Denbighshire Free Press

BY LADY TROUBRIDGE, Author of The Cheat." 11e re," Paul's Stepmother," The email Thou Gavcst," L-c., C. rcOPYRIG H T. ] SYNOPSIS or PI?EVICT'S CHAPTERS. CHAPTERS I. & II.—'Tin- story opens on Cup Day at Ascot. Among; the fashionable throng arc Eady Wmdeimere and her daughter, Hyacinth. The yotincM woman is advised by her mother to acco: t Mircus Ouintcis, who, on the death of his cov.?ir., Vj-uuitcr. u-ilt be a rich man. Eady Windermere speak" paraRins;ly of Jack Taunton, Quinten's Australian friend and Hvacinth demurs. Ov.inten as1« Jack (or a te, telling him that lie means to propose to Hyaci ith that daw T.mrton reproaches Quia ten for posiro, llS a wealthy man, and renresentinfr hint (jack) as Vx-nv.; poor. Taunton asks Hyacinth it she could care for hini, hut she tells him that her parents wish her to marry Ouinten. A woman at the gite of the paddock reco^m^et Oninten, and grettinc him as her husband, upbraids him with attempting to desert her. He coolly teils her that their supposed marriage was a mockery, and ienvch her, fainting. Taunton comes to her assistance, end het friend. Sarah Gibson, tells him the story cf Honour Read and her marriaee to Marcus Quint en. Returning to the Windermeres he is informed of Hyacmui s en gagement to Quinten.

CHAPTER II.—HONOUR. Ouinten passed out of the "Enclosure witn a buoyant step. He knew J ack Taunton s word was as good as his bend, and little as the money was in the face of his difficulties, he was one of those people of whom there are many, who feel quite rich as long as ti:ey possess a little ready money, whatever cheii liabilities may be. He walked along humming a little tune, and then catching sight of a man ahead that he wanted to speak to, he hurried after him to the outer gate. Quick as his footsteps were however, he lost sight of the man he was endeavouring to overtake, and was pre- paring to retrace his way, when a woman s voice called him by his name, and wheeling round sharply he perceived the girl still standing where Hyacinth had left her over two hours ago. If she had looked pale then, her pallor had intensified to a ghastly white- ness. With her was a friend, another yocng woman, who appeared to be persuading her to leave her point of vantage, when Quinten's appearance startled them both. He turned, and evidently recognising her, stopped short. Honour, what on earth are you doing here ? I have been here for hours," she said, drawing her breath sobbmgly. You passed me twice. Oh, how could you be so cruel as not to stop ? My dear girl, I didn't see you. and if I had I should have hardly believed it could be you. It's incredibly foolish of you to have come here you never used to be so fond of a race-course." She threw up her head with an angry movement. Races IN-hat do I care about races ? I came to this hateful place because I knew you were going to be here." Very absurd of you then," he answered shortly. Let me tell you, my dear, that I don't intend to be followed about in this kind of way, and if we are to remain friends you must please to drop it." Remain friends ? she said, and the trembling indignation, in her voice made it more poignant than if she had screamed aloud. How dare you talk to me like that You are treating me as if I were not your wife." He did not answer but looked down on the ground, then hurriedly round to see that no one was observing them. It had to be gone through, this hateful, odious scene which coming so hard on his new-found joy, filled him with a sickening loathing, and he knew the woman he had to deal with—knew the pro nd sensitive nature too well to road it past bearing. Look here, Marcus," she said, speaking rapidly, and motioning with her other hand her friend to a greater distance. Do not imagine I do not see what you're trying to do. I am not such a fool as that. You are trying to desert me. What other explanation is there of the way you have treated me ? You married me you seemed to love me, and I, fool that I was, adored you. You remember what happened afterwards no sooner had we got back to my little lodgings than your servant brought you a telegram. Oil I don't know whether it was written by yourself, for I seem to doubt everything now but anyhow you left me before we had been an hour married—left me with kisses and promises, but left me never to come back. Do vou remember how I wrote and wrote to you, letter after letter, and all I received in return was your money and false excuses. Why should I be left like this ? What have I done ? You have not given me a chance of doing my duty to you. Sometimes I think it must all have been some dreadfrl hick. Marcus, I cannot bear it! I may net be a smart lady, but a ladr I am, and ycu knew my position when you married me. I bore it all, thinking it was just some waywardness on your part, and that you would come back and be sorry, and that I would forgive you. But now the things I hear are too infamous." Plie paused, half choked with her own anger. You are always with this Lady Hyacinth Windermere. I believe you mean to try to make people believe you are going to marry her, but can you for an instant imagine that I shall let you do such a thing even if you didr/t marry me in church I am your wife, and I intend to. claim aiv ri-htz." ) ITCr voice rose jagged and frayed in tone, like a broken instrument, almost to a scream. She caught at the railings by which she was standing, but she still faced him with bladng eyes. Quinten was agitated and desperate L t the thought of the uncomfortable position he was in. He began to lose his head. I shouldn't talk so much about mv rights if I were you," he said. You think yourself so clever, but has it never occurred to you that there may be something behind it all ? Oh, yes, I know I'm an awful black- guard, and all that sort of thing, but, well my dear, it's done every day, and you may as well know the truth now as later." "I am your wife," she repeated with dry lips. I am your wife." The reiterated sentence drove him to frenzy. I shouldn't be so sure of that if I were you," he sqid brutally. The fact was you were so full of your scruples, and your objec- tions, and there was only one way to get round you, so I took it. We went through a form of marriage, but unfortunately not before a registrar, but before a friend of my own—not a very reputable friend I must admit. It was just a plan. my dear, to keep you quiet. Marriage would have been per- fectly fatal to my prospects at that moment, and really and truly it's your own fault for worrying me as you did. And now look at the want of consideration you've shown, coming down here and jeopardising all my prospects just when things are looking a bit brighter for me. It's too bad of you, upon my soul it is." Your soul! she cried, wildly. Oh, to think you dare to speak of your soul. Yes, Marcus——" as he looked round for a way of escape, you may go and skulk away like the coward you are, but a thing like you've done to me never dies. One day you will know this as I do. Now go,! He needed no second bidding, but turned and literally fled, and by doing so he avoided seeing what followed, for once her passionate speech had passed her lips, the girl he had called Honour swayed, and would have iallen to the ground if she had-not been caught by a passing tramp, who held her in lis arms until her friend, seeing what had aappened, rushed up and relieved him. rhis friend was at her wit's end, for Honour vas really fainting on her hands. Her quest ;vas at an end, but how to get her back to :he station was the problem over which jar ah Gibson shook her head, and the publicity was becoming alarming, several people stopping to look at the group they iormed. Suddenly a voice accosted her—a voice x-liich inspired confidence,, although it was :hat of a stranger. I'm afraid you're in rather a predica- ment," he said. Let me help you." I ought to get her back to the station," ;aid Miss Gibson doubtfully. But how to io it is more than I know." You will not be able to do it, and she's not fit to travel if you did. Here, get her .nto this cab with me, and we will drive to the Ascot Hotel." With some difficulty this was accomplished, and Taunton, in pursuit of his knight errantry, found himself hiring a private room and en- sconcing therein his two companions. The girl Sarah was too upset not to speak frankly, and very soon she told him their names. You shall know all about us, as you've been so good," she said. For really and truly it seems as if you've been sent by Providence to help us, for this affair ic getting beyond me, and I don't know how to manage it." She had placed her friend on a couch in a corner of the window, and she now drew Taunton a little'aside. Honour Read is my greatest friend," she said. We worked together in the same ofiice in the City. Then she married, and he immediately deserted her. He's a villain, if ever there was one She has waited here in the heat this whole day to see him just for a moment, and at last she succeeded. Now I remember," she added, you were with him when he passed her by in the morning. Perhaps you know him ? His name is Marcus Quinten. I Your friend must take steps to recover her rights," said Taunton unsteadily. In spite of his pity, a flood of joy was filling his soul. Through no effort of his own it seemed that Quinten must be publicly proclaimed not only a blackguard, but a married man yet he strove to keep his voice cool and uninterested, and to a certain extent he succeeded. Sallie did not answer for an instant, and in the pause Honour Read lifted up her head, turned, and finally sat up, fixing large solemn, beautiful eyes on Taunton. I heard what you said," she uttered but it's no use. Sallie has told you all she knows, so I may as well tell you the rest. He says lie never really married me he took me to some place which I thought was a registrar's office, but the man before whom we went through a form of marriage was only some disreputable friend of Marcus's." Taunton approached her. j So he says now," he said but perhaps he won't be so ready to repeat this story in a court of law. Anyhow, you hold his reputa- tion in your hand you can do for him if this comes to light." She passed her hand wearily across her forehead. # It's all very well to say that," she said, but in any case I feel I cannot rum him, even if it is in my power." Why not ? asked Taunton, harshly, but even r.s he asked the question he knew the answer, for in the dark eyes of the girl before him he saw that sublime unselfishness which women have shown from time immemorial to the blackguards they have cared for. I have loved him," she.said simply. It may be your duty to do so," he said. You know best whether it is or not." She covered her face with her hands and then she rose up, and moved unsteadily to where Sarah Gibson was standing. You've been so kind to us," she said. I do not know how to thank you, but I feel I cannot say any more now yet, after all, you know him, and you may be a great help to me with vour advice if you care to interest yourself. Sallie will tell you where we live, and perhaps you will come and see us. Now, good-bye." She held out her hand with the action of a queen dismissing a courtier evidently this unveiling of her life to a stranger had been bitter to her, and she could bear no more of it at present. Twenty minutes later Taunton re-entered the enclosure, his heart bursting with the knowledge that morally, at all events, he alone was fitted to approach Hyacinth, and he trod on air as lie came up to her and her mother, with a self-confidence which he had not dared to show before. To his surprise Lady Windermere wel- comed him with a beaming smile. Could it be that Ouinten had kept his word, and had made the relative positions of the two men clear to her ? Her first words shattered this idea. We have a great piece of news to an- nounce to }*ou, Mr. Taunton," she said and Hyacinth is so shy that she has deputed me to tell it to you in her place." I'm sure I shall be very much interested," stammered Taunton his eyes turned un- easily to where the girl was standing, and searched her face but it was averted and he could not decipher its expression. Your friend, Mr. Quinten, and my little girl have decided to make a match of it, and so we must ask you for your congratulations. He is everything we could wish, so I think they are a pair of very lucky young people." Taunton clenched his strong brown hands the solid earth seemed reeling under him the sky was darkening over his head, but he kept sufficient hold upon himself to say nothing. His silence seemed to embarrass Lady Windermere. 11 Well, Mr. Taunton," she said with heavy playfulness. Have you any objection to

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CHAPTER III. A Hood of feeling kept Taunton speechless, but in reality his brain was working with lightning quickness, turning over again and again in his mind the crucial question- s hould he condone or acquiesce in this mon- strous thing which Quinten had done ? At first it seemed to him that this was the moment to launch his bombshell, then commonsense—which had been the ruling guide of this man's life—made its calm precepts heard. It would be an impossible, a melodramatic fiasco which, in the heat of the moment, he contemplated. For all he knew, the girls might be two adventuresses, and the whole story a trumped-up one. So with a superhuman effort he controlled him- self, cursing the delay which his kindness of heart had prompted, and which had been so fatal. Still, an engagement was not a marriage his little Hyacinth had been bullied into this. It only needed for him to see the pallor on her sweet face to realise that that curmudgeon of a mother was responsible, and having once so decided, Taunton gave evidence of being a strong man, for he pulled himself together, and nothing but one swift, amazed glance at Hyacinth betrayed liis horroi at the announcement. Lady Hyacinth knows," he said, that whatever makes her happy must please her friends." Lady Windermere nodded her head. Really, the man was becoming quite pre- sentable it was a courteous speech, as charmingly uttered as could be, and she mentally decided to invite him to the dinner party in honour of the engagement, from which she had before been as determined to exclude him nay, she even wondered in a exclude him nay, she even wondered in a burst of philanthrophy, whether she had not some poor niece or cousin, well-born and impecunious, whose hand she might bestow upon him, and she turned away quite happy in the thought that at all events the man had no longer any excuse for nourishing any presumptuous hopes with regard to Hya- dath. To the girl the day dragged on with a hideous weariness, and it was with a sense of inexpressible relief that she heard the sum- mons given for departure, and ran to the cloak-room for her wrsp. Coming down, she found Taunton waiting at the bottom of the stairs to escort her tc the carriage that was to take them round tc the station, and she started back with some surprise. You she cried. He smiled bitterly. Yes there's been a muddle somehow, and Marcus has gone on ahead. Oh, Hya- cinth, how could you Something in his words brought back tc her the moment, only an hour ago, when she had lain on his heart, and in his tone there was still the restrained passion she had felt in his kisses. I couldn't help it, Jack," she said, and her white lips quivered. I really couldn't. I can't explain it to you know, but I v.-ish- I wish I could see you somehow just to have a talk." Better not," replied Taunton. What is there to be said ? Then suddenly he changed his mind. Yes, I will see you, for there is something I, too, must say. Look here, how can I manage it ? Quinten will be with you all day long, I suppose. Curse him Hush hiish she said. I know how to do it. You know my cousin, Marcia Kenvon. She's an awful dear, and she— she—well, she knows how I've liked you. She will understand that I want to have one more talk. Come there to lunch on Wed- nesday, and she will let us be alone. Don't refuse, Jack; I don't ,tant you to think kvorse of me than I can help." It isn't a question of thinking badly of you," he said. Dear little girl, I couldn't J :lo that; but you've almost broken my heart." He turned suddenly away, and Hyacinth realised, With a stab at her heart, that it was Lo hide his feelings, and she had to find her unescorted to the carriage, half-way to which Quinten met her, going with them to the station and seeing them off. It was lucky, indeed, for Hyacinth that the occasion of their departure was so public, that there could be no question of endearments. He shall never, never, never kiss me thought the foolish girl, setting her teeth as she followed her mother into the carriage, canning over in her own mind the arguments she would use and the pleas for delay but Lady Windermere gave her no chance, for affecting a fatigue even greater than she felt, she leaned back in her corner of the carriage, and luckily Hyacinth did not realise that her mother was already framing the sentences in which the announcement of the engage- ment should be sent to the Morning Post." Quinten meanwhile retraced his steps to the house where he was staying, for not even the presence of his beloved would have in- duced this luxurious young man to brave the heat and discomfort of the overcrowded railway carriages. He was staying at a house called The Grotto," an ugly, comfortable villa with wide stretches of shade and lawn, and huge shady trees. It was a party where each one went his own way, composed mostly of wives without their husbands, and husbands also visiting en garcon. Quinten found the place deserted, for most of the party had gone out motoring after the races. He went up to his room, changed into flannels, and coming downstairs threw him- self into a long chair on the lawn, with a cigarette and a paper. It was the most delicious hour of the after- noon, and when the butler, with a thought- fulness for which Ouinten inwardly blessed him, had brought out the tea and whiskeys and sodas and placed them at his elbow, he had nothing left to wish for. The distant sound of a mowing machne. came to him as he closed his eyes, and enjoyed the subtle delicious wafts of scent brought to him by the tiny wandering breezes as they passed over the flower beds' Sorry to disturb your well-earned repose," said a voice at his elbow, but I'm not sorry to catch you alone." Opening his eyes with disgust at the inter- ruption, he saw Taunton standing between him and the sun. He could not see the expression on the latter's face, for the shadow lay across it, but he noticed that he looked nc if bo linri rnmo to stav. for he too, was in flannels, and was smoking. Taunton drew up a chair and sat down. I had quite an adventure this afternoon, he began. Perhaps it would interest you to hear it." I'm sure it wouldn't," answered Quinten, lazily. Adventures always remind me of boys' books, long yarns about the North Pole, written by people who've never been outside their own backyard. This had nothing to do with the North Pole," said Taunton,- I can tell you it was more like the Equator out there in that blazing heat, yet it was rather a sad story. Oh, my dear chap, how awfully boring," said Quinten, yawning. It was an appeal from some clergyman for boots for the village children, or happy evenings for broken-down bookies, I suppose." It was neither one noi the other, jsaid Taunton, slowly.. i. -) The continual trifling of this wretched young hound began to irritate him. It was a young woman," he went on, who came down here to meet some black- eu-ivd uhom she had been fool enough to marrv but who apparently regarded the whole affair very lightly, for he'd dropped her liL, a hot potato." Not a bad judge either," said Quinten. I bet lots of mar tied men would be glad to 'do the same if they had the chance." She came down here to follow him," said Taunton, because she heard that this scoundrel was making up to a Society girl, and was going to marry her. This, of course, she couldn't stand, so she wrote to him, and he didn't answer the letter. Finally she traccd him here, and at last she met him, when he told her that he had never married her lc^-llv at alL iua),iiz. the announcement as eoCHy as il it were not' a matter of life and death to her. After he left her she fainted, and I helped her and the friend who was looking after her." Don Quixote laughed Quinten, hand- ing him a cigarette, but he had turned a little paler and his mirth was forced. Don Juan," replied Taunton, looking at him steadily. Your name is obvious," said Quinten, but why mine ? He spoke airily, but his hand trembed as he lit a match. Can't you guess? asked Taunton. The face at which he was looking crimsoned suddenly. You've something up your sleeve," said Ouinten. You had better tell me what it is." It's just this," was the cool reply. I have seen the girl, Honour Read, to whom you are either married, or whom you have betrayed by a trap, which is nothing more or less than the height of infamy. She has told me her story, and now I think, under the circumstances, you had better tell me yours." Quinten threw away his cigarette. He sat up and looked his interlocutor straight in the face with that hard bland look which was his characteristic expression. May one inquire what business it is of yours ? he asked. If you ask that question," answered Taunton, the calmness of his manner broken up by a rising gust of anger, you must be even a greater fool than I could imagine but, no, j-ou are not a fool. You know well enough why I'm asking you this, and you can hardly suppose that I'm going to allow this miserable farce of your engagement to Hyacinth to go on." He spoke with a rising tide of fury which almost choked him, but he was met with an airy laugh. My dear fellow, you have no locus standi in the matter at all," observed Quinten, lightly and I take leave to prophesy that you never will have. I'm no more married to Honour Read than you are, and whether I duped her or not is no earthly concern of yours." For a moment Taunton felt nonplussed. The sans froid of the man before him was so idmirable, and "his scoffing words seemea almost to reduce the tragedy to an ordinary sordid intrigue. It was only the memory of :he dark pitiful eyes of the girl he had seen Dff by the train not half an hour ago, which sept before his inner consciousness the. fact 'hat he was dealing with a rascal. I don't think you'll find it so easy to ;lip out of as you seem to imagine," he said. Well, it's her word against mine," was :he reply. The word of a couple of adven- turesses against a man who, after all, has a :ew pals and a certain amount of reputation." Taunton got up from his chair. Very good," he said. At all events, we jndcrstand each other. Of course the girl's ;tory has got to be proved, as you say, and she'll want money to help her to prove it." Quite so." I Well, that money she shall have," thun- dered Taunton. I'd give her half my iortune, if necessary but it will not be necessary, for I cannot think so badly of Lady Windermere as to imagine that when [ go to her with this story she will allow her laughter even to be so much as in the same room with you." Then you intend to go to her ? enquired Quinten with white lips. The two men were at grips now mentally, and Ouinten, lightly as he carried it off, felt i that the affair might well ruin him but according to his code, it was no time to shew the white feather. He had risen also, and the two men stood facing each other. Very well, go to her," he said. But I warn you that I shall go first, and I shall appeal to her not to see you." Taunton received this remark with a grim smile, for he knew that in two day's time he would have his promised interview with Hya- cinth, and it would go hard with him if he did not warn her, although his whole soul revolted at the idea of doing so as a matter of fact, there were insuperable obstacles to making this young innocent girl understand the cruel wrong which another woman had suffered at Quinten's hands. There is no more to be said." The words were short and blunt, and he was turning away as he spoke, when Quinten stopped him, for a look of fear had crept into his eyes. Too late he recollected that the money promised had not yet been given to him. I suppose you won't go back on your word about the money you promised me- the loan of five hundred pounds ? His words were met with a short burst of sarcastic laughter the only reply Taunton deigned to make, as he walked away across the lengthening shadows, and passed the drowsy-looking shuttered windows of the villa on his way back to the hotel. Quinten sank back into the chair with a groan of despair at his own idiocy. Why had he been such an unutterable fool as to kill the goose with the golden eggs, and to quarrel finally with the man who held the purst strings ? It was inconceivable. How easily he might have taken another line, u4 have made ap a story with a touch of pathos in it No one knew better than he did the heart ol gold that lay at the bottom of Jack Taun- ton's rough manner. Anyhow he could have pleaded his own cause, and have represented himself as suffering an agony of remorse Now here he was face to face with the probability of being exposed to the Winder- meres, and of losing the girl who had touched his wandering fancy worse still, there would be endless expenses connected with his engagement, even if Taunton didn't suc- ceed in breaking it off, and then there. would be the ghastly question of the settlements. I must wait and see what the fellow's game is," he reflected, and then I must gc up and see old Vannister. Perhaps if he knows I am going to make a decent marriage he may fork out an adequate allowance. Anyhow, it's my last chance." *«v

CHAPTER IV. To Jack Taunton's intense disappointment, there was no sign of the Windermere party at Ascot on the Friday following the Cup Day Vainly lie had searched the Enclosure witfc his eyes for the sweet girlish figure which he did not deny to himself meant the whole his eyes for the sweet girlish figure which he did not deny to himself meant the whole world to him. In tact, his love was growing with such leaps and bounds that he was literally absorbed in the thought of her. Surely no man, he said to himself, coulc have such refined torture as his to endure in the thought that Quinten, who had alsc left Ascot-Quinten, that unutterable cad. with his delightful charming manners, and his insinuating address—was with her in the proud position of an accepted lover. Jle tried to console himself by remembering the timid words of affection she had breathed out to him, but it was no use. Girls had said as much and more before, and they had married the suitors selected for them by their fathers and mothers and he, man oi the world as he was in the widest and best sense of the word, was able to read the character of his little lady love with a fatal accuracy. Whether she would ever become the stuff of which heroines are made he did not know, but he saw that at present hei character was all in embryo. It was a sweet medley of the indefinite promises of spring- time in fact, he was in love with a child. During the long hot hours of that Friday he laid his plans, and consoled himself with the thought of those bygone kisses which were all | he had to buoy himself up with they at | least had been real whatever happened nothing could take them away from him j their memory. But he was thankful when the dreary farce of pleasure-making was at an I end, and as the train bore him Londonwards, his spirits rose insensibly. At his rooms he found a letter from Marcia Kenvon, a bright friendly little note in the large scrawling hand affected by the smart woman of the day, asking him to lunch on 'he Wednesday following. So Hyacinth had aot forcotteji; she had been as cocd cs her worn, and In a moment the whole world- began to look brighter. He lunched at his club, and then, with a beating heart he took his way to the solemn town house of the Windermeres in Grosvenor Square. As he walked along an absurd couplet he had once heard jingled in his mind Oh, how delightful to breathe the air That is breathed by the persons in Gros- venor Square. He smiled to himself at the foolish little rhyme that expressed his feelings so correctly, for this dingy edifice of brick and stone which sheltered her had suddenly become to him the most interesting place in the whole world. Yet it was a deucedly unpleasant errand cn which he had come, and one which he did' not deny to himself bore on the face of it an odious aspect. It was something of a fool's errand too, for he had not even waited to be certain of his facts before launching his accusation but he could not wait, some- thing seemed to urge him on-some hidden demon of unrest tortured him until he could part those two finally. He rang the bell with an unsteady hand, and it seemed ages before it was answered, although in reality the folding doors were opened almost instantly, and he found him- self confronted with a pompous-looking butler. "Is Lady Windermere at home ? The man hesitated, looking at him unccr- tainly, and Taunton filled up the pause by naming himself. Instantly a look of comprehension came over the servant's face. He had evidently received his orders. Not at home, sir." Taunton stood still flabbergasted with a '1111 realisation of the sentence lie had so jften heard, that an Englishman's house is lis castle. Then he turned away to wait till kYednesday. (To be Continued).

CHARACTERISTIC CARLYLE JOKE. The "Recollections" of Mr. David Christie Murray (John Long), contains the following good story of Carlyle When Emerson was in England, Carlyle and Dawson were his companions on his visit t<. Salisbury Plain. They went to Stonehenge to- gether, and on that day Carlyle was in one of li-s- saddest and most pessimistic moods. Life was not worth living—the whole world was rotten and wrong—and he wondered, like the old monk in Longfellow''s Golden Legend," -why God didn't lose His patience with it wholly and shatter it liko glass. Men wore fools and liars, and ircpostors, and quackery reigned supreme. And in a world like this, George." he was con- eluding with a tragic emphasis, I see nothing for it. for two honest men like you and me, but just to sit down on yon heap of road metal and havo a quiet smoka together." -=-