“A Desperate Remedy,”

Wairarapa Daily Times, 18 July 1924, Page 7

“A Desperate Remedy,”

PUBLISHED BY SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT. DRAMATIC STORY OF STRONG LOVE INTEREST—

By BEN BOLT. Author of “Love Finds the Clue,” “Linked by Peril,” “The Crooked Made Straight,” etc., etc.

(COPYRIGHT.)

CHAPTER XXL— Continued. “But I should live it down, and 1 should have Geoffrey/ ’ said Margaret. “Pardon me—you would not, retorted Felix Creswell. ‘‘Geoffrey would be in the prison to which your evidence would have sent him; uud when, after some years of languishing at Stony Mountain, which is, I believe, the Dartmoor of the Xortli-West Province, he would scarcely be in a hurry to seek out and marry the lady who had sent him there, and whose evidence in addition had cost him a fortune. You must see that in the eient of —er —certain possible happenings, you cannot count upon my cousin. Margaret stared at him. aghast, lhe full weight of his words was borne in upon her. To her, in the distracted mood into which she had fallen, it seemed that he had sketched with a sure hand the probable course of events. Distraught and dismayed, she sat without speaking for quite a long time, then she cried protestingly: “But you will not do so wicked a thing as to cause so much sorrow!” “On the contrary,” he retorted, I should not hesitate.” “But,” cried Margaret, “Geoffrey is your cousin! He ” “He has dispossessed me of what until a very few months ago was most certainly coming to me. When a man is fighting for his life there is only one law to govern his conduct and that is self-preservation.” “But ”

He interrupted her with a wave of las hand. “The loss of fortune is not all that I have suffered at Geoffrey’s hands. There is one thing that to some men is more than fortune, and that one thing also my cousin has filched from me, if what you tell me is true —and that—and that ” “Yes ’> she cried impatiently. “And that ?” “And that is love!”

As he spoke the girl looked at him with apprehensive eyes. There was a note of something like menace in liis voice, and his dark eyes seemed aflame. She did not speak in reply to his words, and after a pause he resumed: “The struggle for life all over the world is very fierce, but the struggle

for love is fiercer. Jealousy, as you may have heard, is as cruel as the grave. Men will do much for fortune, but more for love. Mark Antony lost a world for a woman, and I ”

As he paused the girl was moved to an interruption: “You do not compare yourself with Mark Antony, surely.” Creswell Hushed a little at the words,

then he said slowly: “He gave up the world for a woman, and I—l am prepared to surrender u fortune for a wife, so there is some slight comparison. ' ’

Margaret stared at him in apprehenive amazement. She had no doubt of lis meaning, but could not believe that

e was in earnest

“What on earth do you mean?” she asked, a little tremulously, for she had no doubt that the answer would involve

er in new difficulties,

“1 will explain,” answered Creswell, “though 1 should have imagined that there was no necessity. 1 said a little while back that 1 was prepared to forego the succession to the . Lulworth estate, my right to which it will be easy to establish, under certain conditions. 1 should have said on one condition. ’ ’ “And what is that’” asked Margaret, conscious of a growing fear at her heart.

It is that vou will marry me.’

“Impossible!” cried the girl, starting to her feet. “Impossible! I wonder vou have the audacity to propose such a thing!” lie winced a little at her vehemence, but refused to accept her utterance as the final word upon the matter. “That I am audacious I do not doubt,” he answered slowly, “but, at the same time, 1 am proving my love, for I am surrendering the certainty of a very handsome fortune for love of you. I wonder whether Cousin Geoffrey would do as much ” “He would! 1 am sure he would! If you could do as much he would do more! ’’

‘Try him!” he answered coolly,

“See if lie is willing to go to prison, for instance, rather than to give you up! See if lie is willing to take to wife one who is under grave suspicion of —er —killing ” “Oh!” cried Margaret, “you are shameless. You pretend to believe that 1 killed that poor man, and at the' same time you say you want to marry me! I wonder at you! But I will not discuss the matter longer. I will

never marry you, never!”

“Then Geoffrey will go to prison!” sneered Creswell. “And when he languishes there he will have the pleasure of reflecting that your great love for him occasioned his incarceration. It will be a consoling thought.” “Oh, how utterly mean you are!” was the girl’s vehement reply. “I use such weapons as are possible,” he answered. “And, believe me, I shall not be sparing in their use. You are really going? There is your rifle? I think you had better take it. You will be able to produce it on demand. ’ ’

Margaret, keeping a brave face, moved to the chair wheel - her rifle reposed, and took it up. Then she held out her hand, palm upward. “You have a note of mine. I will take it, please.”

Creswell shook his head. ‘ ‘ The note remains with me for the present. It is possible that on reflection you may see the expediency of changing your mind on th e proposal which I ”

“Never! Never!” “Then you will take the consequences!” said Creswell harshly.

“Gladly! Anything rather than face the future with a man so vile as you!’ ’

Her scorn brought the blood to the man’s face and a fierce light shone in his eyes. He took a step forward, as if he would lay hands on her, but the girl faced him without flinching. Then he gave a savage laugh. “Anyway, it is some consolation to know that you won’t face it with my cousin. ’ ’

“That,” replied Margaret, “remains to be seen. You rnay do your worst, I do not care. The stars in their courses tight against such evil men as you.”

A second later she left the room, and moving to the window Creswell, a black look upon his face, watched her go down the drive with brisk steps, head high in the air, her whole carriage expressive of self-reliance. • “Tightened the strings instead of breaking them,” lie murmured gloomily. “J didn’t think there was so much character in her. But reflection will bring a humbler mind, and then lowed the fast-receding figure. Somehow it filled him with doubt. He had

made his throw—if it failed there was nothing else he could do. Better than anyone else he knew that, and a sombre look came on his face as he turned from the window. CHAPTER XXII.

-lbout the time when Margaret was fleeing from Cariboo Pete, Geoffrey Lulworth was ushered into Lady Harlowe’s drawing room, and after exchanging greetings, plunged _at once into an explanation of his visit. “J have c-ealled to see you about your niece. Lady Harlowe.” “ About my niece?” ••Yes. You, I understand, are her guardian, and 1 want your consent to our marriage.” “You want my consent? You want to marry Margaret?” asked Lady Harlowe, less for the purpose of obtaining information than for gaining time to think.” (i Tli-that is what I said. An embarrassed look came upon her face. She glanced at Lulworth, then her eves turned hastily away. It was very evident to the waiting suitor that she was in something of a quandary. She sat there without replying for a few seconds, and the ticking of the ormolu clock on the mantelshelf sounded portentously. “I scarcely know what to say, Mr Lulworth,” she said at last. “Then say y-yes,” he suggested, smilingly. “That is not quite so easy to say as 1 should have liked,” was the answer. • • There are—er —difficulties. 5 ’ “Not of a f-financial nature, I hope. As you will know, I am the inheritor of mv grandfather’s fortune, and in a c-couple of days the lawyers will settle the matter, and ” “The difficulties have nothing to do with that, Mr Lulworth. They—er—concern vour character.”

“My character!” “Yes. I should net like Margaret to marry a man who at any moment is likely to be sent to prison.” “P-prison” “l r es. lam very frank with you. I like you. Under ordinary circumstances I should have been only too delighted to give my consent to your marriage with Margaret. But the circumstances are not ordinary, as I will explain. A few weeks back Margaret and I were travelling in America, arid our train was held up by a masked robber. My purse was taken ” “B-but surely you g-got it back, Lady Harlowe. * I t-told that engineer to—”

“Then you admit that you were the masked man?”

“No use denying it to you, Lady Harlowe,” he answered with a whimsical smile. “B-but vou got your purse back?”

“I did,” answered the lady severely. “But there was another person who complained that he had been robbed of a good many thousand dollars.” “R-relieved would be a better word, I think,” replied Lulworth smilingly. (To be Continued.)