Hugh Gretton's Secret.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXX, Issue 8469, 20 June 1907, Page 2

Hugh Gretton's Secret.

By EFFXE ADELAIDE ROWLANDS. Aitih»r of "Si-Unas I.ore Story," "A S)>l<)i<U<t Heart,'' "lira re llarbara," "Tlie Tvtupla!i<>n of Mart/ liar,'' "ffir tn!< rfoiKi;-' etc.. cl<:

CHAPTEK 111.- -Continued. "What 1 thought was a frvwl was :i -tort of syncope brought on in duvet .oniT't'tion with heart-failure ■■- indeed, 1 fear a serious phase of heart.lisea.se." Lady Yelvertoun. of course, murnured' the proper conventional re-..•;t-.)t;s. "How very sad! I am rr> .sorry! hs there nothing 1 can do? Of co:.nve. there its no real danger? Mr tire I to,i will be himself again diieeMy?" and more of the same kind. She w;i: ! . i 9 a matter of fact, not in the least interested in Mi: Gretton's illness; out she was never interested in anything except what immediately con-x-rned herself and her own comfort. "The doctor seems to me a. very iu.elligent sort of person," she said graciously, a moment later. "No bubt he will prescribe something effective, and your friend will be well to-morrow." John Bynge still looked troubled. "I feel'quite upset about C-vetton," he said, in a way that was almost boyishly frank. "I like him so very •nueh, and I had no idea ho was as lelicate as this, poor fellow." Lady Yelvertoun suppressed a /awn, but not quite successfully. , "I fear his daughter will be ilarmed." she said languidly. Sir John rose to his feet quickly. The yawn had not been lost on him, and, "as he had fulfilled his duty, he was not sorry to go. "Yes, by Jove!" he said hurriedly. "I think I will go and see if I can ind her maid, and try and prevent my exaggeration coming to Miss Jrefcton's ears." Lady Yelvertoun assented to this; the had, however, some need of hiir irst. and she stopped him as he was noving away. "Help me to get to my state-room, lolin Bynge." she said, in her automatic way. "I feel a little chilled by ;ho wind. I told my maids to see that my sable rug was unpacked at Mnce, but they are one more stupid than the other." She shook the covering from off her two beautifully shaped feet, and allowed Sir John to lift her out of the chair, load himself with her wrappings, and then give her his arm round the deck to where her stateroom was. The young man was conscious of a strange objection and almost a dislike to Lady Yelvertoun, as he heard her sum up her attendants so contemptuously. Moreover, it jarred . upon him to hear Sigrid designated as a "maid." There was something patricianlike in her bearing; to associate her with a menial position seemed absolutely impossible. Yet" that she was maid, in a sense to Lady Yelvertoun was now only too clear to him. He gave profound pity to the fair, lovely young creature that so ill a fate as this should be hers. Lady Yelvertoun's journey to her cabin v/as not easily accomplished. She went at a snail's pace, and clung to everything she came across, amusing and irritating her companion at tho same time. At last, however, she was safely housed, and the young man had the satisfaction of giving her into the care of Christine, whose wonderful deft brown hands had worked marvels, transforming the ship apartment into a dainty boudoir with an ease and familiarity that spoke of much practise in this respect. Sigrid was nowhere in sight, and John Bynge's eyes glanced round hurriedly in search of her, as he went to ascertain as carefully as he could ' whether Miss Gretton had been made aware of her father's illness. The girl's cabin was, he knew, very close to her father's, but that would not necessarily mean that she would have heard or known anything. Indeed, as he was approaching the side where she lodged, he met Mr Gretton's valet, evidently still perturbed, who told him he wanted to find Miss Gretton's maid in order that she might break the news of Mr Gretton's illness to her young mistress. "lam afraid jit will upset Miss Millicent —you know how fond she is of Mr Gretton, sir—and that stupid woman Charlotte is never here when she should be. I expect she's on the second deck. I must go and see." "Let me attend to that," John Bynge said hastily. "I know you would rather stay with Mr Gretton. This is bad news, Dunning, that you tell me about your master being compelled to remain in his berth for several days. I hope the doctor may see his way to giving another and more pleasant order to-morrow. Don't you bother; I will find Charlotte, and tell her what she has to do." "Thank you, sir. I'm much obliged,l'm sure. It's very kind of you, Sir John." Bynge deprecated this with a wave of his hand, and he was not long in making his way down the bustling companion-steps past the saloon, in and out of which stewards were bustling preparing the tables for luncheon, past crowds of passengers, who moved about aimlessly and rather mournfully at this, the commencement of the voyage, till he arrived at the second deck. John Bynge's tall figure drew more than one passing glance of admiration from the feminine eyes he enCountered on his way: but he saw none of the admiration. lie was not a vain man; few men are who have led such a thorough out-of-door existence as had been Bynge's life for the last year or so, and for the moment he was too much disturbed about V Gretton to think about himself. The second deck reached, he looked round sharply for Charlotte. The Grettons' servants were well-known to him, and he was not long before he caught .-tight of Miss Gretton's maid, a trim English woman, who was evidently engaged in giving an airing to two fox- terrier dogs, who ran forward and

greeted Sir John with lavish signs of welcome. Charlotte was much dismayed when she heav.l (he news. "I'll go to Miss Millicent at once, sir. She is already fueling ill, lam sorry to say, and 1 persuaded her to lie down and try to sleep. If she should hear from a stranger about the master's illness she'd be dreadfully upset." John Byr.go was only half heeding what the maid said;'his eyes, glancing unsconsciously down this second deck, had rested on the brown ulster, the graceful form, and the lovely small head of Sigrid Carleton. She was sitting leaning against the strong white rails; there was something indescribably sad. almost hopeless in her attitude; yet, surely, the man's heart said quickly to himself, there should be no such feeling as despair to one so young, so wonderfully endowed by nature as this girl was. He let Charlotte hurry away with a murmured apology; she had to dispose of the dogs again before going up to her mistress. John Bynge paused only a moment irresolutely as he stood alone; then the colour deepening in his bronzed face, he made the plunge, and walked up to where Sigrid Carleton sat. CHAPTER IV. MR GRETTON CHOOSES A GUARDIAN. Life on board an Atlantic steamer can be very enjoyable for such as are indifferent either to the motion of the vessel or the condition of the weathei*. There were few such it must be confessed, on board the Columbia on this homeward trip. The weather for two days after Sandy Hook was left behind was as bad as it could be ; heavy rolling seas, bleak hurricanes of wind and rain, everything calculated to be disheartening and uncomfortable was the order of the moment. Even John Bynge, one of the few who succ. ■■■fully resisted all approaches of mal-de-mer, found the weather sufficiently depressing. He had the deck almost entirely to himself in those two days. His one excitement was going round from one cabin to another to make inquiries as to the condition of his various friends. Lady Yelvertoun had succumbed early, and, like Miss Gretton, was reported as being too ill to care what the weather was. It wa3 very wrong of John Bynge, but he could never resist letting his eyes twinkle a little mischievously as he recieved news of Lady Yelvertoun from Christine. t He went at least three times a day to make inquiries about Lady Yelvertoun, but it was always Christine who answered his knock, and whispered a report of her patient. |le had a sort of impatience upon the hours stole away, and there was no sign of Sigrid, then the impatience became a regret. Perhaps she, too, poor little girl, was 111, and suffering as her mistress was. He longed to ask how it was with her, but he refrained. He had only a few moments' conversation with her when he had joined her on the second deck two days before. She had been so evidently eager to be left alone that he had not felt it possible to remain with her. They had exchanged a few words about Mr Gretton, and together they had smiled as a mass of porpoises had tumbled in and out of the dark waters for a moment or two. Then ho had lifted his cap and left her with a gentle hope that she would not be ill. Sigrid had given him the full glory of her eyes as she had answered. "I am never ill at sea, fortunately," she had said, with a faint smile, and she had bent her head just as regally as Lady Yelvertoun might have done as he passed away. Still, if she were not ill, what had become of her? —was the question the young man asked himself frequently, more especially after each visit to Lady Yelvertoun's luxurious state-room. Somehow he had never thought to look for her again on the second deck. He had only imagined she had paused there to watch the waters, when he had first seen her there. . (To be Continued.)