BY THE AUTHOR OF MARION HOWARD, ETC., ETC.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume VII, Issue 336, 26 September 1879, Page 5

BY THE AUTHOR OF MARION HOWARD, ETC., ETC.

CHAPTER XXIII.-(Contim«>d.) Never in his life before had the arrival of any guest brought a shadow across Richard O'Meara's face, and certainly never brfore Sout a b tne° W S h^'- bad h ? SGen Fkther Donovan 7 approach £m o^h^ very transient one after all ; for before Master Rorv had trotted half °£SfbS£^£ ""/%*'' *""* to tbe ««o°i»ta»" of tie ■ i . 1 ' ho eyea the """-comer "Cry suspiciously over thp M ?o^x^r^ n^S' doctor ooked as he discharged the sweet duties of hospitaHtv only As Father Donovan had only returned the preceding evening Lt e,l >,Sn a ho?no h Ti? TehT eh interested > v reaSfng some lettets written home by the young hero, especially by one that had oft^outeS? S°oS^ T^' & ¥ givenU^count or tne outbreak ot cholera in Rome and its vicinity. The town of Albano it saul, had suffered severely from its ravages and There during two days and nights a small band of forty Zouaves had been the S^SS^wf*!? 1 ? * l -™-^r S fort/c dead. After Spau! sSdfisiJasssssiss zr r weak a ™ of flesh - d in the b StatP S8o?S 8 o? t°hV^ Ch T T- riting was one of <*mparativequiet in the States of the Church. Thedisastrousdaysof Castel Fidardoand wTnr^T^r 1118 w? gS ° f the P ast A temporai/calm at least, fl» Jn i I? 6 « ?ol ? tl^ ai y tu »«lt. The French bayonets were flashing round the Papal throne, while the noble army of Zouaves SffkinfTnfS*' ° r bisher than to die for thei Pontiff-kmg And yet the sons of the Church trembled « Comine events cast their shadows before ; and there was something so poS tous in tbe very stillness of Garibaldi and his myrmidons that the children of PIOP 1O Nono, with the instinctive forebodings of filial love t^^R^^^^^ *-** their father heard^g^^ all he ha, insurrection that, as he listened, Richard l O'Meaia's heart w ea SS U l°\ e^^, though his eye flashed and his chfek kiSSS wi o!To !T Agnation. So engrossed indeed did they both STM?r,7 g , theprobable ißSue <> f evenfc s that the Augus Si'? udalu dal T tntodarkncSß before the Priest awokf 5 the fact it would soon be night, and that he was expected at a gentle? man s bouse quite three miles off, where he had arranged to saf Mass the following morning. At that very moment, hotvevcr the old housekeeper appeared with the candles, and informing the prX that it was beginning to rain heavily, joined her master in beggine him to remain all night. As she spoke, a soft murmuring rustlf among tie Jh^i n£ dec f orrob o ra t ed t h ,e fact, and five minutes later the long! threatening storm had broken into a perfect deluge of rain. A Sf *' ni B bt in a mountain region is no trifle, with the lightning flashing above around, below you, and the thunder boorainl round you like a battery of guns. After the priest had looked out for a few minutes upon the storm, he felt more than satisfied that he and Master Rory were m such comfortable quarters for the night. Nor was old Betty one whit less content, as she bustled about in her domain, airing and re-airing sheets and pillow-cases ; only pausing to bless herself whenever a brighter flash than usual sot her poor old heart pit-a-pat The "benefit of clergy" in such a storm^s that compensated for any amount of extra trouble in Betty's humble Our friends resumed their seats, but the thread of their conversaturn was broken It was no longer '-ultramontane." but respecting the sayings and doings of tbe people of Ballycross during Fathe? Donovan s absence, and amongst others of low degree, of course the «t r tant %°, f . the Peonage naturally came in for a due share of a ™°' t 'i <\ ue8tl <»» that tbe priest asked concerning them were apparently casual enough, and yet a veiy close observer might have remarked that when, among the rest, he mentioned Miss Neville he fixed his eyes somewhat enquiringly on his companion's face But all unconscious of his scrutiny sat the doctor, for the very mention of

Maudes name brought back with it the train of ideas that had so perplexed him all day. Very quietly, however, though rather abstractedly, he answered Father Donovan's questions ; and then, caressing Bat's big black head, that lay as usual on his knee, and looking into the soft brown eyes that seemed to answer his with an expression almost human in its earnestness, he fell into a dream. I here was a silence of some minutes' duration, broken at length by the priest. ° . J'/*? ro -I! os of Miss Neville, Richard, what do you suppose I heard m Dublin about you and her 1 " be asked suddenly. If the doctor attempted to guess he was too much astonished to be aware of the fact, and only sat, open-eyed and open-mouthed, staring at the speaker, "I heard nothing more nor less than that you had matrimonial designs upon the heiress of Neville Court, and that she was not altogether unfavourable to your suit 1 " And how dared anyone," cried O'Meara, rising from his chair, wmle the wrath and dignity of all the O'Mearaa in his pedigree Hashed in his eyes and quivered in his voice,— how dared any one take Rich an unwarrantable liberty with either of us ? " " Nay, that is more than lor any other man can tell you. All I know is. that ever since the world began women— ay, and men too— have tattled about their neighbours ; and bo it will be, depend upon it, until the end of time."

" But 7 hat did y° u do ?— what did you say to them, Father Donovan 1 asked the doctor, once again seating himself, but still looking quite aghast. '• What did Ido ? why, nothing ! Fighting, you know, is not my vocation ; besides, the offenders were ladies," said the priest smiling. " Ani what did I say ? In one place I told them, in the politest manner I could, to mind their own business ; at another I waited till their remarks were finished, and then let it drop, in the course of conversation, that Dr. O'Meara was one of my most intimate and valued friends. That was punishment enough for some of them, I can tell you." '

Ihe doctor was thunderstruck. In all his relations with Maude the one intention of his heart had been so pure and single, that the possibility of misconstruction had never entered bis mind. The life moreover, that he had hitherto led had, from its unobtrusiveness, been so unmarked by the world, that to find himself suddenly talked about was a fact too startling for him to realise.

" It has been a question with me," continued Father Donovan, after a pause, " whether to mention all this to you or not. I have decided on doing so, however, for one or two reasons ; the chief one, that I thought a word in season might put you upon your guard for tbe future. By a curious concatenation of evidence I have traced a great deal of this tattle to the old lady stopping at the Ulebe House : so_ beware of her." »»■ c £ eply was a burst of ad J e ctives by no means flattering to Miss Barbara, to which Bat, roused from bis Blumbers, added a few deep growls, doubtless by way of assent, for Bat by no means favoured aunt Barbara.

n &»«Hi to warn you against the dangerous tongue of this individual, continued the priest, " was not my only intention in mentioning the subject to you. Richard, my boy, wiil you let a very old friend give you a few words of advice 1 "

An unmistakable assent beamed in the doctor's face, and th« priest continued,

"No man living knows better— l may perhaps say as well as I do— the purity and unselfishness of your motives with regard to Miss Neville, nor the perfect single-heartedness that has marked all your relations with her ; but the world, Richard, will judge by another code. Ido not say it denies the existence of honourable sentiments, but, to say the least, it regards them as rarisshma: aces, the greater part of which took wing long ago, with the other bright and beautiful attributes of chivalry. Now the world knows that Maude Neville is rich, talented, beautiful, and an orphan ; and knows, oh the other nand l that a certain young doctor in her neighbourhood, talented agreeable, to a certain degree good-looking, and (as is comraeuly the case with most of his profession) no richer than he need be, is frequently in her company. This much the world either sees or hears, and this much is true. But next comes its construction ; and it is of this that I wish to speak to you. Nor is this a new desire on my part. It is now two or three months since I first felt that, even in our own little circle here, you were misunderstood ; and though I never expected to hear strictures upon your conduct as coarse as those of Miss Barbara and her friends, I felt sure that in some form or another, sooner or later, something would be said."

He paused, but the doctor made no reply. "You must not take what I am saying too much to heart, my dear fellow, he continued, casting as he spoke a glance of the tenderest sympathy at his friend. " Remember, Richard O'Meara is not the first man who has had his actions misread and his intentions misinterpreted. Come, come, you are not old enough yet to have forgotten your Catechism and the Eierht Beatitudes ; and if so surely lt Jj n t your intention t0 tnrn your back on a blessing at the first go

The doctor smiled sadly. <• I suppose lam a coward, but I think 1 may say that, if the world had onlj attacked me individually I would have borne its calumnies with patience."

iiT s £ A tut; not a bit of itl " cried father Donovan, laughin?. ?°?. A a , tter y° urself that a" your sensibilities are aroused on behalf of Miss Neville ! Of course you are grieved that she should have her name bandied about ; but I think the charge of scheming and fortune-hunting brought against somebody else is not wholly without a sting— eh 1 " J

Indeed it is not," cried the doctor, shrugging his shoulders and shivering as he spoke, as though with cold. " Still, if it were not for ncr, he continued, rising and pacing the room hurriedly, " I would continue to act as I have hitherto acted, and live down this, or a hundred such calumnies." '

(To be continued.}