CHAPTER IV —CONTINUED.

Waikato Times, Volume IV, Issue 198, 16 August 1873, Page 3

CHAPTER IV —CONTINUED.

"Miriam merdly gasped. In the extremity of her astonishment she wa* quite unable to speak In one brief moment, all the import, all the consequenc >s of tin-* revelation rushed into her mind. The implacable fury of her f ither, in the eteut of a tl^covarv ; the rwkof thep>«ition Poichad undertaken ; e\en the to n plicated awkwardness of the relation towards the servants in which she was nnolved — the whole concatenation presented itself at once to her keen intelligence, and interpreted itself hy the deep frown winch instantly set itself upon her brow. I It was not my douig that yon were deceived, Miss Clint,' -said Rose, as she dropped Minimi's hands, and stood up. ' I .entreated Walter to tell 3011 the truth, and leave you (o .choose whether 30U would protect and shelter me, knowing who I am.' ' His wife '—his wife !' .was all Miriam could iet say. ' Yes, his wife ! You sureh do «ot 'doubt that ! If 3011 'do, I can prove it. JSurelv lie told jou there could be no harm to you,tno disgrace 111 having me with you?' 'He did, he did!' said Miriam, recovering herself, and ■passing her hand over lur forehead. 'I do not doubt 3 our • word, but — but I am so bewildered — you mil explnu — you will tell me. Good Heaven*! tins may be a dreadful thing for Walter.' She spoke the la»t sentence, almost unconscious that she was heard ' Yew,' said .Rose, and tears rolled down her pale face, ' it may be a dreadful thing for Walter, and I fear, T fear, hN plan has not been a \vis.e one, but 1 could \ or dissuale him from it. He dreaded leaving me quite alono ; he clun>; to the idav of your affording me protection. Jjelievc me, Miss Clint, my a-M'nt wns most unu tiling ; I shrunk from asking so much from you ; but Walter said you would not blame him for marrying the- woman he loved only because she was poor.' ' Nor would I,' thought Miriam, ' though I am not sentimental, and I would not marry a poor man, no matter how much I loved linn ; but -I do blamr him ; I. cannot lorgive him for marrjing a servant ' In that fact, she lelt there was miter ruin for her brother, even apart from any vindictive course which his discovery of it might cause her father to ,-ftdopt Her silence chilled and terrified Rose. ' Oh,' .-he sobbed, ' I wish I had not obeyed him —I wish I had refused to do this ' It must end ill. I will go away ; I will tell him it cannot be.' 'No, no, 1 said Miriam ; ' do not distress yourself so much. You must remember how utterly I am taken by surprise ; vrou roust give me time to get over ,the first shock of this news a httlc. You do not know my father ; I don't think Walter can have made jou understand how proud a man he is, and ' Rose flushed scarlet. She perceived what was in Miriam* mind. ' Miss Clint,' sho «aid, 'I think you have not quite understood me. Ytur brother has done a diead fully imprudent thing in marrjing me — I did not understand how imprudent, or I hope I should hove had the courage to save him by parting from him ; but he lias only married a p >oi girl, not one inferior to him in birth in breeding ' ' What ?' cried Miriam impetuously, siting hold of her. ' You don't mean t« say — though \ou certainly look like it — that you aio a lady yI 'Certainly, I do.,' returned the other calmly, and with decision. 'lam a lady — by descent, by birth, and education. I don't think Walter wcuild have married any one who was not so, 1 she added proudly ; ' and I don't think his sister ought to have suspected him of such a thing. 'Now, I don't mind it a bit,' said Miriam, at she hugged Hose with all -the warmth of her impulsive repentance^ ' and I see I must have been a fool not to understand it. Never mind your not having any money ; neither has Walter, you know. But never fear; we shall contrive to manage papa somehow ; and if we don't, someday I mean to have enough •for us all. JOnly, how, in the nance* of wonder, could you ever think of pretending to be a servant ? How could jou imagine such a thing 9" ' It wa3 Walter's plan,' said Rose ; ' but I knew I could carry it out, lrom what he had told me of you. lam perfectly competent to be your jvaid, Miss Clint, as you shall see.' 'Absurd! How can you talk such nonsense? Walter's wife, my own sister-in-law , my maid ! My father's daughter-in-law a servant in his house! Of course such a thing is .quite out of Jtlie question. Only, what are we to sny to papa ? How am Ito account for you pI Miriam 'began to walk about «the joom, and to pnll her long hair through her fingers, as sli« had a habit of doing when she was troubled. Rose quietly had aside her bopnet and shawl, opened one of (the travellmg-bngs, took out £ombs and brushes, lsiid them on the dressing table, placccl a ehnir before it, and stood with her hands oai the chair-rbaei, looking steadily at Miriam. 'In twenty mi»utes. ; dinner will be served, 1 she said, ' and jou mu«t go down anfl dine with your father. You have promised Walter to befriend me. You cannot betray mo get, and in the meantime the only thing to be done is to let me play my part so as not to be suspected. This evening, you shall know all, and (than you shall take yaur resolution. What you can do for me and fer him now, 13 to let me dress you for dinner, and then to go down with an untroubled face : when you can lea.ye your father, you shall find meihere.' ' But you 9 ' said Miriam. ' What are 30*1 to do 9 You .cannot dine with the servants. It is an impossible position to maintain.' ' No, it isn't.' said Hose. ' Sit down, and let me do 3 our liair.' Miriam obeyed her mechanically. Hose gathered iup Jtho greret masses m her hand, admiringly, and began to brush out the length. * I shall ask the servants to let me have some tea up here, on the pretext of having to put your things in order, nnd then we can arrange for thefuturc to-night.' The quiet, gentle, blue-eyed little wmian was subjugating JVlinani by the simple strength of her purpose. | Miriam's first dinner in her father's house, as a grown up young lady come home ' for good,' must have had some importance for Uer, but she had little contemplated it» being such an ordeal. As she sat opposite to her fathar, she ■could hardly preserve her composure, or pretond to eat, to oppressed was she with the secrot she had just learned, and with the recollection of what Walter had said about one request he had it in contemplation to make of his fatlier through her. Sho had ucrcr felt so much afraid of hi»r father as now, when she needed to be least so. She was tired, worn out, and for the first, time in her life bearing the .burden of concealment Mr Clint was in a somewhat better humour than before, and spoke to her occasionally almost graciously. At the conclusion of dinner, he noticed her ■look of fatigue, and told her sho might retire at once, if she pleased, adding, that she need never trouble herself about him in the evenings — he rarely t itcred the drawing-room. Miriam, even then, could think of the dreary evenings there mu»t be in store for her, and wonder whether he had notion of procuring companionship of any kind for her: but she made no comment, only rose to leave the room. She stood hesitating for a moment whether she should approach him. but he dismissed her w ith a nod And a curt ' good night. 1 Miriam ran impatiently up the stairs, and to her own rooms, where site found Rose, seated in a thoughtful attilude by an open window, looking out upon the dreary lawn, where the sheep were nibbling the grass, their short sharp bites distinctly audibly in the still summer evening. ' That's over,' said Miriam, ' and now we shall not bo disturbed again to-night.' She drew a low chair to tho side of Rose 11 she spoke, and seated herself, looking up into tho sad face of her brother's avife. ' If Walter could only see us now,' she said, ' he would be well pleased. We have some peaceful hours before us, come what may. You will tell me every thing' now ?' ' Everything,' ' May I ask you questions ? ' ' Ask me what you will.' , ' Then tell me, how long have you known Walter ? When were you married to him ? ' I 1 have known him two years; we have been married one.' ' Was Rose Dixon your real name ?' 1No; my real uamo was Florence Reevo ; but Walter could not let me use it ; he fear* it may have already reached your father's ears. Rose Dixon was my mother's uame ' ' I shall call you Florence, when w« are alone, and you must call me Mjriom.' ' No, no,' «aid the other earnestly ; it would be very dangerom. People pronounce names almost unconsciously, and we could not be enough upon our guard.' ' Very well,' said Miriam ; ' I believe you are right. You shall be Rose, and I will be Miss Clint.' ' I w mder if you will ever like me well enough to be reconciled to having granted Walter's ivqueit ? ' said Rose. ' I think I ihall like you very much,' replied Miriam frankly ; only I am so surprised now, so dumbfounded, I do not feel rightly awake, and am hardly able to understand you.' ' I shall be lonely and desolate indeed, if you do not like mo,' said Rose nervously, and with trembling lips, ' fur Heaven know» when I shall sec Walter again.' ' Whnt do you mean 9 Have you no plan for meeting ?' ' He and I parted yesterday — but for tho momentary glimpse of him this morning,' said Rose. That also he left me for to tell you — lie does not purpose to see either you or me again. He it going, in a fortnight, to California '

A young lady wishing for a situation, was recently intorested in an advertisement for some one to do " light housekeeping." So »!io wrote to the advertiser nuking where the lighthouse was, and if there was any way of getting nshore on Sundays. Mrs Fawcett having been requested to leave a free public y reading-room, has ascertained from the secretary of the Public Library Commisii lher* that women lime aright to iise fre# reading rouius an I irte public libraries.