"STAR" TALES.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 9916, 3 August 1910, Page 4

"STAR" TALES.

LADY AUGUSTA'S HUSBANDS. (By JOHN K. LEYS.) Author of "A Sheep in Wolf's Clothing."' etc. [All Rights R.kskkvi:».] CHAPTER I. . _ LaiSy Augusta Fitaurse, .sixth daughter ol the Earl of Mountshauwm, belan by falling in love with her draw- " ng master, when she was a gyd of sixteen. The drawing-master was an Italian named Picoliui—a small but singularly handsome man with very black, r.urly hair, fine white teeth, and a &ilk.y blaok moustache. He wore a brown velvet, jacket, turn-down collar, and red tie, and sported a count's coronet fin his visiting card. There had been some fervent love-making in a. very .quiet wa.y on the part of Count Picolini, which ceased abruptly on his discovering that the Bight Honourable fr>e Earl oFMountshannon owed money in. nil directions. ! Tj: the fnlness of time Lady Augusta neoame the betrothed, and afterwards the wife, of Sir Benjamin Ball, leather imerohant and olderman of tlio City of . , London. ]t was impossible, people ,aaid, to offend Lady .Augusta more 'deeply afc this period than by addressing her as Lady Ball. She was then a .-,rery handsome ■woman—tall, with a 1 'commanding presence., and bold, somewhat prominent, blue eyes. She always knew her own mind, and generally got 'w~or took—her own way. '" After enjoying the companionship of fj'ady. Augusta for fifteen years Sir Benjamin departed' this life, leaving to his widow the hulk of ' his fortune, .which amounted to some eight hundred thousand, pounds and a magnificent set of diamonds. These jewels had belonged to Sir Benjamin's mother, and were IBiipposed to be of enormous value. They , r'ery seldom saw the light, and repo*sed from month to month in a strong box . ui Lady Augusta's bedroom. . '.'Everybody, of course, said that the ; R-'idoAV would marry again. Her lata husband's relations said it would be eost unfeeling,- and altogether seandaus, if she did; but Lady Augusta oared very little for her late' husband's rehitious. The person: who had in reality Vmcst influence with Lady Augusta was her confidential maid., Celeste*' (or Elizabeth) Leclerc (or Clark). This woman had been with her mistress for several years. She liked to be thought French. . though ; her father was English ; and .Flench she was' from the topmost ■ strand of her carefully-oiled, blackgrey hair to the tips of her patentleather' shoes. By dint of repeating to her mistress * .the gossip of the servants' hall she ; . managed to ward off one suitor after '. ' another, until one day her mistress met Count picoliui at Burlington House. ' He was quick to'see that some warmth « . still liugered in the ashes of the flames . he had kindled long ago. Of course, he

protected that all along his heart had belonged to her. No other woman ever . could, eto. The widow was touched, pleased and flattered; and he Avorkcd the old vein of sentiment for all it was worth. In, less than two months' he became Lady Augusta's second husband. Of course the match turned out b_adly. The man was a rake, a spendthrift, and everything else that was objectionable. After many quarrels, marked by furious reproaches on the lady's part and smiling indifference on the man's, the Count Avent for a long visit to his relations in Italy. Celeste was delighted. Her position . r.-as now secure. Surely, she thought, even if the Count were to die her mis- _ tress would never again venture upon ' the perilous seas of' matrimony. • Yet within three months of the time i when intelligence reached England that Count Picolini had been drowned in an ■■unfortunate boating, accident in the 'Bay of Naples Lady, Augusta was only too plainly considering a third plunge. 'She was not content to be known as -.'Picolini's widow. She considered se^ veral eligible raon of various ages, and finally she selected Lord Reginald Travers.

He was a pleasant-mannered young man { very fairly good-looking, rather Btupi'd, of old family, but extravagant, end-(as they say in the bankruptcy court) available assets nil.Lord Reginald had a cousin, a year or two older than himself, called Marpgaret Elwood. There had always been , x special friendship between the two; he used to call her (not without reason) his good angel. She was an orphan, and penniless, and lived with an aunt, to whom she acted . as unpaid companion. One day Reggie called on his cousin just after lunch, for he knew that the old lady would he asleep then, and that he would have the- girl to himself, As usual, he was lamenting his debts, his ' povorly. the barrenness and uselessneas of his'life. It. was indeed hard to see what he could do. ■ '' I' want; a stimulus, Margie," he laid, "an object in life. If I had to, ' work as a day labourer it would be better for me." Margaret smiled. She bad heard this sort of thing several times before"lf 1 had anyone.to work for,, anyone depending on me," he went on; "someone to encourage mo and back me up, don't you know " •-'He stopped suddenly and looked at her fixedly. His cheeks reddened; his pyea became tender. He was about to ♦peak when the girl interrupted him. "Dop/t say itj Reggie!" she burst >ut. "For both, our sakes, for Gnd's "#ake, leave it unsaid!" Then, in a whisper, " Think what would become ■rfnsl" 1 : He was silent, and when she whispered at parting, " Pleaee don't come again for a month or two," ho was lorry and glad, yet more glad than jorry, , Qn© afternoon some mouths after this he went ito call on Lady Augusta, with. *hom he was fairly intimate, i "Don't go, please," she said, when >t length he rose and looked for hir, jat. ■" Sit down and tell me what is the matter with you. You look worried about something. What is it?" »' She made .room for him on the couch Wide her, and he obediently sat down. ' "Oh, the old story!" Ho sighed jrearily. " Debts and duns, and, What's worse, bets that I can't settle. It is a horrible position. My people say, Work, but what can 1 work at? I have no profession, and no way of earning money." f "But money need not always besnrned, need it?" "My allowance is a mere pittance. I should bo ashamed to tell you the figure. And. I don't blame the governor either. ' He is as poor »s a church mouse, and he has the girls to think Ef. f can't run to my father.with a .sb of my-debts, as some fellows can." "Dear Reggie, forgive me for speaking plainly; but .haven't I enough for both of us?" The young fellow started. Nothing had been further from his thoughts But in the very act of trying to decline Kho offer iu a grateful and tactful way lie became aware .how smooth and easy jife would become for him if he were to accept it. He hesitated, blushed irtammered, and finally succumbed. )" Lord Reginald's brothers said he was '» lucky beggar. His father maintainr «d a grim silence. > " Dear Reggie," writes Margaret, "I iha,ve heard the news, and I am sorry. 'Others may congratulate you. I can't. V—Margaret." ' I Be made no reply. They met not long- after, and she gave him a long Igolc—a look that ho did not underitend, f "Margaret," he whispered, " if I / &b4 Enown that you would have looked ;t& me like, that I would never have ac'#&—naked her." \ But her face hardened yet more, and W.«M<l nothing. *& CHAPTER 11. j[For a time after Lady Augusta's jfcird, things went fairly well ft

the titular master of the establishment felt his bonds chafe he bore it in silence and inado no sign. As a matter of fact, he was scarcely better off than he had been before; for although his ■nifo had.paid his debts (magnanimously abstaining from investigating the details), the paternal allowance had ceased, and his wife's ideas on a man's requirements in the way of pocket-money were scarcely in accordance with his. Still things went on smoothly enough. Celeste retained her old post as confidential maid, but she knew that Lord Reginald disliked her, and she trembled lest he should some day ask her mistress to get rid of her. So she Avatched him—Avatched him as a cat watches at a mouse's hole. It was at Goodwood that R«ggie came a cropper. Ho went to the races alone, met some old friends, and, led aAvay by their example, began plunging heavily. ' He left the racecourse after giving T O U's to the extent of four thousand pounds. Next day lie woke with a splitting headache and profoundly miserable. Where, on earth AA-as ho to get the money? _ Ho did not dare to ask his wife for it. She had not long since paid several debts for him—not large sums, but in the aggregate considerable—and the things she had, said, still more her contemptuous manner as she handed him the cheque, rankled in Iris mind. He swore he would rather die than apply to her again. Ko had an uncle from whom he expected something; but his uncle was not dead yet, and no one .would lend him money on that security. What AA'as lie to doP To leavo his I 0 U's unpaid meant disgrace, and, socially, ruin. * Then suddenly he thought of his wife's jewels. The famous diamonds! They would easily bear a loan of four thousand pounds. If he got well-made-paste imitations of the tiara and other ornaments no one- would be the wiser. His AA _ ife scarcely ever Avoro them. And when poor Uncle Rupert died ho could redeem them, of course. It AA'as a mean, a despicable thing to do; but his situation was desperate. He camn downstairs about one. Lady Augusta had gone out. Ho fortified himself with a robust whisky and soda, and then went to the drawor where ho knew the key of the jeAA - eI case v:nn generally kept. It was locked, but lie 'was clever'with his hands, and he managed to open it, little guessing that Celeste was watching him from behind a haif-closed door all the time. In thirty seconds he had scooped up the diamonds and-thrust them into a small courier's bag, locked the safe, and replaced the key. Celeste hastily threAV on her hat and jacket and slipped out into the square. She heard the butler whistle for a hansom, and saiv that when her master stepped into the cab he had the courier's bao tightly clasped in his hand. There was a cab-rank near by, and it was an easy matter for the maid to follow the hansom in another. She followed it till it stopped at the door of an offico that looked like a houseagent's, in the neighbourhood of Hatton Garden. Lord Reginald got out and entered the office. Celeste also got out and approached near enough, to read on the wire blind "Sparks and Co., Importers of Parisian Diamonds." Then she told her cabman to drive ner back to Eaton Square. ■ A Aveek passed before Celeste could make up her mind as to the course she ought to pursue. Her first idea ban been to blackmail the erring husband. But, on second thoughts, she decided that it was of little use to blackmail a man Avho had no money; besides, married people are sometimes reconciled after a quarrel, and then confidences, she Avas well aware, are the order of the day. Suppose Lord Reginald should tell his wife the Avhole story, whero Avould she be ? So she determined to hold fast by her mistress. At the end_ of the Aveek Celeste chose her opportunity, and after a long preface about tbo numberless and priceless benefit* she had received from, her Ladyship—the deep gratitude which alone could prompt her to meddle with matters that were not within her sphere, and so on—in tragic tones she put the question: " Did your Ladyship ever give Lord Reginald permission to make away with your Ladyship's tiara?" "What! my diamonds!" screamed Lady Augusta. "What en earth do you mean?" " Only that 1 saw his Lordship take them to the city on Tuesday Aveek, and I, feared there was something wrong." With trembling lingers Lady Augusta opened her jewel safe. "Look there, you .false creature!" she cried. The- diamond tiara, pendant and bracelets, in all their glittering splendour, lay before her. For a moment Celeste was dumb. Then she gave a start, bent forward, examined the jewels carefully, ana clasped hor hands. " Ah, madame !" she exclaimed, " it is Avorse than I had thought—more treacherous, more ungentlemanly. I remember now that the firm his Lordship took the diamonds to -were importers of what they call Parisian diamonds, that is, I believe, paste stones. He has sold the diamonds and got paste put in their place." Lady Augusta in her turn examined I the jewels critically. " I. don't believe it," said Lady AuI gusta, " 1 don't for one moment be~ HtfVi+ihivt.Lord Reginald -would do such n. thing;-.' Mild"'...! -'lor;' -1 ;/ be.Hevevp&f^

" Perhaps-1 ought not to have spoken," said Celeste; in a, tone of affected humility, slightly shrugging hoi' peaked shoulders. Lady Augusta snapped to the cases and locked them away with a serene countenance, but her mind was tormented with doubt; and next day she took the ornaments to a famous jeweller in Bond Stieet and asked his opinion of their value. He smiled, and said, "Anything between five pounds and fifty." Lady Augusta turned pale. ''Then the jewels are not real?" she said, in. a faint voice.

" Did you imagine that they were reaJ diamonds?" he asked, in surprise. " I assure rou. madam, that if fhese stones were real they would be worth quit* a largo snm of money, several thousand pounds.'' "But tboy are real!''' gasped Lady Augusta. "See, madam," said the. jeweller, indulgently, as he passed one of the glitering points to and fro over a glass case, ""if that had been a real diamond the glass would have been scored all over. You see, it bears no mark. These are paste, unquestionably. Bui they are paste of excellent quality, and form a very handsome set of ornaments.' he added, m v a soothing tone. Lady Augusta almost snatched them out of' his Hand, ahd, -without so much as a word of thanks, strode out of the shop. She went home in a -white heat of rage. Her husband was not there; he- was at his club, so she sat down and wrote: " I have discovered vonr dastardly trick. Prar do not dare to present yourself here till you bring hack the diamonds you have stolen." This she sent to the club by a. special messenger, who had instructions to wait for an answer.

Lord Reginald was chatting to some other men m the smoke-room when the note was delivered to him. They watched his face flush deeply as he read it, and his teeth meet in a look of determination.

He sat down and scribbled a few lines, which he sealed and tossed over to the club footman. % " Give the man that," he said, and sat down again among his friends. But it was evident that his attention frequently wandered from the talk that was going on, and as often a look of deep anxiety would come into his face. "Poor old chap," they thought; "he has had a row with the old girl at •home. Deuced unlucky for him, and deuced unlucky for the Johnnies who hold his little bits of paper."

What he had written was:— " Dear Augusta,—You are very in suiting—quits unnecessarily so. I know-nothing about your diamonds; but I doubt very much whether they ever Avere anything else than.—what you eay you have discovered them to bo.—Reginald." This cool disclaimer made Lady Augusta more angry than before- —or rather it made her wrath more hitter and more flexible. Lord Reginald was indignant to think that she had had him watched by detectives (as he supposed) at a time when none but amicable relations existed between them, and had no wish to return home. Ho stayed overnight at the club, and there,, for the time being, he took up his quarters - . People began to talk, but for that Lady Augusta cared nothing. And so matters remained for some days. CHAPTER" 111. Lord Reginald had dined as usual in the club dining-room, and he was in the act of pouring the last of his halfbottle of claret into his wineglass, wondering as he did so how much longer the stcAvard \A-onld continue to trust him, when he observed a man sitting at the same table staring in a very marked way at a stranger who had just entered the room. "Who's that, Bellairs?" lie asked, out of more idle curiosity. The stranger was short and thin, a good-looking fellow in his way. Bellairs gasped out "By Jove!" then turned to Reggie. •'Who's that?" ho echoed. And suddenly recollecting, he stared hard at ' his questioner, and burst into a laugh, not of mirth, but of excitement. "That's—don't you know himP You ought, then. By the beard of the Prophet, that's the man you ought to have been ! That's your sainted predecessor, Reggie—that's Count Picolini!"

It Avas even so. Later in the evening the two men Avere introduced.

" Charmed to meet you, Lord Reginald," lisped the Italian. " Hope Augusta is well. It never occurred to me that she'd want to marry again, 'pou my word of honour. Thought she would haA'e had enough of it. I had.

" No, no! I had no intention of decerning her; noneat all. But I was tired of the situation: tired of so strict manage; tired of my lady's airs; tired of Celeste always hanging about and listening. You know CelesteP What poet Poe calls a rare and radiant maiden, is she not? Sacr'eo, yelloAvfaced wasp."

The name of the confidential maid seemed to throw a gleam of light across the fog in Reggie's brain. He had taken it for granted that his wife had been in the habit of setting detectives to dog his footsteps. Might not Celeste have been the spy? Ho told Count Picolini the story, and the Count grinned, amiably. "I am desolated," he said, " to think that you should have suffered inconvenience from that little piccadillo of mine. Oh, yes, Sir Benjamin's diamonds were beyond reproach. I pledged them for five thousand five hundred, if I remember rightly. I still have the pledgenote, and I have.paid the interest—my foi, think of that! "There was no sense in having all that wealth lying by there, as if buried in a dozen napkins. No, I bring it out, I develop, I uso it. " What you say? Shall I inform your Lady Augusta? 'Why, certainly. I go to stay there. I come to England di-rectlv—-on purpose. "Whv do I stay with her if I no longer fof her? Ah, but it is neoessar'. It is to make an amicablo arrangement. ' Yes, I go to-morrow night to repose myself under the conjugal roof. ■ I go to make Lady Augusta wild bv making lof to the divine Celeste in platonic manner or by some ' other means. T tell her of the diamonds—and of ozzer things. I make her quarrel. I. not quarrel with her. Oh, no! I arrange that she quarrel with me. Then I bring suit for restitution of conjugal rights. Ah! I have learnt your English law. "To prevent scandal our learned counsels arrange terms of settlementHis Lordship highly approves. I retire to my native country,. the beautilm EetaJv with nice little annuity. Is it not worth while to endure a few weeks, cf Lady Augusta for that, eh? Lord Reginald concealed his disgust with some difficulty, and retired to his bedroom to be rid of the fellow. He never saw Lady Augusta again, but the public prints informed him not long after that an ill-deserved success had attended Count Picolini's 'scheme; and he heard from a well-informed source that she had redeemed her diamonds and had consigned the paste imitations to the flames. The holders of Lord Reginald's paper, seeing that, he had been deprived of wife, home and income at a single blow, oerccived that his I O IPs were worthless, and begged him to consider them, as cancelled. This, however, he declined to do. He retired to a little place belonging to his father in County Galway, where he led a very simple and uneventful life until the decease of his uncle. When that event happened, he inherited a sum sufficient to pay all his debts and leave a couple of thousands over. With this money in his pocket he went to Margaret, and had the audacity to propose that they should set outjor California together'and seek their fortunes. . ~, , . , , "Oh, Reggie! she cried, her eyes shining and her voice trembling. "I am so wearied and broken with aunt's whims and bad tempers that I had just determined to run away alone, any"*vfliet'e! To run away with you will »-..*_, .... 'CT>v, vi7ii foolish l»nv, don't

kneel to me. Reggie; I won't have, it--don't you know"! have loved you all my life?" "And then the undemonstrative, selfrestrained Margaret put up her hands to her face like a baby and cried till her lover gathered her to his heart and made her tear-stained cheeks red with kisses.