Show 1 e CHAPTER VI it continued 26 1 1 I wrote down tile address and here bere it 1 Is a 11 christopher said handing a card if I 1 can an tie be of any use you dear annl annn she exclaimed we runs must t leave it to gerald I 1 hope that he will let me go with him I 1 think he ought to find out just where he be stands at once III 1 I am not going back to the house christopher remarked could we hare one onename game of billiards III 1 I should love it SI she ie answered gerald will come and look for us as soon as lie he ling has finished with the doctor you used to give me fifteen it gerald came in presently mary seated herself by tier her brothers side gerald she said christopher lias has discovered Pault paulines nes address it Is quite close by here you must go and see her tomorrow would you like either ot of us to come with you gerald began to tremble IS she Is here in london all right he demanded absolutely christopher declared she was loot looking in quite well her brother was with her hen 1 I will go alone a one gerald decided 1 I will go tomorrow toni orrow now aou ou have told me something worth hearing perhaps tonight I 1 shot steep sleep gerald after all derived small satisfaction from his visit on the following day he found ills his destination easily a small detached house in a retired hack back street with a bell at the front gate bate and spiked railings failings rai lings ile he was admitted without undue delay by fin an or binary looking parlor mald maid and conducted into a small sitting roem after waiting a minute or two the door was opened and madame de po alere entered you have conie come to see my niece lord dombey she inquired after a word sord of conventional greeting Is it very surprising that I 1 should come gerald rejoined a little bitterly perhaps not from your point of view was tile the equable reply my all niece has in fact been anticipating bour visit it would have been kinder of tier her gerald ventured if she had let me know her whereabouts I 1 have been lo in the hospital and afterward in a nursing bursing home for some time my niece had other matters to consider madame de declared dryly she Is living in the utmost retirement ti through force of circumstances Et ances can I 1 see her now gerald asked bluntly she will grant you an audience madame de replied 1 I have bare her permission to disclose her whereabouts to you only enjoining secrecy where Is she gerald ask asked ed my niece Is to be found at duvenny castle in scotland madame de ioie iloie mere announced Is 18 a somewhat Nhat inaccessible place particulars of low how to reach it are here slie she handed him a slip of paper in scotland gerald repeated a little mear wearily fly but she was here yesterday she left at night madame de ro po reminded him gerald folded the slip of paper and put it in his big pocket very bell ell he said 1 I will go to scotland madame de looked at lim through her lor lorgnettes bettes for a moment thou thoughtfully you have been III she remarked 1 I bare bera been ill III he be assented madame de lowered her lorgnettes arid and closed them with sith a little snap it if I 1 thought that you would accept it she said 1 I 1 would I give you a word nord of advice aan ce 1 I can at least hear it he suggested go back to the manner of life you were living before you met pauline and forget her your visit to scotland will be of no service to you it will mill only end lu in gerald shook ills his head that lie he said obstinately 11 1 I must discover dl cover for myself gerald following in tile the main the directions on in the still slip of paper glien ghen lim liim by madame de Pon lere reached lis his destination on the afternoon of the third day he was in tile the car which lie he had hired at the lust town ton on tile the railway route a town iowa which seemed to him unacquainted ili this corner oi of scotland almost an of tion after miles allea of moorland moor laud unbroken except tor for huge boulders the llie nay ay had led u round around a range of smaller mountains until he had bad suddenly en ell countered when mien he had bad born been least expecting it the tang of the sea many hundreds of teet feet below he be saw at last his bis destination a dwelling of stone as ancient and rudely fashioned it seemed as the massed up boulders boul deis on aery e cry side aide the road by which it was approached was precipitous in places almost I the last quarter of a talle mile was along a narrow batik bank unprotected oe on either hide bide with tile spray flow the waves leaping up into his is face the road ended it in a circular sweep surrounded by a high wall in front of him was wag a massive gate gale closed and barred the alie porter who ho appeared in answer to the bell kept him waiting while he with the house bouse finally the gates were nere open and the car al allied allowed loed to proceed up a steep stone paved ascent to a courtyard also nagged flogged with stones and also surrounded by a high wall in front was wa another massive door ucb however already stood open by E EP phillips hillips oppenheim copyright by little brown A co two men both foreigners awaited ills arrival one attended to the closing of the door and reni remained allied with tile the chauffeur chaulle ur the other silently beckoned gerald to follow him across the stone si one floor of the lie bare circular hall into a room at the further end he stood aside to let gerald precede him the gentleman will nill please be seated lie he said gerald found himself alone in an apartment riot not unduly large but exceedingly cee lofty lo 10 aty it was simply out but magnificently furnished but only a single rug lay upon the floor the windows clois looked sheer over the sea and the thunder of the thel waves against the jagged rocks seemed almost at his feet the windows thein themselves selves were ere the windows of a fortress and the depth of the window seat showed the thick thickness of the walls gerald had little time to take note of these things however within a moment or two ot of his being left alone the door opened and pauline entered speech of any sort it seemed to gerald must be pitifully inadequate lie ile stood looking at her wondering it ana nn thing in her expression would give ire him the clue to her mysterious be hallor hi vior site she came toward him however its is composed and unresponsive as ever there was nothing whatever in her manner to Ini indicate licate the tact fact that she was greeting the man luan who had risked ills his life in ID a mad enterprise for her sake you have had a long journey lord dombey slie she said lie ile bowed oner oe the hand which she had extended to him A long journey indeed he assented A journey down into h 1 I and back sit down site she invited and I 1 will give you the explanation I 1 owe you thank you lie he answered 1 I do not feel at home la in this house let me remain standing until after you on have told me file what it all means I 1 have done your bidding I 1 have come to beg for my reward her eyes looked at him coldly 1 I promised no reward slie she reminded him not in words he admitted yet you know what I 1 desire what you desire Is absurd she declared that Is what I 1 N wish ish to ex DID Z N you have had a long journey lord dombey she said plain you lille hue discovered perhaps who iio I 1 bill am 1 I learned nho your brother was my bro brother dierl 1 slie she smiled well she went nent on listen I 1 am the grand duchess pauline of russia Kus sla princess and lo hereditary ruler of the caspian provinces and nearest in kin kill wiling living women nomen to nicholas elio was murdered by the people the man whom hoin aou ou rescued is paul grand duke of kolostok Volo stok hereditary ruler of seventeen provinces arid and nearest in ili I 1 lie file male line to tile the crown of russia LIL lie Is my couble your cou cousin ln gerald exclaimed and my husband she answered calmly gerald was extraordinarily cool the situation began slowly to itself in ills mind it has been the province of ro roi alty ally pauline Ii uline continued to inake use lse of their courtiers without explanation lu in whatever way may seem good to them I 1 have made use of you I 1 lid ild not seek bour our acquaintance or your I 1 have made you no promises I 1 have kept hept you much farther farl lier a aay ay even from hope than would many of my illustrious ancestress ance stresses es yet in these days you on hlll III probably limuli that you have been ill treated I 1 cati not help it t I 1 and others of my nice have been III and mercilessly treated treat ert yours lias has been a small wrong wrone I 1 wade made you and your devotion to free my cousin to whom I 1 was affianced r fian flun ced so far ES as my thanks C can an sut iffy nou ou I 1 tender them you are very gracious gerald ile ic know kno lodged forgetting all his weariness ant and holding himself like a n man may I 1 ask aek wele you married to lo the hie grand duke when I 1 fetched him film from ills prison T 1 I was not pauline assured bilm 1 I was married a month after ills re turn to englund nd with the consent and an the approbation of my iny reli relatives stives h re paul andi and 1 I have but one I 1 hope ope ind and one destri to ilse until the ti time line when when the people of 0 hussla return to 7 their allegiance anil and to ro re M the ii io kianoff dynasty in russia either through ou ourselves reMs or our children for that reason we are living here with an unseen guard provided ded by the english when you on first met us u we dined in seclusion because already four times my life had been there are still men pledged to destroy us root and branch here they will not succeed we are surrounded by faithful guards and our lives ilves are consecrate not until the children live five and flourish who shall carry on our name dame will I 1 or my husband take the slightest risk tile the world may see something of us later for the lie present we have only one thought gerald stood among the wreck of ills dreams ile he seemed to be listening to tile the thunder of the sea to be watch ing the queer shaped shaft or of sunlight which stretched across the floor he found speech almost impossible the silence lasted so long however that he was compelled to break it your highness explanation Is complete lie asked it is complete site she replied yon will understand that your shall I 1 call it adint admiration ration was in a sense fin an offense to me in monte alonte carlo I 1 hlll N III admit that through sheer I 1 was perhaps a little indiscreet the situation then seemed hopeless 1 I understand gerald murmured the grand duke my husband enill a ill wish to offer you some hospitality she sat said touching a bell ce be so good as to await ills his coming paul entered the room a m moment or two tiso later a touch of sunburn on his cheeks erect and handsome a very different person from the broken prisoner of a few months ago ile he advanced toward gerald with outstretched liand hand jt it gives me file great pleasure lie he said to Ni welcome elcome you in my very verb bad english to our horne home you see I 1 reached england safely perhaps you will give us the pleasure of your company to dinner tonight i gerald shook liis ills head 1 I have promised tile the owner of tho car which I 1 hired lie he said to return it to him tonight I 1 must in fact be leaving at once A servant entered with a tray abcar log ing wine and whisky paul served ills hla guest himself they tell tile me that this Is the most hospitable country of the world lie he observed even in russia we should not let you depart without a toast you will wish visit us those things for which her highness and I 1 live gerald bowed boned and raised his gindi to 10 lila ills lips 1 I shall dball drink to you and to your country lie he said and to the good of both lie set down ills his glass empty pan line smiled her ber goodby but b t it ey handed him over to the care lof of se servants rv with the nil of royalty gerald drove through tile opened gates heard the bars grind bt hind him find and looking around for a last view was ducly conscious of men n ho watched years afterward tills this fisit ls it with all its trilling events its proper proportions in ills his mind igind that night however lie he drove oer lue moors und and around the mountains absolutely mill out any ally direct emotions it was impossible to believe that ills his visit had bad not been lie he phun tasy of an after loons slumber chapter IX after afler aliey ley had left toulon tile the two men iden hemmed almost to change places gerald who ho for the litt last four days had bad been in touch much tile mentally comatose state as lie had been since his return from scotland sat up and tor for the first time began to look about liim hill fill Int interest elest christopher on the other either liand land alio iio during the whole of their had been continually endeavoring deavo ring to amuse and entertain hlf companion gradually relapsed into a rare lit fit ot of thoughtfulness they had passed through II Neres however and were ere winding their way wity around tile furet in du dow dom before auy any direct billu slon sion was nas made to the subject which in Nal dalilig Ilig degrees was loie most in the minds of both of them about nil an hour and a halt beyond tills this it geould a asked Chilt chistopher opher nodded it was cant unit that lie made no nil comment iani aan the file fact that filar gerald bad caught up with ills own onn train of thought just about tills this time of the lie year too gerald vant alt on 0 fly 1 I these thebe orchards were ere lust just sh otting a little plot plok and you suy say sites ilias back again there chris I 1 nou der there abut any tit at home MIS there not the lie christopher us aured him in fact all the time lime you were in ili russia bour our father seemed to rely upon tier lier absolutely it wim walt a great blow to mill when she made up tier her mind it to go back TO BE CONTINUED |