For Her Sister's Sake; OR, THE LAVENDEN SECRET.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXIX, Issue 8316, 20 December 1906, Page 2

For Her Sister's Sake; OR, THE LAVENDEN SECRET.

CHAPTER I. THE PAST AND ITS PREY. "Edward Agnew! Oh, absurd impossible!" "And why—if he loves her?" The inquiry was answered by a ripple of scornful laughter, and a pair of handsome shoulders were lifted in a cynical gesture under the silk and lace of a costly gown. Its wearer rose, a tall blonde, with great, bold violet eyes and a wealth of tawny red tresses. Too magnificently ripe for girlhood, she was, nevertheless, for such a woman, still young. To her striki g l.gure and remarkable beauty the s ir"cundine:s of the luxurious boudoir lent a fitting background. The laughter that had broken from her lips died suddenly, leaving upon them a faint, though bitter sneer. It revealed a certain cruelty and selfishness in the perfectly moulded features. For a moment she stood looking out of a dantily draped window at the chilly expanse of Hyde Park, veiled by the cloudy, steel-gray sky of a dry March day. "So," she said slowly—"so he has spoken to her!" She turned sharply. "Or are you only romancing, my dear Julia?" she demanded. "If so, I must warn you, as you should warn that sweet innocent, your sister, that in society flirtation is a recognized amusement. In the world you have just left, I dare say, men make love with a wedding ring in their vest pocket. Here they make love to pass the time." She studied her companion with eager impatience. The latter was younger and fairer, with that fairness of pale pink and gold which so often accompanys a reserved and sensitive pride. About her undoubted grace and charm there was an atmosphere of. weariness that made the two women seem almost equal in years. Yet Julia, Lady Lavenden, for all her sad blue eyes and grave, tremulous mouth, was but five-and-twenty, full ten years less than had passed over the splendid tawny head beside her. Twice married, twice widowed, as its owner had been, there was no line in the low white brow, no faded thread in the bronze-red locks. Without withering her flaunting, poppy-like beauty, those loveless , bridals had sufficed to transform a once penniless English girl into a great lady, rich and titled—rich by one foreign marriage, titled by another. And to-day Constance Istria, Baroness Istria, widowed, beautiful," and wealthy, was a figure in the smartest of smart society, and, thanks to a remote maternal connection, the chap- , eron of Julia, Viscountess Lavenden, the heiress of the year? and an English peerage in her own right. Julia Lavenden met her chaperon's gaze with a quiet self-possession. i "I do not think, cousin," she said, I "that Winnie is very likely to mistake flirtation for honourable courtship. She does not tell me, however, that Mr Agnew has actually proposed. It would not be quite nice of him to do so yet, would it? They have known each other for such a ~ short time. It seems only yesterday that —that we " Constance Istria laughed harshly, and came to warm a trim foot in its silken shoe at the shining coals of the * "Boudoir fire. "That;" she added, "you and Winnie were making dresses in that horrid little room at —where was "it, Islington? Never mind, my dear; I dare say it was very praiseworthy of you to earn your own living in ' that way, even if it was very dreadful. Though; if it had been me, I should have gone on the stage. But that's all over now, and the less you • remember it the better. I assute you that only one or two discreet people know about it, and I got all the good society papers to say that we found you vegetating in the country with an aunt, a gentlewoman of the old school, though in reduced circumstances." She laughed again mockingly, showing her faultless white teeth, and noting with her keen glance the slight flush that had sprung to her companion's cheek. '' But about Agnew,'' she pursued.' "Take my word for it, he is merely flirting. If he had been in earnest, his duty would have been to approach me in the matter, and that would have been very easy, since he and I are excellent friends. I got him into Parliament, in fact; he sits for a two-member constituency with Sir Francis Ingram, the Home Sbcretary, and inveterate admirer of mine. So, you see, I am a staunch admirer of Mr Agnew. But he has his career to make, and brilliant young K. 's C. with a weakness for politics can't afford to mdrry, unless it be some rich woman' with influence. And Winnie hasn't even the can you spare her overmuch." Constance Istria spoke lightly, but there was a curious glow in her eyes, and her lips twitched nervously. She had taken out a handkerchief of embroidered cambric, and was trifling with it. • Julia Lavenden got up from the low cushioned couch where she was sitting. The movement brought the two women face to face. In her plain walking costume Lady Lavenden was much more the aristocrate than her chaperon. "I —I am afraid," she said, "Winnie has grown fond of him already. " 'i do hope —perhaps Mr Agnew may .! be in earnest, after all; he seems very frank and sincere. The elder woman frowned. "Do ndte§ilSourage Winnie in that idea," she responded, especially as I want her to marry well, which for her

By R. Norman Silver, Author of "A Double Mask," "A. Daughter of Mystery," "Held Apart," "The Golden Duiarf," etc.

means marrying money, Recollect, I am responsible for both your futures." She consulted a tiny clock on the mantel. "Four already," she said, "and I am dying for a cup of tea. I supyou are coming down?" "Oh, yes," was the answer, "when I have changed my gown." Constance Istria regarded her charge with amusement. "When Cecile has changed it for you, my dear, she corrected. "Pray remember that you are not Miss Lavenden, of Islington, any longer, and ring for your made to assist you." And sjie swept smilingly out of the room, leaving Julia Lavenden's cheeks a shade or two deeper in their crimson. On the landing without she herself paused, to twist the cambric handkerchief so fiercely that it tore as if it had been cobweb. "How like a man!" she ejaculated. "To be placidly grateful to me for a twelvemonth and to lose his heart to that little black-browed Winnie' Lavenden in six weeks. Bah! and I dreamed of making him Prime Minister!" She moved on down-stairs, muttering sullenly to herself like a dairymaid in a passion. As the rustling of her skirt faded into silence, a girl came along the corridor, a girl slender and elastic, simply yet richly dressed,, with loosely coiled locks of raven blackness, and strong, though finely cut features; Her eyes were of a soft and gleaming gray, and lit up the proud young face with generous womanly light. Pausing at the door from which the Baroness had emerged, she peeped in.' Julia Lavenden was alone at her toilet-table, notwithstanding Istria's comment, she had not rung for her neat-handed French maid. Seeing the newcomer, she crossed toward her. The latter put an arm about her, and they stood affectionately side by side, like and yet un- , like. Both the fair and the dark face was stamped with the same out- ; lines, the same proud reserve. But the younger was as fearless as the elder was sensitive. '"What's the matter?" Julia Lavenden was • asked. "Have you been having a lecture from the beautiful orge? Dear me, I sometimes wish we had never been discovered to be aristocrats. It means minding a lot of useless P's and Q's." The speaker kissed her sister's tremulous lips. "And yet I'm glad for some reasons," she added hastily. "For one thing, you have felt more contented, haven't you—and—and safer?" i [To be Continued.]