Show BANNER SERIAL FICTION she sl he painted aisted her face N A elaf IT faz W d wu ift DORNFORD YATES 0 bomford yaw sudee CHAPTER R yin vill continued continue d i H who was george eliot asked awas th the d duchess ess ahi ahls 1 l pel pei spaniel your grace replied bertram so he was wai mouthed mouth edthe the count to think id forgotten 11 so what was said laid the duchess her victim clawed at the cloth the dog madam the george eliot was a female said salil the duchess duches s and then what hat became of her brief what beca became me of rudolfs pet spaniel that never never would let her master masti out ui of her sight V I 1 shall always remember that moment that t held so much and shall always see the three faces of those concerned old il Harrys larrys keen and relentless seemed cut butof out of paint ed stone the counts was a mask of wet gray with lines that ga gave yo the impression of having been drawn with blue and bertrams was tense and bloodless the face ol of a min man who Is waiting to hear some monstrous ious suspicion smothered at birth twice the count tried to answer and twice he failed at thel the third ittem attempt pt M madam adam ahe heiro croaked aked 1 I have 0 told o id you that my memory what became of george eliot steward his lordship shot her ber your grace because she was going blind himself his favorite dog he would let noone no one else do it your grace and no one except his lordship knows where she lies the duchess returned to the count pyou remember it now somehow the man madeen made answer 1 I remember that I 1 shot her myself old harry lunged in that tha Ccase se you can tell me her color I 1 This the i silence nince which succeed succeeded d ed this challenge dragged at the nerves and I 1 was really quite thankful when virgil in desperation put in his oar madam you are dealing with matters which mv uncle has to forget old harry rais edher eyebrows that explanation Is one which I 1 1 am not prepared pie pared to accept ill tell you ou why its too easy theres something iery very wrong here and im very glad that I 1 came she turned to survey the oarsman why are you here madam said virgil this was my fathers home ihnow 1 I know that better than you I 1 ask you why you were here 1 I have no no other cither home madam indeed said old harry where Is your father now M my fa father cailler iller said virgil Is dead when did he die at least ten bears years ago madam in that case hes been resurrected 4 before this time I 1 must get into ia 4 uch ackwith with him I 1 know he was living egin eg in london a year ago the count of brief leaned forward madam he fie gasped this Is very painful to me ine thew then it be said old harry harri mistakes have been made before now and im not at all certain I 1 your your br brother ather an innocent man virgil w whipped h dipped into the breach before the count could reply in that c case ae madam madam theres there only one thing to be done may I 1 have my fathers address im afraid sald said old harry your your filial affection must wait ill deil deal with this matter myself and when 1 I have your lather father ill let you know I 1 expect he too tins has fought to forget the thi past but he may have beebi be enless less successful Howe however verwell well very soon know ill write to my agent tonight she returned to the count whose head bead was shaking a little as a 4 very ri ry old man cewill he will ask your 6 b brother oter tva two questions and send his answers to tome me the first wubbe will be this cwi what was george el lots jors color 1 the count halt rose from his bis chair madam madain J I 1 PT protest 0 tesa protest au you like said old harry harri whelp Is not whelp for or nothing and I 1 was wis a friend ot of your fathers before you were lo 10 born om but what can ban that prove cried the count if tie lie tells you george El allots lots color what can that prove his voice roa rose into a scream and hi he imil smacked aked the cloth that can prove I 1 nothing madam nothing at all except that hi he cah can remember whit what I 1 have contrived to forget and with that he sank back breathing hard with the air of a man who knows babes be has made a mistake 1 and yet must needs go on because he cannot re retire tire quite so go said the duchess qui quite teso so but the second question 0 n will be much harder than that aba t where Is george ellot burled buried she et her arm on thi the table and dropped hit her chin to hir her palm it if f he answers that I 1 L think that that will prove something and prove it up to the hilt I 1 glanced atthe count the man was wa s sitting up straight stra lihi and wis was staring directly before him but not at me it was plain that his eyes saw nothing that eyes can see that apprehension possessed him body and soul and this I 1 think was natural for the duchess had hit bit very hard she had publicly forced the cupboard in which his skeleton stood and had hung the sword of vengeance over his head bead and this after 22 years year the count see seemed e to take hold of himself a shiver ran through his limbs and a hand went out to his winf wine a and n d then he was glancing about him as though to take hii up his place but the look on his face was haunted and he might have been 20 years older than when he sat down in a silence which nobody cared IV W ap what was george allots color to break some dessert was served then old harry spoke in german gohd herrick Herr lck relieve the tension you know how to tell a good tale madam said herrick Herr lck command me he put a hand to his i head A few minutes ago the conversation turned upon remembrance a precious faculty by that my story shall hang here I 1 should say that herricks story was heard beard by every soul in that room for the duchess had taken her spoon yet did not begin to eat and while we at table sat waiting for her to begin the servants had nothing to do because the course had been served there was once an english vicar a r a very forgetful man now all of us sometimes forget I 1 forgot my pistol on friday afternoon but he was much worse than that he would set forth to keep an engagement arid and while he be was on his way forget why he had gone out he would frequently enter a shop and ere e re he was was served forget what he came in to buy and sometimes sometime s in winter when the heaven was i dark and he wis was rising early as parsons do he forgot he was getting up but supposed he was going to bed took off the clothes which he had bad that moment put on and then retired as though it were night and not day but with it an all he was so gentle and charming and had a nature n so sweet that his flock forgave his falling failing with ready hearts smiled at his errors and said it was parsons wa way well one beautiful summer morning he could not resist the can call bathe of the countryside and after his early breakfast he set out afoot to prove the lively beauty behaved behoved so welland draw from it a sermon such as no books could give for the following day was rai S sunday inday i As though upon sir air he bi roamed for mile upon mili mile of course he forgot an all else andi and of such was his communion that he forgot all time in tact fact it was past two and he had bad covered the best part of 15 miles when he be climbed a stile in a hedgerow to find a man in the road with a watch in his hand and theman the man was watching a chauffeur changing chan ginga a tire or rather trying to change it it for the car had detachable ta rims and because of the beat of the day the metal had expanded and the rim had seized on to the wheel at once the vicar perceived the state of the case cas e the man who wak was wearing full dress was clearly due at some function for which he feared to be late the chauffeur was needing assistance to pull oft off thi the rim but the other dared not givert gi give veit it because of his clothes without so much as a word the vicar w went ent down on his knees in the dusty road bot not to pray but to add his strength to that of a i fellow man and after a moment ar or two before their united endeavors the rim gave way i the rest ot of course was easy but the vicar continued to help till the work vork was done then at last he straightened his back to find the other beside him silk hat bat in hand ikirt sir said the man 1 I never can thank you enough j and since you have hake donece done me a service which I 1 can never repay I 1 beg you will do me me the honor to be my guest I 1 am to be married this da day at half past two and I 1 should not now be happy if you were not there my very good friend said the vicar inspecting his hii state you know very well that I 1 am not fit to appear that was druehe true tru ehe he was not even wearing clerical dress whose fault Is thata that said the other and ushered hird him into his car now though for the moment he did not know where he was so soon as they moved the vicar got his bearings only to find that they were approaching the village of which he wa was priest spriest at the sight of the distant spire his bis memory suddenly stirred dear dear he be cried id forgotten I 1 shant be able to come you must set me down at that village ive got a wedding myself at that village cried the other but that Is where im to be married in ten minutes time the vicar smiled his rare smile 11 make it twenty my friend he said gently you must give me time to change so they brought one another to c hurch church the priest and the groom for had bad they not met as they did neither the one nor the other could have a arrived there was a moments silence then the duchess of whelp shook her er head too good to be true she said as IT ill lay the count will agree madam sold said the count 1 I am w with ith you and who ever heard beard of a god in he heavenly heave averil nl cried herrick and started up to his bis feet his eyes weri were upon the count and the count was staring back with the eyes of a beast at bay so for a long moment what then said old harry sharply herrick put a hand to Ms his head but hes denied it he cried and looked dazedly round and I 1 easther waS ther e at athe the wedding I 1 saw law them arrive what of that said affie the duchess He his eyes again fast on the count by heaven said herrick Herr lck 1 I dont believe that he was and yet the bridegrooms bride grooms nam ewas rudolf of brief two hours had gone by and winter wa tellin ghis tale this in herrick s room the middle room ol of the tower this had not been a bedroom the week before but now etwas changed the first thing I 1 knew sir a servant come running in to say his lordship had i tainted fainted anahis and his valet was wanted at once well that told me you were off and very soon after bertram the steward comes in as white as a sheet he asks the he older ier servants to come to his room an when he was gone a fo footman t begins begin sto to talk I 1 ge get t all hi he said but I 1 madi made out her graczian grace Grac eian i an mr 11 herrick errick ad put it across the count theres a chauffeur there speaks some english and io so I 1 agoton goton the trouble I 1 says wha Vs anyone done AW anthen then he be starts off got this much clear sir air that there wai was another brother an he wasn was gasn a twin that engrace er grace and mr herrick keeps on referring to him thit that his loid lordship ship keeps getting caught out because he dont seem to see thit that mixing him up with his bro brother brotheren therIn in an all they say but they cant understand why his lordship Is so BO much upset why cant he see they keep asking why dont he tell them mix in him up with his twin of course the stewards got it you ought to have seen his face an mr parish has rammed a point ortho home but they all know theres something wrong an they all think her grace has come here to put it right it seems she said something like that and got mr herricks story about the forgetful priest but they think that when he said rudolf he must have meant ferdinand oh give me strength said herrick rial and threw up his hands bands if I 1 may say so sir you lavent avent no can call to the truth in their hands bands but except for or the steward holding it upside down and what will happen said herrick Herr if 11 over ever they burn turn it round shocked to death sir said winter it if you ask me I 1 j think walk out on hirn him sir from bottom hotop to top a very ouse proud lot an another thing in their eyes her grace cant do no wrong there was a little silence it was deal cleat that we had bad won the first round ind and won it well it was also clear that old harry was going tor for a knockout because the pace she had bad set could not possibly last tor for one thing only her threat to produce poor gering gerdag was one which she could not fulfill and again it was clear that old harrys judgment was good because a win on points would be useless to us the count ot of brief had to be flo oredor be made to throw in the towel if he contrived to stand staid up for the first few rounds the man was safe I 1 could not lose sight of one thing and that was that be had a second who knew no law indeed this was how 1 I saw it that the duchess of whelp was fighting the count of brief because the tall fail of the count would set elizabeth up but virgil was fighting his co cousin US because if he brought her down the fall fail of the count would not matter because he percy virgil would then be bound to succeed TO BE CONTINUED |