The Storyteller

New Zealand Tablet, 29 May 1919, Page 3

The Storyteller

THE WILD BIRDS OF KILLEEVY Rosa Mulholland. (By arrangement with Messrs. Burns and Oates, London.) (Continued.) CHAPTER —RACHEL WEBB AGAIN, “So, madam, you have been crying?” Lord Wilderspin had sent for Fan to his private study, and while waiting for her appearance had been striding about like an angry giant, darting fiery glances from under his shaggy eyebrows. He was bent on frightening Fan from listening to what he was pleased to call his nephew’s impertinence. She must snub the fellow, ignore him, have nothing to do with him for the future; and he expected to find her saucy, but obedient. When the girl came into the room, however, there was something in her lace which he was not prepared to encounter traces of her last night’s, vigil, a paleness of the usually blooming cheeks, a redness round the heavy-lidded eyes. The old lord was quite put out of countenance, and became fiercer than ever accordingly. . “How dare you sit down to cry under my roof, you little baggage?” “My lord, I have a right to' my own tears,” said Fan, throwing back her head with a smile.- It was not in his power to frighten her with his gruffuess. “You have nothing of the kind,” shouted his lordship. “Everything in this house is mine ; you and your tears, as well as the rest.” I hen I am sorry I have wasted your property, sir; the tears are all shed and gone.” “Come here to the light till I look at you, Miss Impertinence. Eheu ! did anyone ever see such a pair of eyes! You ungrateful monkey, did I ever refuse you anything you wished for?” No ; and I am not asking for anything you can give me.” •

“A very likely story, with such a face.” Lord Wilderspin turned away from her where she stood in the full light of the window, and went puffing and sighing up and down the room, tugging and striving with his obstinacy and pride. The truth is, he had never noticed a woman weeping before since one day when a girl like this had looked at him piteously with such red-rimmed eyes. He and she had been saying farewell, and a year after the girl was in her . grave. That is the story of Lord Wilderspin’s old bachelorhood. It had never occurred to him that little Fan was one to cry and he had no doubt whatever as to the cause of her tears. Are you going to break her heart, you old ogre?” he said to himself. “Are you going to put her into her grave?” ..... J & - 1 He wheeled suddenly round on Fan. !i •••••• A little fresh air will be - good for your complexion, he, said, “and that rascally nephew of mine is bringing round a horse for you to ride. You have my orders to ride with him, and mind there is no crving about it.” J 6

“But, my lord ” , v sb; No buts, you monkey; I am as cross as a bear and, putting her out of the room*, he bowed, and shut the door in her face. q* : U- ’. The next hour Fan and Captain Rupert were cantering over the downs together, while the signora and Herr Harfenspieler sat at home and lamented over his lordship’s weakness. ( . j ; V W *-. 0 , .j. *.-*3 Captain . Wilderspin was enraptured; ; Although fully determined to have his own way at any price, it would have pained him to quarrel, finally with his good old uncle, and the cessation, of;.his lordship’s^ hostilities delighted much more than surprised him. ■He had not expected so speedy a ' surrender, r and was all the more

pleased that unpleasantness had come so quickly to an end.

That Fan would soon listen willingly to his /suit he had /no ; longer : any ' fear,/ and he loved / her ; all ; the more for the , fidelity' and tenderness . that * created> her 'first ’difficulty.” He, was resolved to keep his word as to helping her in the search for her early friends, but comforted himself with " the reflection that very " little of Kevin, when found, would amply satisfy the cravings of her heart. Out of • his pocket he would make the people comfortable for the rest of their days, arid, thus win her lasting gratitude after the tears of her disappoinment had been shed. As for Fan, she saw everything undone again that last night had seemed finished and put av. She was quick enough to perceive that Lord Wilderspin was favoring his nephew’s suit, and it did not surprise her so much as it ought to have done, because she was so accustomed to receive everything good from his hand. She was unusually grave and silent, and her lover respected her mood. He divined clearly enough that the force of circumstances was telling upon her imagination, and in time would tell upon her heart. She did not love him yet : but he would rather wait for her love than see her willing to marry him for the sake of mere worldly advantage. She should have her own time and her own way. It was enough for him at present to watch tenderly the sorrowful wakening from her dream of Kevin, and to have the privilege of soothing away the pain, replacing it gradually with a reality of happiness. . In the changed expression of her eyes he read that the visionary Kevin was no longer discernible, and the coarse reality, .as presented by him, now constantly filled them instead. She was remembering all the circumstantial evidence aginst the friend of her youth. Her letters had never been answered ; in all her wanderings she had not met him searching for her. The seven years (which at Fanchea age are a lifetime) had changed him so that he was contented without her on the mountain, and was patiently supporting his wife and children by the labor of his spade. The utmost good that he could require of her now was probably a little bounty, such as Captain Rupert could give, to make him and his family more comfortable. ’ The loss of her dream pressed heavily on her heart, and changed her from a gleeful girl into a thoughtful woman. But Captain Rupert was right in judging that the way was opening that might lead her to become the Lady of Wilderspin. They had ridden a long way, when the sky became dark, and it was evident a thunderstorm was following their steps. They saw it rolling towards them from the sea across the valley, and to turn would have been to meet it in the teeth. Captain Rupert remembered a farmhouse a mile in advance on the road, and they pressed on their horses to reach its shelter. In spite of fast riding, floods of rain and flashes of lightning overtook them ; Fan’s skirts were drenched, and the wind buffeted her little hat and tugged at her hair till it streamed in fluttering ringlets round her wet and rose-red face.

The haven was reached at last— neat farmhouse with a gable overgrown with climbing flowers. Captain Rupert sprang from his horse and threw the reins upon a rail of the gate, then hurried up the walk and knocked at the door. It was the, same door at which Kevin had knocked when on his weary tramp so many years ago; and one of Rachel Webb’s handmaidens opened to him. ; . The distressed wayfarers were kindly invited in ; Fan was lifted off her horse and hurried under shelter; and a fair, placid woman in grey garments and a white muslin cap met her in the hall with a welcome. “Let me step into your kitchen,” said Fan, smiling and rosy; “my dripping skirts will do less harm there than anywhere else.” - ' ' . As she stepped into the kitchen, and stood full in the light, she made a picture, with her clinging draperies, her blooming cheeks, and the wet tangle of her ruffled hair curling -about her. pretty head and neck. ¥" I - ’ - x ~ .

Rachel Webb looked at her attentively and then said:— , v v ..' “Young friend, I have thee before!”

CHAPTER • XXV,-UNEXPECTED • NEWS. “Young friend, I have v met : thee before.” Fanchea returned the good Quaker’s long, steadfast look with a glance of surprise, never doubting that she was mistaken for some - other ; person. “I do not remember,”-she said, “and yet l have not seen many people.” , “It is many years I met thee,” said Rachel, “but thou hast still the same face. Thou wert singing and dancing among gipsies.” Many people saw me then. What a good memory you must have! 2 -’

“The time is not so long for me as for thee,” answered Rachel, smiling. “At my age seven o-r eight years pass quickly. But let me "remove thy wet clothing. Afterwards I shall have something to say that perhaps may concern thee.” When, still pondering these words, Fan emerged from the bedroom to which she had been led, she was dressed in a print gown fresh from the ironing-table at which -the maids were at .work. Her riding habit was hung at the fire, and .she was assured it would not dry lor an hour ; besides, the storm showed no signs of abating. In the parlor she found Mrs. Webb and Caplain Rupert awaiting her reappearance and tea was spread on a table- in the pleasant old-fashioned sitting room where the sober drabs and greys of the furniture enhanced the rich color of the flowers that adorned it. A large china bowl of fresh-gathered roses perfumed the tea table ; such lights as the storm permitted’came into the room laden with a cool green tinge from filtering through overhanging leaves that clustered over the windows. Pleasant to Fan’s eyes was the whole scene, including Rachel’s white muslin cap, placid face,®and the white plump hand that moved among the tea cups. A swift, strange feeling of having been in the place and the circumstances before seized upon her. This woman belonged to her past, would have a hand in her late. What was it that she was going to tell her? /Thrilling with expectation, Fan did not notice the look ot admiration which Captain Runert bestowed upon her, as alter the fashion of lovers he reflected that nothing he had ever seen her wear was half so becoming to her as the impromptu raiment from the ironing-table. She fixed her eyes on Rachel, eager for her next words, yet finding it impossible to hurry her or disturb her in her little hospitable courtesies.

“Drink thy tea first, my dear,” said the good lady; “it will rest thee and do thee good ; and then I will say what I have to say to thee.” Fan swallowed her tea, and then sat silently waiting. “It will be nothing after all,” she thought, checking her impatience. “Only some foolish story about the gipsies.”

“Madam,” she said at last, “you need not be afraid of frightening me. 1 am no longer afraid of the gipsies.” “She is in safe keeping now, I assure you,” said Captain Wilderspin, smiling on her. Mrs. Webb looked from one to the other. “I am glad to know it,” she said, “yet I have something to tell thee that does not concern those people. Didst thou know that someone else was seeking thee besides the gipsies , \ - : * v« 5 Fan rose suddenly to her ; feet. “Yes, I have always known it, have always believed it. •' What have you got to tell me?”

“It is seven years since he came here on his way to London looking - for thee, and I have not seen him since. I suppose you know of whom I am speaking.” “Kevin !” said Fanchea, trembling. ■|.j “That was his name. It . was so new to me that I could not forget it. -He was a simple/ noble creature, and his anxiety about thee was great. I told him I had seen thee, and I -put him on the track of the gipsies; but when he found them, thou wert gone.” “Which way did he go?” said Fan, looking as if

ready to unfurl a pair of wings and fly along the track so wearily travelled by her friend so many years ago. “To London,” said? Mrs. Webb. “But calm thyself, my child ; I cannot tell thee where he. is now. He wrote..to me . from London, many , times \ he' was always searching for thee,' and always disappointed. He obtained some employment with a bookseller, and I have had means of learning that he gave himself up to study and developed some unusual talents. A literary gentleman took him up, and they went travelling together, and have never returned. Fan’s face had become more and more radiant as the Quakeress went on speaking. The fact that she had caught sight of him only to lose him again could not cloud her delight. Her faith in him had been verified, and at present that was enough. He had really been in search of her ; he was educated, talented, and living with people of refinement. What did it signify that they were still to be apart? He lived in the world, and so did she; and with the happy audacity of youthful hope she felt this sufficient guarantee of their ultimate joyful meeting. . " Glowing with excitement, beaming with triumph and joy, she turned to Captain Rupert, who had been a silent witness of this scene ; but she met no sympathy from him : he turned away abruptly and looked out of the window, with a clouded face. The whirl of her thoughts would not allow her to guess at the cause of his coldness ; she only felt him unkind, and remembered, with a sort of pity for his want of judgment, that he had never been able to believe in Kevin. A little laugh rose in her throat, as the picture of a coarse peasant, with which he had lately succeeded in frightening her, flitted across her mind. Here someone announced that the storm was over, and the horses at the door. Fan hurried away to prepare for departure, and was soon riding homeward with Captain Wilderspin. Very few words were spoken between them during the ride. Rupert could not bring himself to congratulate the young girl upon the discovery she had made, fearing it involved the ruin of his own hopes. The story he had heard had sounded to him like a page out of a fairy tale, and it seemed cruel of Fate to contrive circumstances so. exceptional for the purpose of robbing him of his coveted happiness. Upon his exertions to find a low-bred and vulgar Kevin he had rested his expectation of winning Fanchea’s affections ; but he could do nothing to bring about her meeting with such a man as had just been described. Iter little outbursts of gaiety as she rode along by his side, the lark-like joy in her voice as she broke out into raptures about the beauty of the clouds, the landscape, anything that caught her eye and became for the moment transfigured by her own delight, annoyed him beyond measure, feeling, as he did, "that the fact of his own existence had no part in producing her satisfaction. Yet his unresponsive gravity gave her a slight chill in the end. If he really had any regard for her, she thought, why could he not be glad in her joy ? . “I think you are not pleased at my good news,” she said, looking at him wistfully when he had lifted her down from her saddle. Captain Rupert turned pale, but smiled, and for an answer raised her little hand to his lips.

“She is such a child,” he said to himself; “How can I confess to her that lam jealous After all, she looks on this Kevin as a brother. If I can win her for my wife beforehand, why should I not be satisfied to seo- them meet?”

(To be continued.)

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