Show l la 1 BEATRIO E 1 1 1 i I It New and Fascinating Story t l JrBYJfL tI1DEt T4AGG111D > r CHAPTER XXXt I THE DUCHESS BALL ii 1 t I L f If 9 j 1 tll I l llfif 1ft 111 h lJlJ l l 111111 11 r 1 I l JIflfYJ1I13JiJpf r jj r CC 3 = 1J z i = And now woman go Leave this lwu eat e-at once Geoffrey reached town a little before 11 clock that night a haunted roan haunted for life by a vision of that face still lovely in death floating alone upon the deep and companioned com-panioned only by the screaming mews or perchance now sinking or sunk to an unfathomable unfath-omable grave Well might such a vision haunt a man the man whom alone of all men those cold lips had kissed and for whoso dear sake this dreadful thing was done He took a cab directing the driver to go to Bolton street and to stop at his club as he passed There might be letters for him there he thoughtsomething which would distract 5 bis mind a little As it chanced there was a letter marked private and a telegram both had been delivered that evening the porter said the former about an hour ago by hand Idly ho opened tho telesr < 1 > It was from his lawyers Your cousin the child George Bingham is as we have just heard dead Please call on us early tomorrow morning Ho started a little for this meant a good deal to Geoffrey It meant a baronetcy and eight thousand a year more or less How delighted de-lighted Honoria would be he thought with 11 sad smile the loss of that large income had always been a bitter pill to her and one which she had made Mm swallow again and again Well there it was Poor boy I he had always been ailingan old mans child He put the telegram in his pocket and got Into the hansom again Thero was lamp in it and by its light he read the letter It was from the prime minister and ran thus Air DEAR BIKGHAM have not seen you since Monday to thank you for the magnificent magnifi-cent speech you made on that night Allow me to add my congratulations to those oft of-t everybody else As you know the under sec retaryship of the hone office is vacant On behalf of my colleagues and myself I write to ask if you will consent to fill it for a time I say for a time for we do not in any way consider con-sider that the post is one commensurate with i your abilities It will however serve to give > you practical experience of administration and us the ad vantage of your great talents to i an even larger extent than we now enjoy For the future it must of course take care of itself but as you know Sir s health i is not all that could be desired and the other day he told me that it was doubtful if he would be able to carry on the duties of the attorney generalship for very much longer In view of this contingency I venture to suggest sug-gest that you would do well to apply for silk as soon as possible I have spoken to the lord chancellor about it and he says that there I I will be no difficulty as although you have I only been in active practice for so short a I time you have a good many year standing as a barrister Or if i this prospect o not please doubtless some other opening to the cabinet can bo found in time The fact is I I that jwo cannot in our own interest overlook you for long Geoffrey smiled again a ho finished this letter Who could havebelioved a year ago that he would havo ben today in a position t receive such an epitle from the primemin I ister of England Ah here wa the luck of = the drowned ones shoe with a vengeance And what was it all worth t him now He put tho letter in his pocket with the telegram and looked out They were turning turn-ing into Bolton street How was Ifcttle EfGe wondered The child seemed all that b womlle chid smed al was left him to care for I anything happened t her Uah ho would not think of it He was thero now How is Miss EffieP bo asked of the servant who opened the door r At that moment his attention was attracted by the dim forms of two people a man and a i woman who were standing notfar from the area gate the man with his arm round the womans wait Suddenly the woman ap peared to catch sight of tho cab and retired swiftly down the area It crossed hL mind that her figure was very like that of Anne the French nurse Miss EQie is doing nicely sir I am told1 answered the man Geoffrey breathed more freely Where is t her ladyship ho asked in Hiss Effios room Xo sir answered the man ker ladyship bas gone to a balL She left this note for you i case you should come in U Ho took the note from the hall table and it opened DEAK GEOFTKETV it ran Eilie i s p much better that I have mado up my mind I t g to the duchess bal after all She 1 would be so disappointed if I did not come andy and-y dress i quite lovely Had your mysterious mysteri-ous business anything to do with Bryngelly Yours HONOUIA She would go Of to a ball from her mothers mo-thers funeral > aid Geoffrey to himself as be walked up t ElHeb rom Well it is her nature and theres end of ler nate ad rs an it Ho knocked at ilie door of Effies room There was no answer so he walked in TIm a room was lighted but empty no not quite On the floor clothed in her white for only whit nightshirt night-shirt lay his little daughter to all appearance appear-ance dead I With something like an oath ho sprang to her and lifted her The face was pale and I the small hands ere cold but the bret was I still hot and fevered and t heart beat A t glance showed him what had happened The child being left alone and feeling thirsty bad got cut of bed and gone t the water bottle bot-tle there was tumblercn the floor Then weakness had ovecme and she had faintc i fniuted upon the cold floor with the inflammation inflam-mation still on herAt her-At that moment Anne entered the room sweetly murmuring Ca va bien cherie 4 Help mo to put the child into bed said I Geoffrey sternly Now ring the bell ring it again 1 And noW woman gol Leave this house at once this very night Do you hear met f 2 ojdont stop t argue Look herel I I that child dies I will prosecute o for manslaughter > manslaugh-ter ye I saw you in the street and he took A a step toward her Then Anne fle1 and ber face was seen no more in Bolton street or indeed in-deed in this country James sail Geoffrey to the servant send tho coal up here sho is a sensible wo t S caaul and do you take a hansom and drive to a tho doctor and tellhitn t come here ac oura I < a I I I I and if you can cot find him go for another I doctor Then go to the nurses home near St James station and get a trained nurse tel them one must b had Iromsaniew hero I instantly Yes sir And shall I call for her ladyship I at the duchijss sir No he answered frowning heavily don do-n disturb her ladyship Go now I That setdes it1 said Geoffrey as tho man went Whatever happens Honoria and I I must part I have done with her2 He had indeed though not in the way he I meant It would havo been well for Honoria i her husbands contempt had not prevented i him from summoning her from her pleasure The cook came up and between them I brought the child back to life I She opened her eyes and smiled I that you daddy she whispered for do l remsl1 I Yes dear it is I Where has you been daddyto sea Aunt Beatrice I Yes love he said with a gasp t I Oh daddy my head do feel fminy buYl dont mind now you is co eback You wont go away no more will you daddy I 1 I No dear no more 1 l j After that she began to wander a little I and finally dropped into a troubled sleep Within half hour both an bth the doctor and the nurse arrived The former listened tol i Geoffreys taje and examined the child I 1 Sho may pull through it he said she has got a capital constitution but Ill tell I you what it isif she had lain another minute min-ute in that draught thero would have been an end of her You came in tho nick of time And now if I were you I should go t bed You can do no good here and you look dreadfully dread-fully ill yourself But Geoffrey shook his head Ho said ho would go downstairs and smoke a pipe He did not want t go t bed at present he was too tired Meanwhile the ball went on merrily Lady Honoria never enjoyed herself mbro in her le She reveled in the luxurious gayety j around her like a butterfly in the sunshine 1 How good it all wasthe flash of diamonds the odor of costly flowers the homage of well bred men the envy of other women Oh it was a delightful world after allthat is when one did not have to exist in a flat near the Edgeware road But heaven be praised thanks to Geoffreys talhts there was an end of flats and misery After all he was not a bad sort of husbandt though in many ways a perfect mystery to her As for his little weakness for the Welsh girl really provided that there was no scandal she did not care twopence about Yes I am so glad you admire it think it is rather anice dress but then I always say that nobody in London can make a dress like Mme J 11e5 Oh no Geoffrey didnot choose I it he thinks of other things Well Im sure you ought to be proud of him Lady Honoria said the handsome guardsman t whom she was talkingv they say atme5s that ho isone of the cleverest men I in England I only wish I had a fiftieth part of his brains I Oh please do not become clever Lord At i leigh please dontor I shall really give you up Cleverness is all very well but it isnt everything you know Ye I will dance if you like but you must go slowly to be quite honest I am afraid of tearing my lace in this crush Why I declare thero is Garsington my brother you know and she pointed to a small red haired man who was elbowing his way toward them I wonder what he wants It is not at all i his line to come t b ls You know him dont you Heos always racing ing horses like you I But the guardsman had vanished For reasons of his ow he did not wish to meet Garsington Perhaps he too had been a 11 member of a certain club Oh there you are Honoria said her brother 1 I thought I should be sure to find you somewhere in this beastly squash Look here I have something to tell your you-r Good news or bad said Lady Honoris playing with her fan I it is bad keep it for I am enjoying myself very much and I dont want my evening spoiled I Trust you for that Honoria but look here its jolly good about a good as can be I for that prig of a husband of yours What I do you think That but of a boy the son of I I old Sir Robert Bingham and the cook or someone some-one you know is Not deadnot dead said Honoria in 1 deep agitation i Dead a ditch water replied his lordship lord-ship I heard it at tho club There was n lawyer fellow dining with somebody thero I and they got talking about Binghmn when j the lawyer said Oh hes Sir Geoffrey Bing I ham now Old Sir Roberts heir is ded 1 i saw the telegram myself I I Oh this is almost too good tobe true I said Honoria Why it means eighf thou sand a y ear to us I I I told you it was pretty good said her I brother You ought to stand mo a com 1 mission out of the swag At any rate lets 110 j and drink to thejiews Come on its time I for supper and Im awfully done I must screw myself up I Lady Honoria took his arm A they walked down the wide 1 flowerhungstair they met a very great person indeed coining up I All Lady Honoria said the great person per-son I have something to say thai will please you I think and ho benc toward her and I spoke very low then with a little bow passed I What is the old by talking about asked I her brother Why what do you think We aio in J lucks way totight He says that they are offering Geoffrey the under secretaryship of the home office I Hell b 1 bigger prig than ever n vt growled Lord Garsington Yes it i luck j I though let us hope it wont turn i They tat down to supper and Lord Gar siugtou who had already been dining helped himself pretty freely to champagne Before I them was a silver candelabra and on each of the candles was fixed a little painted paper shade One of them got wrong and n footman foot-man tried to reach over Lord Garsingtons head and put it straight t Ill do it he said No no let the man said Lady Honoria Look it is going to catch fire I Nonsense ho answered rising solemnly and reaching his arm toward the snade Ash As-h touched it it caught fire indeed by I touching it he caused it to catcu fro He seized hold of it and made an effort to put it out hut it burned his fingers Curse the thing I hosaidaloud and threw it from him It fell flaming in his sisters dress among the thickest of the filmy iaces they caught and instantly two wreathing snakes of fire hot up her She sprung from her seat and rushed screaming down the room an awful mass of flame j In ten more minutes Ldy Honoria had left this world and nil its pleasures to those who still lived to taste theln I1 I Au hour paS Geoffrey still sat brooding brood-ing heavily over his pipe in thestudy in Bol ton street and waiting for Honoria when a knock came t his door The servants had gone to bed all except the sick nurse lt rose and opened it himself A little red haired faced palo face man staggered in What Garsingtou is it you sWhat do you want at this hour J Screw yourself up Bingham Ive some J t I thing to tell you he answered I a thick voice I voiceWhat = J i What Is itl Another disaster I suppose 1 Il somebody else dead rcr Yesjsoniebodyis Honorias dead Burned to death at the ball I i II Great God Honoria burned t deathii aad better go I advise you not Bingham I wouldnt j go to the hospital if I were you Screw your < Eelf up and if you can give mo something t j I drink Im about done I must screw myself my-self up I And here we may leave this most fortunate I ham and gifted man Farewell to Geoffrey Bing 1ham I I ENVOL Thus then did these human atoms workout work-out their destinijs these little grains of animated ani-mated dust blown hither and thither by n breath 1 which cacio they knew not whence I there be any malicious principle among tho pow rs around us that deigns t find amusement in tho futile vagaries of man well might itlaugh and laugh again at the great results of all this scheming of all these desires loves and hates and if theo be any pitiful principle well might it sigh over the infinite pathos of human helplessness Owen Davies lost in his own passion Geoffrey crowned with prosperity and haunted by undying un-dying sorrow Honoria perishjug wretchedly in her hour of satisfied ambition Elizabeth gaining ner end to lose it in the grave Beatrice Bea-trice sacrificing herself in love and blindness and thereby casting out her joy Oh if site had been content to humbly trust in the Providence above her if sho had but I left that deed tinijarcd for one short week I But Geoffrey still remained and the child after hanging for a while between life and death recovered and was left t comfort him May she survive to be a happy wife and mother living under conditions more favorable fa-vorable to her well being than those which trampled out the life of that mistaken woman wo-man the ill starred great souled Beatrice and broke her fathers heart Say what are we Wo are but arrows j i winged with fears and shot from darkness into darkness we aro blind leader of tho blind ajjnlea beaters of this wintry air lost I travelers by many stony paths ending in one i end Tell us you who havo outworn the common com-mon tragedy and passed the narrow way what lies beyond its gate You are dumb or ws cannot hear you speak > But Beatrice knows today THE mm |