"THE HEART OF DAPHNE,"

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 44, Issue 13599, 25 July 1918, Page 7

"THE HEART OF DAPHNE,"

By LADY TROUBRIDGE, Author of "The Cheat," "The Soul of Honour," "Love, tho Locksmith," "The Woman Thou Gavcst," etc.

(COPYRIGHT.)

PUBLISHED BY SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

CHAPTER IV.—Continued.

A faint distressed colour rose in Daphne's cheeks. She made a sign of negation, but he took no notice, and, passing his arms under hers, lifted her with ono swift movement to her feet, where she stood trembling from head to foot, but apparently unhurt; for her lips were still warm red, and she gave .no cry of pain. J "Try if you.can walk," he said, and, ' drawing her hand through his arm, he led her into the great dining room that ' gave into the courtyard at the back of I the house. She had a vision of white Avails and ja. domed ceiling, painted with a profusion of Cupids and garlands, and of oval mirrors, with gilt sconces, from which gleamed a soft radiance of electric light. By a low marble-topped table she stopped and drew her hand from his supporting arm, and then again, for a moment, their eyes mot with that curious comprehension that exists sometimes between people whoso lives aro as widely sundered as the poles. She had often seen Lord Mendham before, but somehow she had never realised fully tho strange attraction of tho man, and even now she could not tell in what it lay. He was a slight, pale, young man, with dark thoughtful eyes, and a clear ■ complexion, ana there was in his look 1 something serene and aloof, which gave a peculiar point to his words. "I-—I thought you had gone out,*' she stammered. ••'I went out," he said smiling, "but they telephoned me that an important message had come for me, and I returned to give some orders about it. I am glad I did now, for I was able to be of some use to you." "Oh, Lord Mendham," stammered Daphne, '' I must apologise. We are not supposed to go up or down the front staircase, or into the hall, except on business. But something had worried me, and I frogot what I was doing." She turned her head away from him as she spoke, and stared at an exquisite piece of tapestry on the opposite side of the wall; not that it interested her, save for th e indefinable appeal of beauty, but that sho felt she must look i away from those calmly observant eyes. "I am sorry that you should have been worried in my house. Is it anything that 1 can put right?" "No —oil no! I have promised not to tell you.'' Daphne hardly knew what sh e way saying. A giddiness was mounting to her brain that had nothing to do with her fall. She felt that she was losing her head, and bit her lips in a vain endeavour to keep her composure. "Do you think you ought to have , made that promise?" ho said, looking at her rather closely. "No, I ought not to have, but, having done so, I must keep my word." "Pressure has been put upon you, then, to keep your word?" "Yes." "That is not right," he said haughtily. Then, softening again at th e sight of her distress. ' • Perhaps you could confide in my sister?" i "JNo; she is too young. If I told anyone I should tell you. But—but—a house like this is very diflicult to understand. I —l havo not always been accustomed to it." "I thought not," said Lord Mendham. lie appeared to be lost in thought for a minute, then he suddenly turned to her. '' May I ask you a loading question.'" I "Of course." j "Are you not above the position you hold here, by—by birth'?" j There was something extremely charming in his way of pu-tting the question —something that went home to her half-clouded consciousness. She paused and looked round her, filled with a passionate desire to tell him the truth —a desire that she fought down with all the strength at her command. When she looked at him again she found that he had been closely observing her, and that in his glance there was a kind of eagerness, as though her answer interested him very much. She shook her head. I have not been accustomed to a house like this, as I have told yon, but I have, been brought up to work. I am detaining your lordship," she added. "I must go." And she passed him, walking rather stiffly. "One moment," said Mendham. She stopped. "Will you promise to confide in mo if the occasion arises? That is to say, if you can consider yourself released from any guarantee that you have given?" Ilis words stirred Daphne deeply, precise and rather pompous though they were; because his voice and his movement sweer instinct with nobility of race and of nature. To talk to him after consorting with those others was like stepping from a dingy hovel into a fair wide palace! She met him 011 his own ground. '' And if I do, will you promise to believe me?" j "Yes," said Mendham simply. And then an incredible thing happened. He stepped forward an dopened the door for her to pass out, as he might have opened it for one of his own world. On the threshold she paused again. "Why do you do that?" '' Because, in spite of what you have said, I feel that it is what I ought to do." CHAPTER V. It was late when Lady Eileen returned from the party, and she came in

looking pale and depressed, as Daphne rose from the low chair on which she had been waiting for her. "It was a wretched evening!" she said, throwing her gloves and fan from her on the bed, and then walking up to the dressing table, where th 0 maid began deftly to unhook her dress. "It only shows, Daphne, how absurd it is to look forward to anything in this world. He was there —ohl you know who I mean well enough—Lord Barnstaple. It's no good looking shocked, Daphne, I will speak. He was there, as I said, but he might as well have been a thousand miles off for all the good ho was to me. The whole evening he devoted himself to some horrible married woman, and when he looked at me it was as if—-as if he loathed me " She covered her face with her hands, and her slender body shook with a tempest of feeling. "Your ladyship mustn't give way like this," said Daphne. "I will give way," said the spoilt child. "I don't care what I say—l'm so miserable! You can't understand, of course; you'jve never been in love." !"That is quite true, my lady," said Daphne, but her colour rose, for she knew it was not so true as it had been

(To be Continued.)

A SKNSATrONAL SOCIETY NOVEL OF LOVE AND INTRIGUE,

a few hours ago; The opening of that door below bad been like tho opening of a door in her own soul; nothing could ever bo quite the same again. "Well, I'm in love!" exclaimed Eileen. "And, oh! the misery of it —the hopeless wretchedness!" She was free of her dress now, and ; rolied in a long white silk dressinggown, and as she spoke sho threw herself in a chair and stared at the wood lire, clenching one little hand. "It wasn't my fancy, either," she continued. "He was taken with me, awfully taken, at -first —every one noticed it, and people talked about it, and 1 thought it was only a question of time. Of course, I heard rumours about him, chatter and gossip, saying that he lived a wild, fast sort of life, but what did I care? One doesn't love people for their qualities, but for themselves. Something has come between us, and drawn him away from me; and the worst of it is, Daphne, that I can't live without him. It makes me physically ill to be treated as lie treated me tonight, and I know it will kill me if it goes ou." Suddenly her voice trailed away; sho became deadly white, and verified her words by .sinking back in her chair, while her head drooped to one side. Daphne rushed to the washing stand and poured out a glass of water, and, ''bringing it back, knelt down and tried to force some drops of the liquid between the girl's closed teeth. She succeeded to a certain extent, but the. deadly whiteness of Eileen's face, and the coldness of her hands, showed very plainly that more was needed in the way of a stimulant. Rising to her feet, Daphne darted to the dressing bag and overhauled its glittering objects in search of a flask. She found one almost immediately, but it. was empty. Glacing again at Eileen the girl swiftly made up her mind to leave her and to run downstairs to the housekeeper and obtain some brandy. Unconscious though she was, there could be no risk in thus leaving her, for she wa star from the fire, and sunk in the depths of the capacious armchair. Yet it was with a beating heart and flying feet that Daphne rushed downstairs an<l into the long stone corridor that led to the servants' quarters.

Although she had been in the house now for some time she did not know tho geography of it very well, owing to her habit of keeping herself as much apart as possible. She knew the pantry, the servants' hall, into which she had only peeped, the steward's room, where she dined and lunched, and the housekeeper's room, to which she had only once been admitted; and, quick as a bird in its iiight, she made her way first to the pantry.