-great— l forget hgw many greats— grandfather was a Meirion and "Builfc this house?" "Oh, no, a house where this stknds. The old house was burnt down in '95." " As recently as that?" she exclaimed in surprise. "1795," he explained, "and this house run up then." % Mina Mt that there was here a touch of pride ;'.. with a more complete mastery of idiomatic 'English she might have called it "stagger." Nothing counted that was less than a century old, it seemed, and he spoke of a house of a hundred years' standing as she might of a wooden shanty. Decidedly he was conscious of his position—^over-conscious. "I'm glad it was run. up in time for us to take it," she said, thinking she would try the effect of a little chaff. The effect was nothing ; Harry Tristram took no notice of the remark. "I see," he observed, "from your calling me Fitfchubert that you've been looking up our recent history." "Oh, jusfc what there is in the Peerage." I^er look was mischievous now, but she restrained herself from any hint of special knowledge. " I'll tell you as much of. ohrs some day." She broke into a laugh, and then, carried away by the beauty of the scene, the river und the stately, peaceful old house by it, she stretched out her hands towards Blent Hall, exclaiming :■'''■- " But we haven't anything like that in our history!" Hei turned to look with her, and stood in silence ior a minute or two. Then he spoke softly. ".Yes, I love it," he said. She glaAced at him; his eyes were tender. Turning, he saw her glance. In a moment he Seemed to veil his eyes and to try to excuse the sentimental tone of his remark by a matter-of -fact comment. "But of course a man comes to like a place "when lie's been accustomed to think of it "ds his home for all his life past and to come." *#X- , < ! ! *' %,-*j-i> , '"'J£\«t ■■$& 4>#>*-*i*' "What would you do if you lolt it?" she asked- ■ ••. rtpwr*'*', "I've no intention of losing '•it' l "'"he answered, laughing, but looking again from hqr and towards his home. " We've had it sii hundred years; we shan't lose it now, I think." . . • "No, I suppose not." He was holding out his Hand. '« Good-bye; li£r Tristram. i May I dome and thank your itao'thsr?" ' "Oh, but she'll come Hfere, if she's well enough." '.■«■• , " I'll save her the journey up tfye hill." He bowed in courteous acceptance of her offer as he shook hands. " You see the footibridga over the river . there? There's a gke at feach end, but the gates are iiever locked, so you can reach us from the road thafc w«wr if you're walking. If you want to drive, must go a quarter of a mile higher up, jhst below the jSool. Good-bye, Madame Zabriska." •* Mina watched him all the way down the bill. He had made an Jmpression;,on her — ah intellectual impressiois Aht a seiftimental one. There was noth%^ of the Boy a&mt him, unless it were. ity that little flourish ovTjjc.the antiquity of his its siirr^uhdinM; even that^ 'might 'b&'.'ljhe usual thing-— she had not seen r etiofagh orhis class jto jijdge. There was, top, that love of fcflft place, which; be had shown? ■■§ Lastly, thjere was : the f odd aaitr t of. .wariness aap w|i^phing ;' shch it 'seehied \<H>' her, and it consented to seem nothing. else. «*»»*■■ * a«,- •* '%" I wonder," she thought, " if he' knows anythihg about Mrs Fitzhuberfc— and I won:gte if it -^oul(hmSk6 any diffterence to him !" Wfelso¥y cStt'iM ncr bick in an i|ift»nt to fche. moment when she, Mr Cholderioh'6 Imp, Jieard that beautiful wotoan cry, " Think of tlie diff&tiiifce, ' the enorniAns difference!" Sho drewin her, breath iii'a sudjjten gasp. An idea had flashed into her jdinflj shoW;ing her for til*' first tiihe the Chance of a situation which had ndver yet crossed her thoughts. • ' .).% ''"" „ "Good, gracious, is it. possibjoithat he couldn't kjsep it, or that figs mothw couldn't give it to hifti, all ; the sa^e?" ' (T6 be c6#m§^;) _.