m^
IVlyliady Pride
55 CHARLES GARVICEL
1 & M. OTTENHEIMER, Baltimore, MA
MY LADY PRIDE
CHARLES GARVICE
COPYRIGHT, 1904
I. & M. OTTENHEIMER
321 W- Baltimore Si Baltimore,
MY LADY PRIDE.
CHAPTER I.
A PLEA FOR JUSTICE.
IT was a lovely evening in June, and the clock of Westbury
church struck six as a young giil walked down the High
Street toward the lanes leading to tae open .country ^eyend.
She was tall and slim, as a young girl of nineteen should
be; slim and exceedingly graceful' and the ligiil;,. springy
step spoke of health and strength, as well as youth.
She was beautiful, was this girl, as well as strong and
healthy ; and if I were to go over her good gifts in catalogue
fashion, I should tell of her clear-cut, oval face, of the brown
hair, almost black but for the golden tints reflecting the
evening sun; of the large but expressive mouth; and, lastly,
of the gray eyes that could be so soft or sparkling, demure or
mirthful, just at the will and bidding of their owner.
But such enumerations are not of much use, because, elabo-
rate as they may be, they never succeed in describing such
beauty as Moris Carlisle's.
She had a tennis bat in her hand, and her face was slightly
Pushed, as if she had been playing up to the last moment, as
indeed she had, for when the clock struck six she glanced up
at the church turret and quickened her pace to a run.
Leaving the High Street, she turned to the left, and, push-
ing open a gate, sped up a small garden path and ran into
a pretty cottage, which nestled back from the lane as if it were
trying to hide itself.
I say "ran in," because the door was open, showing a
quaint little hall, with an old oak chest for a table, and an
old oak chair standing beside it. On both the chair and the
c%est were carved a..cqai / ^t-am%--a dove fighting with an
9668O*
10 MY LADY PRIDE.
eagle above an ivy bush. They were the arms of the Carlisle^
and had been borne by one of Florists ancestors as far back as
11 ic Crusades.
SIui threw the bat and her hat on the chest, and smoothing
her hair with that gesture which only a woman can accom-
plish, opened a door on the left and looked in.
It was an extremely pretty and neat dining-room, and tht
cloth was laid for dinner, but Floris, after looking around
and failing to see any one, went into the hall and called, in a
clear, sweet voice:
"Mamma!"
At the same moment a neat and respectful looking little
servant-maid appeared from the kitchen regions, and with a
voice slightly hushed, said:
" Mistress is in the drawing-room, miss with a gentle-
man."
The large gray eyes expressed a faint surprise, as if a vis-
itor were an unusual thing, and she hesitated, with her fingers
upon the. handle of the .drawing-room door. But, as a very
thin voice from within said:
'" Is thai you, Floris ? Come in !" She opened the door and
entered.
Carlisle was seated in a chair beside the fire there
was a fire, though it was June, because Mrs. Carlisle was an
invalid, and never quite warm from January to December
and opposite her sat a thin, middle-aged gentleman, with
gray hair and small, sharp eyes.
At the entrance of the girl, the small eyes glanced at hep
with a sudden flash of admiration and surprise, then sought
the fire again.
Mrs. Carlisle's face was very pale, and there was a troubled,
anxious and extremely perplexed look in her face.
:< This is my daughter, Mr. Morrel," she said, faintly^.
" Floris, this is Mr. Morrel, the lawyer."
Mr. Morrel rose and bowed sharply and quickly, as if he
eould scarcely spare time for the ceremony, and Floris
inclined her head with a slight look of curiosity.
There was silence for a moment; then Mrs. Carlisle rose,
and drew her silk shawl around her.
" You will stay and dine with us, Mr. Morrel ?" she asked,
almost pleadingly.
The lawyer glanced at his watch with a frown, as if he had
a private quarrel with it, and looked up sharply.
MY LADY PRIDE. 11
" I have to catch the eight o'clock train, ma'am."
" You will have plenty of time/' said Mrs. Carlisle ; " I
I should be glad if you will stay, because you can explain this
this business to my daughter better than I can. Indeed, I
fear I do not understand it/' and she looked from one to the
other with a perplexed and feeble glance.
Floris went toward her and arranged the shawl that had
fallen askew, and the three went into the dining-room. I,
was the picture of comfort, and the hatchet-faced lawyer
looked around and rubbed his hands, then frowned as if he
had remembered something, coughed huskily, and sunk into
his chair with a sigh.
Mrs. Carlisle sat at the bottom of the table, and Floris at
the head, and it was to Floris that the soup was brought, as
if she were the presiding genius.
" Have you come from London, Mr. Morrel ?" she asked, in
the clear, soft voice, which made one pause before answering,
in case she should speak again.
" Yes," he said, sharply ; " by the four- thirty ! Very slow
train ! Shamefully late ! But railway directors don't under-
stand the value of time."
"And lawyers do!" said Floris, with a smile.
" They do," he assented, and then attacked the fish as if ig*
illustration of the truth of his assertion.
Floris looked at him with a curiosity which would have
been amused but for the pale, anxious face opposite her.
"Where have you been, Floris?" asked Mrs. Carlisle, to
break the silence.
" To Lady Burton's tennis party, mamma."
" Oh, yes ! I had forgotten," said Mrs. Carlisle, with a
sigh.
" Do you play tennis, Mr. Morrel ?" asked Floris.
" No, Miss Carlisle ; I have no leisure for tennis. I hope!
you had a pleasant afternoon."
" Yes, very !" she said.
The conversation dropped again. It was evident that both
the lawyer and Mrs. Carlisle were too full of some business
matter to talk of anything else, and Floris relapsed into silent
attention to their guest.
Presently the servant left the room, and Mrs. Carlisle,
gently pushing the port decanter to the lawyer, said:
" Perhaps you will let us stay while you take your wine,
Mr. Morrel, and and tell my daughter about this business."
18 MY LADY PRIDE.
4t Certainly, ma'am; but I don't drink port; it muddles the
brains, and lawyers have to keep theirs clear."
Mrs. Carlisle sighed, and Floris rose and brought some
flaret from the sideboard.
The lawyer bowed, sipped the wine, and cleared his throat.
" I've come down to tell your mamma, Miss Carlisle, that
the ease has closed/' he said, looking at her with a sharp in*
temt in his small eyes.
" The case ?" repeated Floris, knitting her brows ; then she
smiled. " I beg your pardon. I had almost forgotten," shft
explained. " I have known about it so long, ever since I can
remember, that strange as it all seems, I have almost learned
to forget it!"
" No doubt," he said, gravely. " The lawsuit was com-
menced 'during your grandfather's time."
"Yes," said Floris, smiling still; " I can femember, when
I was a child, hearing another girl boast that she had a
baronet in her family, and my retort that we had a chancery
suit in ours."
The lawyer didn't look quite so amused as he might have
done ; perhaps he felt that there was some sarcasm on " the
laws' delays."
" In your grandfather's time," he repeated. " He and
Lord Norman were distantly connected "
"We always denied the relationship," murmured Mrs
Carlisle.
The lawyer bowed.
" At any rate, the two families, the Carlisks and the Nor*
mans, were mixed up, if I may use the expression, in some
way or other."
" It was something to do with some land," murmured Mrs.
[(Carlisle. " I don't understand it; I never did."
"And no one else, it would appear," said Floris, gently,
jbut with a smile, "seeing that it has taken two generations
to puzzle it out."
"And some of the most learned men on the bench, at the
bar !" said Mr. Morrel. "At any rate, the two families quar-
reled about the land, and threw it into chancery. It is very
easy indeed, it is the easiest thing in the world to put a
thing into chancery, and about the hardest thing to get it out
again," and he then coughed behind his hand.
Floris leaned back in her chair, with her hands folded in her
MY LADY PRIDE. 13
lap, md her beautiful gray eyes fixed on tile window opposite
her with dreamy intentness.
" The question at issue," resumed Mr. Morrel, " was very
small to begin with, but its proportions grew as the case pro-
greased."
" Yes," said Floris, softly, " and the costs, too, Mr. Mor-
reL We used to live at the Hall at one time."
The lawyer coughed again.
" Costs will grow, Miss Carlisle, in such a case as this. The
iuit's become one of the most celebrated on record. It will "-4
here he bowed impressively " supply precedents for future i
cases unto the end of time."
"We ought to feel very proud," says Floris, with a low
laugh.
" You ought," he assented, quite seriously. " It is quite
an honor to be a party to the suit of Norman versus Car-
lisle!"
"It has been a very expensive honor," she said, smiling
gently.
"Ahem ! Yes, no doubt. But to come to the point. The
case, I am proud and happy to say, was closed to-day. That
is, I should be proud and happy," he corrected himself, with
a slight flush, " if it had been closed with a different decision."
" Then we have lost ?" said Floris, without any great show
of interest.
He wagged his head gravely.
" I regret to say fhat you have, Miss Carlisle. After pa-
tient hearing in one court after another, the case has been car-
ried to the Lords, and the final decision has been pronounced
in favor of Lord Norman."
Mrs. Carlisle uttered a feeble moan, but Floris turned her
lovely gray eyes on the thin face of the lawyer, without any
suspicion of the significance of his words.
" Lord Norman," she repeated, softly, almost absently,
thinking how, throughout her short life, that name haeL
haunted and hovered about her. " Well, I suppose it is just."f
" We always considered that his claim was most unjust,"^
mUgaured Mrs. Carlisle. " I never understood it ! Your>
j?vx father llse d to spend hours in trying to explain the case
fe* ~-v but I always got confused and muddled."
"Th* effect upon a great many persons beside yourself,
madame," said the lawyer.
Floris had risen, and stood at the window looking out at
14 MT LADY PRIDE.
the view which, like a lovely panorama, stretched before her.
There was not a hill or tree that she did not know and love.
The lawyer's dry voice recalled her to herself.
" Yes, we, on our side, always thought the Norman claim
unjust, of course, or we should not have continued fighting."
" But do you not think so now ?" said Floris, turning to
him.
" The highest court in the land has pronounced in his
avor," replied the lawyer, significantly.
Floris sighed.
" Well/' she said, gently, " I am sure that we are glad that
it is all over, and that the case is decided. Lord Norman is
quite welcome to the prize he has fought for whatever it is
I don't know what it is !"
"A very large sum of money/' said the lawyer, grimly, and
Mrs. Carlisle moaned again.
" Which we might have won, and which would have made
us rich again. Never mind, mamma/' and as she spoke she
turned, with a bright, consoling smile, upon the feeble lady
shivering in her easy-chair. " Money isn't everything, as
somebody says. Lord Norman is quite welcome to it, is he
not?"
Mrs. Carlisle did not reply, and Mr. Morrel looked from one
to the other rather curiously and in silence for a minute or so.
Then he coughed, and with hesitation and embarrassment
staring from every sharp feature, said:
"Ahem ! If it were only the sum in dispute that was
affected by the decision, Miss Carlisle, it would not so much
matter." *
" What else is there ?" asked Flons, with quiet surprise.
" The costs," replied the lawyer, grimly ; " the expenses of
this trial and the one preceding it
" But we have been paying costs ever since I can remem-
ber !" she said. " It is the costs in this ' celebrated case/ of
which we ought to be so proud, which has driven us from the
Hall to this cottage; it is the costs and expenses which, like
Aaron's serpent, Mr. Morrel, have swallowed up our carriages
and horses and men-servants, and reduced us to the condition
/,in which we are quite content," she added, with simple dignity
that awed the dry and musty lawyer and made him cough
again. " Surely, there are no further demands upon us !"
" I regret to say that there are," he replied, and to his
credit, be it said, he looked sorry, as his glance rested upon
MY LADY PRIM. 15
the slim, graceful girl, with the clear, soft voice and large,
gray eyes.
Mrs. Carlisle groaned.
" There are the costs of these last two trials, Miss Carlisle,
and they amount to a little over five thousand pounds !"
The blow for which he had been mercifully preparing her,
was struck at last.
Floris stood quite still for a moment; then she went and
laid her white hand tenderly and soothingly upon her mother's,
shoulder.
" Five thousand pounds !" she murmured, in a low, distinct
voice, that quivered for all her effort to keep it firm. " We
have to pay that?"
The lawyer inclined his head.
" Each side to pay its own costs," he said. " Yours will be
quite that sum; but don't be alarmed, Miss Carlisle
She did not hear him. Her eyes were fixed on the floor, her
heart beating slowly and heavily.
Five thousand pounds ! She knew what it meant ! Five
thousand pounds ! It would nearly ruin them ! In a moment
she saw the lovely view, lying bathed in the sunset, fading
slowly aXvay, giving place to some squalid London street; the
comfortable apartment was transformed to a miserable parlor
in a dirty lodging-house! This, then, was what this man had
come to tell them ! That they were ruined !
Her hand shook upon the feeble shoulder, and her parted
lips quivered as the tears gathered slowly in her eyes.
Mr. Morrel had stopped abruptly^s he saw that she was not
listening ; but now he went on again, his dry, sharp voice
striking on her ears discordantly.
" Don't be alarmed, Miss Carlisle ; you have not heard me
out yet. I have "still some intelligence to communicate."
She turned her head toward him very slowly.
" I beg your pardon," she said, quietly ; " I was startled."
" No doubt, no doubt," he sniffed. " Every excuse ; my
fault, Miss Carlisle. I ought to have told you first what I am
going to tell you now/ 9
She listened, with pale, sorrowful face.
"At the close of the trial, immediately after the decision of
the judges, we received a communication from Lord Norman
tfeough his lawyer, of course."
"Yes?"
" It was a communication which surprised us surprised us
If MY LADY PRIDE.
very much. We had no right or reason to expect an offer of
such a kind from Lord Norman, and it does him the greatest
credit the very greatest!"
"An offer from Lord Norman?" she repeated, dully.
" Yes !" snapped Mr. Morrel. " Immediately upon hearing
'that he had won his cause, his lordship sent and offered to
pay your costs for you."
J There was a silence while one could count twenty. The
lovely face turned to the window was white and set. The
hand resting on the feeble woman's shoulder shut tightly.
The soft, firm lips closed with a close compression. Mr. Mor-
rel was too much taken up with his own satisfaction to notice
the effect of his announcement.
" It was a remarkably generous offer ; extraordinarily so !"
he said, wagging his head. " I was never more surprised in
Hiy life never ! Such a new experience for me, I assure you 5
I have often known of offers of compromise before cases have
been finally tried, but never after. Why, it is a clear gift of
five thousand pounds ! I congratulate you and your mamma,
Miss Carlisle," and he made a little bow, which broke off
short as Floris's voice rose clear and full, though low, with the
single word :
"Stop!"
Mr. Morrel looked up at her with a start. He had ex-
pected, if not a gush of gratitude, at any rate an expreseiou
of thankfulness and relief ; but the " Stop !" sounded anything
but that.
" You say that Lord Norman has offered, of his own free
will, to pay these costs ; to give us, yon said, this money ?"
"Yes, oh, yes; there is no mistake!" replied Mr. Mori el,
" and we should have accepted, but thought it better, as a
^matter of form, to lay the offer before you. We thought
([chat, perhaps, you would like to make something more than
a formal acknowledgment of his lordship's kindness."
" Yes, yes," murmured Mrs. Carlisle, tremulously.
" Hush, hush !" breathed Floris, bending over her ; then
she raised her head and fixed her eyes upon the man of law.
" You did right, sir," she said ; and at the solemnity in her
voice he started and stared at her. " We should like to make
something more than a formal acknowledgment, through a
lawyer, of Lord Norman's kindness !"
With a swift, yet graceful, and all too haughty, gesture ?
she glided to a side-table, and bending, not sittingj
MY LADY PRIDE. I?)
hastily. Then she glided back, and with the air of an in*
dign&nt empress, she extended her white hand with the papei
in it.
" There's an acknowledgment of his lordship's offer. Be
good enough to read it, Mr. Morrel."
The lawyer held the paper near the lamp, and, in his
amazement, read the written words aloud.
"A Carlisle demands justice, not charity, and having re-
ceived the former, has no desire to become the recipient ofc
the latter, even though it should be at the hands of the Earl
of Nerman."
CHAPTER II.
LADY PENDLETON'S COMPANION.
MRS. CARLISLE uttered an exclamation of dismay, and be-
gan to wring her hands.
The lawyer stared and blinked with his small eyes at t&e
tall, slim figure and proud, beautiful face, as if he were 0m
the verge of a fit.
"Good gracious ! " he gasped, at last. " Do you mean to
say that really, Mrs. Carlisle, I appeal to you/' and he held
out the sheet of note-paper almost dramatically.
" My mother agrees with me, sir, that this offer of Lori
Norman's must be declined. We have no claim upon his
generosity. We are not his relations we are not even his
friends. We have been the foes of his family for years. Thk
suit, which has impoverished and ruined us, has cost him
thousands of pounds. He has won it, he has proved to be in
the right and we in the wrong, so that for all these years the
Carlisles have done him great and lasting injury. And in
return he offers us five thousand pounds ! "
Her face was crimson now, the gray eyes flashing, the read
lips apart with wounded pride and resentment.
" What right has he to humiliate us ? " and her hand closed
tightly on the back of her mother's chair.
The lawyer, poor fellow, quite unable to understand the
fine feeling which prompted the refusal from the pr<mi and
haughty nature of the girl, stared and gasped, an4
<f Good gracious j " again, helplessly.
18 M? LADY PRIDE.
"Then then this is your answer, Mrs. Carlisle?" he
said.
"Yes. Floris, my daughter, knows what is best. Lord
Norman is very kind, he meant kindly, and and I thought
for the moment that we
" For Heaven's sake, ma'am/' interjected the lawyer,
abruptly, almost pleadingly, " don't throw away five thous-
and pounds for the sake of a little pride! Put it in your
pocket, Mrs. Carlisle your pride, I mean, and save the
'money ! "
Mrs. Carlisle hesitated, and looked up at Floris, then
-feighed, for the girl's face was inflexible.
" No other answer is possible than that I have given you,"
said Floris, quietly..
He got his hat, and looked from one to the other.
" See here, ma'am," he said, '" I shall take 'the liberty of
retaining Miss Carlisle's note for twenty-four hours, in case
I say in case you should change your minds, which I hope
to goodness you will. If I don't hear from you by this time
to-morrow I will hand your answer to Lord Norman.. But I
trust that I shall hear. Good-night, Mrs. Carlisle; good-
night, Miss Carlisle/'
There was a silence for a moment after the door had closed
upon him, then Mrs. Carlisle, who had been shedding a weak
tear or two, shook her head dolefully, and wailed :
" What is to be done, Floris ? We must go into London
lodgings, and and live on cold mutton and bad sherry."
Floris laughed softly, if a little sadly.
"The mutton need not be always cold, mamma, and as to
the sherry, you never drink it, and I hate it. And I don't
think we need go into lodgings in London, dear. I think we
can stay here still that is, you can," she added, softly.
'' This afternoon I was sitting on the lawn with Lady Burton,
when she suddenly began to talk of her sister, Lady Pendle-
ton. She had had a letter from her this morning, asking her
if she knew of a young lady who would be likely to suit her
as a companion. I have thought of a young lady who
might, perhaps, serve in place of the angei Lady Pendleton
is looking for. It is a young lady of the name of Floris
Carlisle."
Mrs. Carlisle stared down at her with feeble astonishment.
" You, Floris ! "
I! Why not, mamma? Think of it! Ninety
MY LADY PRIDE. 19
pounds a year and and a home " Her voice broke, and
Mrs. Carlisle began to cry instanter. ' " No, no, mamma, we
will not cry, either of us."
She rose as she spoke and went to the table.
" I don't know what made me do it, but I asked for Lady
Pendleton's address, and copied it in my memorandum-
book. Fifty-nine Grosvenor Place. That sounds very grand,
mamma ! "
j She stopped the thin stream of bewailing and bemoaning
which Mrs. Carlisle began to pour out, with a kiss, and then
.went back to the table and wrote a short note.
" There, mamma I I have told Lady Pendleton that I am
musical, cheerful, that I love reading the newspaper better
than anything else on earth, and as for my looks/' she laughed
carelessly, " though not beautiful, children do not, as a rule,
fly at my approach, and that I have not a positive cast in my
eye ! Beyond that, she must judge for herself."
She came back with the note in her hand, and threw her
arms around the weak-natured mother and kissed her, and as
there was no glass Mrs. Carlisle did not see the unshed tears
that filled the glorious gray eyes of the girl who was too proud
to accept five thousand pounds, but not too proud to go out
and work as a servant!
A week later, when the newspapers had about grown tired
of referring to the great Norman versus Carlisle case, Moris
stood in the hall of 59 Grosvenor Place.
" Lady Pendleton ? Yes, miss," said the huge footman,
with the deepest respect, after a glance at the beautiful face,
with the obvious air of good breeding. "Yes, miss, her
ladyship's at home."
Moris took out her card-case, but suddenly remembering
that lady companions should not carry visiting-cards, said :
" Please say that Miss Carlisle has come."
The footman looked rather surprised, but his respect, for a
marvel, did not vanish, and he showed Floris into an immense
drawing-room quite civilly.
I Floris was trying to form conjecture as to the kind of woman
the mistress might be, when the footman returned.
" Her ladyship will be obliged if you will go up to her
room, miss," he said.
Floris followed him up a flight of broad stairs, along a
short corridor, and entered Lady Pendleton's boudoir.
As she did so, a little woman, beautifully dressed, rose
20 MY LADY PRIDE.
from a chair surrounded by a batch of dress materials, an8
came toward her.
ik Is that you, Miss Carlisle? How do you do?" she ex-
claimed in a quiet, alert, but musical voice, very much what
a linnet's would be if it could speak in the Iruman tongue.
u How kind of you to come so soon! "
By this time she had reached Floris, who stood with her
fmv to the window, and stopped short, with a stare of open-
eyed wonder and delight that would have been amusing if it
had not been rather ' startling.
"' Oh ! " she exclaimed. " Why, they never told me
Then she stopped again and peered up at Moris, with her
little head on one side, and laughed chirpingly.
" My dear, how ridiculously, how absurdly beautiful you
are ! "
Floris strove hard not to blush at this sudden and knock-
down compliment, but the crimson flooded her sweet face.
" Oh, I beg your pardon ! That's just me ! Offend you
the moment you come into the house-! But you mustn't
mind me, dear ; it's my way. Have you had any lunch ? " she
broke off, her head on one side, her bright, bird-like eyes
fixed on Floris's rather bewildered face.
" Yes, thank you, Lady Pendleton," she said.
" You shall have a glass of wine. I'll ring for it. No ?
Then come and take your things off."
"But," Floris said, "are you sure that I shall suit? I
mean
" Oh, don't say that you won't stay ! " Lady Pendleton ex-
claimed, pathetically. " Of course you'll suit! I knew that
the moment I saw you. I didn't catch your name. What
was it, anyhow, my dear?"
"My name? Carlisle Floris Carlisle.
" Floris ! What a pretty name ! I wish they had given
me a name like that instead of Elizabeth! There was a
Devonshire Carlisle I used to know a very great man. Any
relation?" \
" Yes," said Floris, gently. " We are Devonshire peo-
ple"
"Eeally? How charming! Quite a coincidence, as Bruce
would say. I hope you'll like Bruce, my dear. Most people
do. Poor Bruce! They say the old gentleman himself is
not half so bad as he's painted; and I am sure Bruce is not*
He's Sir Edward's cousin^ you know/'
MY LADY PRIDE. 21
Moris didn't know, but she murmured "Yes," and Lady
(Pendleton ran on very fast:
" Poor Bruce ! Don't you believe half they say about him,
my dear. It is all scandal. But come and take your things
off. You look tired. It is my chatter. Sir Edward says I
could talk the hind leg of a horse off; but that's his rudeness.
'I'm sure he talks enough in the house. Come along, my
dear; I'll show you your rooms. I hope you won't be dull.
I'm glad we've got a dinner party to-night. It will be more
cheerful for you ; and I'm glad Bruce is coming. But mind "
holding up a tiny forefinger " no falling in love with Lord
Bruce ! "
Flpris laughed softly.
" Very well, Lady Pendleton, I will not fall in love with
Lord Bruce!"
Fateful words!
CHAPTEE III.
AN EXTRAORDINARY STORY.
FLORIS found herself in a small but luxuriously furnished
room, which had evidently been prepared for her use, there
being a writing-table and boo^-case, and a comfortable sofa,
in addition to the usual furniture of a bedroom. In fact, the
apartment was half a sitting-room.
Lady Pendleton followed her and looked round question-
ingly.
" I do hope you will be comfortable," she said, earnestly.
" 1 know you ought to have a sitting-room of your own; but
the house is so small I mean for suites of rooms."
" Oh, indeed this is very nice and comfortable ! " said
Floris.
"Well, my dear," said Lady Pendleton, looking over her
shoulder, " you will want to rest, I dare say. You'll hear the
dressing-bell."
" Lady Pendleton," said Floris, with a sudden flush," I
think you said that you have a dinner party. Had I not bet-
ter I mean shall I not be in the way ? "
Her ladyship raised her finely-drawn eyebrows.
" Bless me, no, dear ! Besides, it is only a small one. Oh,
g MY LADY PRIDE.
come down it you can. If you would really rather
why "
But Ftoris inclined her head as humbly as she could.
" Oh, no ! Of course I will come down if you wish it."
" That's all right/' said her ladyship, cheerfully. " Come
down by all means. It will freshen you up; not that you
look as if you wanted freshening, my dear/' and with a very
pleasant nod and a little smile she went out.
Floris sank on a sofa in a state bordering on bewilderment.
It was all so different to what she had expected. Instead
of being received with haughty politeness and freezing con-
descension, she had been welcomed rather as a friend than a
servant.
" Who was Lord Bruce ? " Floris wondered ; " and why
should her ladyship take such pains to inform her of his
wickedness, and warn her against falling in love with him ? "
It was of him she was thinking when the second bell rang
and a servant knocked at the door.
" Her ladyship didn't know whether you would be able to
find your way to the drawing-room, miss," she said, and
Floris, with her sweet voice thanking her, followed the girl
through the corridor and down to the hall.
The big drawing-room was brilliant with innumerable wax
candles, and Floris felt too confused by the light, and the
hum of conversation, to distinguish any one for a moment,
but Lady Pendleton came out toward her from a little group
of ladies and nodded pleasantly.
" So glad you have made up your mind to join us," she
said, and then with her head on one side she turned to one of
the young ladies.
" My new companion, Miss Carlisle : Lady Glenloona."
The lady whose name Floris remembered as that of one of
the fashionable personages of the day put up her eyeglasses
and nodded, with a languid smile, and Floris, to avoid any
further introductions, drew a little apart and sat down.
Lady Pendleton flitted away to two or three gentlemen,
and 'Floris was wondering which was Sir Edward, when the
door opened and a little man, with a worried, tired look came
in, and made for Floris with outstretched hand.
" Sorry I'm late," he said, in a quiet, yet bored voice.
" Been kept at the committee meeting. Hope you are not
tired of waiting."
Floris flushed and stood up, but at the moment Lady
MY LADY PRIDE. 23
Pendleton flitted up to them and took her husband, for it
was Sir Edward, by the arm.
" That is my new companion, Edward/' she said, with a
birdlik* laugh. " How late you are ! Dinner is waiting ! "
" I beg your pardon/' he muttered to Floris. " Glad to
see you."
Then shooting one keen glance at her, he allowed himself
to be led away to make his apologies in the proper quarterSo
But still, though the butler hovered around the room, and
the footman hung about as if ready and waiting, dinner was
not announced.
" So annoying ! " exclaimed Lady Pendleton. " We'd bet-
ter go in ! "
The gentlemen thereupon made for the ladies allotted to
them, and there being one or more of the fair sex than of the
rough, Floris modestly drew back to follow the rest by her-
self.
But fate well, say chance had ruled that she should not
go in alone. As she reached the door, there was a little con-
fusion in the double file, and Lady Pe&dleton's voice was
heard in good-humored complaint.
"Oh, Bruce, here you are! Keally, it is too bad! Can't
you keep .time ? Haven't you got a watch ? Well, I'm glad
you have come! Will you please take in the countess and
you, Mr. Parkis, if you please "
"Oh, don't disturb yourselves, please," said a voice, deep,
full, and yet strangely musical and attractive.
The sort of voice that makes hearers turn their heads to
see the speaker. " The voice with a character behind it," as
Swift says ; and Floris saw a tall figure standing in the door-
way. He waited until they had all passed but herself, then
came slowly into the room.
Floris looked up ?nd saw a tall, broad-shouldered man
with the handsomest face she had ever pictured, and her
imagination was not a poor one ! But for the moment
only one feature of the face struck her the eyes. Calmly,
masterfully, they rested upon her face, as if they took in the
whole of her person in an instant, measuring her, weighing
her and judging her, mind, body, and soul. One forgot,
while under the gaze of those eyes, that the rest of the face
was handsome, that the nose was straight, or the lips, as seen
under the dark mustache, clearly eut, r the abort hair dark
24 MY LADY PRIDE,
or fair; all she could do was to meet those 0<fes and try to
satisfy them.
It was not until he looked away from her that Floris
noticed how strangely well the evening dress sat on the
stalwart, graceful figure, or that the one ungloved hand was
'white and shapely as a woman's, yet strong-looking as a
laborer's.
Then his gaze returned to her, and with a slight inclina-
tion of the partrician, he quickly said :
" I am more fortunate than I deserve. Will you allow
me ? " and offered her his arm.
Floris tried to call up some commonplace remark, but
failed, and in silence permitted him to take her to the dining-
room. His place had been reserved for him near the hostess,
but with a disregard which in another would have seemed a
rudeness, he sunk into the chair next Floris's, and the com-
pany had to reshuffle themselves.
" For what we are going to receive," mumbled Sir Edward;
the butler, anxious about his delayed dinner, cut the rest
short and the meal commenced.
There was a chatter and buzz as the soup went round,
but Lord Bruce uttered not a word. He had not spoken
when the fish gave place to the entree, but he was careful to
put the menu card near Floris, and once, when a footman,
new to his duties, offered her champagne, said " Hock."
Floris wondered whether he meant to maintain silence
during the whole of the meal; but suddenly, and yet slowly,
and as if he had been talking all the time? he turned his eyes
on her.
" Have you been to the concert to-day ? "
"No," answered Floris; "I only arrived in London this
afternoon. What concert do you mean ? "
"Albani's. Don't suppose that I have been; I never go to
Concerts. Who is that old lady opposite?"
I don't know," faltered Floris.
" I have seen her somewhere. One never knows half the
people Betty gets."
"You must include me in the half," said Floris, with a
smile
"Fairly hit! "he said.
The buzz of conversation went on for a while, then sudden-
ly Lady Pendleton's thin, birdlike voice rose above all the
others.
MY LADY PRIDE. 25
" Oh, Bruce ! " she exclaimed, in a little flutter of excite-
ment,, " this isn't true that Lady Glenloona is telling me,, is it,
now? She says that you are getting your yacht ready,, and
are going to the Levant ''
He turned to Lady Glenloona,, who did not seem over-
pleased at being quoted so publicly.
" Lady Glenloona is always well-informed," he said. " Yes,
Betty, I am going to the Levant."
"Oh, it is too ridiculous!" exclaimed Lady Pendleton,,
with an injured air. " Just as everything is moving too "
" That is why I am moving."
" Oh, you know what I mean ! Don't be provoking ! The
season is just at its height, and I want to get about ! Who is
to take me if you go off in that stupid yacht, pray ? Can't you
go sailing about when the season is over
"And it is wet, and cold, and generally stormy? Thanks!
Are you fond of the sea ? "
The question was addressed to her, not so suddenly, but so
unexpectedly that Floris, who had been listening to this pas-
sage of arms with curious amusement, turned her face to him a
little vaguely.
" The sea ? Oh, yes ! I don't know much about it. I have
never done much sailing, if that is what you mean. It must
be very delightful to get away from London while it is hot and
sunshiny, and sail about the Mediterranean."
" Yes," he assented, but not very eagerly. "At any rate
one may as well do that as anything else."
By this time it would seem as if he had finished his dinner,
for he put his arm on the back of his chair, and regarded her
with a calm, yet not obtrusive attention, and into his eyes
stole the appreciative expression of a keen critic more than
satisfied.
Floris, happening to look in his direction, caught his eyes
fixed thus upon her, and a faint thrill ran through her, which
almost made her angry.
Who was this Lord Bruce, who was treated as a favored'
mortal, and allowed the privileges of a small despot, and why I
should he look at her as if she were a picture on approval ?
And yet there was nothing disrespectful in the .gaze he
fixed on her ; its very openness deprived it of rudeness and
made it a compliment.
" Now, don't let Sir Edward talk you all asleep on poli-
tics ! " said Lady Pendletoa, with charming candor. "And,
26 MY LADY PRIDE.
Bruce, mind you come into the drawing-room. I want yon
to do something for me."
Floris followed the rest of the ladies into the drawing-room
in " fine amaze," as Spenser says. It was her first introduc-
tion to such society as that of to-night, and it amused and
yet puzzled her.
Lady Pendleton carried Lady Glenloona into a corner to
see some plates which she had recently purchased, and Floris,
seated a little apart, was left alone. She wondered whether
she was expected to do anything, and was quite relieved
when Lady Pendleton, looking over her shoulder, said, quite
humbly :
" Oh, would you mind playing something, dear, or singing ;
just to keep us awake till the tea comes ? "
Floris thought that it would be far kinder to sing them
something to send them to sleep, and going to the piano^
played a sonata.
She was not a skilled musician, and she knew it; but she
had a sweet voice, and waiting until the buzz of talk, which
always begins at the sound of a piano, ceased, she sung a
simple little ballad.
It was a song which she used to sing to her mother, and
she was half sorry that she had chosen it, for it brought the
tears to her eyes and made her voice tremulous. Perhaps
on that account it affected her listeners, for when she had got
through one verse she found the attention of the half-slum-
bering audience riveted upon her.
Then she began to feel nervous and would have stopped
short, but remembering that she was fufilling part of her
duties as a lady's companion, she went bravely on.
When she had finished she looked round, and saw that the
gentlemen had entered very quietly, and that Lord Bruce
was standing near her, his hands folded behind him, his eyes
fixed on her face with an expression that was almost sad;
instantly it vanished, and gave place to the usual calm im-
passiveness, and he came close beside her.
" That is a very pretty song," he said, in his low, grave
voice. " Will you not sing us another ? "
Floris shook her head with a smile.
'' You might not think the next one so pretty," she said.
He bowed with a faint smile, as if struck by the answer,
ancl walked away. In an instant Floris caught herself re-
MY LADY PRIDE. 7
gretting that she had made it, and then, ashamed that she
should feel any regret, resumed her former seat.
The footman brought in the tea equipage, and, still intent
upon making herself useful, she got up and went to the
table.
" Can I help you, Lady Pendleton ? " she asked.
" Oh, will you ? Thanks ! " responded her ladyship,
eagerly. "It is very kind of you ! " and she gave up her chair
with alacrity.
Floris supplied two footmen, and sent them around with
the tea, and was pouring out a cup for herself, when she
heard two ladies talking behind her in a suppressed whisper
and knew that they were talking of Lord Bruce.
" Not going away so suddenly in the middle of tha season
for nothing/' murmured one of them.
" I should imagine not/' assented the other, with that
eagerness which denotes the scandal-lover. " I wonder what
it is. Quite quietly, too. Hadn't even told Lady Pendleton.
Some mischief, depend upon it. One does hear such dread-
ful stories about him ! Not that I believe them, or one-half
of them ! Wasn't there some talk of his being engaged to his
cousin, Lady Blanche ? "
" Oh, that was some time ago. It would have been a
good match for him then, but now things are altered. He
doesn't want to marry money. Dear me, I never did believe
quite in his affection for Lady Blanche."
Floris, with a strange feeling of disappointment, turned and
stopped the conversation by asking them if they would take
some more tea, and receiving a cold, haughty negative, re-
turned to the cups again.
Several guests took their departure, and Sir Edward, mut-
tering something about "the house," stole out, as if glad to
get away; but Lord Bruce still stayed on.
Floris got up and seated herself in a retired nook, and got
an album containing the usual number of plain people in un-
natural attitudes, when Lord Bruce rose, looked across at her
hesitatingly for a moment, then came and seated himself by
her side.
" The social pillory/' he said, nodding at the album.
" Shall I tell you who is who ? or, perhaps, you know them
all?"
" No ; I know no one here," said Floris.
" Then shut it up and let us talk/' he said, and he took the
28 MY LADY PRIDE.
heaw took from her and laid it on the table. " Do you knew
thii 4 xiy cousin perhaps you don't know that Lady Pendle-
top is my cousin ? "
" No/' said Floris.
" She is, alas ! or she says she is ; I am not quite sure. A
cousin fourteen times removed, I think. At any rate, she is
so much of a cousin that she thinks that she is at liberty to
avail herself of my valuable services."
" Yes," said Floris. " You were going to tell me some-
thing-"
" Yes. Well, my cousin fourteen times removed has been]
exceedingly unkind to-night. I asked her to tell me who and 1
^,what was the lady I had the honor to tjjke in to dinner, and
she refused. It was ungrateful of her, but I have no appeal
excepting to you."
" Oh, I am Lady Pendleton's companion," said Floris,
simply.
He did not express any surprise, if he felt any, but leaned
forward, his dark eyes fixed on her face.
As they sat thus, Lady Pendleton passed them on her way
across the room, and paused a moment to exchange a word.
" How thoughtful you look, Bruce ! I really think you
must be in love."
He smiled absently, then sat up.
" That was a foolish speech of my cousin's," he said. " But,
like the random shaft, it struck home. She is quite right. I
am in love."
Floris turned to him with a smile.
" Do you wish me to commiserate your lordship ? " she
said.
" If you please," he answered, gravely, " and for this rea-
son, that I am in love with a young lady whom I have never
Keen whose name I have only read. Think of it ! To be in
love with the mere imagination ! Not to know the object of
one's passion by sight ! to pass her, perhaps, in the street,
and yet be unaware that she is she. It is hard, is it not ? ' :
" Very ! " said Floris, smiling again.
" Shall I tell you how it happened ? " he asked, after a
pause, during which several other guests took their departure.
" If you like," said Floris.
" It is a strange experience," he began, in a low voice, with
the manner of one communicating with himself as well as ad-
dressing a listener. You must know that my family has
MY LADY PRIDE. 29
been under a cloud for several years past for a couple of
generations back. Did you ever read the story of the Old
Man of the Sea the old person who got on Sindbad's back,
and couldn't be got rid of ? "
" Oh, yes ! "
" Well, we have had an old man of the sea on our family
back ; his name was ' Chancery Lawsuit ' What is the mat-
ter ? " for Floris, whose eyes had been wandering round the
'room dreamily, started slightly and looked at him.
" Nothing/ 7 she said, averting her eyes again ! " Please go
on."
" The suit has been running for generations, and it has
made each generation poorer than the last, so that the old
man threatened to kill Sindbad right out. I, as the last of
my family, was reduced to well, perhaps I had better not
tell you all that I was reduced to, in case you should not be-
lieve me; and I should not like that."
Floris listened to the leisurely, musical voice with a growing
wonder in her mind. How singular a conincidence ! He had
described the actual state of the Carlisle family !
"Now comes the extraordinary part of -the story. Lo and
behold! with very little warning and no great fuss to speak
of, the great case comes to a close, and greatly to my aston-
ishment I am informed that I am the victor. The particulars
and details I allowed to go, but the main result was satis-
factory. I was proclaimed the victor, and learned that
great portion of the lands and moneys and houses were com-
ing back to me. Judge of my astonishment when I was in-
formed by my lawyer that my deadly foes were represented by
two women; an old lady and her daughter What is the
^matter?"
Floris had started with a sudden movement, and her face
had flushed, then turned pale.
" You are tired ! I forgot that you had traveled some dis-
tance to-day. Pray forgive me ! My story will keep till some
other time!" and he half rose.
" No, no !" said Floris, in a very low voice. " I am not
tired, I am not, indeed ! Pray go on ! I am very much in-
terested, my lord !"
He was silent for a moment, and then resumed.
" Yes, an old lady and her daughter. I asked how the re-
sult of the trial would affect them, and was told that they
would be nearly ruined. That is to say, that in addition to
30 MY LADY PRIDE.
losing the estate we had been squabbling over, they would
have to pay their own costs of the last trial. I asked the
amount, and learned that it was five thousand pounds."
Moris sat perfectly motionless,, but her fingers clasped each
other so tightly that where they met the flesh went whiter
than snow.
" I was startled and perplexed and upset. I am not an im-
pulsive man, but I acted on an impulse of the moment, and
requested my lawyers to tell the other side that I should con-
sider it an honor if they would permit me to pay their clients'
costs. I am sure you are tired," he broke off, as Floris leaned
back and put her fan up to her face.,
" No," she answered, almost curtly ; " please go on."
" Well, the lawyers wouldn't accept the money without con-
sulting their clients, and so and so" he paused, as if he
were coming to a part of the story which was not pleasant in
the telling " one of them went down to make the offer. Now,
you are a woman, what do you think was their answer?"
" I cannot guess. You must tell me, please," murmured
Floris.
He was silent a moment, then with his eyes fixed thought-
fully on the glass, he said:
" They refused. It was an unkind thing to do. It was as
if I had insulted them and they had raised their small hands
and struck me. I say ' they/ but in reality it was the daugh-
ter, the girl. The mother would have accepted, but the
.daughter refused emphatically, sternly and scornfully. If
you want to know how scornfully, read this," and he drew a
sheet of note-paper from his waistcoat-pocket.
Floris turned her eyes toward it, but did not offer to take it.
" I will read it," he said, " so that you may understand ex-
actly how I feel :
" 'A Carlisle demands justice, not charity, and having re-
ceived the former, has no desire to become the recipient of
the latter, even though it should be at the hands of the Eari
of Norman/
" That was her reply to my offer. It struck me like a
blow! If it had come from a man I should have put it in the
fire, shrugged my shoulders, and forgotten it. But from a
young girl ! I cannot forget it, though I have tried hard to
do so. I have thought of her so much during the last week,
since I got this note, that she has become part and parcel of
my life. 1 am, as it were, under a spell. Her scornful eyes
MY LADY PRIDE. 31
are always resting on mine, inspiring me with the intense
longing to try and soften them ; her voice rings in my ears, so
that I am possessed with a restless desire to hear her utter
some kinder words, more fitting to her sweet, girlish lips. In
short, from thinking about her, 1 have grown to love her to
love a thing of aerial imagination, a woman whom I have
never seen and probably never shall see, who, if I met her,
would turn from me as from one who had done her a great
wrong and inflicted a heavy insult ! Now, please, do you not
even pity me?"
*' Floris sat silent, her face hidden by the fan, which fluttered
to and fro slowly, as if moved by a machine, her eyes down-
cast, her lips quivering with the shame and, torture of her
situation.
"You do not? I am sorry. Somehow, I expected your
sympathy, and that is why I told you my story. I have told
it to no one else, and I shall not tell it. But it is quite a true
one, and the fascination, the spell under which I am held is
so great that I am going to try strong measures to get rid of
it. In a mind diseased no, I will not say diseased pos-
sessed by such ' a delusion, illusion, charm, spell, whichever
you like to call it, there is no cure like change of scene. There-
fore you understood, though my cousin never will, for I
shall never tell her, why I have ordered my yacht and am off
to the Mediterranean. I am going to take the vision of Floris
Carlisle out with me, and drop it, with the memory of it, in
the blue sea, in the hope that it will sink, and rise to haunt
me no longer. As for the note, well, I will keep that to re-
.mind me when I am old and gray, and on the verge of the
grave, that I once loved a girl whom I had never seen, and
whose only words addressed to me were the written ones of
scorn contempt !"
There was a subtle music in his voice that rung deep down
in Florists heart and made her tremble.
, She tried to rise, and had succeeded in making an effort,
I when Lady Pendleton flitted toward them.
, " My dear Bruce, how kind of you to stay ! And what
have you two been talking about?" with her head on one
jside.
" I have been giving miss this young lady an account of
the various fishes and shells to be found within the Mediter-
ranean circle, my dear Betty," he answered^ instantly, and
with calm gravity.
32 MY LADY PRIDE.
" Eeally ? I didn't know you knew anything about them,
or anything else that was useful. It is very good of you to
listen to him, my dear " to Floris. "And now, Bruce, about
this fancy fair. You must stay for it! I must have you
down among the patrons. See how well your name would
read ! ' Patrons : H. E. H. the Prince of Wales, etc., etc.
all the royal family, you know and then ' the Eight Honor-
able, the Earl of Norman
Floris's head sunk lower. Yes, his name was Norman !
But why, oh, why had she not known it before? Why did
they call him Bruce?
" Fll think it over and let you know in the course of two
or three months, Betty/'' he said rising.
Lady Pendleton shrieked.
" Two or three months ! Why, the fair is next week ! You
are the most provoking of men, Bruce; now isn't he, Miss
Carlisle?"
The name was spoken at last.
He was looking for his opera hat while she had been speak-
ing, but at the sound of the name he stopped and turned
silently, but slowly, round upon them.
" What on earth is the matter ? Why do you look at her
like that? Why, Bruce, you have grown quite pale; hasn't
he, dear?"
" What name did you say ?" he asked, his eyes fixed upon
Floris's downcast face with its closely-shut lips and white
brow, wrinkled under her burden of shame and confusion.
" What name ? Whose name ? Miss Carlisle's ! This young
lady's name is Miss Floris Carlisle," and she laid her hand on
Floris's arm.
CHAPTER IV.
CARLISLE ! Lord Bruce Norman stood with his hat in hie
hand, his eyes fixed on Floris's face, his own almost stern
with the shock of surprise the name had caused him.
As for Floris, she tried to meet the intent gaze with a calm,
steadfast regard, but her eyes drooped, and her face grew
flushed.
" Why, yes ! And why not? What is the matter with you
MY LADY PRIDE. 33
RpthP* demanded Lady Pendleton, volubt/, /^u look as
if you had seen a ghost, Bruce, and you, Mi&s Carlisle, as if
you had been caught doing something especially naughty !"
Lord Norman was one of the first to recover.
With a grim smile he took his eyes off the beautiful, down-
cast face, and turned them to his cousin with a kind of pity-
ing amazement.
, "Don't be alarmed, Betty," he said, quietly; "I didn't
, know that I had caught the name rightly. I think I will go
now," and he gave her his hand, his eyes wandering again to
Floris's face, pale and proud once more.
" Now mind, Bruce !" exclaimed Lady Pendleton, clinging
to his hand, and covering a yawn with her fan at the same
time. " You are to come to-morrow, and help us with your
valuable suggestions about the fancy fair costumes; isn't he,
my dear?"
" I will not promise," he said, abruptly. " Good-night/'
He held his hat in his hand, looking to see if Floris would
extend her hand, but she merely inclined her head, and with
a very low but stern bow he left them together.
Lady Pendlefcon dropped into a chair with a little laugh and
looked at the door through which he had passed.
"Dear Bruce! Isn't he handsome, my dear? Not dolli-
fied, you know I hate your pretty men but right down
handsome."
" Why do you call him Bruce and not Lord Norman ?"
asked Floris, almost abruptly.
" Because we always called him Bruce while his father was
% alive, and can't get out of the way now, my dear," said Lady
* Pendleton. " We used to be playmates. I was always a
favorite of his. Perhaps " she sighed, then laughed. " But
he was so poor and Sir Edward was so pressing. You've no
idea what a good fellow my husband is, my dear !" quickly
"the very best in the world! And now,, good-night. Shall
I come up to show you your room?"
But Floris would not permit this, and assuring her lady-
ship that she could find the way by herself, went to her own
room.
When she fell asleep, after hours of wakefulness, it was but
to dream that Lord Bruce stood before her, the fatal sheet
of paper in his hand, the dark eyes fixed reproachfully upon
her.
Lord Norman descended the steps, and stood for a moment
34 MY LADY PRIDE.
looking absently out at the quiet street, but when a cab
pulled up, he shook his head,, and strode off with the air of a
man too restless to sit quiet. He passed out into Park Lane
and down beside the railings, and crossed the road into Ox-
ford Street.
Then he paused, half resolved to go to his club, but turned,
westward instead, and reaching a quiet street beyond the maiV'
ble arch, rung the bell of one of the houses which, palatial in*
size, was divided into sets of chambers. f
Ascending to his own suite, he opened the door with his
key, and entered a luxuriantly decorated and furnished sit-
ting-room.
The rays of the lamp, standing on the sandal-wood table,
fell upon Persian hangings and Fez china, on delicately inlaid
Chippendale chairs, and tapestry-covered lounges.
For some time he walked to and fro, his brows knit, his dark
eyes flashing with the intentness of his thoughts ; then he drew
the sheet of note-paper from his pocket, and held it over the
lamp, as if he had suddenly arrived at some decision! But
fis the paper began to curl and turn brown with the heat he
drew it away.
" No, I cannot ! What is the good of burning it when the
girl's face, and her voice, and the very turn of her head,
possess and haunt me! How beautiful she is! How beau-
itful !"
With a sigh he turned out the lamp and went into the next
room. It was the dressing-room, between the sitting-room
and bedchamber, and was dimly lighted by a shaded lamp,
held in the hands of a Venus Aphrodite.
There was a couch and a couple of chairs, besides the in-
evitable bath, and Lord Norman was taking off his coat, when
suddenly from the couch there rose a man.
Lord Norman started, and stood perfectly motionless.
With a yawn the man stretched himself and stood upright,
and, in doing so, presented, in form and feature, an almost
perfect copy of Lord Norman himself. Excepting that the
earl was in evening-dress and the man in a well-worn suit of
serge, the resemblance in figure was almost complete.
Lord Norman did not start, but stood as if turned to stone.
The awakened man yawned, and stared vacantly for a mo-
ment, then, rubbing his eyes, exclaimed:
"Is that you, Bruce ?*
MY LADY PRIDE. 35
"Raymond!" exclaimed Lord Norman, sternly. "What
brings you here? Why have you come?"
The man called Raymond laughed out loud.
" That means a long story ; and you hate long stories,
don't you? You always did! I've come from Australia.
Why have I come ? Because I'd nowhere else to go ! Where/
should I go, but to my old friend, Bruce Norman?" and the
visitor smiled with ineffable satisfaction, as if he had answered j
the question completely.
" How did you make your way in here ?" Lord Norman
askec^
" I told your man capital valet you've got, Bruce ! that
I was your brother, .and, convinced by the likeness that I
spoke the truth,, he let me in!"
" Listen to me, Raymond," said Lord Norman, regarding
him gravely, and almost sternly ; " if any one were told that
I found you lying here in one of my rooms at midnight, they
would conclude that, as you are no relation of mine, there
was some tie of friendship or interest between us, would they
not? Beyond the fact that we were school-fellows, that we
spent some foolish, youthful days together, and that you are
said to resemble me, what claim have you upon me?"
" None at all !" responded the other, after a moment's
pause. " Did I ever say that I had ?"
"Acts speak more plainly than words sometimes. Why
are you here in my rooms at midnight?"
" For the best of all possible reasons, my dear Bruce ! Be-
cause I haven't anywhere else to go. I'd go to a hotel if I
could, but I haven't a penny. Of course, if I am unwelcome
I will go. I don't need to be told twice. You are looking
well and yet slightly worried; that comes of being a noble,
you see ! Now, if you were simple Oscar Raymond, you would*
loofe as careless as I do. Good-night," and he took up;
his hat, a soft felt, much the worse for wear, and moved 1
toward the door.
" Wait," said Lord Norman, following him. " I am sorry
that I spoke harshly to you; but when I saw you so unex-
pectedly, I remembered one or two similar visits that you had
paid me in the old days ; I could not forget that I had given
you a large sum of money to enable you to leave the country,
and "
" I ought to have stopped there/' Raymond finished for
36 MY LADY PRIDE,
him. " So I ought. But, upon my word, Bruce, five years
-of stone-breaking is sufficient for any man
Lord Norman looked at the white hands significantly.
" When I say stone-breaking, of course I speak figuratively.
If I haven't been stone-breaking, 1 have been doing things
equally unpleasant."
" Well, I will give you some money/' said Lord Norman.
" I don't ask you to leave England again, but I do trust that
your visits to me will be few and far between."
As he spoke not unpleasantly, bufc with a grave smile he
went to a cabinet, and, unlocking a drawer, took out some
money, and without counting it laid it on the table.
Kaymond's dark eyes gleamed for a moment in a peculiar
fashion, which transformed his handsome face into anything
but a pleasant one; then, with a sudden laugh, he took up
the money and dropped it into his coat pocket.
Thanks !"
Lord Norman turned to the cabinet and took out a de-
canter and a glass and some biscuits,
As he did so his sleeve knocked down an ivory box, and a
pack of cards fell out. While he was filling the glass with
wine, Baymond's eyes were fixed on the cards, and the same
gleam which had shone in theni before now lighted them up.
Slowly he drunk the wine and set the glass down, then he
stooped and picked up the cards, and in an absent kind of
way, began to shuffle them.
" Do you remember the ecarte we used to have, Bruce ?"
Lord Norman nodded.
" You used to play a good game almost as good as I did.
It is some months since I touched a card."
He glanced at the clock, and turned his face, with a smile
of peculiar winningness, half playful, half mournful, to Lord
Norman's.
" Bruce, let us have one game ! Just for auld laflg syne !
Humor the returned wanderer upon tvhom you have lavished
your gold by trying to win it back again !" and he laughed
a soft, musical laugh that few would have been able to with-
stand.
Lord Norman, with a shrug of the shoulders, dropped into
a chair beside the little table.
The game proceeded. Raymond chatted and Lord Bruce
replied now and again in indifferent monosyllables; and the
luck, which had smiled on the earl from the beginning, re-
MY LADY PRIDE. 37
mained faithful until one solitary sovereign stood beside Ray-
mond's elbow.
" The last !" he exclaimed. " Let us see whether it will
follow the others, or call them back !"
Strange to say, the luck seemed to change, and game after
game fell to Raymond* His face grew flushed, his eyes
sparkled. A pile of gold and notes stood on the spot where
the solitary sovereign, had stood and Lord Norman, with a
smile, rose to fetch some more money from the cabinet.
As he did so he happened to glance in the small mirroi
over the mantel, and saw something that made him turn
crimson and then pale and stern.
He said nothing, however, but brought some notes and gold
from the cabinet and returned to his seat.
The game proceeded and reached a point at which the first
man who scored would win.
Kaymond held the cards in his hand, and looked up sud-
denly.
" Bruce," he said, " this must be our last game ! What do
you say now, double or quits ?"
Lord Norman nodded, and with a dexterous movement Ray-
mond swept his pile of money into the middle of the table.
" Double or quits !" he said. " By heavens, if I win this I
will swear never to play another game until the next oppor-
tunity !" and he laughed. "Are you ready ? It is your deal !
Now I mean to play my very best."
" Just so," said Lord Bruce, " but before we begin, hadn't
we better see whether all the kings are in the pack !" and very
quietly, but with terrible strength, he seized Raymond's arm,
forced it up, and took the king of diamonds from his sleeve.
There was a moment's awful silence as the two men looked
into each other's eyes like the reflection of one face, so alike
were they in features, but fearfully unlike 'in expression.
Slowly Lord Norman got up.
" Raymond, you were once a gentleman or I would throw
you out of the window. Go !" and he pointed to the door.
Raymond got up slowly, and as if with difficulty, and
moistened his lips. .
" Bruce, I swear to you that that this is the first time "
Lord Norman then smiled, a cold, awful smile.
" Oh, do not think that I am about to deprive you of your
booty, sir. You forget that I could not take it back " and
he pointed to the heap of money " you have touched it !"
38 MY LADY PRIDE.
' 4k
Raymond stretched out his trembling hands and drew the
heap toward him, then with a sudden gesture of renunciation,
he raised his dark eyes with the sinister gleam in them.
"No! I will not take it. But some day, perhaps, Lord
Norman, you will wish that I had ! 1 always hated you, but,
before Heaven, I never hated you as I hate you to-night!
Take care, or I shall pay you back for that insult ! Take care
lest the cheat, whose very touch jou deem defilement, prove
clever enough to win his revenge !"
Without another word the detected cheat passed out.
Lord Norman stood musing grimly for a few minutes. It
was quite impossible to sleep in his present mood, and h
thought he would take a turn in the now quiet streets. A* he
passed westward, he came to a large house standing at the
corner of a square. The house was the town residence of the
Duchess of Cliefeden, and a ball was in progress. There was
just time to look in, and with a listless step he entered, passed
through the crowd of footmen, who recognized him and made
way with respectful alacrity, and ascended the stairs. The
immense saloon was still crowded, though the ^all was draw-
ing to a close, and Lord Norman could only make his way
slowly through the throng of dancers and the knots of people
chatting and laughing together.
He found the duchess at last. Her grace was looking very
sleepy and rather bored, and she almost frowned as Lord
Norman came up.
"Aren't you ashamed to come near me?" asked her grace.
" I am. " Quite !" he said, quietly. "And I have come to
tell you so."
He remained for a few minutes, until he had won her for-
giveness for his late appearance, then wandered on again.
" If you are looking for Lady Blanche you will find her in
the south anteroom. At least she was there five minutes
ago," said her grace ; and he went to the anteroom leading to
the grand staircase.
Seated on an ottoman was a very beautiful woman, just past
girlhood. She was very fair, with thick, silken hair that
was almost the color of pure gold, its brightness being re-
lieved by eyes of dark, velvety brown, that at certain timea
were almost black, and eyebrows of rich auburn. In addition
to her grace and her beauty, Lady Blanche was possessed of
that rarest gift in woman an exquisite voice, capable of
Arresting the attention and keeping it as closely fixed while
MY LADY PRIDE. 39
she spoke as if the hearer were under a spell. She was an
heiress in her own right, with houses an& lands enough to
make the penniless sons go wild with longing. They thronged
round her, and tried their hardest to win her, but to one and
all she had only one answer the soft, clear monosyllable:
" No !"
Lord Norman stood at the entrance of the anteroom, look-
ing at the group within. They made quite a picture, the
little circle of men young and old with the beautiful wo-
man in the center, leaning back, with her face moving to and
j cro listlessly, her dark eyes fixed dreamily on the ground, the
colorless cheeks swept by the long, black lashes.
Suddenly she raised her eyes and saw Lord Norman stand-
ing in the doorway; it would be too -much to say that she
blushed, but the faintest of all possible colors flickered in her
cheeks, and her eyes grew softer and lighter for a moment
before they were lowered to the ground again.
Lord Norman advanced to the group, and the man who
had been bending over her and endeavoring to engage her
attention, looked up, saw who it was, and with a shrug of
resignation at once straightened himself and made room.
Lord Bruce changed greetings with some of the men, then
sunk down beside Lady Blanche, and, in a few minutes the
little circle of courtiers, like jackals at the appearance of the
lion, quietly vanished.
"Where have you been, Bruce ?" she asked.
" I dined at Lady Betty's," he replied.
" Yes, I know," she said, with a smile. " But since ? It
is nearly three."
"I have been to my rooms."
Slowly the dark eyes were raised to his face, rested there
for a second or two, as if they were reading every line in
then the soft voice murmured, listlessly:
" Has Lady Betty found a companion yet ?"
He leaned back and looked around the room carelessly, too
carelessly by far, before he answered :
" Yes,"
"Ah, yes, I remember! Mr. Parks told me. A remark-
ably pretty girl, with black eyes."
" No, they are gray," he said, and in that short speech he
had told her all she had been quietly angling for. Her eyes
drooped, but not before a swift light had shone in them, and
the fan closed and fell, feather-like, in her lap. He had no-
40 MY LADY PRIDE.
ticed this girl so particularly as to remember the exact color
of her eyes.
Unknown, unguessed at by all, there lay hidden behind
that calm, placid exteripr, a latent passion, which burned
within her heart as the fire beneath an Iceland geyser. The
fire glowed fiercely at this moment, fed by the oil of jealousy,
but there was no trace of emotion in the soft, equal voice, as,
rising, she said :
" Will you find papa, Bruce ? I would like to go now !"
He got up and gave her his arm, and hunted for Lord Sey-
tnour, whom they found yawning in a corner, evidently just
awakened from a nap, and with the old peer -grumbling
drowsily at their heels, they went down to the hall.
With extreme care and gentleness he arranged the fur cloak
round the white shoulders, and put her into the carriage.
"You will come and see me to-morrow, Bruce ?" she
said.
" Yes, of course. Good-night," he replied, and turned
away.
The carriage door closed, and the overfed, fidgety horses
sprung forward so suddenly that they nearly knocked down a
man who- was crossing the road at the moment. The coach-
man, with a carefully suppressed oath, pulled up short, and
the man got to the pavement. As he did so, Lady Blanche
looked out to see what was the matter, and the man caught a
glimpse of her face, upon which the light from the windows
was now streaming. In an instant Eaymond for it was he
recognized the original of a portrait which he had seen in
Lord Norman's room. More than that, he had caught in the
dark eyes and colorless face a look of passionate jealousy
which Lady Blanche had suppressed while Lord Norman had
been with her.
It was not much for a man to work upon as a leverage for
doing a fellow-mortal an injury, but Oscar Eaymond was not
an ordinary man, and it was enough for him.
With a smile and a nod, he crossed the road, and, setting
off at a jog-trot, followed the carriage to Lord Seymour's
house in Eton Place.
ITT LADY PRIDB. 41
CHAPTEE V.
A HARD PUNISHMENT.
FLORIS was just finishing dressing on this her first morn-
ing " in service," and the breakfast bell was clanging through
the house, when she heard a knock at her door, and a strong
voice, with a decidedly French accent, requesting permis-
sion to enter.
Floris opened the door, and saw a tall, thin, French girl,
with small, dark eyes that instantly fixed themselves on
Floris's face, and just as quickly sought the ground again.
" Pardon, mam'selle, I am her ladyship's maid. Her lady-
ship's " she paused just a second " compliments " Lady
Pendleton had said " love " " and would mam'selle kindly
attend at milord's breakfast table ? Miladi is unwell."
" Certainly," said Floris. " Will you tell her ladyship that
I am sorry she is unwell, please?"
The girl bowed, and Floris hurried down-stairs. She was
late ; and it was a bad beginning ; but she had slept but little,
and that restlessly. The French maid made a pretense of
following her, then she stole back to the bedroom, and, with
deliberate carefulness, made a complete examination of the
wardrobe and every article of Floris's which she had left un-
secured.
"Ah, yes!" she murmured. "A fine lady, but poor! No
rings, no bracelets, no rich dresses; but beautiful, and miladi
will think her an angel ! Bah ! I shall hate her ! I know
it ! I feel it ! Something tells me that Mam'selle Carlisle
and Josine will be at daggers drawn. We shall <eee !" and with
a shrug she arranged a wisp of her black, coarse hair in the
glass and left the room.
Floris hurried down-stairs to the breakfast-room. A foot-
man was carrying in some hot dishes, and Sir Edward was
seated at the table with the Times containing a full report
of his last night's speech and a heap of letters.
He rose as she entered, and his weary face lightened for a
moment at the vision of fresh, young beauty, and his eyes
rested upon the simple cotton dress, that fitted so admirably,
with an expression of vague admiration jpd satisfaction.
*Lady Pendleton is unwell this morning; but no doubt
42 MY LADY PRIDE.
they have told you," he said, as if anxious to avoid any un-
necessary words.
"Yes," said Floris, with ready tact. "I am very sorry.
Coffee, Sir Edward?"
Sir Edward glanced at her approvingly. Had his wife at
last got a treasure ? At any rate, a girl with such a face, and
such ready tact as to condense a question into two words,
must be worth having.
She gave him his coffee, and took some bacon in exchange,
and Sir Edward ate his breakfast, looked over his speech,
opened his letters, and penciled drafts of the answers in the
corner for his secretary to amplify.
Presently he pushed the letters from him, and took up his
cup, regarding her attentively.
" I hope you are that you will be comfortable with us,
Miss Carlisle," he said.
" I am sure that I shall, sir," she answered.
He knocked his spoon against his cup thoughtfully, with a
preoccupied air.
" If there is anything you require but my wife will see to
that I meant to say, that if you want anything in the shap^
of reading, please get what you want from the library. Here
is the key."
It was .a great concession, if Floris had only known it.
A servant came to the door.
" The brougham, Sir Edward."
He jumped up with the alacrity ctf a clerk making a dash
for his train or 'bus, and commenced to bundle his letters into
a dispatch -case with one hand, while he took up his coffee-cup
with the other.
Floris rose.
" Will you let me put them in for you ?" she said, quietly, ;
and neatly and quickly she packed them in orderly fashion in,
the case.
" Thank you, thank you !" said Sir Edward. " I've a com-
mittee meeting this morning at eleven, another at one, and
thank you !" and with a final glance of surprised satisfaction,
he seized the case from Floris, his hat and cane from the ser-
vant, and hurried out.
The next question now arose : what was she to do next ? It
occurred to her that she would go up and ask how Lady Pen-
dleton was. She wgnt and knocked at her ladyship's door
softly, and received the response of " Come in."
MY LADY PRIDE. 43
"It is I, Lady Pendleton," she said, thinking that she
might have mistaken her for the maid.
" Come in. Yes, I knew it was you, my dear ; I knew by
your knock. All the rest of them hammer/' said her lady-
ship.
She was sitting up in bed, wrapped in an elaborate dressing-
robe, with a cup of chocolate by her and a French novel face
downward on the satin coverlet.
"Are you better?" asked Floris.
" Yes, it was only a headache. I hope you enjoyed your-
self last night, and weren't too tired! I am sure you ought
to be very gratified it was enough to make you vain, my
* dear."
" To make me vain ?" queried Floris.
"Yes, the attention you got. Especially from Bruce! I
never knew him so attentive. As *a rule he is quite too savage
a perfect boor ! I've known him to sit for an hour and not
open his lips, and then get up and go away. I do hope he
won't go on that stupid yachting excursion until after the
fair ! Of course, you will help me at my stall ! You will
create quite a sensation, my dear, and that will be so nice!"
Floris laughed softly.
" Why do you laugh, my dear ? Are you laughing at me ?"
" Certainly not, your ladyship," said Floris. " But but I
was wondering whether it would not be rather out of place for
a companion to make a sensation."
As she spoke the maid came in, with the slightest apology
for a knock.
"Lord Norman's in the drawing-room, miladi."
Lady Pendleton uttered a little cry of delight.
" So soon ! My dear, he has come to say that he will stay
over for the fair ! I thought that he would ! Oh, dear, and
I'm not dressed ! Do go down and see him now, Floris ! Toll
him I have a headache caused by his obstinacy last night."
" Perhaps he will wait until you are dressed," said Floris,
in a low voice, " or call again later in the day, Lady Pen-
dleton?"
" Wait till I am dressed !" exclaimed her ladyship, with a
laugh. " Not he ! He wouldn't wait for an empress."
Floris still stood by the window, with Josine looking from
one to the other in respectful silence.
"Will you not write him a note?" suggested Floris.
Her ladyship laughed again.
44: MY LADY PRIDE.
"He would scarcely read it! My dear, you don't knaw
Bruce. He is one of the most trying of men. No, you go
down and see what you can do with him; please do, and
secure him for the fair."
Floris went out of the room and down the stairs. She
paused for a moment at the drawing-room door, and the
flush gave place to a cold paleness that lent an air of pride and
/reserve to her sweet, beautiful face.
\ Lord Norman was sitting across a chair, his arms folded
on the back. He was dressed in a riding suit of broad check,
and held a whip in his hand.
"Well, Betty ," he said, without looking round, "have I
roused you from your slumbers sweet and deep?"
Getting no answer,, he turned his head and saw Floris
standing in the middle of the room, the sunlight falling upon
her fresh, young loveliness, and lighting up streaks of gold in
her brown hair.
He sprung to his feet, dropping his whip, and went to-
ward her.
" I beg your pardon," he murmured. " I thought "
"Lady Pendleton has a headache, my lord, and has not
yet left her room," said Floris, and in her effort to seem
perfectly self-possessed, her voice sounded cold and repellent.
" I am very sorry," he said.
Then he stood switching his leg with his whip for full a
minute.
" I will tell her ladyship," said Floris, and she half turned
to the door.
" One moment, Miss Carlisle," he said. " I " he stopped,
and his dark eyes flashed toward her face " I am favored by
chance in thus seeing you so soon and alone."
! Floris stood calm and cold as a statue, but with a heart
that fluttered in her bosom like an imprisoned bird.
I "I will avail myself of the opportunity which chance has
given me, Miss Carlisle, to beg your pardon."
" My pardon ?" said Floris.
" Your pardon," he repeated ; " and I do beg it most hum-
bly. Last night, in complete ignorance of your name and
identity, I made a statement, moved by an impulse which
was too strong for my control, that must have sounded in
your ears like an impertinence. Miss Carlisle, I humbly beg
your pardon!"
MV LADY PRIDE. 45
Moris raised her eyes for a moment to look at him, then
dropped them again.
" It is granted, my lord/' she said, coldly. " It was my
fault ; I ought to have stopped you ; I ought to have told you
who and what I was."
" My foe the woman I have, all unintentionally, ruined,"
he murmured.
" ISTo, my lord, you have done me no injury. If we have
suffered, it is through the law."
There was a moment's silence, during which he stood look* (
ing at her and flicking his whip restlessly, then Floris raised \
her eyes.
" Her ladyship requested me to ask you, Lord Norman, if
you would remain in England and assist her in the fancy
fair?" she said, reluctantly.
He turned toward her.
"Are you going to take part in this affair?" he asked.
" I do not know. I shall do so if Lady Pendleton wishes
me, my lord."
"Are you interested in this fancy fair? Do you care
whether I remain for it, or are you simply the mouthpiece of
Betty?"
" It is a matter of perfect indifference to me, my lord,
whether you remain or go," she replied, haughtily.
" Oh, I know that !" he rejoined, hastily. " You misunder-
stand me ! I know that my presence must be hateful to you,
and that if you could have your wish you would never see me
again. I am quite cognizant of your feelings toward me, alas !
But for the fair's sake, would you wish me to stay, Miss
Carlisle?"
" I know nothing about it," said Floris.
" Then please tell Betty that I don't care a fig for her fair ;
that I won't have anything to do with it, and that if she uses
my name I will never forgive her," he said, morosely.
" Very good, my lord," she said, and turned to leave him.
He waited until she had reached the door, then spoke her
name. J
"Wait," he said; "I have changed my mind. You can
tell her that I will do what she wants in this fool's business,
and she may stick my name, if it's of any use to her, all over
the place. Is that any better, Miss Carlisle ?"
" I have no doubt that Lady Pendleton will think it mucK
46 MY LADY PRIDE.
the better answer to her message/' said Floris, with perfect
self-possession. " Good-morning, my lord."
" One moment more, please," he said, reluctant to let her
go. " I think you said last night that you were fond of
music ?"
Floris inclined her head. She did not rememb.er saying it;
but as it was true she let the assertion pass.
; " I have bought a box for the opera for Betty and you," he
\said. " Will you tell her that I will call for her soon after
dinner ?"
Floris bowed, without a word of thanks.
He strode toward her and held out his hand.
" In token of your forgiveness, will you s*iake hands, Miss
Carlisle ? I have noticed with more pain thi I can describe
that you have hitherto refused to do so."
Floris extended her soft, white hand slowly, <md he took it
and held it firmly grasped in his so firmly that she could not
withdraw it.
Lord Norman got on his horse and clattered down the
street. He got the best box he could tfrat was vacant, then
rode to Covent Garden and purchased a couple of very hand-
some bouquets.
"Directing these to be sent to his rooms, he turned his horse
in the direction of Eton Place, and as he neared it, the cloud
on his face by no means lightened.
A groom took his horse round to the stables, and a foot-
man, in answer to his inquiry for Lady Blan^Jie, at once ad-
mitted him and passed him on to another, who showed him
upstairs into a small drawing-room.
Lady Blanche, in her riding habit, was seated at a table
writing a letter. She did not rise as he came in, and merely
smiled as she held out her hand.
" It was very good of you^ to come so early/' she said,
in her soft, low voice, which if he had loved her, would have
made him turn and take her in his arms, so inviting and
caressing was it.
" Oh, I have nothing else to do," he said. " What did yon
want me for, Blanche?"
" Well, for one thing, to ask you about the Lynches. They
have asked us to Ballyfloe for the first fortnight in the au-
tumn. I would not give an answer until I knew whether you
were^going, because well, the reason is too obvious. Are von
not immensely flattered, sir?"
MY LADY PRIDE. 47
"Very," he said, forcing a smile, and feeling uncomfort-
able and guilty. " My dear Blanche, don't throw the respon-
sibility on me ! You might not enjoy yourself, and then what
remorse would fall to my lot !"
"Oh, I shall enjoy myself/' she said, "especially if you
come down."
He beat a tattoo on the window with his whip.
" Then of course I will go down to Ballyfloe."
" How kind of you, Bruce !" she murmured.
He bit his lip. He had just left one beautiful woman,
who could find not one gracious word for him, and here was
another who thanked him for nothing at all. And yet in his
heart he felt as if he would rather have had the one gracious
word from Floris than the sweetly-voiced thanks of Lady
Blanche, and cursed himself for a fool because it was so.
"And what is the other thing ?" he asked, more genially.
" Oh, it is about this fancy fair of the duchess's, Bruce.
She has asked me to take a stall. Would you go if you were
me?"
" My dear Blanche," he protested, with a laugh, " how can
I possibly tell what I should really do if I were you? Go, I
suppose."
"Very well, I will go. And, Bruce, you won't mind help-
ing me, will you ?"
" I should be very glad, Blanche, but I have promised to
perform the same vague office for Lady Betty."
She did not relax her smile, but her white eyelids dropped
over the brown eyes for an instant.
" Really ! Well, I must look out for some one else."
" Were you going for a ride ?" he asked, getting away from
the very awkward subject.
" Yes, and you are riding, too ! Do you mean to come with
me, Bruce ? "
" If you will allow me," he said.
She looked pleased, and, crossing the room, rung the bell
and ordered her horse. As she did so she saw something
sticking in the lining of his hat.
It was the box ticket, which, after the manner of forgetful
men, he had placed it in this conspicuous position. She bent
forward and looked at it, then came back to him.
"Are you going to the Crown-brilliants to-night, Bruce ? "
"No, he replied. "I am tired of the Crown-brilliant^
48 MY LA1H PRIM.
W
They always have twice as maixy as the rooms will holfl; last
time I was nearly suffocated."
" Come and dine and speikd the evening with us, then/'
she said.
"I can't, Blanche, to-night; I have an engagement.^
" I am sorry/' she said, sweetly.
" The horse, my lady/' announced the servant.
Lord Norman went for his hat; but Lady Blanche begged
ihim to wait for a moment.
" I have forgotten a note I want to write/' she said, and in
her slow, graceful manner she sat down and wrote a line or
two, declining the Crown-brilliants, and on half a sheet of
paper scribbled, " Get a box at the opera for to-night. *
" I am quite ready now/' she said, and as they passed out
she handed the note and the paper to the footman.
The park was full as they entered the ring, and hats flew
off the men lounging over the rails as the two passed.
They walked and cantered round the ring of tan for an
hour, she bowing to the endless string of friends and acquain-
tances, he noticing no one ; th?n, with a sigh, she said :
" You must not stay any longer,' Bruce ! You want to go
to your club for lunch ! It is very good of you to have come
with me ; I know how you hate this kind of thing ! "
He started slightly.
" Nonsense ! " he said ; but all the same he turned his horse
at once.
As they rode down Eton Place, a man who had been
lounging at the corner smoking a cigar, looked up and stared
at them, then, as they came abreast of him, he put up his
hand as if to arrange his hat more comfortably, and, in doing
so, completely hid his face.
1 Neither of them saw him, and if Lord Norman had done
so, he would not have recognized Oscar Eaymond.
It was Floris's first experience of theatre going, and her
heart beat fast with curiosity and excitement ; but amid it all
she could not help noticing the calm, masterful way with
which Lord Norman escorted them through the crowded en-
trance in the foyer.
Two attendants ushered them into their box, the overture
was just beginning, and dazzled and excited, Floris leaned
forward and gazed fixedly at the stage. As she did so, a score
opera glasses were leveled at the box, and Lady Betty
significantly at Lord Norman.
MY LADY PRIDE. 4$
01 i told -you so," she whispered, leaning back to him. " I
Juiew she would create a sensation ! She is the most beautiful
girl here, Bruce ! "
He frowned, and, as if by accident, drew the outer curtain
so that it screened Moris. The opera commenced, and all
Florist eyes and soul were concentrated on the stage.
The sad, miserable story of human frailty and human suf-
fering developed itself, and amid the most intense silence^
Nilsson sa*ig her great song.
As she had finished, a tremendous uproar of applause arose,
and Floris, moved beyond herself, raised her bouquet and
threw it, with a passionate gesture, at Nilsson's feet. It was
done on the impulse of the moment; the next she looked
round almost with affright, but Lord Norman bent over her
with a smile.
" That was nicely done," he said. " See ! she is smiling up
at you ! "
Floris bent over the box and met the great prima donna's
smile, and her heart seemed to stand still. Then a huge
wave of remorse swept over her; she had thrown away the
flowers he had given her.
Almost as if he read the thought he said :
" You could not have applied them to a better use, Miss
Carlisle. Besides, they were your own to do as you wish
with."
The curtain drew up on the last act, and Floris was bend-
ing forward to catch the first notes of the music when, sud-
denly, some persons entered the box exactly opposite their
own.
She would not have noticed the fact, but at the moment she
saw Lady Betty lean back and catch at Lord Norman's
arm, and heard her whisper gently, in a startled voice :
" Bruce ! Look ! There is Blanche ! "
She would not have noticed the fact, but at the moment sKe
box, and saw a beautiful face with dark-brown, velvety eyes
fixed, with almost fierce, scornful scrutiny, upon her.
50 MY LADY PRIDE.
CHAPTER VI.
BEWITCHED.
Right across the magnificent opera house the two women
looked at each other.
The expression of the fierce jealousy which had flamed forth
from Lady Blanche's eyes passed and vanished in a moment,
and nothing but a calm, indolent, almost indifferent gaze met
Floris's one of frank admiration.
Lord Norman stood behind her chair, calm, impassive,
apparently deaf and blind to all around him, with that sang
froid which his admirers declared was unique and inimitable.
He had seen the flash of jealousy dart across the threatre, had
seen the hot flush on Floris's face, but for any sign of recog-
nition, he might have been indeed blind. Lady Pendleton,
however, looked uneasy at his immovability, and began to
fidget and cast glances at the opposite box. Presently she
turned her head.
" Hadn't you better go across, Bruce ? "
" Presently," he answered.
The opera proceeded, and presently the great scene arrived.
Nilsson was in beautiful voice that night and Marguerite's
sweet, plaintive, soul-stirring death song rose and filled the
house with its wonderful, pathetic sweetness.
Gradually, Floris's face grew pale, her lips quivered, the
tears gathered in her eyes and trickled slowly, like great
diamonds, down her cheeks.
Never had she looked more lovely, more heart-moving ; and
as the blase man of the world watched her, he felt an awful
longing to take her in his arms, to bend and kiss the tears
from the star-like face ; as it wasj his own face went pale under
the spell she was, all unconsciously, weaving round him, and
the hand resting on the back of the chair, touching her dress,
trembled. He could not resist the longing to speak to her,
and bent over her, murmuring:
" No, no ! Do not ! - It is not even worth that ! "
Without moving her head, Floris turned her eyes toward
him, with a half shame-faced smile, and wiped her eyes.
" I am glad, and yet so sorry so sorry it is over ! " she
murmured, as the curtain fell. " Who could help crying ? "
And she laughed tremulously.
MY LADY PRIDE. 5i
"You see we have all of us seen it so many times," said
Lord Norman in his low voice, which seemed meant to reach
her ears alone ; " and we get hardened. But I am glad you
are enjoying it."
" Enjoying it ! I have never been so happy in my life ! '
exclaimed Floris. A light shone? in her eyes for a moment.
" You make me very happy ," he said in a low voice.
Instantly her manner changed, and the old, proud loot
came into her eyes.
"Are you not going now ? " she said, turning to Lady
Pendleton.
" Oh, there's a ballet, isn't there, Bruce ? " asked Lady
Betty. " Please let us stay for the ballet. One always goes
home so very miserable after * Faust ' without the ballet."
" By all means," he said ; then he got his opera hat, and
left the box without a word; and Floris felt that she had
wounded him by her cold repulse.
Lady Pendleton shrugged her shoulders.
" At last ! " she exclaimed, confidentially. " I thought he
was never going. I assure you, my dear, I have been most
uncomfortable. He ought to have got up and gone round
directly she came in."
" Lady Blanche Seymour, do you mean ? " asked Floris, in-
differently.
" Of course. How well she is looking to-night," said Lady
Betty, putting up her opera glasses. " She has got on one of
Worth's latest. Certainly I will say that Blanche knows how
to dress. I don't know anyone who wears diamonds so well.
Did you see her look across at us as she came in, my dear ? "
:( Yes, I saw her look across yes."
Lady Betty laughed with a little malicious enjoyment.
" Blanche and I don't get on very well together, you know,
I fancy she thinks I take up too much of Brace's time. Ei-
diculous, isn't it ? I can not help his being nice and attentive,
can I ? I don't think she liked seeing him here with me ; she
4 considers that she has the monopoly in poor Bruce. Look !
There he is. How handsome he is! Eeally I don't think
(Ithere is another man in the house with such a figure and
and style, to say nothing of his face."
Floris looked across and saw Lord Bruce standing beside
Lady Blanche's chair. He was talking, but not bending over
her as he had bent over Floris; and Lady Blanche was speak-
ing to him with her face turned almost completely away.^
52 MY LADY PRIDE.
The orchestra began the overture to the hallet.
" I wonder whether he means to remain there for the rest
of the evening ! " said Lady Betty, with the pettishness of a
spoiled child. " I suppose he will deign to come and see us
home?*
The curtain drew up, and Floris turned to the stage and
gazed at the magnificent scene spellbound. * So enwrapt was
she that she did not hear the box door open, and it was not
until she felt his hand upon her chair that she knew Lord
Norman had returned.
" Well ? " he said, and if he had been offended he had re-,
gained his temper, "not so good as ' Faust ?'"
"No, but it is very beautiful! More beautiful than I
dreamed it could be ! " said Ploris. " They seem to float on
air ; how they must enjoy it ! "
" Was she very angry, Bruce, " Floris heard Lady Betty
whisper.
" Blanche, do you mean ? " he asked, coldly, as if reluctant
to answer.
'' Yes, of course. I know she was angry, because she smiled
at me so sweetly while you were going round, and avoided us
so completely when you got there."
" You have wonderful intuition, Betty," he said, calmly,
and turned to Floris instantly.
"Can you make the story out ? " he said. " They are danc*
ing an opera, instead of singing it, you know."
" I think I can," said Floris, " but I am not sure."
He drew a chair near to her, and leaning forward, explained
the action of the ballet with a patience and earnestness which
would have astonished many who knew him, his eyes fixed on
her face with grave intentness the while. As he was speaking,
there came a knock at the door, and a voice said :
" May I come in, Lady Pendleton ? "
Lady Betty startled and uttered a bird-like cry of delight;
and surprise.
"Why it is Bertie! Is it you, Bertie?"
" Guilty, my lady ! " answered the voice, so pleasant and)
merry a one that Floris turned her head.
" Bruce, open the door ! " exclaimed Lady Betty. " It is
Bertie Clifforde."
Lord Norman got up and opened the door, an3 a young
man, a very young man, entered. He was tall and graceful,
with fair hair that clustered in curls on his brow; a soft fringe
%tt 1ADY PRIDE. 83
of gold above his upper lip promised a mustache; his eyes
were blue, and full of life and joyousness; and his lips were
curved in a smile which almost made Floris smile to look at
them.
" Why, Bertie, where have you sprung from? " demanded
[Lady Betty, laughingly
" From Canada/' he replied. " Been out there for the big
game, you know. How well you are looking! I am so glad
to see .you ! How lucky I dropped in to-night ! And Bruce>
too ! " and he released Lady Pendleton's hand at last and took
Lord Norman's. " So awfully glad to see you, Bruce ! It
seems ages since we met ! And how well you are looking ! 1
am awfully lucky ! Do you know I hesitated outside for a
moment before I came in! Never expected to see you, you
may be sure, or I should not have paused a morneixt ! " and lie
wrung Lord Norman's hand again.
Then his joyous blue eyes turned to Floris, M aestioningly.
She had her face toward the stage, and Lord Norman made
no offer of introduction, but Lady Betty leaned forward and
tapped Floris on the arm.
" My dear, let me make you acquainted with an old friend
I beg your pordan, Bertie! A young friend
" Now, Lady Pendleton ! " murmured Lord Olifforde, with
meek reproach.
" Lord Clifforde, Miss Carlisle."
Floris turned her head and bowed, and Bertio, as Viscounl
Clifforde was usually called, started slightly, flushed, and
then bowed. Lady Betty laughed with pleasant malicious-
ness. She saw the effect Floris's beauty had made upon the
boy.
"And so you have just come from Canada, Bertie ? " said
Lord Norman.
j Bertie responded with a smile and a laugh, and began to tell
them some of his adventures. Floris scarcely listened, but the
clear, fresh voice reached her ears and chimed in not inhar-
moniously with the music. All the while he was talking, the
young viscount's eyes were wandering toward her, and in a
pause of the conversation he drew near Lady Betty and leaned
down to whisper : 4&
" Who is she, Lady Pendleton? "
" My companion, Bertie. Isn't she beautiful ? "
" Hush ! " he whispered, with a bright blush that many a
54 MY LADY PRIDE.
woman in the theatre would have given her suite of diamonds
to possess, " Hush, she will hear you ! She is lovely ! "
He drew nearer to Floris, and seeing her opera cloak had
slipped to the floor of the box, stooped and, picking it up, put
it on the back of her chair.
" Thank you," said Floris, looking round at him, and read*
ing in his eyes the direct, obvious desire to speak to her, she
slowly moved her chair so that he might draw his near.
But when he had seated himself close to her, he did not
seem to know what to say.
" Have you been long in London ? " he asked, almost timid-
ly, but his eyes showed the interest he took in her.
" Only a day or two/' said Floris. " This is the first opera
I have ever seen."
" Eeally ! " his blue eyes expanding. " How jolly ! I wish
I had come earlier ! " then he blushed. " Has Bruce Lord
Norman been here all the time ? "
"Yes/' said Floris.
" Dear old Bruce ! " he said, glancing slightly to the back of
the box where Lord Norman leaned, looking at the door, " I
am so glad to see him again/'
" You are old friends ? " said Floris, very quietly.
" Oh, yes ; we were at Eton together ; that is, I was there a
couple of terms before he left, and we have seen a great deal
of each other since. He has been awfully kind to me, taken
me about, and^put me up at his clubs. I am very proud of
being his friend ; there are so few fellows he is really intimate
with. It is just good luck my meeting him here to-night. I
heard at the club that he had sailed in his yacht."
" Lord Norman is staying in London to help Lady Pendle-
ton at a fancy fair," said Floris.
" Eeally ! A fancy fair ! How jolly ! I wonder whether
Bhe would let me help. Fll ask her ! " he said, resolutely, and
he got up and went to Lady Betty.
Lord Norman came forward, as if he had been waiting.
" How do you like my friend Bertie, Miss Carlisle ? " he
asked.
" Very much," replied Floris. " He has gone to ask Lady
Betty te allow him to help her at the fancy fair."
" She will be delighted. Bertie is what is called in theatri-
cal circles, ' a safe draw/ He is the pet of society ; it is a
Wonder he is not spoiled."
MY LADY PRIDE. 55
"5? don't think I should say that he is not spoiled," said
Floris, with a smile.
Bertie came back to her chair, as she spoke, flushed and
radiant.
" I am accepted, miss " he stopped.
" Carlisle," put in Lord Norman.
"Miss Carlisle! I shall work awfully hard! There ar^ (
lots of things I can do. You will see ! We'll make a bi
success of it."
The curtain fell amid a thunder of applause, and Lady
Betty, with a little yawn, shut up her fan and looked
around.
ft Don't you wait, Bruce," she said, with a significant
glance at the opposite box. " Bertie will take charge of
us."
A frown gathered for a moment on Lord Norman's brow.
'- What have I done to be summarily dismissed ? " he said.
" I was thinking for your own good, Bruce," she whis-
pered.
"P*ay let me think for myself," he said.
Theii he went to put on Floris's cloak, but Bertie, with
hands that almost trembled in his eagerness and delight, had
got the efoak in his hand, and was reverently arranging it on
her shoulders; then he offered her his arm, and Lord Bruce
was left to escort Lady Betty. The two men conducted the
ladies from the box into the crowded foyer, and Bertie
dashed off tt> find the carriage, which he managed, by dint of
hard work and the bribe of a sovereign, to bring to the door
just five minutes before its time. Then he went back to the
saloon, looking superbly handsome, with his fair face flushed
with his exertions. As he entered he saw Lord Norman, as
he thought, standing by the door.
" Why ! Where are the ladies, Bruce ? " he exclaimed.
The man addressed looked at him for a moment, then
turned, and was instantly swallowed up in the brilliant crowd
thronging the corridor. Bertie looked after him with aston-
ishment, then mechanically made his way to where, he had
left the three, and found them standing in the same spot,
waiting for him. He stared at Bruce with amazement, and
in silence, for a moment.
"What's the matter, Bertie? Has the carnage flawn
away?"
56 MY LADY PRIDE,
" Why ! how did yon get here again so soon, and with-
out your overcoat? " asked Bertie, open-eyed.
" I have not left the saloon since you went,, of course/' re-
turned Lord Norman.
" But I saw you outside here a minute a second ago ! "
retorted Bertie.
Lady Betty laughed.
" What nonsense you talk, Bertie ! " she exclaimed. t( Bruce
lias not left us ; how could he ? "
Bertie colored.
" I have made a stupid mistake/' he said, penitently. " I
have got the carriage/'
They went down without another word, but as they de-
scended the stairs he looked from left to right searchingly.
Lord Norman and he put them into the carriage, and Lord
Norman stood by the window a moment after he had shut
the door.
" Good-night," he said in his low, musical voice, and
speaking to Floris. " I hope you will not be tired in the
morning."
:( Thanks," she said, calmly.
The carriage moved on very slowly^ and Berti<a seized the
opportunity to press forward.
" I may come and talk about tlie fair, to-morrow ? " he said,
eagerly.
"Yes, yes; do," said Lady Betty, putting out her hand.
"And make haste back ! You have no hat on, and will catch
cold ! "
He laughed his frank, boyish laugh, and, as if in echo,
Floris laughed, too/ and held out her hand.
He flushed with grateful pleasure and seized it, getting
nearly run over for his pains, and stood looking after the
carriage until it was lost to sight.
Lord Norman watched him with a smile on his face.
" Don't they wear hats in Canada, Bertie ? " he said.
The young viscount started, and laughed apologetically*,
then sent a man to the saloon for his hat.
" Oh, Bruce, what a lovely creature ! " he exclaimed, in a
low voice, as he locked his arm in Lord Norman's Lady
Betty's companion! Do you know her well, Bruce? How
glad I am that I came back, and that I dropped in to-night ! "
Lord Norman stopped again and looked at him, with some-
thing like a frown and a smile commingled.
MY LADY PRIDE. 57
" Now.> Bertie,, don't play the fool. I know what this
rhapsody means. You are in love for the five hundred and
ninty-ninth time ! "
The young viscount raised his head and looked at him.
His face went pale, and his bine eyes were almost solemn in
their earnestness.
" No, ; for the first time, Bruce. Don't chaff me. I I
don't think I should like it. Yes, I am in love," he went on,
almost defiantly ; " and I am not ashamed to own it. I feel
js if I had been bewitched."
He put his hand to his brow again, and his face went pale.
" Don't chaff me. I'm serious this time, Bruce."
i; So you have assured me quite a dozen times before," re-
fctvd Lord Norman.
" Vkit I have never felt like this. There, don't let us talk
*f it, Bfuce."
" But we will, said Lord Norman, almost sternly. " Lis-
ten to me, Bertie; I know about as much of you as you do
yourself. Yui* are "Viscount Clifforde, with an old title and
fin empty pi^rse. You are good-looking, confound you, as a
picture, and you have got to take your good looks into the
open market, and do your duty in that state of life, etc. And
that duty is, to ir^ai-ry an heiress as soon as you conveniently
can."
The boy blushed, famed pale and, then sighed.
" Now, Miss Carlisle is not an heiress ; she is penniless, or
next door to it, and Lady Betty's companion ; and the sooner
you get over your infatuation the better ! "
Bertie stood silent for a Moment they had reached the
door of Lord Norman's chambers then he looked up.
" It is all very well for you to talk like this, Bruce. You do
not know what I feel. I don't think you were ever downright
in love."
" No ? " said Lord Norman, with A Grange smile.
"But you 'mean well/ as they say, ai^d perhaps you are
right. I'll call on Lady Betty to-morrow, w3jd start off for i
oh, anywhere ! "
" Do," said Lord Norman.
" Lord Clifforde ! " said Lady Betty, as Josine opened tKe
door of the boudoir and made the announcement.
58 MY LADY PRIDE.
The room was in the wildest confusion, littered with the
contents of a huge box, which had just arrived from Paris,
containing a selection of Swiss costumes, slightly altered and
beautified by a great master. Floris was kneeling before the
glass trying on wihte linen caps and kerchiefs.
"Bertie, my dear! How attentive of him! Show Lord
Clifforde up," she said, and presently they heard him corning
up two stairs at a time.
Pie stopped at the door, aghast and blushing at the sight of
the finery and the occupation of the two ladies.
" Oh, I beg pardon ! I thought the girl said 'upstairs.' '-
" Oh, it is all right ! Come in, Bertie. You are the very
man we want," said Lady Betty, holding out her little paw.
" We are too busy to receive visits of ceremony this morning,
but if you like to take us as we are you are quite welcome."
"What an awful litter! How do you do^ Miss Carlisle?"
Floris held out her hand, without getting up from her
knees, and he bent over it.
" What a fine lot of dresses ! Bather gorgeous, aren't they ? "
" Color is everything at a fancy fair," said Lady Betty,
with an air of conviction.
" Color and cheek ! " said Bertie.
" Sir ! " exclaim'ed Lady Betty, with mock severity. " We
did not admit you into our boudoir to receive your imper-
tinence."
" Beg pardon, Lady Betty ! " he retorted. " I meant color
and confidence."
" Then we had better give you a stall all to yourself, Ber-
tie," said Lady Betty. " Now tell me how I look. Isn't this
quite a Swiss girl's get-up ? "
They tried on several other caps and kerchiefs^ and Ber-
tie was asked his opinion on each and all, till he must have
become rather confused; then he said suddenly, as if he had
been bracing himself up for the announcement :
" It is very kind of you to show me these things, Lady
Pendleton, because because, you see, I sha'n't be able to see
them at the fair."
"Why not?" demanded Lady Betty.
He glanced at Floris as she knelt at the box replacing the
costumes.
"I I find I have to go down to my uncle's place; I'm
overdue there now, and he g^ts rather rough if I don't show
up pretty of tea."
MY LADY PRIDE. 59
" Oh, nonsense ! }9 said Lady Betty. " Fm sure he won't
mind waiting a week or two longer for you; I shouldn't if I
were your uncle. You must help us with the fair, Bertie!
You will be of no end of use ; won't he, Floris ? "
Floris didn't answer, but she smiled assentingly.
" There ! You hear what- Miss Carlisle says."
" I didn't hear Miss Carlisle speak," says poor Bertie, all
( his heroic resolutions of flying from temptation slipping away
from him."
" I beg your pardon ! " said Floris. " I am sure you would
be of great use, Lord Clifforde, and I hope you will be able
to stay."
" If you say so," he said, " of course I will stay. My uncle
must wait. Let me see., what can I do?"
Then he sat down again, and eagerly plunged into the
subject.
" I'll tell you what I can do," he said. " I'll be a fortune-
teller, or something of that sort, in a cave; or have a show,
and stand outside with a big drum. ' Walk up ! Walk up,
ladies and gentlemen ! Just going to begin ! ' That sort of
thing, you know, eh, Miss Carlisle ? " and he turned his hand-
some face to hers, with a radiant smile in his blue eyes that
made Floris smile in return.
" Look here ! I'll go and get some properties, dresses, and
all that, and arrange something. Good-bye. You leave the
show business to me ! " and shaking hands, he took his de-
parture, " all in a glow with love," as Moore says.
In the afternoon Lord Clifforde came again, making pro-
fuse apologies for the intrusion. But he wanted to consult
them about the " show."
" I think I'll give a kind of entertainment recitals and
songs. We can rig up a tent or 'something of the kind and
charge five shillings for admittance."
"A guinea! Nothing will be less than a guinea!" said
Lady Betty, decisively.
Bertie looked rather glum.
" Rather a dear entertainment ! " he said. " Never mind !
You'll take the responsibility of the charge for admission and
how about the songs? I've bought one or two. I thought
that perhaps "he hesitated and glanced at Floris, who was
seated at the window with a book " I thought that perhaps
you or Miss Carlisle would try them over for me."
60 MY LADY PRIDE.
"Oh, I never could play an accompaniment/ said Laiy
Betty. " Moris, my dear, will you try them over for him/'
Floris rose at once and went to the piano, and, with a
suppressed delight, Bertie unrolled his songs.
" Fm afraid they are rather foolish," he said ; " but the
young lady at the music shop assured me that they were all
the rage just now."
He stuck one up on the stand, from which it fell off, as
usual, and in his scramble to recover it, his hands clasped!
Floris's.
All innocent and unsuspecting she laughed, and put the
music in its place, but a red flush flew to Bertie's face for a
moment, leaving it pale and agitated, as he stood beside her
looking down at the music.
" There ! " she said, playing the prelude. " I think it is
rather pretty. Will you try it ? "
He started, and tried to smile carelessly, then began. The
emotion that had taken possession of him gave a thrill to his
really beautiful voice, and the lines rang out with exquisite
feeling and harmony. " My sweet girl love, with frank, gray
eyes ! " He looked at her. Was it possible that she should
not guess he was thinking of, singing to, her !
Suddenly, while he was still singing, the door opened and,
unseen by either of them, Lord Norman entered. He stood
looking at them at the lovely face of the girl, at the hand-
some, enraptured one of the young viscount in silence and
motionless; and as he looked a strange pain gnawed at his
heart, a pain which stung and hurt him terribly, though he
tried to crush it down.
With a soft, lingering tenderness, Bertie dwelt on the last
note until it died away sadly, then he looked down at her
indeed he had kept his eyes rivited on her most of the time.
" Will that do? lie asked, humbly.
"You sing it beautifully," she answered, frankly. "I
think Lady Betty is right, a guinea will not be too much to
charge for admittance to your entertainment."
" How good you are to me ! " he said, in a low, tremulous
voice.
Floris started at the tone rather than the words, and looked
around. As she did so she saw the tall, stalwart figure of
Lord Norman standing regarding them, and with a flood of
crimson suffusing her face, she rose.
"Please do not get up," he said, and Ms voice souaded
MY LADY PRIDE. 61
Vfcry grave and almost grim. " I will go at once if you allow
me to disturb you. Please sit down and play again. Bertie,
I should like to hear you sing that again/'
But Floris, pale and proudly cold, said:
" I will tell her ladyship that you are here, my lord/' and
with a bow glided from the room.
Bertie stood looking after her, aghast for a moment, then
he turned to Lord Norman.
"What's the matter, Bruce? Why did she go like that?
Have I offended her, do you think?" and the color actually
deserted his handsome face.
" You ! " said Lord Norman. " No, my dear Bertie. It is
nothing, not much at least. Miss Carlisle happens to dislike
me no t without cause and flies from my presence. That
is all/ 3 and he laughed, but there was a strange bitterness in
the laugh, and he turned his face away from Bertie's gaze oi
surprise.
CHAPTER VII.
A ROSE BEYOND PRICE.
THE great day had arrived, and Lady Pendleton and aboul
a score more of fashionable ladies were in the seventh heaven
of delight.
For months little else had been talked of " in society " but
the fancy fair in aid of the funds of the Society for Improving
the Condition of the South Sea Islanders.
The thing had been got up on a most magnificent scale,
utterly regardless of expense, and the great hall adjoining the
(Botanical Gardens had been transmogrified into a very fair
I representation of a Swiss village. It was a pretty, beautiful
< sight, which if it could have been transferred bodily to the
boards of a theater, would have made the fortune of a mana-
ger; and at -the opening ceremony "society" thronged in
and filled the place almost to suffocation.
Near the center of the hall stood Lady Betty's chalet, and
in front of the open window, with its assortment of dolls,
antimacassars, smoking-caps, babies' clothing, indifferent oil
pictures, and bead slippers, stood Lady Betty, supremely
happy in Monsieur Worth's idea of a Swiss costume. Never
had Lady Betty been so happy; there was only one thing that
62 MY LADY PRIDE.
prevented her being perfectly so, and that was Floris's respect-
ful but firm refusal to stand outside the stall with her.
If she could have done so without offending Lady Pendle-
ton, Floris would have declined to take any part in the affair
at all, but as Lady Betty had made a point of it, she had re-
luctantly consented, stipulating, however, that she should be
permitted to keep in the background. As the only "back-
ground " possible was the inside of the gimcrack chalet, she
had taken refuge in it, and stood well in the shadow looking
on at the strange scene.
Exactly opposite her was the chalet kept by Lady Glen-
loona, with Mr. Parks, the famous gossip, close at her elbow.
A little lower down she saw the stately figure of the Duchess
of Clief eden standing in front of her stall, and next her, in
charge of a shop that seemed running over with flowers and
fruits, stood the tall, graceful figure of Lady Blanche.
Ivory white, as usual, calm and impassive as an iceberg,
but extremely beautiful in her gray dress and white cap, Lady
Blanche surveyed the scene as if it had been got up expressly
for her behoof and amusement.
All the rest of the crowd in the pageant faded from Floris's
sight, and she seemed to see only that lovely white face, with
the dreamy, velvet eyes. She was so absorbed- in contemplat-
ing her that she almost started when Lady Betty thrust her
head inside the chalet, nearly knocking off the monstrous cap,
and exclaimed in half -irritable, half -excited tones:
" Provoking, isn't it? It is just like Bruce! One of the
patrons, too ! " He ought to have been here at the opening/'
Then Bertie Clifforde's pleasant voice was heard outside.
" Here we are, Lady Betty, as the clown says ! Splendid
house, isn't it? How are you getting on?" As he spoke he
looked about the chalet eagerly. " Where is Miss Carlisle ?"
"Oh, inside there," said " Lady Betty, radiant again.
" What a tremendous success, isn't it, Bertie ?"
" Splendid !" he assented, his blue eyes peering into the
dusty interior of the stall anxiously. "Splendid! All the
world and his family here ! May I come in, Miss Carlisle ? "
" I don't think there is room for two," said Floris, with a
smile, as he stood at the low door with bent head. " How is
your show getting on?"
" Oh, all right," he replied. " I've got a big chalet, and
they have made a platform up, and presently I'm going to get
*em in at a guinea a head/'
MY LADY PRIDE. 63
The crowd thickened. Lady Betty was driving a fine trade
in bead slippers and antimacassars, and Floris and Bertie be-
tween them were fully occupied in taking money and giving
change. The music, performed by the Coldstream band at
the end of the hall, was deafening, the heat stifling, and Floris
was wondering whether the South Sea Islanders would fully
appreciate the efforts on their behalf, when a tall, stalwart
figure, which she would have known amid a thousand, saun-
tered toward the stall.
" Bruce ! " almost shrieked Lady Betty. "At last ! Now,
M really, you ought to have been here an hour ago!"
"A thousand pardons !" he said, in his quiet way. " I have
been detained by a meeting of the committee of the Jockey
Club. . Sold all your rubbish I beg pardon useful arti-
cles? Where is Miss Carlisle?" and his dark eyes roved
around the stall.
"Inside," said Lady Betty. "Now, Bruce, what are you
going to buy?"
He scarcely seemed to hear her.
"Anything. An antimacassar, pair of slippers ah, Ber-
tie !" with a nod. " Glad to see you at the good work !"
Then, as Bertie made room for him, he bent his head and
passed the narrow door-way. " Good-morning, Miss Car-
lisle," he said.
Floris bowed. She was busy giving change at the moment,
and did not look up, so that he did not see the sudden flush
which swept over her beautiful face.
Bertie fidgeted and looked around.
"Fll go and see to my show," he said, and disappeared.
"I hope you are taking in a great deal of money, Miss
Carlisle," said Lord Norman.
" Yes, I think we are," answered Floris, still avoiding his
gaze.
" Floris," said Lady Betty, cheerfully, " look him out some
pretty, useful things."
" Such as dolls and tea-cosies, Miss Carlisle, please"
He went inside, and Floris turned over the things, laughing
the while.
For all his declaration of indifference, he was a long while
making his selection, and his dark eyes were more often fixed
on the lovely face beside him than upon the fancy articles.
"What, will you do with all these?" asked Floris.
"Heaven only knows!" he responded. "But I am not
64 MY LADY PRIDE.
cleaned out yet. Is there anything here that you have worked
or made yourself?"
" No/' said Floris; " Lady Pendleton bought them all."
He glanced at a red rose lying on the snow-white kerchief
across her bosom.
" There is only one thing I see here that I really care for/'
he said, thoughtfully.
" Is there ? What is it ?" asked Floris, innocently looking
over the heap. " I thought I had shown you everything. Is
it that writing-case?^
" No, but HI take that. No, it isn't that, Miss Carlisle;
will you sell me the rose you wear?" he asked, respectfully,
almost reverentially.
Floris crimsoned for a moment, and her eyes drooped ; then
the cold hauteur, which, alas! came so easily to her, over-
spread her beautiful face.
" It is not for sale, my lord."
" Forgive me," he murmured, penitently. " You are right.
It is beyond price in my eyes, at least."
Obeying a sudden, uncontrollable impulse, she snatched the
rose from her bosom and flung it to the ground.
Ho stooped and picked it up, and held it out to her, with a
look on his face that thrilled her.
" Has it become so hateful to you because I coveted it ?" he
said, sadly. " Please put it back to show me that I have not
sinned beyond forgiveness. I promise not to offend again."
She f ook the rose, hesitated a moment, then, instead of re-
placing it in the kerchief, laid it down on the table.
" Some one else might covet it," she said, simply.
He bowed his head, laid a small pile of gold beside tKe
flower, then, without a word, raised his hat and went out.
Floris stood for a moment motionless, her color coming
and going, her heart beating fast and furiously, then she took
HT) the rose and thrust it gently inside the bosom of her
dress.
Lord Norman strode down the avenue between the rows
of shops as if he were making for the door; but as he came.
opposite the flower-stall kept by Lady Blanche, she came out-
side and called him.
He stopped and went up to her, his face still dark and
gloomy.
" What will you have, sir ?" she asked, mimicking the tone
MY LADY PRIDE. 65
ol an ordinary shop-woman. " Lilies are very fashionable
just now."
"Anything you like. What foolery it is !"
" Isn't it ? But it does good, I suppose. Lady Glenloona
says that we shall clear four or five thousand pounds. Shall
I make you a bouquet?"
" Great heavens, no ! What should I do with it ? Here,
Blanche, I'll give you five pounds if you'll let me off with a
single flower."
"Very well/' she said; "but don't think you are over-
liberal, Bruce. A gentleman just offered me 'a ten-pound
note for the camellia in my hair. A single flower! Bruce,
what do you say if I give you my camellia?" and she looked
up at him with infinite tenderness in her soft, brown eyes.
" Better keep it for some millionaire who will bid a thou-
sand or two, Blanche," he replied, carelessly.
" No," she said, slowly, " you shall have it, Bruce, and for
your paltry five pounds. There it is. Let me fasten it in
your coat do you know that that makes it worth at least
twenty ? There," and she put it thorugh his button-hole.
He laid a five-pound note on the stall.
" Bruce " very softly and willingly " you must wear my
flower at the ball here to-night."
" I don't know that I'm coming."
" That is nonsense. Everybody is coming. You will wear
it, Bruce?"
He nodded.
" If I come, Blanche," he said, and as he strode on, Lady
Blanche shot a glance of triumph toward Lady Pendleton's
chalet.
CHAPTEE VIII.
A FAVORITE.
THE fair was over; the amateur shop-women had rolled
home in their carriages, the secretary of the Society for the
Improvement of the South Sea Islanders had collected the
money, some thousands all told goodness only knows, and
no one very much cared, how much of it reached the South
Sea Islanders and an army of carpenters was at work clear-
ing away the chalets &? make room for the ball.
66 MY LADY PRIDE.
Bertie, w.vy tired, and rather hoarse from shouting " Walk
up !" outside his show, and singing inside it, had gone off to
his club to dress and get some dinner, and Lady Pendle-
ton was lying down, but far too excited to sleep.
"A tremendous success, my dear !" she said to Floris, who
was helping Josine to put away the Swiss masquerade dresses.
" Enormous ! But what fearfully hard work ! I am very
glad I don't keep a shop. I used to think it must be quite
pleasant to serve in one of the large linen-draper's places, '
but I've changed my mind now. And you must be tired, too.
I wish you'd go and lie down for a little while."
" I am not tired/' said Floris, " and I would like to stay
and help Josine."
" There is no occasion for mademoiselle to trouble," said
the girl, smoothly. " Mademoiselle looks quite haggard with
weariness and ennui," glancing at Floris's face, fresh as a
flower and as little haggard as a child's.
" My looks do me an injustice, Josine," Floris said, pleas-
antly ; she was always pleasant with the girl, though she had
a suspicion that Josine disliked her.
" I think if I had a cutlet and a cup of chocolate sent up I
should like it better than a dinner down-stairs," said Lady
Pendleton. " You wouldn't mind keeping Sir Edward's com-
pany, would you, my dear ?"
"Certainly not. Shall I tell them to send you up the
cutlet "
"Mademoiselle need not trouble," broke in Josine, with
a jealous flash of her eyes. " I will charge myself with her
ladyship's commands."
" No, you see to it, Floris, my dear ; will you ?" said Lady
Betty, with a yawn, and Floris left the room.
Sir Edward came in for his dinner, looking worried and
preoccupied as usual.
" Lady Pendleton played out, I suppose ? " he said. " Just
what I expected. I am afraid you are tired out, too, Miss
Carlisle ?"
"No, Sir Edward," said Floris, and he glanced at her
cheerful face with an air almost of relief and enjoyment.
" Everybody seems tired out nowadays," he said. " The
world is going too fast. You have had a very great success, I
hear; I met Lord Clifforde on the steps of the club; he says
yu have netted a very large amount."
M1T IAD* ffcl&E. 67i
" Thanks in no small measure to his lordship," said Moris,
quietly. " He has worked very hard indeed."
" Oh, he likes it !" said Sir Edward. " He was in the best
of spirits. Very different to Lord Norman, whom I saw for
a moment/*
" Yes ?" said Floris, examining the menu card with close
attention. > (
" Yes ; the thing seems to have bored him, and put him!
out of temper. He wanted to quarrel with me for letting my '
wife and you take any part in it. As if I could help it!
Bruce has all the ignorance of an unmarried man. By the
way, I see they are putting him in the society papers. I
brought a Report home with me ah, here it is. That is
the paragraph. ' We understand that there is a prospect of a
speedy alliance between the noble families of S y r and
]ST : r n.' Seymour, Lady Blanche, you know, and Lord
Bruce. Was she there to-day ? Of course, though"
"Yes, Lady Blanche was there," said Floris, calmly, as
she laid the paper down beside her plate, and Sir Edward
little guessed the pang which his innocent communication
had caused her or the shame with which she battled against it.
"Are you going to the ball, Sir Edward?" she asked.
" I am sorry to say I shall not be able," he replied, with-
out any great exhibition of sorrow either in his face or in
his voice.
" Have got to speak to-night, and must be in my place.
I asked Lord Clifforde to look after you."
Floris longed to ask if Lord Norman was going, but could
not force herself to do so ; but Sir Edward's next words made
the question unnecessary.
" I don't suppose Bruce will go ; he only grunted when Ti
mentioned it to him. Do you care about any dessert ? If not A
and you will excuse me, 1 will leave the table," and with a-
sigh, the hard-worked statesman trudged off to his study to
think out his speech.
Floris went up to her room, and got out the white dress
which she had bought for state occasions. It was a very
simple affair of cashmere, almost devoid of trimming, save
for a line of swan's-down at the neck and on the sleeves, and
as she looked at it, she murmured, with a smile:
"Miss Carlisle's costume will not attract the attention of
the fashionable reporter, at any rate, but though it may be
neither rich nor rare, it is, I think, suitable to her station."
i$ MY LADY PRIDE.
While she was changing her dress, there fell from it the
crumpled flower which she had refused to sell to Lord Nor-
inan, and as she looked at it lying on the floor, her face went
as red as the rose itself.
How respectfully, almost reverently, he had begged for it,
/and how coldly she had denied him ! Was it possible that her
refusal had put him out of temper ?
She laughed with self-mockery at the idea.
" I am growing foolish," 'she thought, " and all because the
Bight Honorable Earl of Norman chooses to amuse himself
with Lady Pendleton's companion! What have I done, or
said, that he should presume to act as he does ? I suppose he
thinks a servant a fair target at which to practice pretty
speeches," and, with a bitter smile, she pushed the rose aside
with her feet.
But a moment later she stooped and picked it up.
" No, I will keep it and wear it to remind me of my folly/'
and she placed the crimson flower inside the bosom of her
white dress.
She had scarcely finished dressing when Josine knocked at
the door, and scarcely waiting for permission to enter, came
in.
Her dark, beady eyes took in the whole of Florists attire at
a glance, then sought the floor.
Miladi would be glad if you would trouble yourself to
come to her, mademoiselle," she said. "And miladi desires
me to assist mademoiselle with her toilet."
" Thanks, Josine, but I am dressed," said Floris.
The dark eyes surveyed her coldly.
" Pardon ! Mademoiselle's hair could be arranged more
'effectively."
r l dare say," said Floris, carelessly; "but I won't trouble
r ou, Josine. It does not matter," and she passed out before
er, and, as usual, Josine peered about the room, and turned
over everything Floris had left about.
" Dressed already !" exclaimed Lady Pendleton. " Oh, my
dear, what a lovely dress !"
" Lovely !" echoed Floris, with a smile. " Oh, Lady Pen-
dleton, it is as simple as it can possibly be!"
"I don't care whether it's simple or not perhaps that is it.
It's perfectly ravishing ! Don't come near me all the evening,,
mind, or you will make me look like a May-day sweep !" and
she laughed.
MY LADY PRIDE. 69
Floris laughed with her, then suddenly her eyes glistened
as she looked down at the little woman.
" You are very kind to me. Lady Pendleton," she said,
softly.
Lady Betty looked up at the glass.
" I wish you would do my hair like Miss Carlisle' s," she
said to her maid.
Josine crimsoned and set her teeth. This, after she had in*
formed Floris that her hair was capable of improvement !
" I know not how, miladi."
" Then do you mind, my dear ? let Miss Carlisle do it;
said Lady Betty.
The girl stood for a moment as if transfixed, then laid the
ivory brush on the table, and stood with folded arms, while
Floris,, willingly enough, arranged Lady Pendleton's hair as
nearly like hor own as possible.
" Oh, thank you, my dear ! There, Josine, that is how I
like it done. I wish you'd learn to do it like that. Kemem-
ber, now, will you ? "
" Yes, miladi/' said the girl, between her closed lips ; " I
will remember. Oh, yes, miladi. . I will not forget," and her
white teeth clicked viciously.
" The carriage, my lady, and Lord Clifforde," announced
a servant at the door.
Bertie, dressed with the minutest care, and looking hand-
some enough to turn the head of a Diana, received them in
the drawing-room with enthusiasm.
" I say !" he exclaimed, under his breath, his blue eyes fixed
on Floris.
"There! I told you so P. said Lady Betty, dramatically.
" Now, Bertie, speak the truth, and don't flatter or exagger-
ate. Isn't that dress simply lovely?"
Bertie blushed, but Floris smiled quite calmly and care-
lessly.
"I don't know," he said. "I only know Miss Carlisle
looks like one of Millais's pictures; is it the dress?"
" Thank you, my lord," said Floris, laughing and courtesy-
ing.
He blushed again, opening his lips as if about to speak,
then took up his opera hat and led them to the carriage, into
which he put them with extraordinary carefulness, as if they
would fall to pieces if roughly handled.
The hall was crowded when they arrived, but though Ber
70 MY LADY PRIDE.
tite, with a lady on each arm, had to almost fight his way in,
their appearance created what is called in newspaper par-
lance " a sensation."
Never had Floris looked more beautiful than she did to-
night in the simple, white dress, with its trimming of swan's-
down; and before they had been in the room a quarter of an
hour, Lady Betty, much to her delight, found herself sur-
rounded by friends and acquaintances, all of them " dancing
men," who begged an introduction to the proud-looking girl
seated so calmly and quietly Reside her.
" What did 1 tell you, my dear ? " she whispered. " You
1 have created quite a sensation ! Is your programme full ?"
" Not quite," said Floris, for she had scribbled some make-
believe names in some of the spaces.
" Mine is !" said Lady Betty, gleefully, for the suitors for
Floirs's hand could not do less than ask her chaperone for a
danee.
CHAPTER IX
IN THE GLOW OF LOVE.
FLORIS danced one or two dances with strangers, then Ber-
fie came up.
" I didn't like to seem too pressing, Miss Carlisle," he said,
his blue eyes fixed on her wistfully, "but I hope you have
saved me a waltz."
"Would you like to have this one?" said Floris.
His handsome face beamed.
"Beally? How fortunate!" and he put his arm around
her.
If there was one thing Bertie did better than another it was
waltzing.
Dancing was with him, indeed, the poetry of motion.
Floris and he were nicely matched and made a splendid
picture of youth and comeliness.
By the time they had taken a turn around the room, Ber-
tie's, heart was beating fast, and the blood coursing through
the veins with the ecstatic delight of having her in his arms.
The band seemed to be a heavenly choir; he moved on
clouds through joyous space; he was half intoxicated with
passionate love and despairful longing,
I
Ml LADY PRIDE. 71
" Shall we go on ? Am I tiring you ?" he asked presently,
in an almost tremulous whisper.
" Oh, don't stop, please !" said Floris, all unconscious of the
storm within his breast, of the mad longing that possessed
him to whisper :
" I love you ! Floris, I love you !"
" Have I got your step ?" he asked, for the sake of saying
something, ior he knew that they were moving in perfect
accord, like one person instead of two.
" Perfectly," she said. " How can you ask ? It is a de-
'.icious waltz. One of WaldteufePs, isn't it?"
"Yes I don't know, ?> replied poor Bertie, wondering how^
she could talk thus easily and carelessly.
It came to an end at last, all too soon for him, and he
stood, as the music died away, panting a little and very pale.
He was thinking how he should be able to bear seeing her
dancing with other men"*for the mst of the evening, after the
few delicious moments that had passed. He would go away,
go home and shut himself up and think of her.
Floris's voice roused him from his abstraction.
" Will you take me to see those palms, Lord Clifforde ?" she
said. " I have been longing to stand underneath them all
day. How calm and solitary they look out there in the dim-
ness ! One can almost fancy that they have the scent of the
desert in their leaves still."
Bertie got her cloak, and they made their way into the
conservatory. Two or three people were standing about, but
Bertie found a seat in a (juiet nook underneath the palms, a
nook shut out from the gay ballroom beyond, and almost hid-
den amid the huge fronds of a royal fern.
" This Is delicious!" said Floris, leaning back and pulling
the leaves softly across her hand. " If I were rich, I would
have a very large conservatory, with nothing but palms and
ferns in it, with just a trickling fountain or two, but no birds*
to disturb the solemn quiet; and I would not permit any one
to speak above a whisper," and she laughed softly.
Bertie vS^tood beside her, his blue eves resting on her down-
cast face, with a passionate lon^in^ aching in them.
" If you were rich ! " lie said, scarcely above the whisper she
had almost commanded. ** Perhaps you will be some day."
She si look her head, smiling,
"I don't know that I care to.be," she said, as if commun-
ing with herself. " Rich people seem to have a great deal of
72 MY LADY PRIDE.
care and trouble, and are no happier than poor people. 1
suppose Sir Edward is very rich?"
"Yes," said Bertie. "Immensely so!"
44 A nd he works as hard as a city clerk, or harder,, I sup-
pose, and is always tired and worried to death. What a
puz/le life is !" and she sighed.
He drew a little nearer, the quiet of the place., her sweet
voice were driving him to rashness.
tv There is only one thing worth having in life," he said.
'* \Vhat is that? " she asked, looking up with a smile, which-
died away as she saw the paleness of his face and the light in
his eyes.
" Can you not guess? " he said half fearfully, and yet with
intense earnestness. " Miss Carlisle, I know that you will
think me mad. I expect that you will be offended and angry.
But I must speak, even though by sneaking I anger you past
forgiveness."
Floris half rose, but sunk back again, and opened her lips,
as if about to stop him; she did pronounce his name, but al-
most inaudibly.
It is a strange, mysterious sensation which a girl experi-
ences the first time a man tells her that he loves her, and the
quiet, I iiirried words had thrown a spell over her for the
moment rendering her powerless to move.
"Miss Carlisle! Floris ! I love you!" he said, bending
over her, his face white, his lips tremulous.
A swift tide of crimson flooded Floris's face and neck, then
she, too, turned pale.
" Yes, T love you," he repeated. " I don't dare to ask you
if if you love me! I know that it is not possible. I know
that'! must seem like a stranger to you. But though you
may have known me only a few days, I seem to have known
and loved you for years. Floris, have pity on me ! I love you
vith all my heart and soul
"itfo, no, Lord Cliff orde " she faltered, at last.
" Yes, it is true. I know what you think. That I am light-
md frivolous that that I am only one of the butterflies in
ihe world, of no use or value; but, Floris, if you will let me
love you, if you will love me a little in return ; if you will
only try to love me, I will prove to you that I will be less un-
worthy of yon
"Oh, hush!" she said, trembling, a great wave of tender-
ness and pity sweeping over her heart for the handsome, true-
MY LADY PRIDS. ?3
Eearted boy. " Don't say any more, Lord Clifforde. You
you mistake! It is I who would be unworthy of you."
" Floris !" reproachfully., passionately.
"Yes', yes! Who am I that you should so humble your-
self? Oh, do not say any more! I am sorry very, very
sorry I"
" Then then " he faltered, looking down at her.
" Indeed, I am very sorry I" she repeated ; " but I did not
jlmow, indeed I did not!"
" No, or you would have treated me coldly and kept me
away !" he said, sorrowfulty.
Then, with a wild hope that was almost despair, he took her
hand in his hot one and pressed it fiercely.
"Floris, is it, must it be 'No? 9 Will you not give me
some little hope? I will be patient! I will not plague!
You shall see how patient I can be
"Oh, hush! hush!" she said. "Do not say another word,
Lord Clifforde. It must be ' No P I I cannot love you. I
am very, very grateful for the honor you have done me, and
I know how great an honor it is ! I wish yes, I will say
it! I wish that I -could have answered differently, but I
cannot."
She let her hand rest in his while she spoke, then she drew
it gently away.
He let it go, slowly, reluctantly, and his lips parted with a
long sigh, as if something had gone from 'his life; then with a
brave effort he forced a smile.
" You have been very good to me, Miss Carlisle," he said,
and his voice rang with the pain that tortured him. " You
have been more patient than I deserve. I will say ' Good-
bye/ now."
"There shall be no word of ' goodness ' or ' patience' be-
tween us, Lord Clifforde," she said, " and if we cannot if I
^cannot be to you all that vou wish, at least we can be friends
still."
Poor Bertie smiled sadly and shook his head.
" How little you understand !" he murmured. " I know
what you think, Miss Carlisle. You have heard, you know,
that I do not bear the highest character for wisdom, and you
think that because my past has been frivolous and foolish,
that I shall get over this and forget it. Ah, you do not
understand how deeply I love you! All my life will be
thanged from this hour."
74 MY LADY PRIDE.
" Oh, Lord Clifforde \"
" Yes, Floras; I shall not get over this so easily; I shall not
try to forget it. If I cannot have your love, I can at least
endeavor to be less unworthy of it. You ask me to remain
your friend. Floris, all my life I shall think tenderly of you,
and of myself as your lover. Do you think I could bear to
see you day after day, knowing that there can be no hope for
me; that I could endure to meet you as -an ordinary friend
when all the time my heart was burning in the desire to make
you my wife ? No ! I must go away. Good-bye. Some day
who knows I may be able to meet you without the pang of
misery and disappointment which I feel now. Good-bye."
His voice, the boyish voice which only this morning had
rung out merrily, the musical voice which to Floris's ears had
always something of laughter in it, was very grave and sad
and his eyes resting on her face were full of a great despair.
She put out her hand in silence, feeling that any word from
her would be worse than useless.
He took her hand, held it for a moment, then raised it
toward his lips.
"May I?" he asked, simply too noble and chivalrous to
snatch a kiss by stealth.
She did not speak, but her eyes, in which the tears were
stcanding, answered for her.
Poor Bertie kissed her hand twice, then turned and hurried
away.
Floris sat under the stately palms sad and troubled.
No girl who is worth anything refuses an offer from an hon-
orable iriRii without being sad and sorrowful, especially if she
really likes the man, arm only just stop*, short of loving him,
and Floris really did like Bertie. i
His merry, boyish laugh, his frank, brotherly way had
been very pleasant to her ; she only just discovered how pleas-
ant now that she had lost them perhaps forever.
Another girl might also have remembered and regretted
that she had refused a viscount ; buC Floris gave no thought
to Pertie's rank.
If was of himself she thought, a? she sat with downcast face,
and hands listlessly in her la]).
Why had she sent him away? Why had she not tried to
love him? At any rate, why had she not asked for time?
MY LADY PRIDE. 75
She asked herself these questions, and did not dare to
answer them.
There are times when we shrink from examining our own
hearts, lest we should discover the truth,/ and Floris shrunk
from examining hers, lest she should find an answer there
which would fill her with shame and confusion.
With a sigh she rose, then suddenly remembering that she
was alone, and that she could not very well enter the ball-
room unattended, she resumed her seat, quite contented to
remain in the quiet and cool for a^time.
Presently the band, which had been playing a square dance,
ceased, and the couples began to find their way into the con-
servatory.
Unwilling to be discovered Floris rose and retreated still
further into the dim region of palms and ferns, and found
another seat still more secluded than the last. It was so far
removed from the ball-room, that but for the sound of voices,
and reflection of the lights on the fountains, she might have
fancied herself in the recesses of some tropical forest.
While she was sitting there, a gardener passed by, and half
startled by the apparition of a beautiful lady in a white dress,
touched his hat respectfully and apologetically, and turned off
through a door partly concealed by creeping plants.
Floris was just thinking that if she chose she might remain
undiscovered till the ball broke up, when she heard the rustle
of a woman's dress, and a man's voice close behind her.
At the sound of the voice, Floris started. Although it had
only uttered one word she recognized it.
It was Lord Norman ! She looked around anxiously, and
saw, through the fern leaves, Lord Norman and Lady Blanche
sauntering down the narrow path.
Lady Blanche was magnificently dressed in an Indian silk
of the thinnest fil^re, and of the palest pink.
It was studded with pearls in the oriental fashion, and fit-
ted her to perfection. Nestling in her golden hair were
flowerets of diamonds, that sparkled and gleamed like fire-
flies in the fitful light.
The beautiful face, usually so cold and impassive, wore a
faint, soft smile, that played about the perfect lips and shone
in the velvety eyes.
As they approached, Floris saw that she had clasped Lord
Normal's arm, oa which she leaned with her other hand, and
76 MY LADY PRIDE.
fchat her fao was turned up to his with a happy, child-like
smile.
Then Floris looked at him. Surely tt.ere would be an
answering smile on his face! No man c* uld resist the en-
treaty in those dark, velvety eyes !
But thr was no responsive happiness on his face; grave,
almost grim, it seemed by contrast with ner, and Floris saw
'/that, though he was presumably listening to her, his atten-
tion was straying, and that he was thinking of something else
than the beautiful woman clinging so lovingly, so appealingly,
to his arm.
" I am so glad you have come, Bruce ! " Floris heard her
murmur. " You said you did not intend to, and I was look-
ing forward to a blank evening." *
" I changed my mind," he said, if not coldly, carelessly.
" That is a woman's privilege, and one they do not extend
to men, Bruce," she retorted, with a smile that seemed signifi-
cant to Floris.
"Oh, men have all your weaknesses as well as their own,
Blanche," he said.
Floris looked around for some means of escape.
To be found by them, playing, as it would seem, at eaves-
dropping ! The idea was terrible ! But there was no exit save *
by a narrow path in which they stood, and hoping that they
would turn back, Floris drew still closer into her leafy shelter
and tried not to listen.
" Shall we sit down, Bruce ? " asked Lady Blanche.
Floris's heart quaked.
" If you like," he assented. " But hadn't we better ' go
back and dance this waltz ? You won't care about missing it,
you know."
" I don't mind in the least," she said. " If you would
rather sit it out, let us do so. We can find a seat."
\ " The only legitimate excuse for a ball is dancing," he said.
" We will go back."
Floris drew a breath of relief.
" Wait a moment or two, Bruce," said Lady Blanche. " I
have something to tell you."
" Yes," he said, with a politeness that was worse than the
most pointed indifference, and he looked down at her pa-
tiently.
Lady Blanche hung her head and pulled at the pearls n
her Ian.
MY LADY PRIDE. 77
'* t don't know how to tell you, Bruce ! And yet I must.
You seem the only friend^the only one to whom T can come
when I am in trouble. It seems so natural to think of you as
a friend, and adviser, Bruce ! " and she glanced up at him,
with a soft,, lingering sigh.
Floris, trying not to listen, heard every word, saw the up-
ward glance, heard the tender, pleading little sigh, and ap
preeiated them as only a woman could.
Surely not even Lord Norman could withstand them !
He was silent a moment, during which Floris, with aH-
aching at her heart, expected to see him put his arm retina}
the slim waist and draw the beautiful woman to him with*
murmured wor,ds of endearment. But instead, he said, with
a half smile :
" What have you been doing, Blanche ? Overdrawing your
account ? Laming my lord's favorite mare ? Or what ? "
"Ah, if it were only a little trouble like that, Bru@e, I
could laugh at it as easily as you do
" I wasn't laughing, Blanche."
" But but this is a greater one. Bruce, I find it hard to
tell you "
" Don't, then ; tell me to-morrow," he said, gravely, ami
almost, so Floris fancied, with an air of relief.
Lady Blanche sighed.
" No, I must tell you now, Bruce ! To-morrow may be too
late ! " and she glanced up at him piteously. " Bruce, Lord
Hawksley called this afternoon. I was out, here, at the fair,
but he came to dinner and he came to see me."
Her voice sank, and her hand closed nervously on his arm.
"Did he?" he remarked, carelessly. "What did the old
antediluvian want ? "
" Bruce ! " in a low, thrilling tone. " He came to ask me
to be his wife."
Lord Norman did not start, but he looked surprised and in-
dignant.
" He did ! "
. Then he laughed, and at the laugh Lady Blanche's face,
went deadly white, as if he had struck her.
" Forgive me, Blanche. But Hawksley ! Why, great
heavens, he is as old as Meihusaleh ! Why, he was an old
man when I was a boy ! He must be eighty more ! "
"And you laugh ! " murmured Lady Blanche between her
cloned lips.
78 MY LADY PRIDE.
" I beg your pardon! But could you help it? Hawksley !
Why, he has more than one leg in the grave, and is as false
as one of the models at Madam Tussaud's ! His wig and teeth
and enameled complexion used to be the joke when I first
came to town. And he proposed to you ! Of course you gave
him a speedy answer, Blanche ? "
She opened her fan and looked at it.
" No, Bruce. I Lord Hawksley is an old friend of my
father's."
" He might have been of your grandfather's," retorted Lord
Gorman.
"Andand'
" He is the richest and best parti in London. I know all
that, Blanche, but all the same, I don't suppose you said any-
thing but 'MV*
F lor is could see that she was trying him; any one but
a man would have understood the trap she was setting for
him, but Lord Norman was a man and altogether uncon-
scious.
FlonYs heart beat fast. How would it end? Would the
beautiful siren, with her pitiless tale, win the day?
" Xo, Bruce,"' she faltered. " Oh, don't be angry with me!
You don't understand how we women are placed ! ;
" No, I don't," he retorted. " But I do understand that
when a girl is asked by a man who is old enough to be her
grandfather, to be his wife, that the sooner she sends him
about his business the better."
"Ah, it is so easy for you to say that!" she murmured.
" You are a man, and your own master ! You can pick and
choose where you will! But T am a woman, Bruce, and am
not my own mistress. Bruce, my father really wishes me to
marry !. "
" But not Lord Hawksley ? " he said.
; She glanced up at him, and opened and shut her fan again.
"He is anxious ';hat T should marry, Bruce,- and Lord
Hawksley is an old friend of his ! And and there is no one
i else."
Now, thought Floris, he will take her in his arms and
tell her that there is some one else, that there is Lord Nar-
Di an !
But Lord Norman did nothing nf the kind.
" That's nonsense, Blanche ! There are a dozen some one
elees ! I could count up a dozen men who are head over heels,
MY LADY PRIDE. 79
dying in love, and any one of whom ^itid go half out of
his mind with delight if you threw tlu handkerchief to
them ! "
She erimeoned, then turned pale.
" But but, Bruce ! 1 don't care f<w ay one of them/' she
murmured.
" And certainly you don't eare for oid . Hawksley ! " he said,
quickly. " So why choose him ? "
u lie is my father's choice, not mine! "she said turning her
head away.
He stood silent and troubled. Should he hold out his hand
and say :
" Blanche, here am 11 Will you choose me?"
Why should he not? A few months a few weeks ago he
was quite ready ; was on the verge of doing so.
Why should he not now? She was supremely beautiful, of
high rank his equal a peerless creature, fit to adorn a
court I
Great heavens, what more, or higher, did he heed to ex-
pect ?
He asked himself the question, half angrily impatient
with himself inwardly raging at his want of firmness, at his
incapacity of forcing himself to do it.
Then, suppressing his angry air, he did turn to her and
said ;
" Blanche
But before he could get any further, before the glad, ex-
pectant light had scarcely time to come to her eyes, a voice
a clear, thin voice, the unmistakable treble of Lady Betty
chimed in between ihein.
" Floris ! Floris, my dear : where are you ? "
As if the name "Floris" had fallen from the lips of Ir
guardian angel. Lord Norman stopped short, and, with c;
sudden start, turned toward her.
Floris saw him start, saw him turn pale. Was he angry
with Lady Betty for interrupting them?
And what on earth should she, Floris, do! She could not
possibly come out now. Inwardly chafing at her situation,
she had borne it as best she could, and she must bear it a little
longer.
" Bruce ! Here you are ! How do you do, my dear
Blanche?"
The two women shook hands coldly, and if a fiance from
80 MY LADY PRIDft.
one woman's eyes should kill another, then Lady Blanche's
would have slain Lady Betty on the spot.
"So provoking!" said Lady Betty. "I've lost Miss Car-
lisle ! I've been looking for ner everywhere. Of course, it
Sofesn't matter I mean I don't suppose she has disappeared
for good, but all the men she has promised dances to are
.bothering me about her."
" I didn't know Miss Carlisle was here," said Lord Norman,
jand his voice seemed suddenly lightened.
Lady Blanche leaned upon his arm, with a silent, haughtily
preoccupied air, as if the absolute murder of Miss Carlisle
could not affect her.
" Oh, yes ; she is here, and has made quite a success ! " said
Lady Betty, glancing with pretty spitefulness at Lady Blanche.
" That is just it ! Another girl would not be missed, bnt the
men are plaguing my life out, and I must find her ! "
" She can not be far off," he said, looking round.
Floris drew closer under her fern ambush.
"Where did you see her last, Betty?"
" She was dancing with Bertie, and I think they walked off
in this direction. Good gracious! I never thought of that!
You know how dreadfully reckless Bertie is ! Do you think
he can have persuaded her to to go off with him anywhere ? "
" Nonsense ! " said Lord Bruce, almost fiercely. " Where
can they go ? "
" I don't know," replied Lady Betty, with characteristic
vagueness, " He has certainly disappeared also ! "
Lord Norman's face darkened.
"I think I should like to go into the room again, Bruce;
this place strikes me rather chilly, does it not ? " murmured
,Lady Blanche, with haughty languor..
He started.
" Eh ? Oh, yes ! Certainly. Look in the anterooms, Betty,"
'he said, over his shoulder, as he led Lady Blanche away.
They had no sooner got clear away than Floris stepped from
her nook so suddenly as to make Lady Betty jump.
" Good gracious, my dear ! You nearly frightened me out
of my life ! In your white dress you looked Hke a ghost ! "
" 1 might say like the burglar who was discovered under-
neath the bed by the lady ; I don't see why I should frighten
m, seeing that you have been looking for me so long ! " said
oris, with a very quiet smile,
Lady Betty laughed.
MY LABY FRM)E. $1
Now that is just like you ! Instead of apologizing for all
the trouble you have given me, you make me laugh ! "
" I am very sorry, said Floris.
, " So you might be, my dear. But what are you doing here ?
And where is Bertie ? "
" I was resting," said Floris ; " and it was so quiet and cool
that I remained longer than I expected."
"And Bertie he was with you, wasn't he ? " asked Lady
Betty.
" Yes, but Lord Clifforde left rne som time ago," said
Floris, struggling hard to keep the color from her face.
Lady Betty looked at her rather curiously.
"Ah, well, come back now, dear, will you? The men you
have promised are going about in the most wretched state of
mind '
" I don't think I will dance again to-night, Lady Pendle-
ton," said Floris, quietly. " I have rather a headache, and I
would like to stay here "
" But, gracious me, one doesn't come to a ball to sit in a
conservatory ! " exclaimed Lady Betty, remonstratingly.
" I have danced a great deal to-night. Please let me stay/*
she pleaded, feeling that she would do anything rather than
whirl round the garish room after all that had happened be-
tween poor Bertie and her.
" Oh, very well, my dear. Well, stay here for half am
hour, and then I'll come for you. You do look pale and
tired, and it has been a hard day. It is beautifully quiet
here, certainly. I'll come back in half an hour/'
" Thank you," said Floris, gratefully, and she went back
to her secluded corner.
There she sat for some moments, wondering whether La3y
Blanche had gained her victory, or whether Lord Norman
had not yet said the words which would make him hers.
And why, she asked herself , angrily, should she trouble her-
self about Lord Norman and Lady Blanche !
What could it possibly matter to her whether Lady Blanche
won or lost him ! With an impatient gesture she picked up
her fan, resolved to go back into the ball-room and waltz Lord
Norman out of her thoughts, when suddenly she heard his
step she knew it so well already close beside her, and the
next moment he put aside the fern leaves and was looking
down at her.
look of glad surprise in his face, a flash of
82 MY LADY 1'KIDE.
light in his eyes, as they rested on hers, that went straight to
Florists heart, so that, instead of looking up at him with cold,
haughty indifference, her eyes drooped with a strange heavi-
ness, and flinched before him.
" At last ! " lie said, in a low voice. " Where have you
been hiding? or rather, seeing that you are here, why have
you been hiding, Miss Carlisle?"
"1 have not been hiding," she answered, trying to speak
coldly. "I have been resting here."
" I have been looking for you all over the place," he said,
the happy lightness of his face contrasting strangely with the
grimness of a few minutes ago.
" I am sorry. I will go back now," she said, rising.
" Oh ! but is that fair ? " he said, expostulatingly. " Just as
I have found you, and in such a delicious little nook, you
want io leave it. Please do not forget that though you are
rested, 1 am not. You don't know how many miles I have
walked in search of you !"
As he spoke she felt rather than saw the dark eyes travel-
ing over her; felt rather than saw the intense admiration he
bestowed upon her.
There is no reason why you should not remain, Lord
Norman," she said, -gathering up the trail of her dress; "I
can find my way back alone."
"You shall not do that!" he said, with a sigh, "if you
will go. But, will you not stay five only five minutes longer?
You looked quite contented, and as if you meant growing
here, until I came up. I am afraid I disturbed you. Per-
haps I had better go !" and he let the ferns fall from his hand.
Floris did not speak.
"Then I may stay?" he said, and taking her silence as an
affirmative, he sat down on a clump of rustic work at her
elbow, and looked down at her.
Floris's heart beat fast. She racked her brain for some
commonplace remark to hide her confusion, and to make him
think that his presence was of no consequence to her; but she
could find nothing nothing to say.
He was silent for some minutes, then he looked round.
"What a delightful retreat you have discovered!" he said.
slowly. "No wonder you were reluctant -to leave it! And
yet you have made a ' success,' as Lady Betty would say. Do
you know that your absence is causing quite a commotion
imong the dancing men ?"
MY LADY PRIDE. 83
Floris smiled. *
" They can easily be consoled, my lord," she said. " But
you remind me of my broken engagements; I will go and
save some of them."
"Not yet/' he said curtly. u My five minutes are not up
yet. But I will release you, if you give me the next dance ! "
" My card is full," she said, firmly.
" Then I will take the remainder of my time," he retorted-
There was silence for a moment, then, looking down on the
ground, he said:
" I am glad that I have found you here ; it gives me an op-
portunity of saying good-by !"
Floris started and looked up at him with a sudden glance
of alarm ; but he was staring moodily at the door and did
not even see it.
" Yes y my lord?" she said, steeling herself to speak coldly.
"Yes, 'my lady/" he responded, mocking her cold for-
mality. " Yes, I am off to-morrow. I promised you that I
would stay over this fair, and I have done so
" You promised Lady Pendleton," said Floris, quietly. He
kicked at a broken leaf impatiently.
" I promised you ; I stayed because you asked me," he said,
emphatically ; " and you know it."
Floris, trembling, picked up her fan.
He looked at his watch.
" I have just two minutes more, if you please I" he said,
significantly.
"Are you going to be away long?" asked Floris, for the
sake of saying something, and speaking as very indifferently
as she could.
" I don't know. I dare say. Two or three years, per-
haps !" gloomily.
Floris did not speak.
" Why should I come back ?" he went on. " I am tired of
London life for the matter of that, I am tired of life alto-
< gether. It seems to me that the clever individual who wrote
the book called ' Is Life Worth Living?' might have saved
'himself the trouble, seeing that everybody knows the answer!
Life is only worth living when one can get what one wants,
and as one never gets the one thing that one wants above all
others, why the game is not worth the candle !"
"And yet you have so much," murmured Floris.
" Oh, yes. I know !" he said, bitterly, " I know what you
84 MY LADY PRIDE.
would say; I am a peer of the realm; I am* rich thanks to a
fluke of the law, which has enriched rne at the expense of
others."
Floris colored,, and turned her head aside.
" I have heaps of friends, am my own master, and che rest
of it ! And yet I question whether there is a more miserable
man in London than I am to-night, for I have set my heart
upon a thing, and I cannot get it."
" I think the five minutes are up, my lord," said Floris.
Tie took no notice of her reminder, but sat staring at the
ground.
" So, Miss Carlisle, I will say good-by. May I say that I
hope I go carrying your good wishes with me? Don't speak
for a minute, please !" as Floris was framing a commonplace
on her lips. " " I know that that you dislike me ! No, I will
not say- that ! You are too good and gentle to dislike any
one ! I will not say dislike ! But I cannot but feel that my
presence is distasteful to you. How can it be otherwise, see-
ing that it reminds you of all you and yours have lost.
Heaven knows that if you would accept it I would restore it
all to you every penny."
" My lord !" coldly, proudly, and yet with a tremor in her
voice she tried hard to conceal.
" There ! I beg your pardon ! I know I say I know it is
not possible ! Do you think I have not learned for myself how
proud you are, even if you had not told m& in so many writ-
ten word R !" and he touched his breast. " Yes, I keep your
note still, to make me miserable when I am far away!" and
he laughed bitterly.
Floris drew her cloak around "her and turned her head
from him.
" I shall often look at that note, Miss Carlisle. It will
servo to remind me that life is not worth living. But, I beg
yon r pardon, I am keeping you."
He got up, then, before she could move, he sat down
again. /
" Will you not say that you wish me well, Miss Carlisle?"
Floris opened her lips, but for a moment no sound came,
then, at last, she murmured very softly :
"Yes! ^1 wish you every happiness, my lord!"
" Thank you !" be replied. " But if it is any consolation to
you, let me assure you that your wish is quite in vain. I am
not happy, and I shall not be. Shall I tell yon why?"
M1T LADY PRIM. 85
Floris was silent, and he did not speak for a minute.
" Yes,, I will tell you !" he said., as if he had been debat-
ing in his mind whether he should do so or not. " Miss Car-
lisle, I am going to make you very angry. It is probable that
^when I have spoken, you will forbid me ever to speak to y^ou
again. I am a fool to speak ! All day I have been telling
myself that it would be better for me to take myself off in
silence, but I cannot. I am like the man who stole a fox, and
who concealed it under his vest, and was silent until the last
moment. This is my last moment, and I must speak, though
the words separate us forever."
He was silent while one could count ten, and Floris
plucked up courage to smile quietly.
" Had you not better conceal your fox a little longer, my
lord?"
" No I" he said. " This is what I have to say : " Miss Car-
lisle, I love you !"
CHAPTER X.
THE STRANGER'S TRAP.
I
As he spoke the momentous words, not falteringly, as did
poor Bertie, but with a grim intensity, with brows knit, and
lips set firmly, Floris's heart seemed to stop beating, then gave
a great leap of wild joy, of ecstatic triumph, of the sublime
satisfaction of one who has been long athirst, and feels the
cup of life-saving water at her lips.
" I love you !" he said.
A deep crimson spread over Floris's face and neck, and her
>eyes, sunk, heavily weighted, while her hands closed on her
if an with a spasmodic grasp; but she said no word.
She could not; if she had tried to speak, her lips would
only have echoed that grim, emphatic avowal :
" I love you I"
" You are angry ! " he said, in a very low voice. " T ex-
pected it. You think I have no right to tell you this after
the unmistakable signs of aversion you have bestowed on inc.
I know it. I plead guilty. But I cannot help it. This is
tfee last time we shall meet you will be glad, I know. We
foave never met yet but I have offended you, and you have
MY LADY PRIDE.
found it necessary to yes, snub me ! But this is the very
last time, and and will you forgive me?"
She did not speak ; she could not. He stooped and took up
his opera hat, and looked from it to her as if hesitating
whether to go or wait for a word.
" Will you not speak to me?" he said, gravely.
Still she was silent.
Then, as if his passion goaded him beyond prudence, hr*
bent over her and laid his hand upon her arm, his stronp
fingers burning hot' and seeming to brand her with their own
passion.
"Floris! Have some pity! Speak to me kindly! One
kind word ! Your icy looks and proud words have cut me to
the heart often enough, Heaven knows. Don't -hurt me with
them now, now that we are going to part !"
"Floris, I love you! I even loved you think of it be-
fore I saw you ! Even before we met your pride and scorn
whipped and tortured me ! Unbend a little now, Floris.
Send me away as I know you will but send me away with
one kind word ! Say ' Bruce, I do not like you ; I have cause
not to like you or yours. Your name is hateful to me, and
I am g] ad that you are going; but I am sorry that you love
me, and and if you had been another man if you h$d borne
another name, I might have loved you P
"Will you say something like that, Floris? Don't let me
take away with me for a last remembrance, to haunt me for
months, a proud, angry face, a scornful retort. I love you,
Floris ! I shall love you, I am afraid, for a long time ! Tell
me that you are sorry for me, at least!"
Still she was silent, her averted face white and constrained 3
her pride doing battle with her love, and losing ground, incb
by inch.
He shrugged his shoulders.
" Before Heaven/' he said, " I do not think there was ever a
prouder woman or a better hater. Good-by, Floris! T wish
that I could hate you as you evidently hate me !"
He turned as he spoke, then hesitated, went back., and took
up the edge of her cloak, still warm from contact with her
soft, white arm.
" Good-by," he said, and he bent and pressed the cloak to
his lips, not reverently and fearfully, as poor Bertie bestowed
his caress, but with a fierce, passionate wistf ainess. " Good*
by, my Lady Pride I"
MY LADY PHTDE. 87
As he bent, even as his lips touched the soft swan's-down,
her hand went out, not swiftly, but hesitatingly, reluctantly,
toward him.
He stopped,, with fond, eager, hungry eyes.
" Well/' he said, almost hoarsely.
" I am sorry," she said, using the very words she had
used to poor Bertie, but how differently! Ah, how differ
ently !
" Thanks," quietly.
"And and I wish you "' she stopped, her face quiver-
ing, her lips trembling, her eyes shrinking piteously before
Ins passionately questioning gaze.
" You wish me every happiness ? Thank you again," he
said, with a sharp sigh. "And you forgive me? Is that what
you are trying to say, and find it so hard? Thank you,.still
once more. Half a loaf is better than nothing. We part
friends. Give me your hand, Floris; your left hand, that's
nearest your heart."
She put out her hand and he took it and held it so tightly
that it tingled with pain pain that was an ecstasy to hr;
pain that she would not have exchanged for the greatest eas.
"There!" ho said, "I am satisfied. Good-by!" and his
fingers unclosed.
But hers did not, Trembling, quiveringly, they wound
round his hand, and held it feebly as a child's, and yet as
strong as a giant's.
He did not start', he uttered no wild exclamation of joy, or
surprise, or delight, but he stood as if he had. been shot, or
turned to stone, looking at her averted face, now crimson with
shame, as if he were dreaming.
Then ho flung himself it her feet, and grasped her other*,
hand, and drew her to him, looking up into her face with pas-
sionate eyes that swear to wrest the truth from her.
" Floris ! What is this ? What do you mean ? For
Heaven's sake, don't don't play with me ! Floris ! You hold
my hand ! You do not speak you do not send me away from
you ! Great Heavens, am I mad, or dreaming, or do you
Floris, do you love me?"
She turned her head, and looked down at him with the
truth shining in the glorious eyes that were now soft and
tremulous with love, ay, with passion, answering to his own.
With a low cry he kissed her faaads* quitldj:* fiercely; but
he was mot satieletl yet.
88 MY LADY PRIDE.
" My darling ! Floris ! Speak to me ! Tell me ! I can't
|>clir\<> it until 1 hear your lips whisper it! Floris" with a
swift, awful doubt "you are not playing with me?"
" No ! I see you are not ! Forgive me,, darling, but the
joy is so sudden, so unexpected! Floris, tell me! Say,
' Bruce, I do love you !' ' ;
She bent her head, and looked at him, and whispered:
j " Bruce, I do love you !"
He drew her face down to him and kissed her hot, burn-
ing kisses, that made her blush and tremble.
" My darling ! My beautiful queen ! You love me !"
He got up, still holding her hand, and put his other hand
to his forehead with a low laugh, almost of apology.
"And I have mocked at love ! " he said, half to himself.
For a moment there was silence, as he sat in his old place,
holding her hand, and looking at her as if his hungry eyes
could mid no appeasement, and she she sat looking at noth-
ing, yet seeing him as plainly as if her eyes were fixed on his
face.
So wrapped were they, so lost to the outer world, that they
did not see the glimmer of a soft, pink dress in the shrubs in
front of them, did not hear the quick, sharp sob of a woman's
voice, or feel the glare of a woman's eyes, that are not velvety
now, but almost black with rage and jealousy.
"And you love me!" he said in an amazed whisper.
" Why, Floris, it is almost past belief."
" Is it ? " with a little, shy glance and a fleeting smile that
made him long to catch her to his heart.
" Yes ! I always thought you hated me !"
"Yes?"
: ' Yes ! We never met but we Quarreled. I never spoke a
civil word to you but you froze me on the spot."
; . " Did I ?" with a smile.
" That you did ! There were times when after you had sent
me away, with an icy glance or a word of contempt, that I
felt too ashamed and humiliated to live! Why, what made
you change so, Floris? Tell me; I am curious!"
" I have not changed !" with a stare of amazement and de-
light. " No ! >? shaking her head, arid turning her eyes shame-
facedly from his ardent gaze. "No, I have not changed.
Will you not look away from me, Bruce? You fill me with
shame I loved you from the first/'
MY LADY PRIDE. 89
" Great Heaven !" he murmured, in a rapture. " From the
first ! Not from the first, Floris ?"
" Yes," she said, making her confession with averted eyes
and burning cheeks; " I think I loved you the first night I
saw you. You you told me that you loved me, remember."
" Yes, I did ! Not knowing you were you ! But you you
were pride and scorn and hauteur combined."
She shook her head.
" Great Heaven, what actresses women are ! And and*
all the time?"
" Yes," she admitted, and the admission was sweet. "All
the time, Bruce, I fought against it. I told myself that 1
ought to hate you. I almost prayed that I might learn to do
so. But it was no use."
He did not speak. His was a joy too deep for words.
"And when I felt it was of no use, why, with a sudden
start, "I was like to die with shame when I remembered
that perhaps you were already engaged, that that Lady
Blanche"
He bit his lips, but his eyes met hers unflinchingly; the
shrubs opposite them, behind which Lady Blanche stood,
stirred and rustled as she pressed forward, straining her tor-
tured ears to catch the response.
" Lady Blanche ?" he said, gravely, almost coldly. " Yes,
I know; Floris, you had nothing to fear; you were misled.
There was never anything tangible between us. I never loved
her, never could have loved her. And if at any time there had
been anything in my heart to her warmer than friendship, it
would ha|e vanished at your presence, dearest."
Awful words for that stricken woman to hear!
No wonder she turned white to the lips and staggered baeE,
grasping a tree to keep herself from falling.
No wonder that, possessed by the demon of jealousy, and
the fire of unrequited love, she was compelled to press her
hand to her lips till the teeth closed on them -to prevent the'
cry of despair and anguish that rose from her heart. \
" Oh,- 1 am glad I" said Floris, with a little sigh. " I could |
not have shared your love. I could not have borne to think
that I had only got it second-hand. You see," with a little,
piteous smile that was very near tears, " I am so proud !"
He bent till his lips touched her beautiful hair.
" By Heavens, I think I love you all the more for being so !"
he answered. "I would <not have you altered by a
90 MY LADY .PKIDK.
breadth, my darling. I think you perfect, bodily and men-
ially. Why, 1 dream even don't laugh of your very dresses.
To-night you look like a vision of cold, pare ice, you see.
Proud! So you shall be.* Be as proud as you like, so that
you are not too proud to let me love you. And, I, too ; I am
proud. But 1 am a bad lot altogether, my poor darling.
Heaven grant I may be able to conceal it from you."
She smiled trustingly enough.
" I will take you as you are, Bruce," she murmured.
" I am proud, too, little one," he said, very thoughtfully,
" and a monster of jealousy."
She laughed softly..
"Are you? How much alike we are! My pride is only
outdone by my jealousy. I warn you, Bruce, I shall grudge
every smile you bestow on other women. I shall want all
your soft speeches."
He laughed grimly.
" I was never wont to smile much, or very rich in soft
speeches, my darling; but what I have in stock shall be re-
served for you. Ah, you know well how wholly and entirely
I am yours, bound body and soul to your chariot wheel, so
much your slave that there is not another woman in the world
that is worth a thought to me !"
She put up her hand with a little, naive caress, and laid it
against his cheek.
"Ah, how happy T am !" she murmured, so low, and yet so
distinct that it reached the hidden woman opposite them, and
went to her heart like the stab of a knife.
Then Moris started.
" We must go. Why, how late it must be !"
He laughed.
" Tt is not late. What does it matter ? Who cares ?"
"Oh, but I must, sir! Lady Pendleton, my mistress, has
forgotten me, and I must find her."
He laughed with grim delight.
" Lady Betty, your mistress. Ha, ha ! How surprised she
tfiH be, and yet, I don't know ! T have caught her looking at
me- once or twice with that cock-sparrow expression in her
eye? which makes her look so knowing. She will be delighted.
Must we go? Let me put your cloak around you. Happv
Honk! What a pretty one! What made you think of that
dress, and its edging of swan's-down? My beautiful anjrel !"
aixd he took her bodily and boldly in his arms.
MY LADY PRIDE. 91
"Oh, take care!" she murmured, blushing, and lookimg
around fearfully. " Some one will see us."
" Who cares? And to think that only tins morning you
snubbed me. Actually refused to sell me tht flower from
your bosom."
She blushed.
''' Do you care to have it now?" she asked, quietly.
" Care? Give me a chance of getting it," he retorted.
She took the crushed and withered red rose from within hr
dress and held it out to him.
Then as, with a cry of delight, he eagerly stretched out hi3
Iiand, she whipped her's behind her.
" Give me something in exchange, Mr. Bruce."
He laughed, his short, curt laugh.
" Take all I have," he said, then he glanced down and
about him. He wore no rings, no trinket he could despoil
himself of.
" Give me that flower in your coat," said Floris.
"Ah, yes," he assented, entirely forgetful of the woman
who only that morning made him promise to wear it, who
pinned it in his coat with loving hands. " Here you are.
Give me my rose," and he took it from her, and with all a
boy's love and a man's passion, kissed it before he hid it iD
an inner pocket.
And so they passed out, arm in arm, heart to heart.
For a moment Lady Blanche stood leaning against the
palm, her face white as death, her hands clinched at her side.
Death ! She had died a thousand deaths in that last ten
minutes.
Hope, joy, the future, all were dead, and from their ashss
had sprung the demons of hate and jealousy.
Without a cry she sunk onto a seat, and sat staring in
front of her with clasped hands.
And she had lost him. Lost the man she loved more than
life. And* she had so nearly won him: a week, a few days
2go, he was almost hers.
The world had linked tbeir names together. It wanted but
the word to make him hers irrevocably.
And now she had lost him. And why? Because of this
chit of a country girl, this girl with the round face and the
gray eyes, this servant of Lady Betty's.
"Oh, Heaven, it was hard to bear! Hard,, hard, hard!
9 MY LADY PRIDE.
And he had told this girl that he had never loved, never eould
love Blanche."
Ah, it was hard to bear, too hard ! She could not.
" I will not/' she murmured, huskily ; " I will not. There
must be some way of stopping him, of balking her. She has
caught him with her dolrs face, with her pretended modesty
and shyness. He must be saved ! He shall not marry her ; 1
mean it! But how can I prevent it? How how? Oh, if
there was some one to help me, some one I could depend'
on!"
She looked around wildly. " I am only a woman,
wronged, insulted, helpless woman. If there were only some
one who could help me ! "
As if in answer to her prayer, a voice from behind her said,
in a quiet, almost sarcastic tone : ,
" I will help you ! "
Lady Blanche started, and turning her white face over her
shoulder, she saw a man standing half-hidden behind the
ferns.
" I will help you."
Lady Blanche started quickly, as if the words had sprung
from the lips of the familiar demon, the demon .jealousy, that
at that moment was reigning paramount in her bosom.
She started even more violently as she looked at the man
who had spoken, for it seemed as if the shadow of Lord Nor=
man had sprung up beside her.
She even murmured his name.
" Bruce 1 "
The man smiled sardonically, and shook his head.
" No, my lady, I am not Lord Norman," he said, calmly,
with an ease that was almost insolent.
Lady Blanche looked again at him. The likeness to Lord
Norman was extraordinary; had this man been dressed in an
evening suit, he might have walked into the ball-room and
been mistaken by all but the closest observer for the earl.
" Did you speak to me ? " she demanded, in the cold, hard
vpice which had struck a chill to many an inferior.
" I did, my lady ; I heard your appeal for help, and I an-
swered it."
"Who are you?"
" I am a stranger to your ladyship, and my name would
not enlighten you as to my identity. Just now, you called me
by Lord Norman's mm& Let me bf foawn, for the
MY LADY PRIDE. 93
an individual who happens to bear a strong resemblance to
his lordship. Your ladyship will be surprised to hear that I
have been seeking for an opportunity to speak to you for some
days past."
Lady Blanche was surprised,, and for the life of her she
could not keep her astonishment from showing itself in her
face.
" I have watched, followed you night and day for days past,
ever since I first saw you leaving the Duchess of Cliefenden's
party a week ago. I, too, have been an eye-witness of the
love-passage between Lord Norman and Miss Carlisle, and I
am as desirous of spoiling his lordship's felicity as you can
be."
" Why ? " demanded Lady Blanche, her breath coming fast.
The quiet, self-assured manner, the easy, self-reliant voice
were felling upon her, impressing her strongly and strangely.
He smiled.
" To answer that question would be to go into too long a
story for the place and time, my lady," he said, " Let it go,
if you please, that I am willing to balk Lord Norman's hap-
piness for reasons of my own. Listen to me, Lady Blanche.
This young girl comes between you and the man you love. I
offer to separate them to remove the obstacle! Will you
accept my offer ? "
"You can not do it," she said in a low, quivering voice.
" You do not know him."
" Do I not ? I know him well enough to count upon him
for his assistance," he said. " Yes or no, my lady. Put aside
the reluctance you feel to accepting help of a stranger,
v who appears in this unexpected romantic, if you will fash-
\ ion, and avail yourself of my services."
j : Lady Blanche was silent for a moment.
The music had ceased, the sound of laughter and many
light-hearted voices came confusedly through the silence. She
fancied she could hear Lord Brace's deep voice, as he bent
over Moris ; fancied she could see her eyes alight with the new
passion of love. Her heart beat wildly, her brain whirled ;
she put up her hand to her white brow, with a gesture of des-
perate resolve, and turned upon the man almost fiercely:
" Do what you promise, and claim what reward you will ! "
she breathed.
He let his arms fall to his side, as if h^ had anticipated the
14 MY LADY PRIDE.
result, and his manner changed induntly from trie cool ini-
' paftsibiliry it had hitherto displayed to an acute alertness.
" Your ladyship has decided wisely. As to reward yes, I
shall claim it when the time comes/'
Lady Blanche made her way back to the ball-room, and
found her father yawning himself awake in one of the ante-
rooms. When she declared that she was ready to go, the poor '
old earl quite brightened up with gratitude.
" Eeally ! and the ball half over! 'Pon my word, you are
growing sensible, Blanche. Lor" ! how I hate these affairs ! If
I had known what I should have to go through taking charge
of you, Blanche, I should have married a^ain ; I should, in-
deed ! "
" Perhaps it would have been better if you had," she mur-
mured, sadly, as she sunk back into a corner of the carriage.
Perhaps if her mother had lived, or some woman had taken
her dead mother's place, she, Blanche, would not have fallen
into the trap set for her by this stranger.
"Where is Bruce all the evening?" asked Lord Seymour,
with an awful gape. "He hasn't been near me, and he
usually comes and has a chat."
"I do not know. Do not speak to me of Bruce ! " she said,
bitterly.
The old man laughed.
'' You and Bruce have quarreled again. Xever mind, } r ou
will make it up to-morrow, as usual."
A bitter smile crossed her white face.
"Yes," she said, almost to herself; "we shall make it up
again."
CHAPTER XT.
GLAD TIDINGS.
How time fled ! Whether the band played square dances
or round, whether she was on her head or heels for the
remainder of that wonderful night, Floris did not know.
She only knew that Bruce, her sweetheart how pretty a
word it is, though fashion has decreed it out of date was con-
tinually at her side, whispering passionate love in her ears,
pressing her hand, even venturing to kiss her hair when he
could de so unobserved.
MY LJLBY PRfBE. 9$
He would have danced all the remaining dances with her, if
she would have allowed him, setting at defiance the fury of
her engaged parteners; but Floris insisted upon his going off
and doing his duty elsewhere, and it was half with amusement,
half delight, that she watched him going through the business
of a waltz with some other young lady, with his eyes straying,
wistfully, hungrily toward herself.
At last Lady Betty grew tired, not, however, before the ball
iwas nearly over, and at the end of a waltz during whieh
Moris had been responding with " Yeses " and " noes " to her
i partner's observations, without knowing in the least what he
was talking about she found herself, touched upon the arm
by Lady Betty's fan, all the worse for wear by this time.
" I think well go now, my dear," she said, then she looked
at Floris's face, radiant say rather, softly glowing with
happiness, with a stare of astonishment. " By the way, how
many times have you danced with Lord Nortnan ? "
A crimson flush flooded Floris's face and she bent down to
arrange her cloak.
" Oh, not many, Lady Pendleton," she replied.
" Oh, not many ! " echoed Lady Betty, with a laujk.
"Why, I have seen you dancing with him four times! Wo
wonder Blanche went so early."
A spasm of pain ran through Floris's heart, but she fought
against it. What did it matter, this coupling of his name
with Lady Blanche's, while she, Floris, was his chosen love,
his future wife ? All the same, Lady Betty's bantering speech
hurt her.
At the moment, however, she heard a voice at her elbow
that dispelled all pain.
" Here you are ! " he said. " Going? So am I. Come on,
Betty. Miss Carlisle, let me put that cloak closer around
your neck," and his fingers strayed to her ear, and he pressed
it caressingly.
"Look here, Betty, I'm fearfully hungry," he said, as
they reached the hall, and footmen were calling for Lady
[Pendleton's carriage. " Too hungry for grilled bones, which
is all I should got at ihe club. Let me conic home with
(you?"
" Will you?" exclaimed Lady Betty, delightedly. "But
I'm afraid there won't be much to eat, Bruce."
" I don't care! I'll take my chance, I am huagry enough
96 MY LADY PRIDE.
to eat anything Miss Carlisle even ! and he pressed Floris's
arm.
" That would be carrying your attentions a little too far,
Bruce/' said Lady Betty, mischievously, " Can you squeeze
yourself in the brougham, do you think ? "
" If I could unscrew my legs," he said, laughing. " I'll
get up beside John," and he put them in and climbed oU
the box.
The supper was laid in a very few minutes in the breakfast-
room, that being, as Lady Betty remarked, the coziest room
in the house, and Lord Norman, with a lady on each arm, led
them in.
" Edward has gone to bed ! " cried Lady Betty. " His
speech was a great success."
"Here's the premiership to him ! " exclaimed Lord Norman,
raising his champagne glass, his eyes alight with happi-
ness as they rested on Floris's downcast face. " I wish
everybody joy and success to-night," he added. " Betty, this
is an admirable fowl; let me give you a wing: Flo Miss
Carlisle," with mock ceremony, "can I assist you to some more
galantine ? Betty, I think I shall stipulate for the future that
you give us supper in this cozy little room after every outing."
" I shall be delighted, Bruce, if you will undertake to be
always in this humor. What is the matter with you to-night ?
You are like a boy You remind me of Bertie. By the way,
where did he vanish to? Bruce, do you think you really ought
to have any more champagne ? " with mock gravity.
" I don't know. I am not sure that I ought," he retorted.
" Champagne to a man in my frame of mind, Betty, is like
oil on fire."
"What is the matter with you?" demanded Lady Betty,
staring at his handsome face, more joyous than she had seen
it since he was a boy home for the holidays.
" Shall I tell you? " he said. " Shall I tell her, Miss Car-
lisle?" and he leaned across and smiled into Floris's eyes,,
which dropped instantly.
"Why do you ask her?" demanded Lady Betty. " Ho\7
can it possibly concern her ? "
Tie leaned back in his chair and laughed, not loudly, but
with pure, unrestrained, mirthful happiness.
" No, of course riot ! How can I concern her ; eh, Miss
Carlisle?"
" I think I will go now," said Floris, rising.
MY LADY PRIDE. 97
He rose, too, and stood beside her, detaining her with a
light yet firm grasp.
" Not yet, Floris."
" Floris ! " exclaimed Lady Betty, startled.
" Yes, Floris ! " he said ; " no longer Miss Carlisle to me.
Betty, Floris has promised to be my wife ; that is what makes
me in such good spirits to-night. My wife, do you hear ? "
Lady Betty gasped and stared.
" Not a word of congratulation ? " went on Lord Bruce, en-
joying her amazement. " Can not you find a word, my dear
Betty ? Or, perhaps, you disapprove, I forgot that Miss
Carlisle is under your charge. I ought to have asked your
permission and your blessing. Pardon me. It is not too late.
Floris, shall we kneel to her in orthodox fashion ? " and he put
his arm around her waist and drew her to him.
Lady Betty rose, pushing back her chair, and found her
voice at last.
" Bruce, is this true ? " she exclaimed, delightedly.
" Does it look like acting ? " he demanded. " Floris, she
can not believe it. She can not understand what I have done
to deserve so much happiness/'
" Really true ! " repeated Lady Betty. " Oh, I am so glad !
Oh, my dear, my dear ! " and she drew Floris away from him
and kissed her. " I don't know what I can say, I am so
pleased ! Oh ! " with a sudden alarm " of course, you will
want to leave me now, dear ! "
Floris looked at her affectionately.
" Why should I ? Perhaps you will want to send m& away,
though ! "
Lady Betty kissed her again for an answer.
" I wish I could keep you always with me."
" Thank you, Betty. Thank you," exclaimed Lord Nor-
man.
" Don't be foolish ; I mean till you take her, sir ! And " -
with a sudden brightening "why shouldn't i? Why
shouldn't she stay with me? As as my friend, I mean, dear.
Of course, there must be no more of this ' companion ' non-
sense," and she flushed. " Fancy having the future Countess
of Norman for a companion ! "
"If I stay if you will let me stay," said Flotis, gently,
" it shall be just as I am."
"Well, well; we'll argue it out when we are a, one," said
Lady Betty.
98 MY LADY PRIDE.
" That's a tolerably broad hint for me to take my depart-
ure/' said Lord Norman. " May I just have a cigarette be-
fore I '
"Yes/' said Lady Betty, "and Flom shall tell Edward
when he complains of the smell who caused it. There, I am
going now ; good-night/' and she left the two alone.
" I will not keep you to-night, my darling! " he murmured, j
holding her in his arms. " How happy you shall be if mortal'
man can make mortal woman happy ! Good-night, Floris.
Good-night, my future wife ! Will you give me one kiss before
I go?"
She hesitated a moment. Then, for the first time in
her young life, she raised her lips and laid them on a man'e.
Next morning Lord Norman called his man, and with his
assistance got into his morning coat and hat, and walked
down Eton square. It was nearly twelve o'clock, and he
expected perhaps he hoped to be informed by the footman
that Lady Blanche was not up yet.
But the man showed him into the drawing-room, and there
Lord Norman waited, staring out of the window, at one mo-
ment thinking of Floris of dear, sweet Floris! and the next
of the stately, beautiful creature to whom he was going to
announce his passion for another woman.
The door opened and Lady Blanche entered.
"So early! How good of you, Bruce!" she murmured.
"Have you come to breakfast? I have not had mine yet.
Come with me," and she drew him gently toward her.
"No, no/' he said, almost harshly in his embarrassment.
" I have had my breakfast, Blanche. I am very sorry I am
so early."
"It 'doesn't matter. You know I am glad to see youy
however early or late you may be. And the ball what did
you think of it ? " she said, in her soft, clear voice.
" Oh, very good, I suppose," he said, looking at the car-
pet. "But I mustn't keep you from your breakfast. I'm
glad to find you none the worse for yesterday's work,
Blanche."
It was cowardly to shirk his duty thus, he felt and told
himself; but was this the time to tell her, before she had even
had her breakfast?
"And is that all you have come for, Bruce?" she askad.
"I thought you feai come t* tell me semetking hnportaat,
MY LADY PRIDE, 99
" Blanche, you are right/' he said. " I have com* to tell
you something". You you and T have always been such
close friends that 1 feel it almost a duty to acquaint you at
once with anything that that materially affects me. Hang
it all, Blanche! I hate beating about the bush! Last
night I"
A footman knocked at the door, and brought in a letter on
a salver.
Lady. Blanche took it and opened the envelope There
was only a slip of paper inside, and on the slip of paper was
wr i tten these \v or d s :
" I am here. 1 f you are still willing to accept my aid,
you will do well to 'see me; if not, send word that I may
go."
She crumpled the paper up in her small hand, and said to
the footman, " Wait outside."
"Well, Bruce/' she said, turning her face to him with a
smile.
" Blanche, T have come to tell you that T haVe asked Miss
Carlisle to be my wife."
She did not change color, as he had expected her at least
to do; her eyes did not even shrink beneath his.
"Miss Carlisle?" she murmured "Miss Carlisle? Ah,
yes ! I had forgotten Lady Betty's companion."
"Yes, Lady Betty's companion," he said. "But, though
Lady Betty's companion, a lady by birth and breeding. But
that is nothing to do with it. What do you say, Blanche?"
" I am very glad, Bruce very glad. Stop ! may I send my
message ? "
"Yes, in Heaven's name," he said, impatiently.
She had taken the news as coolly and calmly as if he had
announced that he had engaged a new valet.
She went to the door; the footman was standing in read-
iness.
"Ask the gentleman to wait, please," she said.
Then she came hack, and laid her hand on Lord Norman's
arm.
"Now, Bruce, I am prepared!" she said, and her eyes
shone and glistened up at him in a way which ho remembered
years afterward, and remembered all too bitterly.
100 MY LADY PRIDE.
CHAPTER XII.
FOR FORTUNE AND REVENGE.
"AsK the 'gentleman to wait ! " said Lady Blanche ; then
,she came back and stood beside Lord Norman, looking up
at him with a smile in her eyes, though her face was white
.and strained with the effort to appear calm and unmoved.
'" So you are engaged to Miss Carlisle, Bruce ? " she repeated.
"les, Blanche, he said. "You will give me your con-
gratulation ? "
" Yes, Bruce, with all my heart," she murmured. " I wish
you every happiness, and her, too ! " and she smile*? again,
while her hand closed over Oscar Raymond's note tightly,
fiercely.
The marriage will take place soon, I suppose, Bruce f ' : she
said, quite calmly, almost sweetly.
He nodded.
"As soon as possible. ' It is early to think of it yet. WQ
we were only engaged last night."
"Really! Why, last night, at the ball, they were saying
-that Miss Carlisle would be Yieountess Clifforde, and all the
while she had made up her mind to 'be Countess Norman ! *
His brow gathered in a frown for a moment, then he
laughed.
" Oh, Bertie flirts with any one, you know, and I dare say
he made all the running he could with Floris."
" Poor Bertie ! Let us hope it was no more than mere
flirtation for him. Good-by, Bruce ! " and she let her fingers
slide coldly, icily, from his hand.
He got his hat and went down-stairs, conscious of a vagua
feeling of surprise and confusion. At the end of the hall he
teaw an old gentleman, with white hair and spectacles, and
wearing a cloak that gave him the look of a musician or lit-
erary man rather out at elbows, standing regarding the
weather glass. The old gentleman turned, and regarded
Lord Norman with a bland, amiable smile, and Bruce, touch-.
ing his hat, in courteous response, passed out.
" This way," said the footman, rather curtly, and the
elderly man slowly followed him up the stairs, and was ad-
mitted to the drawing-room.
Lady Blanche was standing by the window, looking down
MY LADY PRIES. 101
at the street, and did not turn her head until the footman
had closed the door, and when she did so she started with a
gesture of astonishment.
Oscar Eaymond took off his; ^ppct^eles, arid inclined hi;s
head, with a smile that was half amused, 'half sa/custic.
" I read the success of my disguise in your ladyship's face/ p
he said, quietly.
"Is there any need of this masquerade, sir?*' she said, al-
most contemptuously.
" Judge for yourself," he retorted. " I have just met Lore"
Norman in your hall. He and I were once friends, and arc
now bitter foes. If he had recognized me he would have re-
turned to warn you against me, and our plot would have been
rendered abortive."
" Our plot ! " she said, coldly. % " I have not consented yet
to join you in any plot, sir."
He raised his eyebrows, and pointed to the note, which she
still held tight in her hand.
" Then why did you answer my note, Lady Blanche ? " he
said, significantly.
Lady Blanche was silent for a moment, then she said in a
low voice:
" Last night you said that you intended to that you were
able to separate Lord Norman, and Miss Carlisle."
" 1 did. That is still my intention," he said.
" What is your plan ? " she condescended to ask.
"At present it is not complete," he answered. " It is an
unwise general who discloses an immature plan of his cam-
paign."
" Hovv, then, am I to help you ? "
" In two ways: for the present you must keep me apprised
of all that happens to Lord Bruce, and you must afford me
the opportunity of striking the blow when the occasion offers.
1 shall need another accomplice, Lady Blanche."
"Another?"
" Yes," he said, coolly, " and I think I have found her.
Lady Pendleton has a maid, a Frenchwoman, a dark girl with!
black hair
:< Yes, I have seen her."
" Her name is Josine. She is vain, and well, like her race
generally passionate and impulsive, and she detests Miss
Carlisle. Josine, with whom I mean to be very great friends,
ivill keep me acquainted with Miss Carlisle's movements, and
MY LADY PRIDE.
will assist me to strike my blow as the hour presents itself.
My plan is more than half formed already, and when it is
complete, your ladyship shall hear it, and judge for yourself
whether it is not sufficient for our I beg your pardon my
purpose.
" I am compelled to trust you, Mr. Raymond," she said, in
a low voice. .'
" You- will not find your confidence abused, Lady Blanche,"
he said. " One thing more. Will you please regard me as
Signer Paulo, your Italian master or, stay music would be
better, and more convenient. Would it not be as well if your
lad}- ship took your finishing lessons from an experienced
master ? "
Ai he spoke he went to the grand piario, inclined his
bead by way of asking permission, and seating himself, began
to play.
Lady Blanche stood watching him with a fascinated in-
terest and curiosity. He played with all the case and polish
of a skilled musician, his long, thin fingers running over the
keys with the rapidity of lightning one moment, and then
gliding, with a soft touch, into a sweet serenade.
" Where did you learn to play like that? " she asked.
" Oh, I have picked nip most accomplishments, Lady
Blanche, and yet you see with them all I am but a needy ad-
venturer."
" I will accept you as my music teacher, Signor Paulo/*
she said, quietly. " It is usual, I think, always to pay the
fee in advance? "
" As your ladyship pleases. Yes, it is usual."
" Wait," she said, and glided silently from the room.
Oscar Raymond gracefully opened the door, and bowed her
out, then he closed it, and walked up to the mirror, laughing
silently.
" My dear fellow," he murmured to the reflection, " you
are in luck at last! Yes, the tide has turned; the corner of
'the dark lane where yoii have been tramping so long is
I rounded at last. Revenge and a fortune at one stroke! It
is not rvrry rnnn who could achieve so much; but then it fS
not every man who has your undoubted talents. My Lord
Norman, you called me a cheat and kicked me like a whipped
hound from your presence, and I threatened to cry quits with
you ! We shall see if I am not as good as my word ! Signor
3&Y LADY PRIDE. 103
Paulo, I salute you ! " and he bowed with mock gravity to the
mirror.
The door opened and* _ Lady Blanche entered. As he
turned, she laid a bank-note on the table and pointed to it.
" Take it," she said, in a low voice. " When you need
more ;
" I shall not hesitate to. ask for it, my lady. Our interest*
are mutual. No war even such a little comedy of an affair
as this can be carried on without money."
tie took up the note. It was one for fifty pounds, and his
is glistened.
" Josine must have a large slice of this," he said, musingly.
" Good-day, Lady Blanche. You will find that your con-
fidence in me has not been misplaced."
That evening Josine, having received permission to visit
" an aged grandmother who was sick/' went to spend an hour
or two with her friend, the landlady of the " Three Pigeons."
She passed through the public or coffee-room with her usual
noiseless, quick step, very much like the tread of a self-pos-
sessed cat, and entered the little parlor at the further end.
As she did so she shot a glance toward the compartment
nearest the parlor, and a faint smile of satisfaction gleamed
in her black eyes as she saw an old, white-haired gentleman,
with spectacles, seated at a table, diligently perusing a Pa-
risian newspaper.
He looked up as she passed, and raised his hat, sweeping it
earthward in the French fashion ; and Josine just inclined her
head; but, to make up for this curt acknowledgment of his
courteous salute, she made a sharp, swift gesture with het
long, thin, supple hand.
His quick eyes caught it, and he nodded as he resumed his
paper ; but after a few minutes he laid it down, and with a
slow and listless manner he entered the little parlor in which
sat Josine and the landlady, the latter of whom greeted him
with a smile and a shrug of the shoulders, as If she were
< greeting an eccentric but harmless old man with whom it was
'pleasant to have a chat.
The old gentleman sal down ;md began lo talk about the
latest foreign news, speaking in French, Josine listening in
silence, the landlady uMermg (lie usual ejaculation. Pres-
ent] v slip rose to attend lo some customers, and the old gen-
tleman dropped the news of the day abruptly and leaned
over to Josint,
104 MY LADY PRIDE.
" Well y mademoiselle ?" he said.
" Speak in English," said Josine. " There is not one, or
few, who understand it."
" True. You are alway discreet," he said, with a beautiful
French accent. " Have you what I want ?"
Josine regarded him with a cunning look in her black
eyes, then her head drooped on one side, musingly.
"Have I got what you want? I don't know. Last time
we met, you asked me to procure some specimens of hand-
writings."
"And have you got them?" he said.
"And I have got them," she assented.
"Ah, thanks. A million thanks !" he murmured, holding
out his hand.
" Wait a minute," she said, with a short nod, " you have
not got them yet !"
He looked at her for a moment, then he took some sover-
eigns from his pocket, counted out ten and laid them on the
table, covering them with his hand.
" See !" he said, with a smile. " Exchange is a practice of
all races. Give me the letters I will not say letters, any
scrap of paper bearing the handwritings of Lady Penclleton
. and Miss Carlisle, the two friends I have heard you mention
and this little bagatelle is yours."
''' Put five more sovereigns, monsieur, and they are yours,"
she said.
He added them slowly, and lifted his hand.
Josine pushed the letters across to him with one set of
fingers, and clutched the money with the other. He laughed.
softly at her eagerness, and unfolded the papers. There were
three: a scrap of memorandum written by Lady Pendleton, a
short note from Lord Norman, containing a few lines accept-
ing an invitation, and a copy of some song verses in Floris's
handwriting.
He glanced at them with a face from which every trace of
expression had vanished, then he put them in his pocket and
nodded.
"Thanks. 1 am now satisfied. I shall study these speci-
mens and make my notes
He stopped, for a broad grin spread itself over Josi
face.
"Oh, do not trouble to play the comedy out, monsieur!**
she said. " It is of no consequence to me what you want
105
them for. You hare them-; I have the good money. We are
quits for the present. For the present ! Shall I be too
rash if I prophesy that it will not be long before monsieur re-
quires my assistance again?"
He looked at her, then he got up and stood silent aud
smiling.
" Mademoisellle is observant," he said with a bow. " Yes,
it may be; and if I should, mademoiselle will give me her
valuable aid?"
" No," said Josine, showing all her teeth. " I will sell it
to you, though."
"Ah, but that is the same," he said, and with a sweep of
his hat, he stole out.
Josine sat and watched him for a moment, then her eyes
gleamed.
" Observant ! One need not be so exceedingly observant to
remark that for an old man, so very white-headed an old
man, monsieur has very bright eyes, and hands bah !
white and smooth as a man's of fi ve-and-twenty !"
CHAPTER XIII.
THE Lynches of Ballyfloe were extremely popular people.
Sir Joseph had started in life as an errand boy in 'a mer-
chant's office; had, by the usual process, developed into a full-
blown merchant himself, and, by a happy venture in jute or
cotton some said tallow had succeeded in making a pile
which rumor put at a round million.
j Ballyfloe was one of the finest estates in Scotland. The
house was a magnificent one, built by a great Scotch lord,
and so added to and improved by Sir Joseph that it had be-
come a palace. In addition to a deer forest and trout streams,
the Lynches had a wonderful French cook, and a famous
library of books and gallery of pictures, so that the net was
constructed to catch and hold all sorts of fish; and no one
considered himself happy unless he could look forward to a
fortnight in the autumn at Ballyfloe.
This particular party had been organized to meet Lord
Bruce, who was a special favorite with Sir Joseph, and com-
106 MY LADY PRIDE.
prised some of the best known of the best set- lords and
ladies, painters and poets and the arrival of Lord Bruce's
betrothed was looked forward to with the keenest interest..
Bruce, of course, traveled down with them, and after a
journey which Ploris thought so short as to seem. one of a fcv/
miles only, they reached tlie nearest station to BaHyfloe. Here
they found a magnificently-appointed carriage with an or;!*
rider, and a fourgon for the luggage.
After a short drive they arrived at the house. The carriage
door was thrown open, and down the lane of servants Sir
Joseph marched himself to hand the ladies out.
" I am very delighted to see you/' he said, with a stiff bow,
and a pleasant smile on his simple yet shrewd face. " Lord
Norman, I hope the ladies are not tired out I Lady Pendle-
ton, it was extremely kind of you to honor me. My wife is
very anxious to see you, Miss Carlisle," and witli a lady on
each side of him, the man who had commenced life by lighting
an office fire and dusting desks, led them into the magnificent
hall.
Here they were met by Lady Lynch, a pleasant little body,
who seemed as homely amid her grand surroundings as if she
were in a suburban semi-detached villa.
"And this is Miss Carlisle ?" she said, looking up at Floris
as she held her hand. " My dear, I am very glad to see you.
Lord Bruce is a very old friend of my husband's and of mine.
I don't think there is any one my husband thinks so highly
of, or looks up to more than his lordship, and I hope you will
like us. We will do all we can to make your stay with us
pleasant to you oh, yes, for our own sakes so that we may
induce you to come again."
Floris's eyes filled, and she pressed the large hand, whicli
was as soft as its owner's heart,
" I am sure I shall be very happy, Laxly Lynch," she said,
" and I am very glad to come."
" Thank you, my dear ! And now you shall go to your
rooms."
From hall to hall and corridor to corridor they were led
with almost royal state to their apartments apartments such
as Floris had never even imagined and were told that they
had an hour in which to prepare for dinner.
In the drawing-room Floris and Lady Betty were soon sur-
rounded : it was generally understood that Floris was to be
MY LADY PRTDE.
the lady to be specially honored this autumn at Ballyfloe, and
the worldlings were eager to pay their homage.
Another girl might have been rendered vain, might have
been in danger of having 'her head turned, by the attention
and adulation lavished upon her; but, as usual, Floris re-
ceived and often parried it with her simple,, unassuming
modesty.
Presently, from the other end of the room, entered Lady
Blanche.
She was splendidly dressed, as usual with greater care,
perhaps, than usual and as she glided toward them, many a
glance of admiration was directed toward her.
With a sweet smile, that was almost child-like in its glad-
ness, she came up to the group and kissed Floris.
"I am so glad you have come!" she murmured. "We
have all been expecting you so eagerly."
It was not until the dinner a grander banquet than any
that in all past ages had merited the name had commenced,
that Floris noticed that Lady Blanche was not looking so
well as when she had seen her' for the first time in her box at
the opera.
There was a look of thoughtfulness almost amounting ft)
careen the^eyes, and a strange, proud smile on the lips that
Floris had thought incapable of expressing aught but com-
plete and perfect repose.
Once during the dinner, as she was listening to Lord Nor-
man, who was talking to Lady Glenloona, Floris looked up
and caught Lady Blanche's eyes fixed on her face with a curi-
ous expresison.
It was not one of dislike exactly, but rather one of close
watchfulness. Of course, it instantly changed to a smile, l^r\
that the look had actually shone in her dark eyes Floris feL
assured.
Some one else noticed it also, for as the ladies trooped ofr
to the drawing-room, Floris felt Lady Betty's fan on her arm,
and heard her whisper :
" How strange she looked to-night Blanche, I mean !"
<< Strange?" said Floris.
' Yes," said Lady Betty, pulling her down to an ottoman.
" I have never seen her look like that. Do you know I'm
afraid Blanche is up to mischief !"
"Aren't you inclined to be unjust to Lady Blanche?'' Floris
said, gently. "You don't like 'her, you knew "
MY LADY PRIDE.
3S"o, I don 1 ! We never could get on," assented Lady
y ; " and I am always suspicious of her; but 1 dare say I
unjust oh, I've no doubt I am ! After all, what mischief
'can she do?" and she looked at Floris, thoughtfully.
Floris shook her head.
" What indeed-!" she said, laughing. " One would thinly
bearing us talk, that she was a naughty school-girl in per-
petual danger of playing some trick or other."
' " Hem !" said Lady Betty. " Hush ! here she comes," and
she got up to make room for Lady Blanche.
If there had been any malice in the glance which Floris had
met across the dinner table, her manner atoned for it now, if
it did not entirely wipe out all remembrance of it.
Under the influence of the rare smile and the soft, dulcet
voice, Floris found herself lulled into a belief that the beauti-
ful creature could not possibly be guilty of anything approach-
ing deceit, and she was in that state of mind when the door
opened and the gentlemen entered.
She saw Lord Norman look around and discover her, and
then come across the room with the directness of, and the
speed of, an arrow from a bow.
"Well?" he said. "You two talking scandal?"
"We -have been having a charming chat," said Lady
Blanche ; " so nice and absorbing that we had quite forgotten
"All right," he said ; " then Fll go away again."
" No, you need not do that," she said ; " you can sit down
anfl talk to Floris. I am going to play," and with a slow,
graceful ease she glided to the piano and commenced playing.
" It is awfully warm," he said. " Let us go into the con-
servatory; we can hear Blanche's waltz just as well there.
'What a crowd it is ! People come and go here as if it were
open house for all the world." %
He drew her arm through his, and they made their way into
the large glass house, which ran the whole length of one end
of the room.
There, leaning against a marble statue of Venus, he stood
and looked down at her, talking to her in that softened voice
which is the best medium for love's confidences; and Floris,
with half-closed eyes, sat and listened, forgetful of the world
outside, even of the little world so near them.
Suddenly, while she was sitting there, she heard a strange
MY LADY PRIDE. 109
sound behind ker, the sound as of some one trying to open a
window.
For a moment or two she paid no attention to it, and it was
Lord Norman who remarked it.
" There is an awful draught all of a sudden/' he said.
" Some one has opened a window."
And he turned and walked some steps behind her.
Floris heard him speak, and looking around saw, to her*
amazement, the thin figure of Josine standing close up againsfr
the glass wall.
She was very pale, and her btack eyes shone with a half-i
frightened, half-defiant glare for a moment, then drooped, as *
she made a respectful courtesy.
" What are you doing here ?" asked Lord Norman, quietly.
" Pardon, milord/' said Josine, glibly ; " I have lost my
way."
"Lost your way!" he said, in his grave, clear voice.
" Where were you going, then ?"
The question was so sudden that for a moment Josine was
nonplused. She had expected Lord Norman would point t@
an open door in silence.
" To miladi's room, milord/' she replied.
Lord Norman looked at her keenly.
" To the upper corridor ! What are you doing her* then ?"
he demanded.
Josine had gathered her wits by this time, and raised hr
eyes with a deprecatory glance.
" Pardon, milord. I had a letter for her ladyship, and
hoped to get an opportunity of delivering it. Milord, a thou-
sand pardons ! I have dropped it !"
- Lord Norman looked at her sternly in silence.
" Yes !" she exclaimed, under her breath, her eyes roving
the floor. " It is certain that I have dropped it."
" You had better go and find it," he said, pointing to the
open door behind her. "Go through -that door and you will]
find yourself in one of the .passages to the hall ; there are!
servants there who will direct you, as you know, and mighf^
have remembered ! Do not, please, enter this part of the
house unless you are requested to do so !"
"Yes, milord; certainly," she murmured, and with a
drooping head and gait, eloquent of the deepest contrition anfl
humility, she passed out.
110 MY LADY PRIDE.
They waited a little while longer, then Floris got up.
"Let us go in now/' she said, falteringly; and she drew
away from him to the drawing room.
As she did so she saw something white lying on the ground
at her feet, and pointed to it with her fan.
" What is that, Bruce ?" she asked.
He stooped down and picked it up,
" It's a letter," he said, carrying it to the light, " and ad-
dressed to "
a Lady Betty," she broke in. " Bruce, admit that you have
^'.one poor Josine an injustice."
He held the note up with the direction toward him.
"Admit that in your mind you have done me an injustice,
if you please !" he retorted, smiling. " This letter is ad-
dressed to the Lady Blanche Seymour !"
"To Lady Blanche Seymour!" echoed Floris. "What a
strange coincidence that Josine should lose a letter for Lady
Betty, and that you should find one on the spot addressed to
Lady Blanche!"
" Isn't it ?" he assented ; then he looked at the address
though tfullyw " Strange !" he said. " The handwriting seems
familiar to me, and yet I cannot remember whose it is."
Floris went and looked over his arm at the envelope.
" Why, it has not come through the post, Bruce," she said,
then she laughed. " How dreadfully curious we are ! It is
awfully bad manners to examine another person's letters so
minutely. Pray take it to her at once."
He put the letter in his pocket, still thoughtful.
" No, I can't remember ; and yet the writing is as familiar
to rne as my own. Floris," suddenly, "do you think it was
this note that girl had lost?"
" No ; she said distinctly that it was for Lady Betty,"
He shook his head.
" T mistrust that girl. Let us take it to Blanche."
A great German maestro was playing on the grand piano, a
JTIZZ of conversation filled the room, and at the further end,
,n mounded by several men, they^saw Lady Blanche.
She was sitting in a deep, high-backed chair, leaning indo-
jjently back, her fan moving to and fro listlessly, and her eyes
fixed on vacancy.
She might have been listening to the music, or to the man
who was talking to her, or lost in her own thoughts ; to Floris's
MY JUDY PRIDE. Ill
mind she made a splendid picture of beauty conscious of its
power, and Floris stopped Lord Norman by pressing his arm.
" How beautiful she is, Bruce !" she whispered.
"Eh? Oh! Blanche? yes!"
" Very beautiful, I mean !" she said, with emphasis. " I
think her the loveliest wonlan I have ever seen no, no ! you
must not indulge in such silly flattery !" for he had whisperecj
a word or two of a beauty that was sweeter to him than Lad$
Blanche's. " See how they hang upon her for a word or a
smile. If she were a queen she could not be more courted. If
I were a man I should not be able to resist her."
He laughed softly.
He was so happy, so free from care, so entirely wrapped up
in his passionate devotion to the beautiful girl on his arm,
that he could afford to laugh at his fancy for Lady Blanche as
a midsummer madness past and gone.
" Let us give her her note," he said.
They went up to the little group, and Lady Blanche raised
her eyes and smiled up at them, a half sleepy smile, such as
Cleopatra might have worn as she lay on board her yacht
surrounded by her slaves.
" Fve something for you, Blanche," said Lord Norman.
" Yes?" opening her eyes wide and holding out her hand.
The little crowd looked on for a moment, then man by man
cleared away, and the three were left together.
"What is it? I am continually dropping my bracelets
and things. Give it to me, Bruce."
" It is not a bracelet, Blanche," he said, an& he held ont the
latter.
She took it, glanced at it, shook her head.
" Who is it from ? How did you come by it ?"
Bruce pressed Floris's hand to prevent her speaking, and
she stood silently looking down, while Lady Blanche held the
letter daintily between her finger and thumb.
" How can I tell ? Open it and see."
" May I ? " with a glance at Floris.
" Yee, we are all curiosity," he said, smiling.
She raised her eyebrows.
" Will you promise to pay it for me if it should be a bill ?
Will you " She stopped suddenly, and the blood rose to
her pale face, dying it a deep crimson, then left it paler than
before.
Floris was astonished. Lord Bruce looked graye.
112 MY LADY PKIDE.
t( Is it bad news, Blanche ?" he asked.
She looked up at him steadily.
"Bad news? No! Why should you think that?" she
asked, laughing softly. " It is a bill, and so exorbitant a one
that it made me feel quite angry. I wish you had promised
yto pay it" and she let the paper fall into her lap, but so
* carefully careless ' that the blank side fell upward.
At that moment, with a final crash, the great maestro's
^performance came to an end; a murmur of applaust broke
out; there was a general movement people always move
about at the end of a piece of music or song, as if they had
been listening patiently, instead of talking loudly as they in-
variably do and some one spoke to Lord Norman, and drew
his attention away from Lady Blanche.
When he looked around, a minute or two later, she had
gone, and she did not appear again that evening.
In the privacy of her own room, having locked the door,
she took out the paper and read it again, and as she did
so her lips grew pale and hard, and her brows knitted with
the look of care and anxiety which Lady Betty had noticed.
" Will you meet me in the plantation by the bridge to-
morrow morning at eleven o'clock ? " ran the note.
There was no signature, but though Lord Norman had for-
gotten the handwriting, Lady Blanche had not. It was
Oscar Kaymond's.
With an inarticulate cry she drew herself to her full height,
crushing the paper in her hand, almost as if the writer were
before her, and she could crush him with her scorn, and con-
tempt, and defiance.
" He writes he orders me as if I were his slave ! " she
muttered, fiercely, between her teeth. "Oh, fool fool that
,t was, ever to have listened to him ! And yet and yet if it
/ jan be done ! Oh, how I hate her ! If it can be done ! If he
can tear them asunder, I do not 'mind this humiliation, this
disgrace ! Her happiness mocks and maddens me ! And it is
for Bruce's sake, not for mine alone ! He would tire of her in
a month, while I I know that I would keep his love for my
life ! Oh, love, love ! to what depths am I dragged for your
dear sake ! "
The " plantation " was not a recent addition to the estate,
for the firs had been planted three generations back, and were
grown high and large enough to form a little wood that served
M tADY PRSBE.
as a cover for the game and made a pretty point in view from
the house.
Lady Blanche knew the spot well, and knew, too, why Oscar
Raymond had chosen it.
From that point of the plantation which he had chosen, the
whole of the rgad could be seen, and no one could eome upon
them unawares at any rate, from the house.
Sir Joseph had formed a riding party for that morning, and
Lady Blanche had promised to, join it, but she sent down a
message by her maid that she had a headache, and did not
appear in the breakfast-room, in which breakfast was kept
going from nine till noon, and which presented the appear-
ance of a London restaurant from the number of people who
dropped in at all times between those hours, aad the con-
tinued moving to and fro of .the servants.
At ten o'clock the riding party started, and Lady Blanehe,
having made inquiries, learned that Lord Norman had go$e
with it, but that Miss Carlisle had remained in the house with'
Lady Betty.
To know that they were separated for a few hours, brought
a strange, unreasoning feeling of relief, and almost accepting
the fact as an omen of success, she dressed and telling her
maid that she was going to walk her headache off, made hr
way to the plantation.
She reached the bridge as the .slock struck eleven, waited
there ,for some minutes, then slowly strolled into the dense
shade of the pines.
She had brought a book as an excuse for loitering, amd
with it open in her hand she sat down on a fallen tree and
waited.
There was no sign of Oscar Eaymond, and she had seesa mo
one since she started, excepting an old laborer in a rough
fjieze coat, whom 'she had found busily engaged picking up
sticks at the fringe of the plantation, and with a sigh of re-
lief, as the clock chimed the half hour, shg rose and closed 1
her book intending to go home, when the old man in the
frieze coat hobbled toward her, passed her a few steps, paused
to gather some sticks and cones, and then hobbled back again,
and stood beside her looking up at her, with his hat in his
hand and his reddish -gray locks streaming down his neck.
Lady Blanche had taken out her purse, when the old man
put his hat 0n again and laughed.
MY LADY
At the sound of the laugh the low, soft, mocking laugff
Lady Blanche started and turned crimson.
"Is it you?" she said.
" Yes," said Raymond, " and if your ladyship does not
recognize me, I need not fear detection by any others here,"
and he peered up at her from his half-closed eyes with a fur-
tive.smile.
" Why are you here ? Was it necessary ? " she asked, coldly.
" Quite," he said, " or depend upon it I should not hav<j
taken the journey. Things are working well for us, my
lady. There could be no better scene for our little comefly
than this. You will understand that when I unfold my
plot."
" Your plot ? Then you are ready "
" To strike ! " he said, quietly, and with the smile of con-'
scious power which had never failed to impress Lady Blanche.
" But we had better come into the middle of the wood, my
lady," and he hobbled in front of her.
Lady .Blanche followed him until" they had got well out of
sight of the road, then he stopped, and, courteous^ motion-
ing her to a bank, drew himself up to his full Height and
leaned against a tree.
" We need to be cautious, my lady," he said. " Last night
my messenger was discovered by Lord iSTorman. He was
supicious and no wonder. Your French women are bad
tools; they are always so. curious on their own account. That
is Josine's only fault."
" It was Josine, then, who brought me this note ? " she said,
coldly.
" It was Josine who should have brought it, but she dropped
it, and it was brought to you by Lord Norman," he answered.
"A dangerous episode, my lady! Her stupidity might have
ruined us, and that would have been provoking, just as our
plans are complete."
" Complete ? " she repeated, turning very pale.
" Yes," he said, with a smile, and with a look of confidence
that shone through the painted wrinkles on hi? face. " Yes
my little comedy is now ready for the stage, my little plot i>
prepared, and given a fair opportunity which we must make
and average luck, I shall have my revenge, and you well,
you will have had your amusement-! "
" Tell me ! " she said, impatiently.
"With pleasure," he answered, "Lady Blanche, before
MY LADY PRIDE. 118
the week is out, Lord Norman and the young lady who stands
between you pardon ! the young lady . he loves will b*
parted^, and I shall come to you to claim my reward ! "
CHAPTER XIV.
A DIABOLICAL PLOT.
LADY BLANCHE drew a long breath and looked at Kay-
mond.
The dark, piercing eyes met hers with a faint smile of con*
fidence, a forecast of triumph in them that contrasted very
strongly with the disguise of age- and poverty.
" Your ladyship would like to know how I am going to
bring this much-to-be-desired result about, I will tell you.
Will you not sit down ? We are quite out of sight from the
road."
Lady Blanche sunk on to a fallen tree, and Oscar Eaymond
with the broken sticks he had gathered at his feet, ready to
his hand if he should find it necessary to resume his assumed
character leaned against a tree beside her.
" This is my little plot, Lady Blanche/' he said. " Pardon
me if, during the recital, I exhibit any signs of pride. They
say that the serpent in the Garden of Eden was rather con-
ceited with the little plot of the apple, whereby he caught
Eve; and a little self-glorification must be permitted me."
Lady Blanche made a gesture of impatience, and lowering
his voice bending down as he approached the most critical
parts of the recital he unfolded his scheme for the destruc-
tion of Lord Norman's and Floris's happiness.
L.ady Blanche listened, and her face grew paler and paler.
A faint shudder ran through her as he proceeded, and when
he had finished, when the insidious voice had whispered its
last word, as he closed with a low, sardonic laugh of satisfac-
pon, she drew a little away from him, shuddering palpably.
; " Ingenious, is it not, my lady?" he said, with a sinister 1
smile.
" It is diabolical ! " fell from her pale lips.
" Oh, you flatter me ! " he retorted.
" Diabolical ! " she repeated.
But she did not get up and leave him; she sat, her fingers
116 MY LADY PRIDE.
intwined together, her brows knit, pondering in silence for a
moment or two, while he watched her.
" If it should fail," she said, in a hushed whisper, " it will
cover me with shame ! I shall never be able to hold up rny
head again I should die ! "' clinching her hands.
" Oh, it will not fail ! " he said, confidently; " it is too good
a plot to fail. It is just a little comedy that requires nice,
careful, artistic aciing; and I think I can manage my part.
As to your ladyship, I have no misgivings respecting you; it-
is just the part you can play, if I mistake not, to perfection/*.
Lady Blanche's face grew crimson for a moment crimson'
with shame then the color died away, leaving her pale as
marble.
"There 'is Josine," she said, after a moment's thought,
" can you rely on her ? Persons of her class are not always to
be trusted. You have bought her, no doubt, but she may
betray us for gold as readily as she consented to betray
them/'
He laughed.
No doubt. But I hold Josine in a stronger chain than
that of gold; my lady I hold her by fear. Josine, in a weak
moment, was foolish enough to steal some letters of her mis-
tress, and I have them. If I am not mistaken,, she had ap-
propriated other things besides letters such unconsidered
filings as rings and a bracelet. I have seen her wear them,
which was a blunder on her part. A word from me, and she
would lose her place and her character. Besides, Josine is
French she enjoys an affair of intrigue, it is meat and drink
to her ; and she hates, she detests Miss Carlisle. Oh, you may
rely on Josine, my lady P
"At the mercy of a servant ! " murmured Lady Blanche,
with suppressed bitterness.
He laughed.
" We are all at the mercy of some one or other, my lady.
Lord Norman*, for instance, is at the mercy of you and me;
while I oh, I am at the mercy of my tailor, my landlady j
the world at large! Is ""your, ladyship afraid?" he broke off,!
with a sarcastic smile. " If so. admit it, and let us have done
with the matter. After all, it will not affect me, this mar-
riage of Miss Carlisle and Lord Norman, so much as it will
affect you "
She put up her hand to silence him.
" I am not afraid I " she saidj with calm hauteur. " I am
MY LADY PRIDE.
merely anxious to guard against failure; failure which would
mean ruin to me, ruin and shame unspeakable/' and her lips
quivered.
" Pardon me," he said, suavely ; " it is my part to take all
the precautions against failure, and I have done, and will do
so. Leave it to me, Lady Blanche ! Rest assured that I am
too fond of my little plot to permit it to miss fire. If you will
carry out the instructions I have given you, you will find that
we shall succeed beyond our expectations."
* Lady Blanche rose, and drew her veil over her face, and he
stooped and picked up his sticks.
" You will send Josine to me, my lady ? " he asked. " Send
her to the plantation to gather some wild flowers for your
hair to-night. I will wait here for her. And, if I might
make a suggestion ? "
Lady Blanche inclined her head.
" If I were your ladyship I would give her some trifle ir* the
way of ornament. Josine's heart is set on baubles .d a
bracelet or a pair of ear-rings would bind her to yor - bond
closer than love itself," and he smiled.
Lady Blanche nodded, and turned to leave the wood, but
paused to look back over her shoulder and say
" Do not send me any more notes; Give Josine any mes-
sage you may have for me, please.'*
He nodded approvingly, and without a word of adieu she
glided from the plantation.
As she neared the house she saw Lady Pendleton and sev-
eral others standing on the terrace.
Lady Betty bent over the stone coping to nod a greeting
" Why, where have you been, Blanche? " she asked.
All eyes were turned on her, and for a moment her face
flushed; it seemed to her as if the dullest of them must road
her secret in her face.
" To the plantation," she said ; " and I am almost inclined
to go back. There were such lovely flowers there, and it
never occurred to me until I had left them behind how nioe
some of them would look in one's hair to-night ! "
Two or three of the young men who were loitering about
instantly pushed forward.
" We'll go and gather you a bunch. Lady Blanche ! " said
one, and the rest eagerly echoed the offer.
She smiled.
" Thanks ; but you would not know which to pick, or you
118 MY LADY t>RIDE.
would pick them with too short a stem. No, but if Lady Pen-
dleton will allow her maid to go '
" Of course I will ! " said Lady Betty. " Josine wonld be
glad of the excuse to get out. Will one of you be so kind as
to ask one of the army of footmen to go on a voyage of dis-
covery for her ? Fd go to my room and ring for her if it were
not such a terrible way ! "
One or two of them laughingly went to find Josine,, and
in a minute or two that young lady -stood tfefore her mistress,
with her dark face set demurely.
" Oh,, go into the woods and get some wild flowers, Jo-
sine ! " said Lady Pendleton.
" You will find them in the plantation by the hedge/' said
Lady Blanche,, languidly, and without raising her eyes.
Josine shot a curious glance from one to the other.
"We want them for our hair," explained Lady Betty.
" Certainly, miladi," said Josine, with a respectful bend of
the head and a second sharp glance at Lady Blanche as she
went off.
Lady Blanche sat on the terrace with the rest, joining in
the conversation, and even laughing a rare thing for her
at the feeble sallies of wit provided by the young gentlemen
in attendance ; and Lady Betty, to whom Lady Blanche was a
perpetual enigma, was wondering what had put her in such a
good humor, when the figure of Josine was seen in the dis-
tance returning to the house.
" Isn't that Josine ? " asked Lady Betty. "She hasn't been
gone long ! "
Lady Blanche smiled; she knew at once that Josine had
found the flowers already picked for her.
"I don't expect she cared very much for a lonely wood,"
ehe said, and as she spoke she rose and walked slowly and
languidly away, as if she had either forgotten the flowers, or
ceased to care for them.
With a fast-beating heart she went to her room, and, sit-
ting down before the glass, scanned her face anxiously.
When Josine came there must be no chink in the mask
through which the girl might catch a glimpse of the troubled
soul within!
Presently she heard a knock at the door, and in response to
her languid "Come in, please!" Josine entered.
With downcast eyes she approached and held out a bunch
of flowers, without a word.
MY LADY PRIOTC. 119
"Put them on the table, please/' said Lady Blanche.
Josine obeyed, and stood with folded hands and lowered
lids.
"Will they suit your ladyship?" she asked.
Lady Blanche took them up and looked at them carelessly.
" Yes,, thanks ! " she replied, and raised her eyes to Jo-
sine's face. As she did so, Josine raised her eyes, and the two
looked at each other in silence for a moment; but Josine's
glance was eloquent, and Lady Blanche read and understood
all that it meant.
" You have taken a great deal of trouble, Josine/' she said,
languidly, her voice calm and cold.
"Not at all, my lady," she answered. " I am very pleased
to be of any service to your ladyship."
" Thank you ! " said Lady Blanche, reaching for the jewel-
case as she spoke and taking out a pearl and ruby ring.
" Will you take this ring, please ? I have no doubt it will fit
you. You have," glancing at her hands, " slight fingers."
Josine colored with flattered vanity, and her eyes flashed on
the ring greedily.
" Oh, your ladyship is too good ! " she murmured.
" Oh, no ! " said Lady Blanche, with a little quiver. " It
is a mere trifle, Josine. By the way " carelessly " it would
be as well, perhaps, if you did not wear it while yon are her* !
The other servants might be jealous; you understand?"
Josine's black eyes twinkled very intelligently
" I understand, my lady ! No, I will not wear it. I am
very grateful! Your ladyship may always rely on me,, ia
everything," she added, significantly.
" I am sure of that, Josine," said Lady Blanche. '
Josine hesitated a moment, as she put the ring in her pock-
et, then turned, to leave the room.
" I hope the flowers will prove suitable, miladi," she said,
in a low voice. " I did not gather th^m myself ; an old man
picked them for me."
Lady Blanche flushed for an instant and seemed about to
speak, then inclined her head, and with a reverential sweep
of the body, Josine took herself off.
Lady Blanche remained in her room nearly all that day;
she was "learning her part," a part difficult to play, for the
words were of necessity unwritten and would depend upon
circumstances ; but as the dr@sing-bell rang she rose from the
sola, a which she had thrown herself for a few minutes' rest,
MY LADY PRTBE.
and sleep if possible, prepared to play that part, though its
failure, as she had told Oscar Raymond, would mean shame
and disgrace to her.
With the sound of the dressing-bell the great place began
to echo to the voices of the gentlemen who had been out since
luncheon after grouse.
Moris, who was in the pretty little boudoir which she shared
with Lao'y Betty, heard Lord Norman stop outside, and
opened to his knock.
He leaned against the door, his gun in his hand, looking
supremely handsome in his business-like shooting rig, and
particularly happy and satisfied.
" Well, my darling ! " he murmured, putting his arm round
her and drawing her to him ; " what have you been doing with
yourself ? We have had splendid sport wonderful bag for so
short a time and so few guns!"
" Is this one loaded, pray ? " asked Floris. " I don't know
that I care to have it quite so near, Bruce. How heavy it is !
Aren't you tired ? " with that little upward glance of wonder
and admiration which a woman bestows on the man she loves.
He laughed.
" Not a bit. By the way, don't forget that we are going to
have a dance this evening ; so put on your finery, and prepare
for conquest ! "
" I wish you'd go, and let Moris get dressed, Bruce !" called
out Lady Betty from the inner room.
"All right," he said, laughingly. "I'm fearfully hungry!
Oh, I didn't tell you how nearly we had an accident this
afternoon ! "
"An accident!" echoed Floris, turning pale on his ac-
count and glancing at the gun.
He smiled.
" Yes, and all my fault ! I was a little ahead of the others
(hear the plantation, when some birds rose right in front of
me. I raised my gun, and without thinking of the possibility
of there being any one in the wood, fired. The next instant
an old man, with long, gray hair, came out from the very spot
I had fired at!"
"Oh, Bruce!"
" "Don't be alarmed, I hadn't hit him ; at least, so I con-
clude, for the old fellow went off pretty smartly, and disap-
peared without saying a word ; but^he shook his fist as he went,
which you may consider equivalent to a whole dictionary. He
MY LADY PRIDE. 121
was a curious-looking fellow, dressed in a rough coat. I
suppose he was one of the pensioners on the estate, and
was gathering firewood, for he had a bundle in his hand. I
asked Sir Joseph if he knew him, but he didn't seem to. I
must get him to make inquiries."
"So that you may give him a sovereign to cure his fright ! "
said Moris, archly.
" Exactly ! " he said, and taking her face in his hand he
kissed her, ?>nd went off humming " The Bride's Welcome."
Moris closed the door and returned to her room.
As she did so she heard Lady Betty's voice raised complain-
ingly, and glancing in at the dressing-room saw Josine stand-
ing with the* hair-brush in her hand a little distance from the
table, her face pale and troubled, while Lady Betty was hold-
ing her head as if she had been suffering untold agonies.
" What is the matter ? " asked Floris, gently.
" That is what I should like to know ! " answered Lady
Betty. " Here has Josine been tearing my hair out by hand-
fuls for the last quarter of an hour ! I don't know what has
come over her ! She used to be so careful ; and now I declare
she seems half idiotic ! She doesn't hear one-half the words
I speak to her ! "
Floris glanced at the dark face, and met an appealing
pathetic look from the black eyes.
" Perhaps Josine is not well/* she said, gently.
" Why doesn't she say so, then? " retorted Lady Betty. " If
she isn't well why doesn't she go and lie down ? But, s,he says
she is quite well ; that there is nothing the matter with her. I
have asked her a dozen times in the course of to-day."
Josine glanced at Floris, lowered her eyes and heaved a
deep sigh.
" There ! " exclaimed Lady Betty, " that is how she goes on!
If she were not far too wise, and too old " the latter with a
little vixenish flash at Josine " I should say she was in love."
" Oh, miladi ! " murmured the girl, but looking at Floris
all the time. k
" Well, then, if you are not ill and not in love, what is thel
matter with you?" demanded Lady Betty, not unreasonably.
" I am truly sorry, miladi "
" Sorry ! So am I, and sore, too ! " snapped Lady Betty,
plaintively. " There, try again, and for goodness' sake pay
some attention to your work, or I shan't have any hair left J*
Florie stood for a moment looking at the girl..
122 MY LADY riUDE.
She seemed to have something on JHT mind, to judge by
her pale face and the anxious look in her eyes.
" Perhaps she is afraid that Lord Norman will tell Lady
Betty about the letter, and her having made her way into the
conservatory/' she thought; so, as she turned to leave the
room, she said, to reassure her:
" Oh, Josine, Lord Norman found the letter and gave it t
Lady Seymour. Is that what you are uneasy about ? "
Josine crimsoned, then her face went pale again.
"Thank you, miss," she said.
"What letter was that?" demanded Lady Betty.
" "A letter one of the servants asked me to -give to Lady Sey-
mour, miladi," said Josine, glibly. *
" Hem ! " snapped Lady Betty. " Yes, that is the sort of
work yon are best fitted for. I should apply for the next
postman's situation that may be vacant."
Floris wanted to ask if that was the lei tor Josine had last,
or if there was another for Lady Betty, but thought that she
would reserve the inquiry for a more fitting time, and went to
her room and began to dress herself.
As there was to be a dance that evening, she selected one of
her prettiest dresses, and before she had got it on, Josine
came softly in to help her.
Floris had accepted her assistance once or twice lately, and
though she had never quite liked or believed in the girl, had,
from pure good nature, grown to tolerate her.
But this evening Josine's manner attracted her attention
very much and puzzled her.
Every now and then the girl drew a long breath and sighed ;
and once or twice Floris, happening to glance up at the glass,
caught the black eyes fixed upon her with an expression that
was almost one of absolute pity.
" Josine," she said at last, " I am sure that yon are ill.
Why do you not tell your mistress and ask her to let you go
to bed ? T will tell her if you do not like to. Go and lie down
this evening and rest."
"Thank yon, miss; thank you," Josine murmured. "You
are always good and kind
" Oh, nonsence! " said Floris, with a little smile.
"Ah, yes, miss; but it is always that you are good and kind
to me, while I I"
She stopped and turned away, taking up a neat dress and
carrying it t the wajdrobs.
MY LADY PRIDE. 123
" While you, what ? " asked Floris.
"No matter, miss. It is not I who should speak/' said
Josine, shutting her lips tightly. " No, it is not I ; a servant 1
has no business with a heart! Ah, no, she must uso her
hands and eyes, but her heart ah, it is not fitting that she
have one ! "
" I don't understand you in the least, Josine," said Floris,
half puzzled and half amused. " If you are in any trouble,
why not confide in Lady Pendleton ? I am sure she will help
you."
"I! No, it is not I; and mi'idi can not help. No one
can help! " said Josine, almost tragically, but with an air of
quiet dignity that impressed Floris, though *she tried to think
lightly of the matter, putting the whole thing down as French
sentiment.
"Well, I am sorry if you are in trouble, Josine," she said,
"eiiher on your own account or on any one else's; but yotx
must not make yourself ill."'
" Thank you, miss ! " responded Josine, gratefully, and she
knelt down and arranged the folds of Floris's dress with a
careful, one would almost have said, seeing her, a loving
attention.
Floris took up her fan and went down-stairs with Lady
Betty, and Josine stole on tiptoe to the door and watched
them as they passed below her.
" So ! I am too old to be in love, miladi, am I ? " she mut-
tered, between her white teeth. " Perhaps, oh, yes, perhaps !
But I am not too old to spoil the love-making of your sweet
Miss Floris! I am wise enough, for that! Wait, miladi!
Wait, and you shall see ! "
Then she stole back to the room, and taking the ring Lady
Blanche had given her, held it to the candle-light.
" Oh, you beauty ! " she murmured, rapturously. " You
beauty ! And there are more coming to keep you company !
More and more! And money, too! Bah! what fools these
grand ladies are! And all for love! I wonder, now/' she
murmured, musingly, " whether Miss Floris got an inkling of
my meaning? These English are so dull ! A Frenchwoman
would have known in a moment that I had something to fell
her. But she! Oh, no! It was, ' Josine, you must be ill ! *
I shall have to speak plainly, after all. Bah! It is as our
friend in the wig says, ' a pretty little comedy ! J
PRIDE.
CHAPTER XV.
THE FRENCH MAID'S CUNNING.
ALL unconscious of the plot that was thickening, happily
ignorant of the subtle net which was weaving to insnare her,
Floris went down to dinner as happy and light-hearted as a
girl who has no trouble and a handsome sweetheart can be.
By some chance she fell to the arm "of an elderly Scotch
lord this evening, while Lady Blanche was consigned to Lord
Norman.
Ploris felt a little pang of disappointment, for she had, par-
haps unreasonably, expected to have him by her side every
night at dinner.
But the disappointment passed in a few minutes, for the
old lord, delighted at having the prettiest woman in Ballyfloe
at his side, made himself very agreeable and kept Floris very
much amused.
But for all her amusement she found time to glance at the
other two now and then, and when she did so she noticed that
Lady Blanche seemed more animated than usual, and that
Lord Norman appeared amused and entertained also.
His devotion to Lady Blanche, as the busybodies were styl-
ing it, was noticed by every one, and certainly, therefore, did
not escape the keen eyes of Lady Betty.
^ But Floris, though she missed him sorely, did not feel in-
jured or complain; and when Lady Betty made some remark,
she defended Lady Blanche and championed Lord Norman
quite heroically.
"I don't see why a girl should think that she has a right
to monopolize a man because he happens to be engaged to
her/' she said, with a little flush her face had looked rather
pale and joyless all day " there will be plenty of monoply
on both sides after they are married."
"Ah, no doubt," said Lady Betty, dryly. " But Blanche
seems to think that she can monopolize a man because she is
not engaged to him. I don't think she has allowed Bruce to
get away from her apron-strings for more than half an hour
to-day that is, during the time he has been at home; and if
that isn't monopoly I don't know what is."
A few minutes afterward Lord Norman eame up to them.
It was nearly bedtime^ and th$ drawing-room was thinning.
MY LADY PRIDE. 125
Lady Blanche had just gone upstair, keying kissed her
hand to Lady Betty and F lor is as she gassed.
"Well?" he said, dropping into a seat between them.
"Are you nearly tired? What a long evening it seems! I
suppose it is after the exertion of last night. Floris, I have
scarcely had a word with you all day/' he added, wistfully.
I Lady Betty laughed sarcastically.
"Whose fault is that?"
He looked at her with a half-puzzled smile.
" I don't know. I don't seem to have had a minute to my-
self, which, of course, means a minute with Floris. And now
they have arranged to go to Scarfross to-morrow. We shall
be away two days, I am sorry to say."
"Two days?" said Floris, with a little moue. "Why,
Bruce?"
" Too far to get back the same night, dearest ! " he said.
" I used to enjoy the expedition one time, but now, this
autumn, I would give anything to stay at home. But that is
impossible, I am sorry to say. The prince has asked me es-
pecially to go. Sir Joseph, with his usual forethought, has ar-
ranged that some of the young fellows should remain and
take you ladies to the cascades for to-morrow, so that you
will not miss us hunters."
" I don't think I should care much about the cascades,"
said Floris
She was feeling rather tired and listless, and the news that
her sweetheart was going to leave her for two whole days
after devoting* himself for the two previous ones to Lady
Blanche dispirited her.
" I suppose I can stay here ! "
( "I hope you will go," he said, quickly, adding with an
(eagerness which, at the moment, she ascribed to his desire
that she should be amused during his absence, but which
.afterward she read in another and sadder light, "yes,
Floris, do go ! T particularly wish you to go ! Sir Joseph has
planned this little expedition mainly on your account, and
would be disappointed if you did not go. Besides, what will
you do in the house all day if you remain at home? Come,
dearest, promise me that you will go ! "
" I will go if you wish it, Bruce," she said, dutifully ; " thai
IB, if I do not feel very much disinclined," with a smile.
He took her hand and kissed it lovingly.
126 MY LADY ?BIDE.
" You will enjoy it, I am sure/' he said. "Blanche is
going/'
" Oh, then, 1 am sure we shall enjoy it ! " said Lady Betty,
with fine sarcasm. " I think we had better go up now, my
dear/'
He followed them into the hall on his way to the smoking-
room, and, there being no one there but themselves, took her/
in his arms and gave her her " good-night " kiss.
" We are off early in the morning, dearest," he said, " and 1
I shall not see you before I go. Be happy while I am away,
and I will bring you a set of antlers as a reward ! "
Ploris was tired and despondent ; a heavy weight seemed to
hang over her, and she felt so depressed that she went straight
to her own room instead of going into Lady Betty's and talk-
ing over the events of the evening, as she usually did.
" I must have danced too much last night/' she said to
herself, " and am overtired. I shall feel better and brighter
in the morning. But I wish Bruce was not going to be away
for two whole days ! How 1 shall miss him ! "
With this thought and the sigh it occasioned she fell asleep.
How long she. had slept she did not know; but she was
awakened by that consciousness, which we have all of us felt *
at times, that some one was in the room.
She awoke instantly and raised herself on her elbow, and
looked around.
A small lamp was burning on the table, and by its dim
light she saw a woman kneeling beside the bed.
It was Josine.
The girl had her head in her arms, and was apparently cry-
ing in a subdued, sudden kind of way.
Floris was too startled and surprised to move for a moment,
then she sat up and called to her softly.
" Is that you, Josine?" Josine raised her head, and showed
a face, pale and tear-bedewed, and fixed her black eyes with a
piteous expression on Floris. "What is the matter? What
are you doing here ? "
Josine dropped her head in her hands again and emitted a
low sob.
" Oh, mademoiselle. T cannot sleep ! I cannot rest ! " mur-
mured Josine, with a little sob and gasp. " T am so very un-
happy. There is something on nay conscience, something that
lies so heavy that I cannot rest night or day. Ah, mademoi-
selle, I would tell you but that I know you would ruin
MY LADY PRIDE.
" I ruin you ! What on earth do you mean ? " said Floris.
"Stop! I do not wish to hear anything you may have to
say'
" Then mademoiselle is lost ! " exclaimed Josine, tragically,
"and Lady Blanche will win the day."
Floris did not start or wince, as Josine had expected; she
even smiled.
"Are you quite out of your mind, Josine ? " she then asked,
with calm, stern dignity.
> "Ah, mademoiselle takes it as I expected! It is hard to
^believe that a grand lady like Lady Blanche should descend
)so low as to try and steal another woman's lover! That is
done often enough by people of a lower class ah, yes! Biat
by so grand a lady as Lady Blanche ah, no, it is impossible*,
it is ridiculous, is it not? " sarcastically.
" It is, indeed ! " said Floris, gravely ; " and if it is only t$
vent this piece of spiteful impertinence you have intrudad
into my room at this hour, Josine "
" Stop, mademoiselle ! I am no fool ! I did not expect
you to believe me! Ah, 3o, not even when I' said that I was
in her confidence '
" In Lady Blanche's confidence ? "
" Yes, mademoiselle. It is not uncommon. I am the us-
ful slave that acts as go-between for her ladyship and milord/'
" My lord ! "said Floris, white to the lips with anger. " Do
you dare "
"Ah, but yes, mademoiselle ; I mean Milord Norman ! "
Floris stared at her for a moment, then she sunk on to a
chair and laughed actually laughed.
Josine watched her sullenly, but with a close keenness.
It was hard to breed suspicion in that sweet, pure mind, but
Josine did net despair.
She had a strong suit to play, and had not played her best
cards yet.
"Josine, I am now sure that you are out of your mind,"
said Floris, at last. " Please go away and let me go to bed
and sleep. It is fortunate for you that I have promised not
to repeat this farrago of nonsense, or you would have received
,your dismissal to-morrow morning. As it is, I must ask you
not to approach or address me again, unless it is absolutely
necessary. Go, now, if you please."
Josine sprung to her feet.
"Mademoiselle believes that I lie that 1 am deceiving
\2B MY LADY ERIDE.
her ? Good ! Mademoiselle shall see ! Give me till to-morrow
no, to-day, and I will prove to her that Lord Norman is
false to her! That it is Lady Blanche whom he loves and
.would wish to make his wife ! Yes, mademoiselle shall see,
shall hear for herself what I, Josine, already know. Mademoi-
selle thinks that I lie ! Yes, truly, and mademoiselle would
tell me again that I lie if I say that Milord Norman and Lady
Blanche are going to elope this very day ! "
The blow was struck, and well struck, considering.
White to the lips, but with an incredulous smile, Floris rose
from her chair and confronted her.
" You are either a very wicked girl, Josine, or you are
mad," she said. " Do you know what it is that you have
said?"
" Yes, mademoiselle," responded Josine, sullenly ; " and I
am not mad. Wicked? Yes, I have been wicked, and I
should be still, if my conscience -would let me rest ; but it will
not. I can not be Miladi Blanche's slave any longer.
:< Tell me all you want to tell me,^nd then go ! " exclaimed
Floris, feebly.
"Mademoiselle knows Lord Norman goes out hunting to-
day? In an hour or more he will have gone."
Floris's lips formed a " Yes."
" Soh ! And that the ladies are to take an excursion an
expedition ? Yes ! Well, then, what if I say Milord Norman
will return alone by himself at noon ? What if I say that
Miladi Blanche will make an excuse and remain at home, and
that they will meet in the conservatory and fly together ? "
" It is a lie ! "panted Floris.
" Soh ! Softly, mademoiselle ! Proof is what I offered, and
it is what I will give. Suppose, when you are starting, you
find that miladi refuses to go that she decides to remain at
home? She has the headache, say? She will stay in the
house, eh?"
Floris rose up and stared at the black eyes with a wild fas-
cination.
" Will that convince mademoiselle ? Yes, or no ? "
" No ! a thousand times no ! " exclaimed Floris.
Josine shrugged her shoulders.
"Ah, well, but you are difficult to convince! Mademoiselle
is so young and so innecent that she cannot believe that others
not so young and so innocent can be so wicked ! Well, now,
what, if " she lowered her voice and crept nearer to Floria =*
MY LADY PRIDE. 199
* what If I take mademoiselle to the conservatory, and she see
and hear miladi and Lord Norman Ah ! "
Floris shuddered.
" Not till then would I believe you." she said, trying to
speak undauntedly.
' Good ! " ejaculated Josine. " And then, when mademoi-
selle sees with her own eyes and hears with her own ears,
what about it then ? "
'' She paused and leaned over Floris.
"If I show this to mademoiselle, if I convince her that
what I have told her at so much cost to myself is true, will
mademoiselle promise me to utter no word, to tell no one,
but to leave Ballyfloe at once? If not, I will do nothing.
If not, I am ruined. Miladi Blanche has me in the hollow of
her hand, and she must not know that I have betrayed her.
If I show mademoiselle that I have not lied, if I prove to her
that I have told her the truth, will she leave Ballyfloe at
once?"
" Yes," said Floris, putting the hair from her brow, " I
consent. It is wrong, I know it, I feel it, but but I can not
help it. I am like a reed in your hands. May Heaven for-
give you, Josine, if you are deceiving me ! And yet, and yet,
would to Heaven that you may be deceiving me ! Yes, if
if what you say is true, I will promise to leave Ballyfloe at
once. I will speak to no one ; I will not betray you, my poor
girl."
A gleam of satisfaction lit up the black eyes. .
" I have mademoiselle's promise that she will not disclose
what I have said to a living soul ? " said Josine.
\^ Floris shook her head with a gesture of scorn, and pointed
to the door.
" You have my promise. I I shall not break it. Go ! "
CHAPTEE XVI.
THE PROOF.
IT was a merry party at breakfast next morning; the trip
to the cascades was a well-known and favorite one, and the
young men who had been left behind were delighted at the
opportunity which the absence of such great guns as Lord
180 MY LADY PRIDE.
Bruce, and some of the others who had formed the hunting
party, gave them of scoring \\ r ith the ladies.
Floris, as she entered the room in her dark-brown habit,
was surrounded instantly by an eager circle, each man of
which was anxious to get a word from her.
But Floris could do little more than smile this morning;
her heart seemed heavy as lead, strive though she did to
rid of the dread and suspicion that tortured her.
Presently, in the midst of the chatter and laughter whicK
always seemed at its merriest at breakfast-time, the tall,
graceful figure of Lady Blanche glided into the room.
At sight of her Floris's heart gave a great leap of relief
and satisfaction, for Lady Blanche was in her riding habit,
and was evidently going to the cascades, therefore Josine was
either mad or had, for some purpose of her own, lied!
With a good deal of boisterousness the young men sallied
out of the breakfast-room to the stables to see after the horses,
as they said, but in reality to ^et a chance to smoke the morn-
ing cigar.
Floris and Lady Betty went upstairs to put their hats and
gloves on, and Josine was nowhere to be found.
At that moment Josine was in Lady Blanche's room, stand-
ing with demure eyes and clasped hands before her ladyship.
"All is prepared, miladi," she said, in a low voice. ."It
was a great trouble, and at one time I thought I should have
to give it up in despair. It was so hard to convince made-*
moiselle that milord could be faithless. He is always so de-
voted to her, as all the world knows. Ah, yes ! it was hard/'
Lady Blanche colored, as a pang of jealousy ran through
her.
" That will do," she said. " And and the time ? "
" Just after lunch, miladi," said Josine, thoughtfully.
" There will be nobody at home ; the house will be quite clear
for the little ' comedy/ as Mr. Raymond calls it ! " and she
showed her white teeth. "The end of the conservatory,
miladi?"
Lady Blanche nodded ; then, with a sudden pallor and with
downcast eyes, she said :
"And you are sure that she will not reveal what passes ? "
" T am convinced ! " responded Josine, eagerly. " Miladi
may rely on it that nothing in this world will induce her to
pen her lips! She is too proud, ah, far too proud; rely an
that, mikdi."
MY LADY ^ PRIDE. Ml
Lady Blanche dismissed her with a nod, then summoned
her own maid.
" I shall not go out this morning," she said, quietly.
" Please take off this habit and give me a morning gown.
When you have done so, take my love to Lady Betty, and tell
her that I have received an important letter from Lord Sey-
mour, which I must answer. You need not go until the last
moment."
On the way to her mistress's room, Josine met a footman
with a telegram on a salver.
" Here you are, Miss Josine," he said. "A telegram for
your young lady/'
Josine took it and glanced at the direction. It was ad- v
dressed to Moris.
" Miss Carlisle is no young lady of mine ! " she said, show-
ing her teeth, with a spiteful smile. " But I will take it to
her and save your long legs/' and with a saucy smile she ran
past him.
Outside the door she paused, with the telegram in her
hand.
" What is this now ? " she muttered. " Something that
may spoil our little play, perhaps ! A plague on it. Shall I
give it to her at once ? No ! Josine must see it first, at any
rate ! It will keep, no doubt ! " and she thrust it in her pocket.
Then she opened the door, and met Lady Betty's inquiry as
to where she had been with a profuse apology.
" Josine, we shall have to part/' said Lady Betty. " Oh,
don't trouble now! I have finished, you tiresome girl! You
know I can never put rny veil on properly ! No, you shall
not touch it ! Go and see if Miss Carlisle wants you."
Josine went into the adjoining room. Floris Was standing
before the glass with her hat in her hand, and she shrunk
back as the girl approached
a Mademoiselle will not go ? " murmured Josine.
" Yes ! " said Floris, in a low, stern voice. " I do not be
lieve a word of what you told me last night. You are a
wicked girl, Josine ! "
"Ah! we shall see!" muttered Josine, bending her head.
" Mademoiselle will wait a moment ? Listen ! " she added, as
Lady Blanche's rnaid entered the next room.
The next instant Lady Betty called out :
"Floris! Blanche has sent to say that she is not going!
She has some letters to write ! "
182 MY LADY PRIBE.
Floris turned deathly pale, and caught the edge of the
table.
Josine smiled triumph antly, then went into Lady Betty's
room, with her cat-like step.
"Miss Carlisle has a headache, miladi. A bad headache!
I do not think, if miladi will pardon me, that mademoiselle
ought to go for so long a ride in the hot sun."
Lady Betty came into Floris's room at once.
, " What is the matter, dear ? Why, how pale you look ! y>
with anxious concern. Are you ill ? "
Floris could scarcely speak for a moment.
" I I have a bad headache," sh& said, and truthfully
enough. " I do not think I will go."
"No, don't," said Lady Betty, "I thought you didn't
look well this morning. No, you shall stay at home, and I
will stay and sit by you."
" No, no ! " said Floris.. " Please do not there is no occa-
sion. I would rather you did not ! " with a feverish flush. " 1
I shall get some sleep, perhaps. I w5.ll not stay unless you
go!"
Lady Betty hesitated, and Josine stood watching them
both.
" Mademoiselle will be better to be quiet and alone," she
said, softly.
" Do you think so, dear ? Well, if yrrh would rather I
went-
" I would much rather," faltered Floris.
"Let me get you a draught before I go then," said Lady
Betty, anxiously; and she went and mixed a draught from her
medicine chest. "There, dear, take that; and now lie down
v and get some sleep. Josine, get Miss Carlisle's dressing-
'gown, and cover her 'up well. I am so sorry, dear! I shan't
enjoy myself one bit; I shall bo thinking of you al? the day."
"Do not think of me," said Floris, with a sigh, as she
sunk on the bed. Then, with a sudden impulse, she put up
her arms and twined them around Lady Betty's neck.
" Good-by," she murmured.
Floris was usually so undemonstrative, that Lady Betty
was touched by the simple caress.
" Good-by, my dear," she said, kissing her. " Mind, you
are to sleep for quite two hours, and you are not to go into
the sun. I shall expect to see you quite yourself when I come
MY LADY PRIDE. 133
And, with a strange reluctance, that she remembered after-
ward, she left her.
Cosine stood looking down at Florists pale face in silence
for a moment, then she bent down and whispered:
" Keep a good heart, mademoiselle. Ah, but no man in the
world is worth a heartache, after all ! "
Flpris looked at her with a mixture .of repugnance and
fascination. -,
" Mademoiselle will remain here until I come for her," said
Josine, significantly. "And let mademoiselle console herself
that it is better to be undeceived than fooled to the top of
one's bent."
And with this piece of worldly wisdom and comfort she
went out.
Eeaching her own room, she locked the door, and took the
telegram from her pocket. For some minutes she looked at
the mean and miserable envelope which the post office au-
thorities deem a sufficient covering for so important a missive
as a telegram, bending it this way and that in the endeavor to
decipher some words of the contents.
But the pink paper was folded inward, and with a gesture
of impatience, she went down-stairs and got a jug of hot
water.
Then, with the patience of a red Indian, she held the "envel-
ope over the steam, until the warmed part had become moist
enough to allow her to open the envelope.
With a smile of satisfaction, she drew out the telegram and
read it.
, And as she read it, her face went pale and grave, and her
hani shook till the thin paper trembled like a leaf.
" What shall I do ? " she murmured . " It is fortunate or
unfortunate, as I choose to make it. If I give it to her now
it will spoil all ; and yet it is hard to keep it," glancing at the
scrawl with hard, glittering eyes. " Bah ! I will not give it
to her until afterward. It will be time enough; ah, yes, it
will be time enough ! " and carefully re-closing the envelope,
she put it back in her pocket.
The morning passed. \
How, Floris, lying with a heart torn asunder by conflicting
emotions, scarcely knew. All seemed still in the great house.
Not one of the guests excepting herself and Lady Blanche,
had remained a,t home; a stillness like that of a calm before
some dreadful storm seemed to lie upon the place; and the
134: MY LADY PRIDE.
pitiless sun that streamed through the blinds fell upon hei?
face with a mocking mercilessness.
At last, when she could lie still no longer,, she got up and
put on a morning dress,, and paced the room.
The great clock chimed the hour of two, and as its echo
reverberated through the huge place, the door was opened
softly, and Josine entered.
She seemed in a state of suppressed excitement, her thin
lips set tightly together, her black, beady eyes gleaming like
coals.
" Hush ! " she whispered, huskily, and putting up a warn-
ing finger, for Floris seemed about to cry out/ " Do not
speak, mademoiselle, but come with me. She has gone- down-
stairs, and he will be here presently/'
Josine stole down the stairs, and Floris following her, in
the same half -torpid state, found herself in a small hall out-
side the conservatory.
She recognized it at once as the spot in which she and Lord
Norman had discovered Josine hiding. Another coincidence !
Drawing close to her, Josine put her finger to her lips.
" Hush, mademoiselle ! Not a word ! And remember your
promise ! Whatever you see you will not betray yourself or
me!"
Floris made a gesture of assent, and Josine, unlocking a
door quietly and stealthily, crossed the conservatory, and
drawing Floris into a corner, behind the shrubs, pointed to a
small room, which led to the conservatory,- and was draped
.at the opening by curtains, partly drawn aside and looped up.
Floris, with the deepest repugnance which would have
been unendurable but that she believed the whole thing to be
a farce looked through the opening, and saw Lady Blanche
standing beside a small table.
There was a basket of flowers on the table, and Lady
Blanche was making a faint pretense of arranging them, but
her whole attitude was eloquent of impatience and deep-
Tooted anxiety.
1 At the sight of her Moris drew back with a long breath of
fear and doubt,
At every step, Josine was making good her words, was pro-
ducing evidence of the truth of her story.
e Is mademoiselle satisfied so far? " she whispered, close in
MonVs ear. " Here is Lady Blanche, as I promised she
would be, waiting waiting for whom ? We shall see ! Hush !"
MY LADY PRIDE. 13$
AB she spoke Floria heard a man's footstep approaching th
room from the other side.
Her heart gave -a great bound of dread and doubt, flien
seemed to stand still, for the door opened and Lord .Vor-
man, as she thought, entered hurriedly and went up to L dy
Blanche.
Floris uttered a cry: for a moment she did not move, she
simply stood as if turned to stone, and gazed into the dusky
room. Then she staggered and would have fallen, but Josine
caught her with one hand, and with the other, with all a
Frenchwoman's ready wit, dashed her handkershief in a
fountain and held it to Floris's forehead.
As he entered, Lady Blanche started and turned toward
him,
" Have you come back ? Oh, why did you ? " she mur-
mured, and her voice was so low and tremulous that Floris
could scarcely catch it.
" Yes, I have come back ? " she heard him say, huskily, as if
he were laboring under great excitement. " I said that I
would do so. Why are you so surprised to see me? Did you
think I should break my word, Blanche ? "
" I hoped you would not come/' she faltered.
"And you are not glad to see me? Ah, Blanche, you will
not fail me! Think of all I am risking for your sake: my
good name and fame, my very honor ! Come, Blanche, tell
me that you are steadfast! " and he put* his hand on her ara
pleadingly.
Lady Blanche shrunk slightly. Floris noticed it with a
vague wonder.
" Blanche ! dear Blanche ! there is no time to lose ! " he went
on, still in the husky voice which Floris scarcely recognized
as Bruce's. " The horses are waiting ; all is arranged ! Why
are you not ready? You promised me that you would be
ready to start !"
" Bruce, I can not ! " she panted, with a sudden gesture of
despair. " I can not do it. You ask too much. Oh, Bruce !
.Think what all this means ! Think of the scandal, and and
'think of her ! Poor girl ! mv my heart bleeds for her ! No,
Bruce, I can not do it. I love you, and you know it; but
you ask too much! You must marry Floris Carlisle, Bruce!
It is too late to L^W back now! "
'" Too late ! " he echoed. " It is not too late. You speak
9nly of yourself and her. You do not think of me. Do you
136 MY LADY PRISE.
forget that you are bidding me ruin my whole life; that you
are sending me to marry a girl I do not love, whom I shall
learn to hate? Come, Blanche, I can not endure this life of
deceit any longer ! There must be an end to it sooner or later,
and this is the best end. The world may talk let it! You
and I don't care for the world ; and as to Floris, she will soon
learn to forget me. Heaven may send her a better man; it
might do that easily enough, goodness knows ! Come,
Blanche, get your things, everything is ready."
" "No, no, no ! " she panted. " I will not, I can not ! Go
back, Bruce; go back and rejoin the party; make any excuse
you like for your absence ! I will not go with you. I can
not! I was wrong and wicked to promise! But, thank
Heaven, it is not too late ! Go back, Bruce ! We we shall
always be friends. You you will be happy with her, poor
girl
" Is this your last word ? " he demanded, drawing back and
looking at her, his face still turned from Floris.
"Yes, my last, Bruce," faltered Lady Blanche.
He stood for a moment as if pondering on some way to
shake her resolution; then suddenly Lady Blanche seized his
arm.
" Bruce ! There is some one coming ! Go go at once ! If
the servants see you here "
With a smothered oath the man who was so like Lord Nor-
man that even Floris could not in the dim light distinguish
between them, seized his hat and whip and strode from the
room ; and Lady Blanche, almost as if she had suddenly grown
suspicious of listeners, glided to the curtains and let them fall
Wer the opening.
The little comedy or tragedy was over.
CHAPTEE XVII.
FALSE !
WITH slow, weary steps Floris made her way to her rooni^
Josine following her, and sunk exhausted upon the bed.
That there had been any foul play she never suspected for
a moment. The resemblance between Oscar Eaymond and
Lord Nornitii was so close that it had deceived many of Lord
MY LADY PRIDE. 137
mtixnate friend* m broad daylight, and the room in
which the little comedy had been enacted was but dimly
lighted.
" Will mademoiselle permit me to get her a glass of wine T'
Josine inquired, in a low voic^
Floris shook her head.
" How soon can I leave ? " she asked, painfully.
Josine pricked up her ears, and glanced at the clock.
" There is the afternoon mail," she said. " But will not
mademoiselle wait and see Lady Pendleton?"
"No, no ! " responded Floris, with a shudder. " I wish to
see no one. I wish to go before they return at once ! Will
you " she hesitated ; she hated asking this girl to do anything
for her, for she loathed her with a loathing that was unac-
countable to her " will you see if I can do so? "
Josine stole out of the room and went swiftly to Lady
Blanche's, and with a slight knock she entered.
Lady Blanche was seated at her table with her proud head
bowed in her hands.
Hearing Josine's step she started and rose up, facing her
with angry indignation.
" How dare you come here " she began, then her voice
failed and her eyes drooped before the cool, black ones-'
" Well ? " she asked, gloomily.
Josine smiled and shrugged her shoulders.
" It is all right, miladi ; we have succeeded capitally. Ah,
but miladi should have been an actress ! She almost deceived
Josine, much less the poor Miss Carlisle."
Floris, left alone, sat for some minutes in the same half-
stupefied condition. At present she could scarcely grasp
all that had happened ; but with every minute it was growing
upon her, and she was learning to realize that her lover, the
man she had loved alas ! still loved had adored, had looked
up to as something more than human was false, unutterably
false and base, -and that he had been guilty of treachery so
vile as to be almost inconceivable.
Like a lost soul thrust from paradise, she groped in the
darkness of her misery, and could see no ray of light or hope;
all her future lay dark, dark before her.
" If I could die now/' she murmured- " if I had died last
Blight, before I knew of this ! But no, I shall not die ; I shall
live and suffer suffer! There will be no forgetfulness for
Hie; all my life I shall carry this sorrow with ine; all my life
MY LADY rm IK.
wltU be ieabitl^red witja the lawpftry of tteae ii^w short,,
weeks ! On, Bruce ! ifruce ! if you had btit left ira al
you had but had mercy on me ! But you had none. Heaven
'knows I avoided } ; ou. I did not, as other women had done,
set a snare for your love. A hundred times I fought against
it; but you had no mercy; you taught me to love you, and
now ( it is too late to unlearn that lesson. Oh, Bruce, may,
Heaven forgive you may Heaven deal more kindly with you
than you have dealt with me ! "
And with this prayer in her wounded heart, she rose, and
in dull, numbed fashion, began mechanically to collect her
clothes.
A few minutes afterward Josine came in.
"Ah, that is better ! " she said, encouragingly. " Mademoi-
selle is recovering ! Soh, soh ! But mademoiselle must rest
Josine will see to the packing for her."
And, with noiseless readiness, she began to fill the large
imperial.
Moris sunk on to the bed and watched her with listless
apathy.
" There ! " said Josine, with a gesture of satisfaction. "All
is ready ! And now " she left the room and returned almost
immediately with a glass of wine " mademoiselle must drink
this, just to please poor Josine ! " she pleaded, as Floris re-
fused it with a shake of the head. " Ah, but jes; mademoi-
selle must not count too much on her strength! Supposing
she should break down and have^to be carried back! Ah, but
that would be dreadful! "
Floris stretched out her hand for the -glass with a shudder.
Josine watched her as she drank the wine and then, and
not till then, drew the telegram from her pocket.
" See, mademoiselle ! " she said, smoothly. " This has just
come; I hope it is not bad news! "
Floris took it apathetically, and opened it, then started up
with a wild cry.
"Heavens, mademoiselle! What is it?" exclaimed Josine,
with admirably feigned anxiety.
" My mother ! " gasped poor Floris. " My mother is ill ^
dying quick ! I must go at once ! "
Josine held up her hands, with a French oath, and hurried
forward with Floris' s jacket and hat.
" Tut ! tut ! but that is bad news ! But It may not be that
MY LADY PRIDE.
thje poor lady is dying. Oh, mademoiselle naafres too Bdmch of
it ; sne se$& the tf oret ! "
" Read ! " panted Floris. " It says ' Come at onoe ! ' Cora*
at once, and I am hundreds of miles away! Oh, Heaven!
what shall I do? What shall 1 do? Quick, or I shall go
mad ! "
"Yes, yes!" exclaimed Josine, genuinely anxious, for she
dreaded lest some one should return, and a " scene " be the re-
sult. "Yes, yes! but for the love of Heaven, be calm,
mademoiselle ! It may not be so bad ; and think, it was
impossible for mademoiselle to leave earlier! Ah, but I am
so sorry!"
Floris scarcely heard her. With feverish eagerness she
hurried on her things, and made straight for the door.
Josine caught up her cloak and bonnet, which she had
brought in with her.
"And Lady Pendleton the message ? "
" Give her this ! " panted poor Floris, throwing the tele-
gram on the table. " Tell her I will write." And almost
like one distraught, she made her way into the hall.
The footmen and hall porter stared at her white face, and
hurried to the .door, Josine finding time, ,as she followed, to
whisper :
" Bad news. Mademoiselle is summoned home ! "
The brougham door was shut with a bang and the pair of
horses dashed toward the station.
Floris shrunk into a corner and sat with clasped hands and
closed eyes, and Josine was too wise to litter a word.
Presently the train came ur>. It was an express from the
far north, and several passengers got out to stretch their legs
for a moment or two.
Jesine had taken a first-class ticket and found an empty
compartment.
Floris got in, and would have gone without a word, but
Josine leaned forward and said, with a quiver in her voice,
which might have been due to remorse, but was more probably
caused by excitement:
" Good-by, mademoiselle ! You you will not forget your
promise to poor Josine?"
Floris looked at her vaguely, then she shook her head and
turned away.
" I will not forget. No ! " she said.
44$ MY LADY PRIDE.
The guard blew his whistle, and Josine stepped back.
As she did so a gentleman rushed out of the station with a
sandwich in his hand, and had almost passed Josine on his
way to his carriage, when he saw her stopped short.
1 " Josine ! " he exclaimed. " Is that you ? "
Josine her nerves were getting unstrung uttered a cry.
" Milord Clifforde ! " she cried, turning pale.
" Time's up, my lord ! " said the guard, who knew Bertie
Well.
" All right/' he said ; " one moment."
Then he turned to Josine.
"Are you going up to town? You had better get in."
" No, no ! It is mademoiselle ! " returned Josine, with agi-
tation.
" Mademoiselle ? " he repeated. " Who ? " and he went to
the window and there saw Floris.
With a sudden pallor he looked from her to Josine.
" It is Miss Carlisle ! " he said. "And she is going up to
London alone ! "
" We really must be starting, my lord ! " said the guard
coming up again.
"Yes, yes!" said Josine, hurriedly. "Alone, milord !"
"Why?" he demanded, with a troubled frown.
Josine bit her lip.
" Go, milord ! " she said. " The train will start without
you/'
He opened the door of Floris's carriage, nodded to the
guard, and as the train started, jumped in.
Josine stood looking after the train with a bewildered stare
for quite a minute. Then a curious expression gradually
crept into her black eyes. An idea was developing itself in
her acute brain.
^ Floris and Lord Clifforde, who had been her lover, leaving
'feallyfloe together ! Surely that fact would fit into the plot.
With a smile on her lips she nodded approvingly, then
famed and slowly went back to the brougham.
But she paused there, and returned to the station and ac-
costed the sleepy porter.
" Did you see that gentleman who accompanied the young
lady who departed just now, sir?" she asked with smooth'
politeness.
The man stared at her. Oh, yes, he had seen him.
MY LADY PRIDE. 141
"Well, that was a great personage, sir. It was Milord
Clifforde," said Josine, with an air of importance.
" Oh, was it ? " said the man, grimly. " Well, lord or no
lord, he hadn't any business to keep the train waiting."
" Certainly not ! " said Josine. " Good-morning, sir."
Then she returned to the brougham.
"'-ParSfatt'l " she murmured. "It is likely that Milord
Norman will not believe poor Josine. Soh ! My friend the.
porter will bear witness that Miss Carlisle went off with
Milord Clifforde ! Bah ! but Miladi Blanche is not so clever v
as I think her if she cannot make something of that ! " \
CHAPTER XVIII.
AN IRREPARABLE WRONG.
FLORIS' looked up as Bertie entered the carriage.
" Lord Clifforde ! " she said, faintly.
" Miss Carlisle ! " he responded ; and the two looked at eacli
other in silence for a moment.
The shock of the meeting had considerably moved Bertie,
and he scarcely knew what to say.
He had thought of her every day since the night he had
told her of his love and received his dismissal; she was, in
fact, scarcely ever out of his mind.
"Are you going south to London ?" he 'asked, as care-
lessly as he could. " I am so surprised at seeing you that I
can scarcely realize that it is indeed you ! " he added, ingen-
uously.
:( Yes, I am going to London," she answered, wearily.
" I I hope on no sad errand !" he said, very gently. "You
look ill and tired "
"I am both ill and tired/' she said, trying to smile, and so
bringing the tears to her eyes. "I have a telegram saying;
that my mother is dying, Lord Clifforde."
He did not say that he was sorry; his face, his eyes, said
that sufficiently plainly, but he looked at his watch.
"I am glad that this is the express," he said. "We shall
be there early in the morning. I hope that you will find
Mrs, Carlisle better than you expect,"
MY LADY PRIDE.
Florist lips moved in an inaudible " Thank you ! " and h*
let her head sink back on the cushion,
Bertie got up and dj*ew the window curtain, dragged his
own foot- warmer forward for her, and carefully arranged his
rugs over her.
" You must let me make you as comfortable as I can/' he
said, apologetically. " It is not much one can do to get com-
fortable in a railway carriage, unfortunately."
| " Thank you ! " said poor Floris, faintly, finding her voice.
^Are you going to London ? " she asked.
u Yes, through London," he answered, his frank, blue eyes
stealing an anxious glance at the pale face. " I can not tell
you how glad I am that I should happen to be tfaveling by
this train. I did not know I was coming till the last mo-
ment."
"No?" she said.
There was silence for a moment. The one question haunted
and worried him : why was she traveling alone ? Even at the
cost of wearying, perhaps harassing her, he must know.
" You have been staying at Ballyfloe ? " he asked, gently.
" Yes," said Floris, her eyes fixed on the rug, her hands
clasped tightly.
She knew what was passing in his mind and the question
that was coming, and she dreaded it as the wounded man
dreads the surgeon's probing knife.
" With the Lynches, of course ? " said Bertie. " I remem-
ber reading your name among the list of visitors in the pa-
pers."
" Yes," she said.
" Is is Bruce there still ? But, of course, he is not, or you
would not be alone. I read of your your engagement, Miss
Carlisle," he added, hurriedly, and with a sudden flush on his
handsome face, that was rather paler than of old.
Floris winced.
" Lord Norman is still at. Ballyfloe," she replied, in a low
voice.
Bertie stared, crimsoned, and turned pale.
Bruce at Ballyfloe, and permits her to take this long jour-
ney in the train alone?
"Is he?" he said. "Why didn't be I beg your pardon!
Please do not be angry or think me impertinent."
" No, no ! " she broke in, with a quivering lip. " Do not
say any more. I arn tired, and and ill, I think ! " piteousty.
MY LADY PRIDfi. 14S
* Ob, forgive me ! " he said, remorsefully ; " but, indeed, it
not iflle curiosity."
" I know," she murmured.
" I will not harass you," he said. " Will you try and get
some sleep? Let me pull this rug more closely round you.
Try and rest and get some sleep, if possible."
The train sped on, 'the green fields gave place to rows of
houses and workshops, and presently the engine snorted and
steamed into the great terminus.
" Wait here ; do not move," he said. " I will come for
you when I am ready," and he got out and went for her lug-
gage.
" I have got a cab," he said, when he returned. '< There
'is just time to catch the other train."
He drew her arm within his and placed her in the cab, and
then followed.
" Oh, do not come ! " she said. " I have given you trouble
and anxiety enough ; please do not come any further ! "
" I am coming to the station, if you will let me," he an-
swered, simply, and he added, but too low for her to hear,
" Would to Heaven that I could go all the way with you ! "
" Will you write to me and let me know how you get on ? "
he asked when the cab had got on the asphalt. " I will give
you the address."
" Yes," said Floris, meekly.
They neared the other station; the time was approaching
when he must leave her. His heart began to beat with a
wistful yearning to learn the truth; and suddenly, so suddenly
that Floris started, he leaned forward.
" Floris Miss Carlisle I shall leave you in a few minutes,
Heaven knows how sorrowfiilly and anxiously! Will you let
that anxiety plead for me, if I ask you to tell me why you
have left Bruce at Ballyfloe? Why he has let you take this
journey alone? "
f * 1 T can not tell you ! " she answered, brokenly.
His face went pale.
" Then something has happened ! For Heaven's sake, toll
me, Floris ! I can not leave you without seeing whether I can
not help you. Have pity on me, and tell me."
"You r can not help me no one can help me!" she mur-
mured, her hands clasped tightly together, her face wan and
white.
" You do not know; at anj rate, tell me. You can confide
144 MY LADY PH1DE.
in me as if as if I were your brother. I would to Heaven
that I were ! "
Floris shook her head.
" Why has Bruce not come with you?" he asked, hi* blue
eyes fixed on hers appealihgly.
^ She shuddered.
" Do not speak of him. Let let me forget him.*
" Forget him ! Forget Bruce ! Why, it was only the other
day that you were engaged to him ! " he said, trembling with
excitement. "Are you not is the engagement broke** off?
For Heaven's sake, tell me, Floris ! "
She raised her eyes to his solemnly.
" Yes ; it is broken off."
He drew a long breath, his eyes still fixed on her.
"And it is this, then, added to the bad news from home,
that makes you look like this! I I guessed it! But why?
What has happened ? Oh, Floris, it makes my heart ache *to
see you looking so wretched and miserable ! Floris, you know
that I would gladly give up my life, if it would purchase an
hour's happiness for you."
She put out her hand, pleading to him for silence; but he
would not, could not, stop.
" You know it ! Floris, let me help you. TeW me what has
happened. Have you quarreled ? "
She shook her head.
" No ! Then then it is Bruce's fault ! In any case, it
must be his ! But he will be sorry ! It is not too late to
bring things round again. Floris, let me be as your brother
should. Let me have the satisfaction of healing this breach
between you. May I ? "
" No ! " she said, huskily. " No one can do that not even
you ! "
" Let me write to him ! " he pleaded. " We are (*ld friends.
He would take more from me than from any one else. Floris,
if I know him, he is at this moment suffering as deeply as you
are. But it is not of him I am linking, but of you of you !
Let me write ! A word now will do so much good ! n
The tears ran down her face as she shook her head.
" No word that can be written can do any good," she mur-
mured, and there was something in the tone of her voice which
carried conviction to Bertie's soul.
' Then then he has done you some great wrong f " he said,
and his face crimsoned angrily. " Is it not so ? "
MY LABY PRIBE.
"He has done me a wrong beyond reparation," she said,
simply.
He threw his ulster apart as if he were stifling.
" Great Heaven ! Has has he b % een false to you ? No,
that is not possible."
She turned her face away.
" He has ! Bruce ! Oh, Moris, there must be some awful
mistake. See, now, I have known Bruce all my whole life ; I
would answer for his honor with my own "
" Oh, stop, stop ! " she moaned. " It is all of no use !.
[, too, would have answered for his honor with my life and'
you see that we are parted and and so soon ! " and her lips
quivered. " Do not say any more to me. Nothing, nothing
can bridge over the gulf between me and Lord Norman. I
have seen him for the last time. If you think we have quar-
reled, do you think I would not have been the first to owa
myself wrong? I would have gone on my knees to him!
Quarreled! Any quarrel may be healed, but this that has
come between us is a barrier which no words, no time, ev&n,
can cast down! If you have any pity for me "
" Floris ! "
" Do not say another word. Promise me that yon will not
write to him. Write ! It would be a humiliation too terrible
feo be thought of! Oh, Lord Clifforde, do not think me un-
grateful ! I always thought of you as a friend. I have not
forgotten " her tears came thick and fast now " your prom-
ised to be a friend if I should ever need one, and I am grate-
ful grateful ! But no friend, not even a brother, could d
or say aught that would help me now."
Bertie wiped the drops of perspiration from his brow, too
agitated to sj*eak.
" What is to be done? " he slowly muttered.
" Nothing ! " said Floris. " Lord Clifforde, we have all our
own troubles to bear ; I must bear mine as best I can. But I
shall never forget your kindness, never ! Heaven knows how
gratefully I shall remember it ! " and she held out her white,
trembling hand.
He took it and pressed It almost fiercely.
" If I had but known ! If I could but have foresees ! " he
murmured, very despairingly.
She shook her head.
" You could not have helped me ! "
" No, no ! " he said. " But " -h took out his watch as the
146 ^ LA&
cab drew up at the stai; .Ui "but vn ttiing I could have done ;
I could have kept out o^ the fool\ ciTvd 1 am bound on! "
She looked at him qucstioningly, .TX:* lips were set tightly,
his brows drawn as if with pain.
" Floris Miss Carlisle just now 1 said haw sorry 1 was I
could not go further with you than this station. That was
before I knew this, before I knew how badly you wanted a
friend. Judge how -deeply, .how madly I must regret it now!
Floris, the reason I can not go with you, see you safely at
home, and remain near you to help you, if possible, is that I
SJGHL leaving England at once."
" Leaving England ? " she said, in a very dull way.
"Yes," he answered, gnawing at his mustache, his face
white and drawn. "Yes; I am ordered on active service. I
am now on my way to join my regiment at the docks. I shall
just have time to do so and no more."
" Your regiment ? "
" Floris," he went on, his eyes fixed on her wistfully, " I
tried hard to forget you ah, do not shrink ! Do not think I
would speak of my love now, now that you are in this trouble ?
No I I tried to get over my sorrow, tried honestly, but I could
not. A stronger man might have done so, but I am not
strong, or my love for you was stronger than myself ! Let it
be as it may, I have failed. When I read in the papers that
Bruce had Von what I had lost, England became hateful to
me. T could not bear to face the probability of meeting you
and him .while my love for you lived in my heart so strongly.
This wai< broke out ; they wanted volunteers. T was an officer
in the militia, and eligible, and T offered myself for active
service. They accepted me only yesterday, and ordered me
out."
His hand sought hers, and grasped it tightly, and Floris
could not find it in her heart to draw it away.-
"A few hours ago T might have backed out, or got an ex-
change; but there is not time now. There is hardly time to
present myself, I must go ! T must go and leave you, Floris,
to meet this trouble alone. Oh, Heaven, what fools men are!
If T had but waited Oh, don't misunderstand me!" for
Floris had shrunk back. " Tt is not that T have any wild
hope of winning you, though Heaven only knows what such
love as mine could compass! Tn time you might have had
pity on me, if all is really oyer between Bruce and you. But
it was not that hope of which I was thinking, I jward my-
MY LADY PRIDE.
self as your brother, Floris; dear Florisl and I must leave
you " his voice faltered " I may never see you again ! It
is hard to leave you in such trouble and alone but I must
do so ! "
" Do not think of me ! " murmured Floris.
He stared at his watch,, and thrust it back in his pocket
with a groan.
"Yes; we must part! Just when I might have been of
some use to you ! Fool ! fool ! " and he clasped her hand with
a despairing gesture.
" Oh, hush, hush ! " murmured Floris. " You could not
have helped me ! Do not think of me ! But this war "
He laughed bitterly.
" Who cares about the war ? " he retorted. " It was an ex-
cuse to get away; to do something, s5 that in the doing of it
I might forget you; and now I shall carry this remembrance
of you with me ! Alone ! Alone, with no one by your side,
while I might have been near you, to help and comfort you.
Yes, I have been a fool, and I am rightly punished ! "
It was Floris's turn to console. Gently, timidly, she put
out her hand and took his.
"And do you think you have not comforted me ? " she 'mur-
mured, her sad voice grown soft and tender. " Dear friend,
the memory of your kindness and tender-heartedness will re-
main with me though you have gone. Do not forget me,
Lord Clifforde ; remember that you have a sister here in Eng-
land who will pray for your safety and happiness, and who,
happen what may, will never forget how true a friend you
have been to her ! "
No man will have cause to blush for Bertie when we say
that the tears swam thickly in his eyes.
" Heaven bless you, Floris ! " lie whispered. " Would to
Heaven that I had had Bruce's luck! I would not have
squandered it and trampled it under foot as he has done! "
There was time for no more; there was, indeed, scarcely
time to get her ticket. But he did get it, and put her in the
train, and stood at the car door, holding her hand in his to
the last minute.
" Good-by, Floris! You take my heart with you, sister! "
Then she was borne out of his sight. And so Floris lost
'both her lovers in one day.
148 MY LADY PRIBE.
CHAPTEE XIX.
THE DEER-STALKERS.
IN the "good, old times/' which, thank Heaven, by the
way, we shall never see again, favored mortals were supposed'
to have been guided by spirits, which, when the favored mor-
tals were thinking of setting out on adventures, whispered,
" Go thou ! " or " Do not go ! "
If Lord Norman had been in possession of such a guiding
spirit it would certainly have whispered in his ear, on the
morning of the Scarf ross expedition, " Do not go ! "
As it was, though he had no presentiments of coining evil,
and the plot which had been laid for the destruction of his
happiness, he was not very keen on the outing.
Deer-stalking had been a passion to him, and there was no
one whose knowledge of the sport was greater than his, no one
whose eyes were keener, or whose physical endurance was
greater.
But on this occasion he would rather have remained at
BallyfLoe, and spent the two days with Floris.
To back out of the affair was for him, however, an impos-
sibility.
Sir Joseph had organized the expedition for weeks past;
and then again, there was the personage who particularly de-
sired Lord Norman's company.
The .party started in the early morning, on horseback, at-
tended by a few favored Highland servants, who were experts
in stalking, and everybody who knew anything of the sport
declared that the prospects were first-rate, and that the sturdy
Scotch ponies would soon return laden with the royal game.
Lord Norman, who had been rather silent during the long
ride, grew more cheerful after dinner, and when the cigars
were alight vouchsafed to relate some of his experiences in
deer-stalking, and to be generally amusing.
They gathered round the fire, chatting, until eleven, then,
by mutual consent, went off to bed.
As the accommodation was strictly limited, two men had
to sleep in a room, and Lord Norman found that his com-
panion chanced to be a young fellow fresh from college, who
was an intense admirer of his, and who, in fact, had begged
MY LADY FlUDi:, 14$
prayed Sir Joseph to arrange that ko should shart Lord
Norman's room.
The boy he was very little more had stolen up a short
time before the general withdrawal., and had seen that a good
fire was burning, and had, with his own hands, made the
rough apartment as ship-shape as it could be made by the ar-
rangement of rugs and shawls, choosing for himself the
smallest bed, and in every way he could think of studying his
hero's comfort; feeling that if he could gain Lord Norman's
permission to be near him on the eventful morrow, he should
be amply rewarded.
" Well, Harry/ 3 said Lord Bruce, looking round, "you
haven't forgotten your old fagging days. You have made
the room quite home-like. What a splendid fire ! The worst
of it is one is always tempted to sit up and keep it company.
Do you mind if I have a cigar? Say so, if you do."
" Mind ! " said Lord Harry, fervently. " I'll have one, too.
if I shan't be disturbing you by sitting up."
Lord Norman laughed. The boy's devotion pleased him.
" Here, take one of these," he said, giving him his case.
" We mustn't sit up long, though. We start almost at
daybreak, and it will be hard work, and no rest to-morrow,
Harry."
" I shan't sleep for thinking of it," said Lord Harry he
had come into his title a few months back. " Oh, by the way,
Norman, would you mind my going with you, instead of one
of the others ? I know it is a great favor I am asking and I
shan't be too much cut up if you refuse," he went on, eagerly ;
" but if you say ' yes,' I'll promise to do exactly as you tell
me, and not make a nuisance of myself."
Lord Norman nodded.
" I shall be very glad to have you, Harry/' he said, little
guessing what would come of the boy's request. "And I'm
sure you will be anything but a nuisance."
Lord Harry expressed his gratitude quietly: he knew his
hero disliked any fuss, and the two drew near the fire and
smoked and talked ; that is, Lord Norman talked and the boy
listened with reverent ears and closely-riveted attention.
Lord Norman told him exactly what he would have to do
on the morrow, impressing upon him how necessary it would
be to maintain perfect silence, and to guard against his being
seen by the deer.
"Deer-crawling it might be called, instead of deer-stalk-
150 MT LADY
ing/' he said, "for we shall literally have to crawl aad drag
ourselves over the ground once the game is spotted."
" I shall watcli you, Norman,, and do exactly as I see you
do/' said Lord Harry, earnestly.
"And luck standing by us, we will give a good account of
ourselves. And now we had better turn in,, I think/'
Lord Harry got up at once with the obedience of a private
to his officer, and went to bed, but Lord Norman sat and
watched the fire for a long time before he retired.
It was a noisy breakfast party next morning; most of the
men taking their coffee 'and broiled ham and eggs standing,
and as the sun rose from behind the hills, they set out,
themselves on foot, the gillies bringing up the rear with the
horses.
As he had promised, Lord Norman chose Harry for his
companion, and, accompanied by Donald, they took the line
allotted to them, and commenced the day's work in a glow of
pleasant excitement.
The country was as familiar to Donald as Fleet Street was
to Doctor Johnson, and with the cunning of a Red Indian, he
guided them to the most likely spot for the big game.
In silence the men crept from sheltering rock to sheltering
rock, Donald's keen eyes always on the lookout for the vision
of a pair of antlers between them and the blue sky.
About noon, as they were lying hidden in a little hollow
with their guns in their hands, Donald made a slight motion
with his hand, and presently a stag moved from behind the
hills in front of them and came proudly into the valley.
Harry, watching his hero, saw him press himself, as it were,
into the ground, and followed his example.
The eyes of the three men were glued on the approaching
monarch of the glen, their hearts beating so fast that the boy
fancied the stag must hear them and take flight.
Slowly, haughtily, the beautiful creature advanced ; then,
while still o\\t of range, turned and threw up its head, as if
scenting the air.
There was a moment of awful suspense for the silent watch-
ers ; then the stag, appearing reassured, moved slightly round,
still advancing.
The moment he came within range Norman turned his
eyes on Harry, and formed the word " fire " with his lips.
The boy hesitated ; it was too generous a sacrifice.
MY LADY PRIDE, 151
Ho looked at Lord Norman quebtioningly ; then asking that
he might accept the offer, took aim, and* missed.
Donald growled; but at the same instant Lord Norman
fired,, and the stag leaped into the air and fell prone on its
side.
Lord Harry, with a boy's enthusiasm, sprung to his feet
with a triumphant shout, and dashed toward it.
Now it does not follow that because a stag falls he is dead.
Donald and ' Lord Norman, knowing the danger, shouted
warningly ; but Lord Harry, misunderstanding them, kept on
his way and had reached the stag, when it sprung to its feet
and charged full at him.
It was an awful sight. The beast looked monstrous in its
savage fury, and the boy seemed paralyzed.
All would have been over with him had he not, fortunately,
caught his foot in the heather and slipped at the moment the
stag would have reached him, and instead of striking him,
the beast went over his prostrate form.
In an instant it turned to renew the attack, but by this
time Lord Norman had come up, and standing over the boy,
raised his gun by the stock to strike the animal. .
There was one confused mingling of man and stag an
awful crashing sound, broken bones, and Lord Norman
went down, as if felled by a tree.
Then, and not till then, dared Donald venture to fire and
bring the great beast down, and it fell without a groan, and
dead this time, right across Lord Norman's body.
It all happened in so short a space of time that the poor
boy stood staring with white face and starting eyes, scarcely
realizing the consequences of his inexperience.
Donald, with savage Highland imprecations, dragged the
stag from the prostrate form of Lord Norman, and raised his
head, and Lord Harry fell on his knees beside him.
"Oh! what have I done what have I done?" he cried. "Is
he dead, Donald? ' Oh! Donald, Donald what shall we tfo
now?"
"Haud your tongue, and give me the flask, mon ! " said
Donald, savagely. " If the laird be dead, he's give his life for
ye, that's sure enough; the beastie would have killed thee.
"Unloose his neck-cloth, and run to the brook we passed for
some water. Get it in your cap. And shout wi' all ye strength
as ye go."
Foot Ler# Ka*iy bounded off. shouting at tKe top of his
M* LADY PRIDE.
voice; but the hills seemed to echo his cry for help with infi-
nite mockery. When he came hack, Lord Norman was still
unconscious.
His face and breast were covered with blood, flowing from
wounds in his head and neck., and Donald could not give any
opinion as to the extent of his injuries.
1 Neither the water nor the brandy would restore Lord Nor-
man to consciousness, and for the first time in his life the (
sturdy old Highlander looked at a loss.
" No, no ; he's not dead, mon," he said, in reply to Lord
Harry's frenzied inquiries ; " but I'd like to see him come to !
Climb yonder hill there, and fire your gun, and shout; maybe
some of the party will be near and come over and help us."
Lord Harry snatched up his gun and tore off, and Donald
washed the wounds as well as he could with the little water
he had, and forced some brandy through the clinched lips.
The stag had struck a ferocious blow his last in this life
and the antlers had broken Lord Norman's skull, and cut his
neck and breast to a fearful extent. The thick coat was
slashed and torn as if it had been divided by a keen-edged
knife.
Presently, while Donald was eying the stalwart frame and
wondering whether it would be possible for him to carry it any
distance, he heard the voices of men shouting from behind the
hill, and in a few moments Lord Harry returned at full speed.
" They are coming ! " he panted. " Thank Heaven, they are
coming ! Oh, Donald, what shall I do ? Some more water ! "
and off he ran again.
The approaching figure proved to be Sir Joseph and M serv-
ant with a* pony. Sir Joseph's distress at sight of the uncon-
scious, bleeding figure of Lord Norman was almost as great
as Lord Harry's; but there was no time lost in idle bewail-
ing.
Carefully and tenderly they lifted the wounded man and
placed him acress the pony, Donald and Sir Joseph support-
ing him in as easy a position as possible, and the mournful
cotege then started for the hut.
They could only go at a walking pace, and. the way seemed
interminable, but at last they reached the hut, and Lord Nor-
man was carried into the room which last night he had paced
with presentiments of coming ill thick upon him.
One of the men was dispatched on the fleetest horse to
Ballyfloe for medical assistance fortunately there happened
MY LADY PRIDE.
to be a young doctor among the guests and Lord Norman
was carefully undressed and his wounds bound and attended,
to.
Toward evening he recovered consciousness.
Opening his eyes he fixed them on Sir Joseph, who stood
beside him, with a troubled expression, and his lips moved.
Sir Joseph bent down and caught the word :
" Floris !
He understood in a moment.
"It is all right, my dear Norman. I have sent to Bally-
floe, of course, but my man is intelligent and will not alarm
Miss Carlisle.
Lord Norman panted forth a sigh of relief, then his brow
knit, as if he were striving to remember something, and he
murmured :
" Harry ! "
The boy had implored them to allow him to remain in the
room, and Sir Joseph beckoned him forward.
"He is all safe!" he said.
Lord Norman smiled, as the boy fell on his knees beside
the bed, and gently stretched out his hand, which poor Lord
Harry seized and pressed miserably.
These efforts, slight as they were, proved too great, and
Lord Norman instantly relapsed into unconsciousness.
So there he lay, helpless in mind and body while Floris
hundreds of miles away was by her mother's bedside, and
separated from him, alas! by more than miles.
Certainly evil chance had favored Lady Blanche, and?
" the wicked were flourishing!"
CHAPTER XX.
RULED BY DESTINY. I
THE brougham whirled Josine back from the station, ancl
she made her way at once to Lady Blanche.
Her ladyship was lying down on the couch in her room,
and merely turned her head as Josino entered ; her face was
very pale, and there were dark marks under the eys, telling
of the agony of suspense and actual fear she had endured,
154 MY LADY PRIDE.
" Well ? " he said, her dark-krown eyes resting on Josine's
face with feverish, "haughty impatience.
Josine smiled,, and began taking 6ff her gloves as she would
have done in the presence of an equal, and Lady Blanche
flushed as she noticed the action.
" It is all right,, miladi ! " said Josine. " Fortune has
favored us, and Miss Carlisle has gone to London, "to ah,
who cares where ? by the afternoon train ! "
Lady Blanche drew a breath of relief and turned her face
away.
" Oh, yes, our little comedy has finished spendidlly ! " went
on Josine ; " and it deserved to, for it was admirably con-'
ceived and carried out. But, ah, Heaven, the trouble it was
to convince mademoiselle that milord could be false ! "
Lady Blanche leaned her face on her hand and frowned.
" You think that all is safe," she said, coldly, " whereas I
can see that we are at only the beginning of the affair. Do
you think that Lord Norman will not write to her follow
her ? Josine, I fear that this will end badly. I am sorry that
that I was tempted to have anything to do with it." And
she began to pace the room.
Josine looked at her rather contemptuously.
" Miladi loses courage when the battle is over," she said.
"Bah! there is little sense i$ that. Pardon" for Lady
Blanche had turned on her with fierce hauteur "pardon, but
is it not true, miladi? Is not mademoiselle gone, never te
return?"
Lady Blanche smiled bitterly.
" My poor girl," she said, scornfully. " I fear that she will
return, all too quickly, and that our punishment will be as
speedy. Lord Norman is no fool not a man to be deceived
and bullied"
" Bullied, no, perhaps ; but deceived, yes ! " retorted Josine,
showing- her teeth. "Any man can be deceived, miladi.
Bah ! it is easier than deceiving a woman."
"You may try," said Lady Blanche, grimly. "And first,
you will have to account for Miss Carlisle's absence. T have
boon going over the who]e shameful business while you have
been away, and T wish to Heaven find I had had nothing lo
do with it!"
The reaction had set in after the lime of excitement;
smd fear, actual fear, had taken possession of Lady Blanche,
MY LADY PRIDE.
" To account for mademoiselle's sudden flight is oasy. I
have two reasons," said Josine. " First, here is this."
And she took the telegram and laid it on the table.
Lady Blanche glanced at it and turned pale.
A sharp pang of pity, actual pity for Floris, shot through
her heart, and then it turned to stone again.
She pushed the telegram away with her white hand,
petulantly, impatiently.
" Lord Norman will follow her immediately he returns
from Scarfross," she said, with an air of conviction.
"Ah, well ; then he must not see this telegram ! " rejoined
Josine. "And now for the other reason for mademoiselle's
disappearance. What if we say that she went off with Milord
Clifforde
Lady Blanche stared at her as if she thought the girl had
taken leave of her senses.
. " Gone off with Lord Clifforde ! " she repeated. " What use
would be such a lie as that, which would be detected at
once?"
" But it is no lie ! " said Josine, coolly, enjoying the amaze-
inent she haS excited., " It is certain that Miss Carlisle
was met at the station by Milord Clifforde, for I saw him ! "
Lady Blanche smiled contemptuously.
" No one will believe that, my good girl ! " she said.
Josine shrugged her shoulders.
" On my bare word ? Perhaps not ! But all the same, Mi-
lord Clifford was there, and traveled to London in the earno
car with Miss Carlisle ! Others saw him the porter the
guard, who knew him "
Lady Blanche sprung to her feet, pale and breathless.
"Can it be possible?" she murmured.
Josine laughed.
"It is quite true, miladi! It was a strange coincidence,
certainly; a happy chance. Accident is favorable to us, is it
not? Now see, what is easier than to put this telegram on
the fire so " she flung the tele! gram in the grate as she
spoke "and to say that we know nothing excepting that a
telegram did come .from some one or somewhere, and that
Miss Carlisle did start for London at once, and that Milonl
Clifforde met her at the station ? I make no accusations ! \o.
Heaven forbid ! " she went on, with a smile. " I say nothing !
'Ah, no, I'll not say the telegram came from Milord Cliffords?
Certainly not! I do not say that it was an, appointment
MY LADY PRIDE.
their meeting at the train but others will all the ladi
here who love scandal and Milord Norman will believe
them ! "
Lady Blanche stood regarding her with breathless in-
tentness.
" I shall tell no lies ! " said Josine, coolly. " I shall tell the
truth all but excepting the telegram. That I know nothing
about save that it came! You see, miladi, that the trump
cards are all in our hands ; we have just to play them so ! "
Lady Blanche sunk back in her chair again.
Suppress the telegram ! Another crime ! Step by step she
was sinking to the lowest depths of deceit and mental de-
pravity.
And yet what could she do? She had set out upon the
sea of falsehood, and must drift,, drift, drift with the tide of
circumstances.
She must decide at once. Tri a short time an hour or
two the party would have returned from the Cascades, and
Floris's absence would have to be accounted for.
With a troubled frown she got up, and go ing, to her jewel-
case took out a bundle of notes.
Almost solemnly she held them out to Josine, who stood
watching her with glittering eyes.
"Take these/' she said; "it is the reward we agreed upon.
I give them to you willingly you have earned them. But
from this moment I will have nothing more to do with the
affair. I know nothing about Miss Carlisle's flight, and will
say nothing, remember that! Tell what lies you please, ac-
count for her absence in any way that suits you best; but do
not expect me to help you or to bear out any of your state-
ments. From this moment I wash my hands of the busi-
ness ! " And she turned away.
Josine laughed.
" That is well said, miladi ! Truly now is the time for mi-
la di to wash her hands of the affair ; now the affair is done ! "
Lady Blanche started.
"All is over and finished yes ! And it is quite wise of
miladi to know nothing and say nothing; for her the conse-
quences will work out themselves. And as to Josine well,
she will know nothing, absolutely nothing ; and as to Monsieur
Raymond '
Lady Blanche started ; for the moment she had almost for-
gotten him.
MY LADY PRIDE. 15?
"He, too, will be very glad to forget! I ain going now,
miladi. Is there anything I can do for you? "
Lady Blanche shook her head, and Josine, with a respect-
ful courtesy, departed.
Two hours afterward the party from the Cascades returned.
Lady Blanche could hear them laughing on the terrace out-
side, and at the sound of their voices a spasm of fear shook
her.
! How should she face them all, she, with so black a secret,
so heavy a load of sin upon her bosorn ?
Josine, calmly and demurely putting out Lady Betty's
evening attire, smiled as she heard them outside.
To her the whole thing was a keen enjoyment, and in an-
ticipation she was reveling in Lady Betty's astonishment and
perplexity.
. Presently they came .trooping upstairs, and Lady Betty
entered the room.
" We are late, Josine ! " she said ; " we must be quick."
" Certainly, miladi. Has miladi had a pleasant day? "
" It has been delightful, Josine/' said Lady Betty, who had
enjoyed herself immensely, and was in the best of spirits.
"Delightful! I am so sorry that Miss Carlisle was not with
us ! How is she ? "
"Better, miladi. Mademoiselle has gone out," demurely.
" Gone out I" said Lady Betty, slipping off her habit. "I'm
glad of that ; it will do her good. But she ought to be in by
this time or she will be awfully late for dinner/'
"Miladi misunderstands me," said Josine, suavely; "made-
moiselle has gone ; has left Ballyfloe."
Lady Betty turned and stared at her.
" Left Ballyfloe ! Miss Carlisle ! Now don't be an idiot.
STosine ! What do you mean ? "
i Josine pretended to be aggrieved.
f " Miladi, I tell you only what I know of my own knowl-
edge"! Mademoiselle has gone left Ballyfloe ! " She went by
this afternoon's train ! "
Lady Betty flung herself into Floris's room.
Josine had tidied it up, but there were still traces of the
packing and no signs of Floris.
With something like a cry of alarm Lady Betty darted back
and confronted Josine.
" It is a stupid joke ! " she gasped. " Tell me it is, you
158 MY LADY PRIDE.
wicked girl ! Where is she? Floris !" And >li<- ran to the door
and called. " Where arc you ? "
Josine stood with a dark smile on her face, and Lady Betty
came back, panting and breathless.
u Miladi, it is quite true, I do assure you/" said Josine,
suavely. 4i Mademoiselle left Ballynoe this afternoon. I
Kiyself accompanied her to the station, and saw her ofT/ ;
Lady Betty sat open-eyed and open-mouthed.
"You did and it is not a joke! Then then, why did
she go ? "
Josine shrugged her shoulders and pursed her lips.
" She left some message some note for me ? " said Lady
Betty, almost tragically. "Where is it?"
" Xo ; mademoiselle left no note for miladi," replied Jo-
sine, gravely ; " but message ah, yes; she said that I was to
tell miladi she would write."
" She would write ! But why ,did she go why did she go ?"
demanded Lady Betty, in a frenzy.
Josine shrugged her shoulders again.
"Was she sent for?"
" Yes, there was a telegram, miladi."
" You obstinate pig why couldn't you say so ? " almost
shrieked Lady Betty, driven frantic by Josine's assumed non-
chalance.
"Milaldi didn't ask me.",
"Ask you ! And who was the telegram from ? "
Josine stared with well-simulated indignation.
"How should T know that, miladi? No, I do not know.
Mademoiselle burned it carefully burned it."
" Burned it ! " repeated Lady Betty. " Well and then ? "
"And then mademoiselle directed me to pack her box, and
order a carriage for the station; and T did so, and accompan-
ied mademoiselle."
" And she has gone up to London by herself ! " wailed Lady
Betty. " Lord Norman will go out of his mind ! "
"Ah! but mademoiselle has not traveled alone. Ah, no!"
said Josine. " The gentleman met her at the station, yet."
" The gentleman, you idiot what gentleman ? " demanded
Lady Betty, all eyes.
" Milord Cliffords, miladi ! " rejoined Josine, demurely.
Lady Betty gazed at her open-mouthed, then turned
crimson.
" Yu wicked, lying girl ! " she gasped.
MY LADY PRIDE. 159
"Miladi!" exclaimed Josine, facing round aad drawing
herself to her full height.
" You wicked girl ! " repeated poor Lady .Betty. " How
dare you stand there and tell me such dreadful lies? Mis*
Carlisle gone off with Lord Clifforde!"
"Oh, pardon, miladi! " said Josine, sweetly; " it was not I
who said that, it was miladi. I only said mademoiselle met
milord at the station not that she had gone off with him/'
Lady Betty could have bitten her tongue off.
"You wicked girl; I don't believe a word of what you say !
don't believe that Lord Clifforde was there at all !"
Josine tried to flush, and managed to look fiercely indig-
nant again.
" But yes, miladi, he was ! " she insisted. " I myself saw
him. He traveled in the same car with mademoiselle ! Ah,
you do not believe me ! Then ask the porter the guard wh@
knows him! Inquire for yourself, miladi! Why should I tell
miladi a lie? Miss Carlisle will write directly and tell mi-
ladi what I now tell her, that she went from Ballyfloe with
Milord Clifforde!"
Poor Lady Betty sat transfixed.
Was the girl lying? It seemed impossible that she should
be speaking the truth. And yet, why should she lie? What
avail would lying be to her ? What profit, seeing that, as she
said, the truth would be known in a few hours ?
Josine held up the dinner-dress calmly.
"Shall I assist miladi?"
."Don't speak to me yet! Tell me more, Josine! I I
am sorry if if I called you names that don't belong to you ;
but are you sure that it was Lord Clifforde ? "
"Ah, but certain, miladi ! " said Josine, with a smile. " I
knew milord well. Besides, I spoke with him ! But, and "
with a sudden look of compunction " perhaps I ought net
to tell ! I have betrayed mademoiselle's confidence."
Lady Betty flushed.
* Nonsense ! There is no confidence in the matter ! "
"I am glad of that!" said Josine, with an air of relief;
"for Miss Carlisle did offer me a large sum of money, and
though I did not take it, I should not like to betray her con-
fidence."
Lady Betty turned pale.
Floris fled suddenly, without a word of warning or explan-
ation, and in the company of Bertie Bertie, who had been
160 MY LADY PRIDE:
her most passionate lover and Floris had offered a large sum
of money as a bribe to Josine !
Great Heaven, what did it mean, if it did not mean that
Floris had eloped with Bertie?
From whom could the telegram have been, if not from
him ? As to their meeting at such an out-of-the-way place as
Ballyfloe, and both going by the same train by mere coinci-
dence,, the idea was too absurd.
Great and merciful Heaven, if if Floris had was guilty
}f such dreadful treachery, what would become of Bruce?
Who was to tell him ? And -he a day's journey from Ballyfloe.
With her head in a whirl, poor Lady Betty allowed herself
to be dressed, trembling so with agitation that Josine could
scarcely fasten the bracelets around her wrists.
" Look here, Josine," she said at last, after a silence, dur-
ing which the whole thing had jarred and traveled through
her brain ; " I don't know why Miss Floris has gone off so
suddenly, but but there is, of course, good reason for it.
Now, you don't want to chatter about it "
Josine interrupted with a smile.
" Miladi, I never chatter about anything."
" You you are a good girl," said poor Lady Betty ; " and
you may have that yellow satin dress you admire so much "
" Oh, miladi ! " gratefully.
"Yes and and for goodness' sake, don't let Lady Blanche
pump you ! " exclaimed poor Lady Betty.
" Certainly not !" responded Josine, with a twinkle in her
black eyes.
"And now I'll go down and what I'm to say, the good-
ness only knows ! " groaned Lady Betty. " Oh, how I wish
Bruce was at home, and yet no, I don't ! " she added, with a
shudder.
She went down to dinner, and was at once assailed by in-
quiries after Miss Carlisle's health; and one or two waited
anxiously to hear the answer, for the news had floated up
from the servant's hall that Miss Carlisle had left Ballyfloe.
Lady Betty, surrounded by very curious eyes, put the best
face she could on the matter.
" I am sorry to say," she added, "that Miss Carlisle has been
summoned home " how little she guessed that she was so
near the truth " she was obliged to leave by the afternoon
mail."
There were general expressions of regret and sorrow Floris
MY LADY PRIDE. 361
Sad made herself very popular and several of the young men
looked inconsolable.
Just then Lady Blanche glided into the room.
She was magnificently dressed, and a hectic flush burned in
her usually pale cheek.
Her eye's glittered in the candle-light as brilliantly as the
diamond tiara in her hair, and about her was a feverish air of
excitement which attracted attention.
' " Is not this dreadful about Miss Carlisle, Lady Seymour ? "
said one of the young men, with a doleful countenance.
" What has happened ? " she inquired, looking from one to
the other. "An accident?"
" No, no," said Lady Betty, hastily. " Floris has been
sent for from home ; that is all."
" Oh ! " said Lady Blanche, sympathetically ; " I am very
sorry ! And she has gone ? What a dreadful journey to take
alone!"
Lady Betty looked up at her quickly, but the lovely face
was placid and innocent-looking as a child's, and the next mo-
ment dinner was announced.
After dinner Floris's sudden departure was discussed from
many points. The ladies, who had gathered something from
their maids, were inclined to be well slightly suspicious;
the gentlemen all deplored the absence of the universal fa-
vorite and were disconsolate.
Lady Blanche sung and played, with the usual group of
courtiers around her; but after a time, when the room grew
hot, she took up her fan and strolled out on the terrace
through one of the windows.
It was a lovely night poor Floris was rushing through the
air at fifty miles an hour, and Bruce, still at the hut where
they had taken him, was lying unconscious to all the. world
and Lady Blanche leaned against the stone coping and looked
up at the stars.
Destiny ruled over all !
Was it her destiny to marry Lord Norman, or had she
toiled and plotted and sinned in vain?
That was her one thought. To Floris, the girl Whose hap-
piness she had destroyed, she never gave one passing remem-
brance; utterly remorseless, she wiped all thought of Floris
from her mind.
She had been a shadow across her Lady Blanche's path,
and had now passed ; that was all !
169 MY LADY PRIDE.
It was to Bruce she now looked. Give her hut time and
opportunity, and she could she would win back has loffc,
and all would be well.
Suddenly while she mused, and shaped the picture under
the stars with that hopefuln^s which comes of a successful
effort criminal or otherwise she heard her name whispered.
She knew the voice in an instant; it was Oscar Raymond's.
She did not move for a moment or two, while she crushed
back the fear and loathing that the sound of the voice had
called up, then she bent over the balustrade, and saw him
standing on the gravel path.
He was still dressed in close imitation to Lord Norman,
and carried the whip in his hand.
So like was he to Lord Norman, so close a shadow, that
even as she looked, Lady Blanche shuddered. It was as if
she were looking at Bruce's ghost.
He raised his hat, and came close to the railings.
" I need not ask if our plot has prospered, Lady Blanche/'
he said ; u I have read your success in your face. If we had
failed, YOU would scarcely have been able to study the stars
fco serenely/'
He spoke in his usual half-serious, half-mocking tone,
which always made Lady Blanche long to leave him at the
first sound of it.
She remained silent, looking down, not at him, but at the
path, her fan moving slowly to and fro, for though the night
was chilly, a fire seemed burning within her that made her
hot and feverish.
" Yes, our plot has worked admirably," he said. " The
two unconscious puppets have been set dancing to our tune,
and all we had in view is accomplished. I have had my re-
rnge, or shall have it in full when Lord Norman returns to-
morrow ; and you have had your amusement ! "
He laughed the low, sardonic laugh which was so hateful
to Lady Blanche.
" And now what remains, Lady Seymour ? Only this my
poor reward ! "
Lady Blanche inclined her head. The faint light of the
young moon fell on his face.
It could not be other than handsome, being so like Bruce's ;
but there was a deviltry, a sardonic cast in it that made it
ta ke*.
MY LADY PRIDE. 163
The dadk eyes looking up iato hers seamed alight with the
re of mockery aixl rtmtefy.
" I am quite prepared to acknowledge your talents, and re-
ward them/' she said, coldly. " But is this a fitting time to
discuss the matter ? We may be interrupted at any moment/ 3
He laughed.
"It is a time that suits me, Lady Seymour. The fact is a -; (
it is the only time I have ; to-morrow I leave England f orever^'
I hope
A faint gleam of relief and satisfaction shone in her eyes,
and he noticed it, and smiled.
" Forever, I hope ! " he repeated. " My career here has
heen a failure. On other shores \ may blossom out into a
great man, but my future prospects have little interest for
you, Lady Blanche."
"None ! " dropped from her lips like an icicle. He laughed,
as if her coldness pleased him.
" I can quite believe that. And now, to speak of more
important things. Miss Carlisle has left Lord Norman for-
ever; there can be little doubt of that, I think. Poor, young
lady, I am sorry for her ! ' She is very beautiful, is she not ? "
Lady Blanche made a slight gesture of assent.
"Ah, yes ! I should not know her if I saw her again.
Well, that is a consoling thing to know, for beauty has always
a good market value, and can command its own price. But
what we have to speak of is my price to put it vulgarly,
Lady Blanche. I think you will admit " taking off his hat,
and running his white hand through his hair "that I have
used the situation to its best advantage, and that I have played
the part in the comedy of my own invention pretty fairly. At
any rate, if Lord Norman does not suffer from the heartache,!
I shall be very much surprised."
Lady Blanche waved the fan to and fro languidlly, but with
a certain air of suspense.
" Therefore," he went on, " you will not deem me exorbi-
tant if I ask you to give me a check for twenty thousand
pounds !"
Lady Blanche started, and closed the fan sharply.
She was rich immensely rich but even immensely .rich
people do not think little of twenty thousand pounds !
164 MY LADY PRIDE.
CHAPTER XXI.
THE HOUR OF TRIUMPH.
" TWENTY thousand pounds ! " repeated Lady Blanche
with very haughty surprise.
He looked at her and smiled.
" It is a large sum/' he said. " With the two thousand I
have promised, on your behalf, to Josine, it is a fortune that
is, to most persons but what is it to your ladyship ? A mere
bagatelle ! You are immensely rich ; so rich that if it pleased
you, you could walk into Howell & James's and purchase a set
of diamonds costing twice this sum, and no questions would
be asked. I think, if you consider the matter, Lady Blanche,
you will admit that you may gain greater pleasure from this
day's work than any diamonds, however rare, could afford
you."
Lady Blanche leaned against the stone balustrade, with a
deep frown on her white brow.
The sum demanded was enormous. And yet what could
she do ? When the separation of Bruce and Floris had seemed
impossible, she had promised this man anything he liked to
ask for if he would bring it about; and he had brought it
about. She might have guessed that his price would be ex-
orbitant ; she might have been prepared for it.
" Shall I tell you why I asked so large a sum, Lady
Blanche ? " he said, flinging his cigar away and taking off his
hat with an air of easy assurance. " I am not, I think you
will admit, a vulgar adventurer an adventurer, truly, but
not a vulgar one and* I have no wish to descend into the con-
dition of the vilest of mankind, the creature who exists upon
black-mail. Lady Blanche. I have resolved upon asking for
this large sum of money from you, who can spare it so well,
that I may be able to leave England forever. When I say
forever, I mean what I say to the hilt; I shall never return.
The twenty thousand pounds properly invested will produce
an income which will enable me to live in ease and luxury on
the Continent. If I had asked for a smaller sum I should
have been compelled to come to you again, not once or twice,
but continually; that would not have been pleasant for either
you or me."
Lady Blanche flushed, and bit her white lip.
MY LADY PRIBE. 165
"No! Very unpleasant, rather. Therefore, I have asked
for this sum in a lump. As I say, I shall leave England ; you
will never see me again, unless you chance to meet me by ac-
cident in one of your continental trips perchance on your
honey-moon with Lord Norman
A fierce flush dyed Lady Blanche's face as she looked up
and saw the sardonic smile in his eyes. .
" You will be relieved of all dread of black-mail, and may,
if you please, forget that such a person as Oscar Raymond
ever existed, In time, I have no doubt, you will be able to
convince yourself that the little comedy we enacted in the
house yonder was never performed, excepting in your fevered
imagination. At any rate, if you cannot forget me, it will be
agreeable to reflect that I shall never put myself in evidence
against you ;
She stopped him with a gesture.
" I am not afraid of that," she said. " You may have sunk
as low you may be what you are now, but you were once a
gentleman
"And once a gentleman, always a gentleman," he finished
for her, with a very soft laugh.
" But if I do not fear you, I have still to deal with your
assistant Josine ! " said Lady Blanche.
He shrugged his shoulders.
" Josine will give you no trouble, Lady Blanche," he said,
with quiet confidence. " She will invest her two thousand
pounds in a husband and some comfortable cafe in the region
of Leicester Square, and will settle down into entire oblivion
of Ballyfloe and all that occurred there. Besides, I think
Josine has too wholesome a fear of your humble servant to
ever dream of betraying us."
There were a few moments of silence, then Lady Blanche
looked down upon him.
'' You shall have the money you ask* for," she said, gravely.
" How shall I give it to you ? I do not know how I can draw
so large an amount from the bank without attracting some
attention and remark."
"Draw two checks for ten thousand each," he said, coldly;
" and if any remark is made, say that you are buying jewelry."
She inclined her head.
" If you will please send them to this address," he said,
handing her a slip of paper it was the name of a large Lon-
don hotel- I will wait until 1 receive them 2 and then leave
166 MY LADY PKIDE.
England at enoe; ae that, Lady Blanche, we may ay fare-
well."
He came close to the balustrade, and held up his smooth,
white hand, and Lady Blanche touched it with her finger tips.
Some impulse, too strong to be resisted, prompted her to
say, in a very sudden whisper :
" You have no remorse, then, for what you have done ? "
He smiled up at her, a smile of perfect calmness and repose.
" Kemorse! Certainly not; only the supremest satisfaction.
For the first time for months 1 feel at ease as if my self-love
had been avenged and satisfied. Oh. you mean on that young
lady's account!" he added, and lie laughed softly. "No, no
remorse on her account either. She is too young to feel
deeply; she will get over this little disappointment very
quickly. Josine tells me that she is good-looking; I may pre-
sume that she is beautiful."
" You saw her," murmured Lady Blanche.
He shrugged his shoulders.
" For a moment ; I did not notice her particularly, and I
do not think I should know herif I met her. Well, she is
beautiful, and will soon get another lover. What is love?
' Men have died, and worms have eaten them/ as Shakespeare
says, ' but not of love/ As for Lord Norman " and his face
darkened " he and I are quits, more than quits, for the bal-
lance is in my favor, I think. Good-night, Lady Blanche
farewell ! I wish -you every happiness ! J
And raising his hat, he disappeared in the dimness of the
night.
Lady Blanche shuddered as if a chill had passed over her.
" Bad men's blessings are good men's curses," says the
Spanish proverb, and she felt as if she had been banned.
Drawing her shawl around her she went into the house, and
the first person her gaze fell upon was Lady Betty, sitting
pale and anxious over -the fire, her hands clasped, her brows
knitted.
She looked up as Lady Blanche entered, and tried to smile,
but there were traces of tears in her eyes, and a most cruel
triumph filled Lady Blanche's heart.
" This woman," she thought, " triumphed over me a short
time ago. She helped Floris Carlisle to rob me -of my lover.
Now it is my hour to triumph. They are parted forever, and
I shall win him back."
With tins flaw of unholy satisfaction within her bosom, she
MY LADY PRIDE. 167
went to bed and slept the sleep of an innocent child, for the
simple reason that the awful excitement she had undergone
had resulted in complete exhaustion.
The' morrow came, and Lady Blanche glided down to the
breakfast-room.
There were half a dozen persons at the table, and Lady
Betty among them.
She looked pale, and anxious, and worried, but she flushed
Lady Blanche came up to her and greeted her with a sweet,
ni pathetic smile.
u Have you heard from Miss Carlisle ? " she asked.
Lady Betty shook her head. It seemed as if she could
scarcely find courage to say " No."
" Eeally ! " murmured Lady Blanche, with well-feigned smv
prise. " How very strange ! "
" No, it is not strange at all ! " retorted Lady Betty. " I
did not expect to hear until to-night. She she may not have
had time to write yet."
" I should have thought she would have sent a post-card/'
suggested Lady Blanche, smoothly. " We all are very curi-
ous and anxious, but not so anxious as you, I dare say, my
dear!"
" No," retorted Lady Betty; " I dare say not! "
A few minutes afterward she rose and went to her room.
Josine was standing with an open letter in her hand, and
wiping her eyes.
" What's the matter now ? " asked Lady Betty, irritably.
" Oh, miladi, I have had bad news. My "only brother,
miladi ! And I have not seen him for years ! "
" Oh, said Lady Betty. "And of course you want to go
at once^ is that it?"
Josine looked hurt and wounded.
"Ah, no, miladi, not at once. I would, not be so ungrate-
ful as to leave you so suddenly. I have written to tell them
to let me know if he gets worse. If he doesn't I shall not
i -rant to go, but if he does" and she sobbed.
f " Very well," said Lady Betty. " I hope for your sake as
1 /all as mine that he will get better."
Josine dropped a courtesy.
"And and may I ask what news miladi has had from
Mademoiselle Carlisle? Pardon* miladi, if I presume too
touch."
168 MY LADY PRIDE.
It is scarcely necessary to say that she had very carefully
examined the letter-bag.
" There is ho news," said Lady Betty, with a sigh.
Josine held up her hands with an expression of dismay and
shrugged her shoulders.
"Ah, but that is bad ! " she muttered between her teeth.
" Hold your long tongue !" exclaimed Lady Betty, peremp
torily, " and leave the room."
The morning wore away. Some of the party went out rid
ing, others played tennis or wandered about the grounds, but
on all there seemed to rest a cloud as of expectation and dis-
quietude, and everybody looked forward to the return of the
hunting expedition.
A heavy weight hung upon Lady Betty's spirits, and she
seemed to count the hours that must elapse before she must
see Bruce and tell him of Floris's sudden disappearance.
Luncheon came and went, and the dinner hour approached.
If the hunting-party made good traveling it would return
before dusk, and Lady Betty was standing on the terrace look-
ing toward the road that wound through the park when she
saw a horseman appear in the distance.
He was riding very hard and evidently urging his tired
horse at its utmost speed.
Her heart misgave her, she knew not why, and, like most
women of her temperament, she looked around for help and
company ; and at the moment, as if she, too had been watch-
ing as indeed she had Lady Blanche glided through the
window and stood by her side,
"Who is that coming?" said Lady Betty, in an agitated
voice.
" It is some messenger," she said, very quietly.
" Something happened ! " gasped Lady Betty.
Lady Blanche smiled contemptuously.
" Why should you think so ? " she said. " Sir Joseph has
sent one of the men on in advance to tell them to put off the
dinner for an hour that is all."
Lady Betty tried to smile.
"I wish I had your nerves, Blanche," she said, almost
spitefully.
" It isn't a question of nerves, but of common sense," re-
torted La civ Blanche, coldly. "What could have happened?"
" I don't know * we shall soon learn," answered Lady Betty^
grimly.
MY LADY PIHDE.
The man rode fearfully hard,, and soon passed into the road
leading to the house ; and they saw that the horse was covered
with foam and nearly exhausted.
One or two others,, attracted and alarmed by the sight of
the horse, had joined th^m on the terrace, and as the man
rode up and flung himself out of the saddle almost at their
feet, one of the gentlemen ran down the steps to him.
It was Donald.
"A letter for Lady Pendleton," he said, hoarsely; he was
as nearly exhausted as the poor beast he had ridden.
" Give it to me ! " exclaimed Lady Betty, snatching it.
The rest drew away from her, all but Lady Blanche, who
remained where she stood at her side.
Lady Betty tore the envelope open, and glanced at the scrap
of paper inside, then staggered against the balustrade, with a
faint cry.
Lady Blanche, without the slightest hesitation, took the
letter from her hand and read it.
She did not stagger as Lady Betty had done ; no cry escaped
her lips; but they all noticed that she turned white to the lips,
a deadly white, awful to see and remember.
For a moment only, then she looked around, and in a low,
tended and fixed firmly on vacancy, her fingers clutching the
scrap of paper.
For a moment she stood as if turned to stone, her eyes dis-
hard voice, so unlike her usual smooth tones, said:
" Lord Norman has met with an accident; he is ii* great
danger ! "
There was a murmur of alarm and sympathy, as thv group
, gathered around Lady Blanche.
With a piteous cry, Lady Betty held out her hand.
" Give me the letter ! Oh, what shall I do ? Poor Bruce !
^Poor Bruce! I can't read it!" she sobbed. "Will some
lone"
One of the gentlemen took it from her trembling hand and
read it aloud.
Sir Joseph had written a few lines only, saying- that Lord
Norman had met with a serious accident, and that one or
both of the medical men who were staying in the house was
ito come on to Scarfross with the necessary things.
He added in a postscript : " T need not exhort you to be
careful not to alarm Miss Carlisle ! "
170 MY LADY PRIDE.
As those word* were read out. Lady Betty groaned and put
her hands before heir face.
" Oh ! what is to be done ? " she wailed. " Do you think he
is killed ? no, not killed, or they would not send for a doctor !
Where is Doctor Greene ? "
Some one set off to find the young doctor, who was playing
tennis, and came bounding on to the terrace alert and ready
witted.
" What is to be done ? " panted Lady .Betty, who, like most
of her class, was thrown into a complete state of helpless de-
spair.
Suddenly a shiver ran through Lady Blanche's frame, and,
as if she had recovered from an awful stupor, she turned to
Doctor Greene.
" There is no time to lose/' she said, in a low, hard voice.
" Will you start at once, Doctor Greene ? I will see that a
conveyance follows you with anything you may order."
He glanced at her white, set face approvingly.
" I will write a list of what I shall require," he said. Then,
as he turned to hurry away, he stopped and looked around.
" This Scarf ross is a mere hut, quite solitary in the hills, is it
not I mean there is not likely to be any women-folk, who
could nurse Lord Norman ? "
" It is simply a rough, hut-like place, in a perfect wilder-
ness," some one quickly answered.
" Very well, then," he said, decisively ; " some one you can
rely upon had better come on after me in the carriage," he
said, and ran off.
Lady Blanche stood for a moment, as if collecting all her
mental and physical strength; then she went down the ter-
race and around to the stables.
There she found a couple of grooms wiping down Donald's
poor horse, and trying to make him comfortable ; and, seated
on an upturned barrow, with a noggin of the best whiskey in
his hand, was Donald himself.
The appearance of the " grand lady " in their midst flus-
tered the men somewhat. She went up to Donald quickjy.
. " Will you tell me how the accident happened ?" she asked.
Donald took off his glengarry, and told her in his rough,
guttural, broken English :
" It was all for the lad's sake, me leddie; he gave his life
if so be the laird dies for the young boy ! Poor boy ; he's
almost daft over it, and well-nigh broken-hearted! It was a
MY LADY PRTDE. 171
Uoble thing to da, me leddie, and a sore sight to see so grand
a man lying broken and bleeding. It's a strange thing, too,
me leddie, that Lord Brace had a warning the night before.
He could not sleep, and came to me to know if he could ride
back here. Strange that were, now! *' and Donald shook his
head gravely, feeling convinced that Lord Bruce had received
a direct " warning."
Lad Blanche listened with lowered lids and tightly-sel
lips.
"And and do you think he will die? "she asked, hoarselj,
each word leaving her white lips as if it hurt her.
Donald shook his head and took up his whiskey.
*' He's sort hurt," he said, grimly.
Lady Blanche put her hand to her heart as if she had re-
ceived a dagger thrust; then she looked at the old man's
rugged face with a fixed determination.
" Donald," she said, " a doctor Doctor Greene is going to
ride out to Scarfross at once, and a carriage is to follow. Will
you see about the horses? And, Donald, will you see that a
lady's saddle is put upon one ? "
"And what for ? " he demanded, staring at her.
" For me," she said, gently.
"For the leddies!" he exclaimed. "But it's no possible
you'll be thinking of riding through the dark night to Scar-
fross"
" I am not only thinking of it, but I mean to do it," she
said, calmly. " I am a good rider, and strong," she said.
" If Doctor Greene can go, I can go ! The night is not dark.
Lord Norman is lying there without a woman near him "
" Say no more, leddie," said the old man, doggedly. " I'll
saddle a horse for ye, and what's more, I will ride back to
Scarfross, too."
Lady Blanche went back to the house without a word, and)
reaching-her room, threw herself on her knees beside the bed
and hid her face in her hands.
And this was her triumph, was it? It was for this that
she had plotted and schemed, that the man she loved should
be dying, dying out in a hut in the wilderness. Dying !
Oh, Heaven, if he should die before she could reach him,
before she could see his face, touch his hand once more!
With a cry of despair she rose and began putting on her
habit with feverish haste.
She had scarcely got it on than there came a knock at
MY LADY PRIDE.
the door, and Lady Betty entered the room without cere-
mony.
She was dressed for the journey, and was still trembling
with agitation.
" Have you ordered the carriage, Blanche " she said, then
she stopped short and stared at her. " Why have you got
your habit on ? Where are you going ? "
" I am going to Scarfross," said Lady Blanche, coldly.
"To Scarf ross? Why?'-' demanded Lady Betty. "Why
should you go ? "
" Because it pleases me," returned Lady Blanche, haughti-
ly, but with a dangerous gleam in her eyes.
Lady Betty looked at her jealously.
" There is no occasion for you to go," she said. " I am
going"
" What is that to me ? " said Lady Blanche, turning on her
suddenly, with white face and flashing eyes. " What is it to
me whether you are going or not ? I am going ! "
" But you cannot ride in the night ! " said Lady Betty.
" Why not come in the carriage ? "
" In the carriage ! " scornfully. " Do you know how long
it will take? Do you think I should keep sane while it
dragged its way along! No, I am going to ride. I would
walk if there was no other way. -What is it to me who die is
going ? I am nearest him "
Lady Betty's eyes filled.
" You forget Moris, Blanche," she said, kindly.
Lady Blanche winced as if she had been struck, then her
face crimsoned and her lips parted as if for sudden breath.
" Floris Floris Carlisle ! " she said, with suppressed scorn
and vehemence. "Yes, she may be nearer to him than I am!
I You taunt me with that, do you ! Where is she, then ? Why
is she not here ? Perhaps you do not know but, yes, you do,
as well as I ! She has deserted him ! And it is I I who have
loved him all through who go to him now!"
And speechless for what could she say ? Lady Bettj
crying from the room.
MY LADY PRIDE. 173
CHAPTER XXII.
LINKED WITH THE PAST.
IN the little drawing-room of the cottage at Westbury
Floris sat, with her head bowed upon her hands, looking into
the fire.
A silence that could be felt brooded over the house ; the old!
clock on the stairs, whose tick she could remember as far
back as she could remember anything, even that had beeni
hushed by sympathetic hands.
Motionless as a carved figure she sat, the fire-light falling
fitfully on her pale face, showing like marble over the deep-
black dress.
A week had pass'ed since she left Ballyfloe and that long
night journey, and she was now alone in the world.
To the poor, weak, tired mother the long day of peace and
rest had come, and the girl who at triis moment needed her
more sorely than she had ever needed her was motherless and
solitary.
Alone alone !
All day long the word seemed to echo dully in her be-
numbed heart, until she longed, like the Psalmist of old, for
the white wings of death to bear her to her mother's side.
And yet friends had been very good to her the friends of
her old, past, girlish life had done their very best, but how
poor is the very best that can be done in such an hour !
No sympathy, however tender and thoughtful, can lighten
the darkness of the hour of bereavement, or take off the keen
edge of the great trouble.
One gleam of consolation alone pierced the gloom, and that
was the knowledge that she had been in time to see the poor
mother before she died in time to hear her very last words
and receive her last blessing.
There had scarcely been time for more than that, and Mrs.
Carlisle had died in the full comforting assurance that she*
should leave Floris with a happy future before her.
Almost her last words had been of Lord Bruce, and her be-
lief that he would make Floris happy; almost her lafet
thoughts had been of the glorious future that awaited her as
Countess of N"orman.
And F^ris could not summon heart to tell her the truth *
174 MY LADY PRIDE.
could not find strength to destroy the comfort the poor, dying
woman drew from the conviction that her child would be pro-
vided for.
And now, as she sat looking into the fire with dry, burning
eyes, Floris was thinking of him and the brief, happy past.
Through all the week she had been expecting some word
from him;
It could not be anything that would not add to her misery,
for what could he say that would explain aw#y what she had
9een that fateful morning?
But still she had expected and longed for it.
She had thought that he would write one line, perhaps, ad-
mitting his guilt and imploring her forgiveness ; and she
would have sent him her pardon ,and wished him all happiness.
But no line had come no, not a single word.
If he had died if they both had died the silence between
them could not have been more complete !
There was no friendly spirit to tell her that in that moment
he was lying between life and death in the vast solitude of the
hills, unconscious of anything ignorant of all that happened
to her and to himself !
To fyer his conduct seemed black as night, black as the sor-
sow that had befallen her ; and in her heart echoed the dreary
word, " alone !"
So she sat in the red fire-light, letting the hours slip by with
weary feet, so lost to the world that when the servant stole in
with hushed footsteps and spoke to her she cfid not hear her.
The girl came up and touched her with pitying respect.
"A gentleman Mr. Morrel, miss," she said.
And Mr. Morrel came in.
Floris rose to receive him, and held out her white hand.
The little lawyer took it and looked at her with a sympa-
thetic pity, which was so strange an emotion to him that it
made him quite embarrassed.
It is to be presumed that even middle-aged attorneys retain
a sense of the beautiful, and the lovely young face, never
lovelier than now in its clear pallor, and with the sad, wistful
light in the eloquent eyes, touched him deeply.
" I am sorry to intrude at so late an hour, Miss Carlisle,"
he began ; but Floris stopped him with a faint smile.
" 1 am very glad to see you, Mr. Morrel. I was getting
very lonely."
u Yes, yes," he said, in his old, sharp way. How well Floris
MY LADY 1'RIDK. 175
femembered it on the occasion when he came with Lord Nor-
man's offer. " No doubt dreadful loss."
" For me, yes/' said Moris, bravely, and with a steadfast
look in her eyes ; " but not for for my mother. You were
a kind friend to her, Mr. Morrel," she added, with that gentle
sweetness which atoned for much of her pride, and was th$
secret charm which bewitched all who came in contact witl
her.
" No, no ; aM in the way of business, Miss Carlisle ; nothing
more, I assure you/' he responded, hurriedly. "Always found
your poor mother anxious to avoid giving trouble and and
-might I ring for a light for you ? "
" Thanks/' said Floris. She had grown so used to the
grim darkness that had surrounded her that she had become
enamored of it. The girl brought the lamp, and Mr. Morrel
sat down and fidgeted with his gloves. Out of respect for
Floris he was dressed in mourning and had thought fit to don
a hat-band which would have been considered deep enough for
the loss of his own father.
Floris had asked for some tea, and she gave him a cup now
as simply and quietly, almost as cheerfully, as sbe had done
months ago.
There are some proud natures who, like the Spartan boy,
will hide the fox that gnaws at their heart, and Floris was one
of them.
" Will you take some more sugar? I am sorry there is no
cream."
" Don't mention it, Miss Carlisle," he said. Her fortitude
amazed him, and pleased him, too, for he was going to try it
to its utmost. " When I was here last, Miss Carlisle," he said,
coughing and aheming, " I promised to look into, the late
Mrs. Carlisle's affairs, and ahem! I have done so."
" Yes ? " said Floris. She had sunk into the easy.-chair and
sat looking at him, her lovely eyes dreamily fixed on his dry,
wrinkled, and not unkindly face. " Yes, you have been very
kind, Mr. Morrel; I do not know what I should have done
without'you."
" Not at all, not at all ! " he said, waving his hand, depre-
catingly. " All in the way of business, miss. Only did my
duty. I was your father's legal adviser before you were born ;
in fact, I have had the Carlisle business in my hands ever since
I entered the glorious profession of the law."
Floris 'inclined her , head ; though her eyes were fixed on his,
176 MY LADY PRIDE.
her thoughts were wandering miles away to Billyfloe, to
Lady Betty, to Bruce ah, yes, to Bruce !
" I don't suppose any one knew more of the great lawsuit,
Norman vs. Carlisle, than I did," he went on, sipping his tea.
"A wonderful lawsuit and wonderfully most romantically
concluded," and he bowed to Floris.
Her face flushed for a moment at the name of " Norman,"
then went pale again. Eomantically concuded indeed! If
he could but have guessed how romantically,' even the dry, old
lawyer as. he was would not have been so complacent.
" But to return to the business in hand," he said, with a
little cough. " I have been going into the late Mrs. Carlisle's
affairs, and I am sorry to say that they have not proved, as
satisfactory as I could desire no, not nearly as satisfactory,"
and he shook his head.
Floris turned her sad, wistful eyes upon him for a moment.
She had no idea as to .where his words were drifting.
Since her mother's death there had been one or two inter-
views, in each of which he had talked and she had listened,
but understanding little or nothing.
" I am very sorry,"' she said, more for his sake than her own.
" Yes, so am I. I had hoped that, upon ^examination, the
estate would have come out pretty flourishing. It was rather
a confused and tangled business the lawsuit had entaile'd a
great loss, and there were several mortgages ; but I had hoped
that we^should have been able to clear them off I am afraid
I don't make 'myself plain," he broke off, for Floris's gaze had
settled on the fire again, with a far-off expression.
" I I beg your pardon," she said, meekly. " Yes^ I un-
derstand. You mean that I am not as rich as you thought
I should be?"
He looked at her curiously.
I " Exactly, that is what I was trying to convey, Miss Car-
lisle. The estate had been so much encumbered and entan-
gled that your mother scarcely knew how she really stood/'
" Poor mamma ! " murmured Floris, slowly.
"And having gone into matters I find that the prospect is
not nearly so inviting as it should be," he continued, smooth-
ing out his gloves and frowning at the tea-cup.
Floris watched him with listless attention.
" To add to our difficulties," he resumed, having arranged
his gloves to his satisfaction, " the principal mortgagee has
chosen this particular time to foreclose. He could not have
MY LADY PRIDE. 1W
chosen a wcrse, because property is at a very low ebb in the
market, and a sale would not do more than realize a half of
Vie money lent. I am afraid I scarcely make myself under-
stood?"
" Yes, oh, yes ! " said Floris, calmly.
But in truth she did not realize all that his legal phrase-
ology implied.
" I have endeavored to persuade him, the principal mort-
gagee, to waive his claim to foreclosure, but I have not suc-
ceeded. He wants the money, and in simple language, Miss
Carlisle, he must have it."
" Yes, oh, yes ! " said Floris again.
" Therefore it will be necessary, indeed, inevitably that the
estate should be sold."
"Yes," said Floris. "Please sell it all all but the cot-
tage. I would like to keep this and live here."
Poor Mr. Morrel coiighed and knitted his brows.
They say that lawyers always dread having dealings with'
female clients, they are so long in understanding exactly hew
the land lies, and certainly Floris was long in understanding,
" But, my dear . Miss Carlisle," he said, leaning forward,
" I'm afraid this cottage must be sold."
It had come at last !
Floris sat up and looked at him.
" The cottage must be sold ? But but, Mr. Morrel, I
wish to live here. I wish to live here as as my mother did ! "
He frowned and brushed an imaginary crumb from his
coat sleeve.
" I am very sorry, but I am afraid this cottage must be
sold, Miss Carlisle. Of course, I am not aware that, placed as
you are, this is merely a matter of arrangement. You are to
be, if you are not now, the possessor of immense wealth, and
can buy the cottage for yourself."
" I don't understand," said Floris, slowly.
Mr. Morrel grew desperate.
" In one word, Miss Carlisle, we find that your mother's
estate, if sold, will barely pay off the mortgage upon it, and
and that if you were not betrothed to Lord Norman you
would be penniless."
Fioris rose, white and calm, dreadfully calm.
"What! What did you say?" she asked, very quietly.
Mr. Morrel, driven into a corner, pulled himself together.
" That is the simple English of it, Miss Carlisle," he said.
178 MY LADY PRIDE.
" We find that the liens on the estate are so great that to meei
them everything must be sacrificed."
Floris stood, leaning her hand on the table.
" But but there is my own money ! " she said, faintly.
Mr Morrel wagged his head.
It was certainly hard work having to do business with a
lady, and a young one, especially.
"You forget, Miss Carlisle, that your own little fortune
went in paying the costs of the last lawsuit between you and
Lord Norman," he replied.
She shuddered at sound of the name.
" Then then I am penniless ? " she said.
He smiled.
" Well, yes, ,if you put it as bluntly as that, you are," he
said. " But," and he smiled unctuously, with quiet enjoy-
ment, "that is a small matter to the future Countess of
Norman ! "
Floris turned deathly pale, but her eyes never left his face.
" Mr. Morrel," she said, quietly and calmly, " you are
laboring under a misapprehension. lam not the future
Countess of l^orman."
" Not not not the future but, my dear Miss Carlisle,
all the world knows of your engagement ! "
"All the world knew it, perhaps," said Floris, steadily,
though her eyes wavered and her lips quivered. " But not
all the world, it seems, knows that the engagement is broken
off."
"Broken off! " he exclaimed, staring through his spectacles
aghast at her words. " Do you mean to say, Miss Carlisle,
that you are not engaged to marry Lord Norman ? "
Floris shook her head. His amazement and consternation
almost amused her.
" Yes," she said, " the the engagement is broken off, Mr.
Morrel. You must not take Lord Norman into your calcula-
tions."
" But that is just what I have been doing!" he said, stolidly.
" I was under the impression that you were betrothed to the
earl, and that that in short good heavens, my dear young
lady, how did this happen?" and the poor man rubbed his
knees in a state as nearly approaching agitation as a lawyer
permits himself.
In her despair and misery Floris laughed, actually laughed.
* What does it matter ? " she said. " Besults are all you
MY LADY PRIDE. 179
lawyers care for, Mr. Morrel, and I have given you the result,
There is no engagement between Lord Norman and myself.
It ceased before before my mother's death."
" Great Heaven ! " he exclaimed. " Dear me ! good gra-
cious ! Then then you are actually penniless ! "
She smiled.
" Yes, I suppose so/' she said, so calmly that he stared at
her. " It sounds very dreadful, but I suppose it is not so bad
as it sounds."
He was silent for a moment, then he said, almost to him-
self:
" Lord Norman would refund her private fortune/'
She heard him and turned*, upon him almost fiercely.
" Mr. Morrel, let us understand each other/' she said. " If
you think of asking any favor from Lord Norman, cast aside
the idea at once. I would rather die than accept a- crust of
bread from him ! " her voice grew thick and heavy. " Put all
thought of Lord Norman out of your mind. Think of me as
simply Floris Carlisle ; penniless, if you like but beholden to
uo man/'
He looked at her as she stood erect in front of the fire, and
his thoughts went back to the evening long ago when she had
written her note of defiance to Lord Norman's offer.
He shook his head.
" Think what might be done in that quarter," he com-
menced, but she interrupted him.
" Mr. Morrel, you are my lawyer, not his "
" Certainly."
" Then I forbid you forbid you, remember to com-
municate with him. Let happen what may ; let them sell the
house over my head the very chair I have sat upon ; let them
do what they will and can, but do not think I will permit you
to apply to Lord Norman ! "
" My dear young lady," he pleaded " a lovers' quarrel ? "
" Yes," she said, with a wild, despairing smile, " it is a
i lovers' quarrel, if you like, Mr. Morrel; but it will last a life-
time ! "
; The poor man did not know what to say or do.
He had been comforting himself with the reflection that
although the Carlisle estate had disappeared, it mattered
little, seeing that she was to marry Lord Norman and become
Countess of Norman; and now she had said that it was not
to be,
180 MY LADY PRIDE,
He got up as bewildered and flushed as ever he had been
in his life.
" May I ask, Miss Carlisle," he said, " what you intend to
do?"
She looked at him vaguely.
" I do not know yet," she said, speaking as bravely as she
could; "but I will let you know as soon as I know myself .
At any rate, I must leave here," and she looked round with a?
sigh.
Mr. Morrel drew a long breath.
" Miss Carlisle," he said, " I am an old man, or nearly so,'
and and I have no one to consider but myself. If if you
will allow me to offer you any assistance I have been con-
nected with your family for many years, and have reaped sub-
stantial benefit from the connection I say if you will allow
( me to offer you "
Floris put out her hand. For the first time her eyes filled
with tears.
" JSTo, no ! " she said. " I I cannot accept that. I am
young and strong oh, I am very strong ! and I can fight my
own way. There are so many things a woman can do now,
and I shall find something. But I am very grateful very. I
I will you go now, please ? I am feeling tired and upset."
He took up his hat and held out his hand.
" Good-by, Miss Carlisle. I should feel very much obliged
if you would write to me if you want any assistance. I er
bless my soul, this is very sad ! " and blowing his nose he got
out of the house.
When one is suffering from two such sorrows as had befallen
Floris, one does not think much of a third. It would seem
as if the human soul were capable of so much miser}^ and no
more; and that when the limit has been passed all that hap-
pens afterward is borne in a happy-go-lucky frame of mind
that may be despair or the indifference of actual exhaustion.
Floris had thought that she would be permitted to live on
the rest of her life in the seclusion of the cottage; but if it*
was not to be, well, it was not to be, and there was an end 1
of it.
The wide world lay before her, helpless and friendless, and
she faced it with a touch of the old pride of self-reliance which
had always distinguished her.
Over the falseness of her lover and the death of her mother
181
she had shed main' tears, but over the loss of her money she
had scarcely expended a sigh.
Mr Morrel, who came down almost daily, was astonished at
the calmness she displayed.
Over and over again he begged her to try and think if tlieiv
was not some friend to whom she could apply for help, some.
relation to whom she could go; but Floris always shook her
head with a faint smile.
" I have no one to whom I could apply," she said. " As to
friends " she thought of Lady Betty with a sigh.
She could not go to her. She could not hold any communi-
cation with her, for if she did so she might be brought in con-
tact with Lord Norman, and that would be worse than death
by starvation. There were friends in Worthing, old friends
of her mother, who would have helped her, but Floris had
persistently refused to see them. They were all dying of
curiosity to know ft r hy the engagement had been broken off,
and they would ask questions and torture her beyond en-
durance.
" No," she told him, " there was no friend of whom she
could ask assistance."
" I think you are very excuse me, Miss Carlisle very
proud ! " said poor Mr. Morrel, in despair, and Floris had
looked at him absently.
"Am I ? " she said, with the same faint smile. " Perhaps
I am. I used to be proud, at. least they used to call me so,
and perhaps I am so still. But I am not afraid; I am young
and strong, and there must be something in the big world for
me to do."
" Yes," he assented. " You are young I don't know about
strong, and you are " he was going to say " beautiful," but
he stopped himself in time with a dry little cough.
"T cannot go, as a companion again," said Floris, with a
trace of sudden color on her face. " They would want refer-
ences, and I cannot give those."
The lawyer looked distressed. He knew nothing of what
had happened up in the Highlands ; something dreadful it
must have been, he thought, to bring about so sudden and
complete a separation between her and Lord Norman, and to
make her so determined to hold no communication with her
recent friends.
" I don't see what you are to do ; indeed I don't," he said>
in sad perplexity.
182 M LADY PRIDE.
" There must be something," responded Fiona.
" If you only allow me to be your banker " he stammered
" I mean until brighter days "
But Floris shook her head.
" No, no,," she said. " I can not do that. You know I
can not; though I am very, very grateful. If if I could fine?
some work out of England," she murmured.
The little lawyer caught at once at the suggestion.
"But why out of England, my dear young lady?" hC
asked.
Florists eyes drooped, and her lips quivered.
" Because I would like to leave England forever, if I
could," she said, quietly. " How long may I remain liere at
the cottage, I mean ? "
" Only a fortnight at the utmost," he said reluctantly.
" So soon ? " she said, sadly.
" You could remain altogether, if you liked," he responded.
" If you would allow me, I should be glad to purchase the
cottage and and advance <you enough money to start a
school. I am sure " with something approaching eagerness
"that you would soon be able to repay me."
But Floris shook her head as decidedly as ever.
"You must not think of that, Mr. Morrel. Even if I
could accept your kindness, it would be thrown away; I am
not cut out for a school-mistress. I don't know enough to
teach half the things girls require nowadays. Besides no ; I
could not do that. There must be something else, surely.
Do you think I know how good you are, and how anxious
you are to help me do you think I could see some of the for-
eign newspapers? There might be an advertisement which I
could answer."
Mr. Morrel nodded almost energetically, and seized on the
idea eagerly. At each visit he had become more interested "in
the beautiful young girl who seemed so friendless and help-
less in the midst of her sorrow.
Only a fortnight !. It was not long in which to find a niche
for herself a few feet of standing room in this vast world, so
crowded and jostled !
A week passed, during which she did not go outside the
house, excepting into the garden, in which she walked with
drooping head and listless step, thinking over the past, which
seomed so long ago and yet was so recent.
People called, people who would have been glad to help her,
MY LADY PRIDE. 183
but she shrunk from seeing them, and they were told one and
all by the little servant that Miss Carlisle was too unwell to
see any one.
At the end of the week Mr Morrel came down, and Floris
saw by his face that he had something to communicate.
He put a small bundle of papers on the table as she shook
hands, and nodded curtly, as he scrutinized her face through
his glasses.
" You are looking better, Miss Carlisle," he said, in hi
sharp fashion. " That's right ! I was almost afraid to come
down, your pale face so so upset me ! But there, we'll hope
things are taking a turn, eh ? You are still resolved to go out
and seek your fortune, like a female Whittington ? " and he
smiled.
" I don't want to be a Lord Mayor of London, if that is
what you mean !" she said ; and there was a touch of her old
naivete in the reply that made him laugh and nod with sat-
isfaction.
"Very good, very good, indeed! Well, if you are still re-
solved, I think I have heard of something that might suit
you."
And he began to untie the tape around his bundle.
Floris's face flushed slightly ; hope, which springs eternal in
the human breast, came to her.
" It was a very curious thing," he said, sorting his papers
methodically ; " but life is made up of curious things. Talk
of fiction being stranger than reality! It's downright non-
sense ! I assure you, my dear Miss Carlisle, that a lawyer meets
with far stranger things in the course of his professional ex-
perience than any of you young ladies read of in yffiir novels."
" I dare say," said Floris, smiling. " Have you discovered
that I am the long-lost daughter of an earl who is longing to
claim me, or has an uncle in the East Indies, of whom I have
never heard, left me an enormous fortune?"
Pie laughed; he was immensely pleased to see her in this
frame of mind, little guessing how much of it was really af-
fected so that his kind heart should not be distressed by the
continual spectacle of her sorrow.
" IvTo, no ! " he said, " I wish it was. But this is what it is.
By the way, do you know anything about flowers ?"
Floris opened her great, sorrowful eyes with faint astonish-
ment.
" Botany and that kind of thing ?" he explained.
184 MY LADY PRID1.
Floris shopk her head.
" No; I am afraid not."
" Hem !" he muttered, rather discouraged ; tHen he bright
ened up again.
" But that doesn't matter, I think," he said, briskly.
"After all, you could soon learn "
' " Learn botany, the science of flowers !" exclaimed Floris
almost inclined to think that the incessant worry on her be
half had turned the little man's brain.
" Yes," he said, slowly ; " why not ? Nothing very diffi
cult in it, I should think, for a clever young lady like your
self."
" I am about the stupidest girl, Mr. Morrel, that ever
your professional experience ever met with," she said, with 8
smile.
He smiled and chuckled.
" I don't believe there is anything you couldn't learn," he
said, confidently.
" You haven't told me why you asked me if I understood
flowers," said Floris, gently, bringing him back to the point.
" This is the reason," he said, settling himself in his chair.
" When you spoke to me the other day of wanting to get out
of England, and trusting there might be some advertisements
in the foreign newspapers, I thought there was a good idea in
the suggestion, so I went to a friend in London, who knows
all about the Continent and speaks half a dozen languages,
and got him to hunt through some of the papers." And
he laid his hand on the bundle on the table. " Well, my
friend sent me around one or two advertisements that he
thought might suit, and I looked over them. Most of them
were for English governesses. I didn't think they would suit
you."
Floris sighed.
" I am so fearfully ignorant !" she said.
"Exactly -no, no, I don't mean that! Well, there was
one that was not for a governess, but a very strange adver-
tisement. I'll read it to you."
He took up the paper and read aloud :
" ' Wanted, an English lady to assist a lady in the prepara^
tion of a book on botany and the management of rare flow-
ers.'
"The advertiser requires a good copyist, and not neces-
MY LADY PRIDE. 185
sarily a lady fully acquainted with botany. Address X. Y.,
Florence."
Florists heart sunk, and she sighed.
" Now wait a moment/' he said, holding up his hand. " I
thought it might suit you, so I wrote and got particulars be-
fore I troubled you with it."
Floris's eyes glanced upon him gratefully.
"And the particulars were satisfactory. Here they are/ 5
and he took up a letter and read it.
"You see she wants a young lady, a lady by birth, and
she is more particular about that, and that the young lady
should write a good hand, than that she should be skilled
in plants. Now you are a lady by birth, Miss Carlisle, and if
you will allow me to say so, you write a remarkable hand."
"Well?" said Flor is, eagerly.
"Well, I wrote and told her so, and asked for more par-
ticulars and references, of course. The references .came, and
I found them extremely satisfactory, I then gave her some
few particulars respecting yourself, and, in short, I accepted
the situation for you on condition of your agreement. The
salary is not a large one, but there will be a comfortable
home, and Florence is a beautiful place, I am told. Never
was out of England myself, and don't want to be !" he jerked
in; "but still, it's a beautiful pluce, and as most ladies are
fond of flowers, why '
Floris's eyes filled.
" You have been very good to me, Mr. Morrel. When you
asked me the other day whether I had any friends, T ought to
have replied, ' Yes ; one very, very kind and true one !' And
have you really got the situation for me?"
"Yes," he said, huskily; "that is, if you like to take it.
You shall look over the papers and decide. The work will
not be hard ; you will have to do some copying and write
from dictation I should buy a work on botany and study it
on the journey, if I were you and from what t hear, T think;
you would find Mrs. Sinclair a very nice lady. T^ow don't sayj
a word, but look over the letters while T take a cup of tea." i j
Floris took the letters to a side-table and read them.
As Mr. Morrel had said, they were very satisfactory. The
salary was not large, but ample for her poor wants, and there
would be a comfortable home.
But the greatest attraction in the offer for her was the
that, if she accepted, she could get away from England.
186 MY LADY T'lUDK.
Florence, too! How often she had read of it and longed to
see it ! Florence ! A pang shot through her heart for a mo-
ment, as she remembered that it was one of the places Lord
Norman had often talked of taking her to wh<3n they were
married when they were married ! Alas, alas !
Mr. MorreL who was watching her, saw her lip quiver.
" There, there I" he said. " Don't think any more about
it if you don't like the idea. Something else will be sure to
turn up." f
Floris rose and went up to him.
" Nothing could turn up better than this," she said.
"Then you will go?" he said.
She hesitated a moment.
" It's a long way from England," he said.
"Ah, that is the greatest inducement to me !" she responded*
* Yes, I will go, Mr. MorreL"
And so, unconsciously, she drew the chain that bound her
to the past a link closer.
All unknown to "herself, and nnguessed at, there awaited
her at Florence the most eventful chrpter of her life's his*
tory!
CHAPTEE XXIII.
A BITTER PUNISHMENT.
IT was an awful ride which Lady Blanche had undertaken
and for the remainder of her life she remembered that night
journey.
They reached the house, and at the sound of their approach;
Sir Joseph came to the door. He started as his eyes fell on
Lady Blanche, and he looked beyond her as if he expected
to see some one else Floris.
"Lady Blanche!" he said. "Have you come all this
way "
She fell rather than slipped from the sadle and caught his
arm.
Tell tell me the truth ! " she panted. " Is he
Her white face and suppressed emotion started him.
"Lord Norman, thank Heaven, is alive!" he answered,
gravely.
Blanche put her hands before her eyes and remu
MY LADY PRIDE.
motionless for a moment, then she accepted Sir Joseph's arm
and allowed him to lead her into the house.
"And you have ridden all this way in the dead of the
night ! " he said, scarcely yet realizing that it was really sho
who stood before him. "You must be wet through, Lady
Blanche, and and I am afraid there is no change of clothes;
we have, unfortunately, no women-folk here."
She shook her head. *
" It does not matter. No, I am not very wet. I do not
care in the least. Sir Joseph, can I can I see him? But of
course, I can. I have come to nurse him."
Sir Joseph stared.
If any one should have come, it should have been Floris
the girl to whom he was engaged. His thought found expres-
sion.
" Have you told how is Miss Carlisle-? I trust the sad
news has not made her ill ? " he said.
Lady Blanche looked up wildly. She had almost forgotten
Floris*!
" We we did not tell her," she said, coldly and distinctly.
" We thought it better not to do so until until we knew how
Lord Norman really was. This is why I have come."
Sir Joseph felt surprised.
" You have not told her? " he said, gravely. " I am rather
stfrry ; I think she ought to know. But perhaps she will follow
with Lady Pendleton in the carriage? " he said.
" Perhaps so," assented Lady Blanche ; " and now will you
go and see if I may go to him, Sir Joseph ? Doctor Greene
may want me."
He went upstairs, and came down again after what seemed
an age to her.
"Yes; Doctor Greene says you may see him; but he thinks
you should have some rest."
She took off her hat and put it down with a gesture of
refusal.
They entered the bed-room, and Lady Blanche, pressing
her hand to her heart for a moment, unseen by Sir Joseph,
glided to the bed. There lay Lord Norman, white to the
lips white as the bandage about his head, saving for the
dark red scars on his forehead which the savage stag had
caused.
Beside him stood Doctor Greene, and at a little distance thg
188 MY LADY PRIDE.
miserable boy whose inexperience and youthful impatieac*
had been the cause of the accident.
Doctor Greene looked up as she approached, and scanned
her face critically.
" Is is he asleep ? " she whispered, huskily.
" No," he said aloud ; " you need not be afraid to speak.
Lady Blanche; he is quite unconscious, and will remain so, I
am afraid, for some time."
" Is he much hurt ? " she asked, her eyes riveted on the
white face.
" Very much," he said, concisely. " The stag did not spare
him, poor fellow ! "
" Is it dead ? " she ground out between her teeth, with a
gudden, savage flash of her eyes.
. " Is it the stag ? I do not know."
" Yes," murmured Lord Harry, miserably, from the other
end of the room.
She did not hear him, but stood with her eyes fixed on the
motionless face, while she drew off her gloves.
" Sir Joseph tells me you wish to help me, Lady Blanche,"
said Doctor Greene. " Do you not think you had better rest
for a while? Your journey has been an extraordinary one for
a lady to undergo."
She shook her head.
" I could not rest. Tell me what I am to do?"
He inclined his head, seeing that any further remonstrance
would be useless.
" Keep his bandages moist, please," he said. " I am going
down-stairs to, prepare fresh ones. Call me if he gives the
slightest sign of returning consciousness."
As he left the room Lady Blanche sunk on her knees be-
side the bed, and let her head drop until, her lips rested on
Lord Norman's
" Oh, my darling, my darling ! " she breathed. " You will
not die ! You must not die ! No, Bruce, Bruce, live for my
sake ! My darling, my darling ! "
Lord Harry stared at her with his bloodshot eyes, and, al-
most frightened by what he had seen, rose and stole out.
The morning broke, and the sun came sleepily through the
mist, and the noon and evening passed, and still Lord Nor-
man lay as dead to all around him as if indeed life had passed
the portals of his white lips; aad still Lady Blanche knelt
down by his side.
MY LADY PRIDE. 189
Toward nightfall the carriage from Bally floe arrived.
It contained Lady Pendleton and a nurse, but to Sir Jo-
seph's amazement, no Floris came.
" Have you told Miss Carlisle ? " he asked, as he held Lady
Betty's trembling hands, and tried to encourage her.
"No!" said Lady Betty, flushing and then turning pale
again. " No ; Miss Carlisle was summoned from Ballyfloe
quite suddenly, before the news arrived ! "
"Ah, that explains it ! " he said, with a relieved air. " It
is fortunate that it has happened so, though we may have to
send for her. Now don't cry, Lady Betty. Doctor Greene
does not withhold all hope; and we have got an excellent
nurse in Lady Blanche."
Lady Betty flushed again, but before she could speak the
door opened and Lady Blanche glided in.
Sir Joseph, thinking that he would be in the way, left
them, and the two women confronted each other.
" You have come,_ then ?" said Lady Blanche. " Where are
the things you have brought ? "
" The nurse has them ? " said Lady Betty, coldly.
" The nurse ! " echoed Lady Blanche. " Why did you bring
one? I am the nurse, Lady Pendleton."
Lady Betty began to tremble.
" What right have you here ? " she demanded. " Do you
think Floris will be pleased when she hears
" Floris, Floris ! I am sick of the name ! " said Lady
Blanche, with a curl of the lips. " Listen to me ! " and she
came quite close to the agitated woman. " Floris Carlisle is
not here ; she will not come here.- You know why, as well or
better than I do. Do you think because she has jilted and
deserted him, that I should do so, too? Wait! I have come
down because I have something to say to you. Bemember,
please, that I am Lord Norman's relative; that I am nearer
to him than any Floris, jilt or no jilt, and that it is I I, and
no one else who will tell him how she has deserted him ! I
will brook no interference from any one but Miss Carlisle, and
; do not expect to meet with any from her ! " and, with a wave
of the white hand, she swept noiselessly from the room.
The days passed ; the little stone house, which had been
built for pleasure, had become like a hospital.
On the evening of the fifth day, as Doctor Greene stood be-
side the window, looking out on the wild scene with a grave
190 MY LADY PRIDE.
and anxious face, he heard Lady Blanche whisper his name,
ami turned noiselessly to the bed.
Lord Norman had opened his eyes and was looking at Lady
Blanche with an expression of consciousness in them.
u Floris ! " he breathed.
Even then she did not speak; but her hand stole along the
bedclothes and inclosed his hot, wasted one.
"Floris! You here? What has happened? Ah! I re-
member," he added, with a faint effort to smile. " Is is
the boy safe?"
" Lord Harry is all right/ 5 said Doctor Greene. " He has
gone home."
" Poor boy ! I am glad of that. I am very tired ! How
long have I been lying here ? The whole day ? "
Doctor Greene drew a silk handkerchief across the feverish
ki Don't talk now, Norman," he said. " Try and sleep.
We will tell you all about it in the morning." :
With a gesture of obedience he turned his head on the pil-
low, his hand still on Blanche's.
All night Lady Blanche sat with his hand in hers hers
which he thought was Floris's and in the morning he awoke,
vi th the fever far behind.
" Why, Blanche ! " he said, feebly. " You here ? Where is
Floris? Has she gone to lie down?"
She inclined her head.
" T am glad of that. Poor girl ! She must need some rest,
surely. She has been watching beside me all night, hasn't
she?"
Lady Blanche smoothed the bedclothes.
" Don't talk yet, Norman," she said, huskily,
" Blanche, how long have I been lying here? "
"Six days, Norman," she faltered.
"Six days! Six and Floris has been watching all the
time! My poor darling!" and the tears he was still fear-
fully weak and easily mo^ed rose to his eyes. " Six days
unconscious ! And, of course, you all thought I was going to
die? My own poor darling, how she must have suffered ! Is
she very ill, Blanche?"
Lady Blanche shook her head. She. could not speak.
Every word he uttered went through her heart like a knife
thrust. '
" No ? I am glad, glad, glad ! But white and thin,
MY LADY PRIDE 191
Blanche, eh ? Poor Floris ! We must nurse her now,
Blanche. My darling! Ah, Heaven, how I have longed to
be able to speak to her ! But though I knew she was here
though I knew she held my hand, and could feel her breath
sometimes I could not speak. I suppose I was half-uncon-
scious, eh, Blanche ? "
"Yes, dear!"
" Am I very much knocked about ? "
She was silent.
" Oh, don't think I am anxious about my personal appear-
{anee," and he laughed weakly. "But am I too much
' knocked about to let her make it an excuse for putting off the
wedding? I want to be married directly I can get about.
Eh, Blanche?"
She nodded an assent and he went on :
" Yes, she won't refuse now. A sick man musn't be con-
tradicted, that you know. How long has she been lying
down? I wouldn't have her disturbed for the world, but I
shall be so glad to see her. Doctor," turning his head, " do
you think there is any fear of my going off my head again ? "
" Not if we are careful not to excite you," said Doctor
Greene, looking at Blanche, significantly.
Lord Norman laughed.
" Oh, you won't excite me," he said. " I have had enough
in the way of excitement to outshine anything you can do in
that line! I shall never forget seeing that mad boy rushing
on to his death, as it seemed ! Thank Heaven I was able to
get up to his side in time! Poor boy! Gone home, has he?
I must write to him as soon as I can I'll get Floris to write
to-day, and tell him I'm all right ! When we are married ht
shall come and stay with us ! "
He paused for want of breath, then fixed his eyes on Lady
Blanche's face.
"Blanche, you are a good girl! You have been helping
vFloris to nurse me, eh ? It is just like you ! You look pale
and tired; you have overdone yourself. When Floris comes
I back I shall tell her to send you away for the whole day."
She found her voice at last.
" Yes," she said, almost inaudibly, " When Floris comes
back I will go away and rest. But but she is more tired
than I am, Bruce, and the doctor has ordered her to keep to
her room."
" My poor darling ! " he murmured^ fervently. " Go to her ;
192 MY LADY PRIDE.
Blanche, and give her my love, will you ? And tell her she is
not to come to me on any account until she is quite rested,"
he added, wistfully.
Lady Blanche rose and supported herself by a chair for a
moment, then she found strength to creep out of the room.
Her punishment was almost heavier than she could bear.
CHAPTER XXIV.
THE UNDELIVERED MESSAGE.
LADY BETTY was waiting for her in the sitting-room, wait-
ing in the greatest agitation and distress, mingled with her
joy for the news.
" Oh, Blanche, is he really better ? " she exclaimed, forget-
ting her animosity for the moment.
" Yes," said Lady Blanche, curtly, " he is better ; but his
life hang? by a thread I know that. I have come to ask you
what you intend to do."
"Tod< ?"
"Yes. Do you mean to see him? If you do, he will see
by your face that something is wrong; he will ask you ques-
tions abotit about Floris Carlisle. And what will you say?
Can you keep your countenance and lie, as I have done ? I
have tol<ft him that she is resting."
"Oh, how could you do that?"
Lady Blanche laughed. It was an awful laugh, and it
made her listener shudder.
" I would tell him anything to avert the blow ! It must
come sooner or later, but, unless you want to kill him, let it
come later."
" It is dreadful ! " moaned Lady Betty. " I can not under-
stant it. I will never believe she has done what you say."
" Jilted him, and ran off with Bertie Clifforde ? " said Lady
Blanche, icily. " I admire your faith ! I suppose you have
written to her?"
" I wrote to her before I left Ballyfloe," said Lady Betty.
"I wrote to Westbury, where her mother lived. I wrote to
Matilda, who first recommended her to me when she came as
a companion, but I have received no answer,"
MY LADY PRIDE. 193
Lady Blanche smiled. She knew that Josine had taken the
letters from the post-bag.
" How could you have received any answer, seeing that
Floris Carlisle has gone with Bertie Clifforde, and that
Lady Matilda is on the Continent ? " she said, contemptuously.
" What shall I do ?' demanded poor Lady Betty, helplessly.
" Go back to Ballyfloe," said Lady Blanche, firmly. " He
does not know you are here. Go back to Ballyfloe, and I will
tell him that you would not see him for fear of exciting him,
and that you have taken Floris Carlisle with you."
" Yes, I will go," said Lady Betty. " I will go at once.
Poor Bruce ; poor Bruce ! "
Lady Blanche's face flushed.
" Save your pity for those who need it," she said, quietly.
" ' Poor Bruce/ as you call him, is a fortunate man to have
been deceived before marriage instead of afterward," and,
with this last dagger-thrust, she left her.
From that moment Lord Norman's recovery was rapid. At
the end of the week a comfortable, the most comfortable of
the Ballyfloe traveling carriages, filled with every luxury a
convalescent could require, arrived at Scarfross, and, to his
immense satisfaction, he started f of " home," as he called it.
They started early in the morning. Lord Lorman and the
young doctor traveling in the big carriage, and the rest of the
party traveling as best they liked.
They arrived at Ballyfloe at dusk, and were greeted by Lady
and Sir Joseph Lynch with the most cordial and affectionate
welcome. It was quite a reception, in fact, all the guests
who remained thronging the terrace and pressing forward to
express their delight at seeing him among them again.
Lord Norman, as he shook hands and responded to their
kind expressions, kept glancing to the right and left and
beyond them to the hall do'or, with barely suppressed eager-
ness.
"Where is Floris?" he asked, quite audibly, of Lady
Lynch.
Before she could answer, Lady Blanche laid her hand softly
on his arm.
" Bruce, Doctor Greene says you are to go in at once ; the
air is chilly for you."
He laughed grimly.
" Yu see, Lady Lynch, they intend to treat rue as an in-
194 MY LADY PRIDE.
valid still, and I suppose I must bow beneath their typafloy!
I Bhall see you at dinner."
u Better dine in your own room to-night, Norman, I
think/' said Doctor Greene. "You have done quite enough
for to-day."
They escorted him to his apartments almost as if he jvere a ,
, royal personage, and Lady -Blanche went to her own room.j
As she opened the door she saw Josine standing waiting for!
her. '
Lady Blanche started and flushed, then she closed the door.
i% Is there any news, Josine?" she asked, calmly.
Josine shook her head.
" No, miladi."
" She she has not written ? "
" No, miladi, there have been no letters. If there had
been, I would have intercepted them and given them to
miladi."
Lady Blanche drew a breath of relief.
" Then then you have heard nothing ? " she faltered.
" Nothing of Miss Carlisle ! Nothing whatever. I know
nothing except that Miss Carlisle left Bally floe with Milord
Clifforde," she said, steadily. .
Lady Blanche dismissed her with a wave of her hand, and
sunk into a chair.
She knew that Lord Norman would send for her presently,
and in a few minutes his valet knocked at the door and beg-
ged her to come to his master.
She rose, glanced at her face in the glass, and followed the
man. The critical moment had arrived.
Lord Norman was pacing up and down the room im-
patiently; his traveling cloak of sable was thrown across a
chair, as if he had but just flung it off, and he had made no
attempt at changing his clothes.
" Blanche," he said, facing her, " why doesn't Floris come?
Where is she? Why is it that no one mentions her name? Is
she in the house? She must be at this hour. I asked my
man if she were dressing for dinner, but I coijld get no satis-
factory answer from him."
Lady Blanche was silent; she could not speak for the mo-
ment could not take her eyes from his, in which, already,
there began to dawn an overpowering anxiety and appre-
hension.
" Blanche ! " he exclaimed ; " what does this mean ? Is si*
MY LADY PRIDE. 195
111? For Heaven'* sake, if you have any news to tell me, tell
me it at once. Suspense kills me what is it ? "
She moistened her lips.
" Floris is not at Ballyfloe, Bruce."
" Not at Ballyfloe ! " he repeated, with wide-opened eyes
and knit brow. " Where is she, then ? Great heavens ! * Why
didn't you tell me before I left Scarf ross ? I could have taken,
train at a nearer point than this. You know I am dying to,
see her ! "
Her heart hardened, and she met his impatient gaze
steadily.
" I do not know where she is, Bruce/' she said, quietly.
" Not know ! What do you mean ? When did she go, and
why?"
" She left Ballyfloe nearly three weeks ago, Bruce the day
you started for Scarfross."
" What ! " he cried, in a terrible voice ; " what where ? I
have had no letter ! Ah, I see you have kept it from me
because I was ill. I see, I see! But for Heaven's sake, give
it to me now give them all to me " and he held out his
hand.
She shook her head.
"I have no letter for you, Bruce; she has written to no
one."
His hand fell to his side.
"Written to no one, Blanche!" his face growing white.
" What is this infernal mystery? Why did you lie to me
the other day, and tell me she was at Scarfross ? Has she not
been there at all ? "
" She has not been there, Bruce. She left here when you
did, and we have not heard a word from her since."
He strode forward and seized her arm. '
" Quick, tell me all ! She is dead ! I know it ! I can read
it in your face ! Quick, tell me ! "
" No, Bruce, she is not dead that I know of indeed I do
not know. But but Oh, Bruce ! can you bear it ? " she
whispered.
" I can bear anything better than this suspense," he cried,
hoarsely. " Don't you see it's maddening me ? "
" Oh, Bruce, Bruce ! " she moaned. " It is so hard for me
to have to tell you ! But you will hear it from me best.
Bruce, be firm, be brave ! Don't look at" me so, or I can noi
go on ! " for his eyes seemed penetrating to her soul
196 MY LADY PRIDE.
He looked aside and motioned her to go on.
" Bruce/' she whispered, almost inaudibly, for her heart
nearly stood still with fear with actual fear that, when her
lips formed the words he would strike, perhaps kill, her,
" Bruce, Floris Carlisle is not worth a thought from you. She
is a bad, wicked girl "
" What ! " and he laughed a short, wild laugh of mockery.
" Go on, go on ! You are mad ! Floris is what ? "
"Judge for yourself," she retorted, stung into courage.
" Floris Carlisle has jilted you, Bruce, and run off with
Bertie Cliffords!"
He looked at her with a dull, perplexed gaze. .
, " Is this an elaborate joke, Blanche ? " he asked, quietly ;
then, as he scanned her face, his grasp on her arm grew
tighter and he drew her to him so that she thought he was
going to kill her.
" What do you say ? Say it again say it again ! I
didn't hear you I could not have heard you. I must be de-
lirious still ! Floris Floris Well, can't you speak ? " he
said, harshly.
"Bruce, it is quite true. Would to Heaven it were not!
She has left you, Bruce. She has gone off with Bertie Clif-
forde!"
He dropped her arm and stepped back, then he looked at
her calmly, quietly.
" It must be a lie ! " he whispered, huskily, just as Floris
had whispered to Josine a fortnight ago.
She shook her head-.
" It is the truth, Bruce."
"How do you know? She has not written; she has
Oh, Heaven ! am I awake or dreaming ? Blanche, for Hea-
4 ven's sake, tell me all ! I know there is some hideous mistake
of course there is some mistake and it must be put right
x at once. But tell me all; don't waste a moment! Now
now ! "
" Bruce, I can only tell you what I know. The day you
left she received a telegram; she started for the railway sta-
tion at once, and there she met Bertie C/lifforde."
"A lie a lie ! " he groaned.
"Bruce, it is no idle scandal. Josine saw them off to-
gether."
" Josine, Josine ! Who is Josine ? " he demanded, hoarsely.
" Lady Betty's maid a great friend of Floris's."
MY LADY PUIDE. 19?
" Fetch her fetch Lady Betty ! " he said, pointing to the
door.
Lady Blanche went out; she was glad to get out, if even
for a moment or two, from the sight of his face, the sound of
his voicp.
In fr r e minutes she returned with the two others.
He v r as still sitting in the chair, looking vaguely, vacantly^
out of ttie window.
" OI/, Bruce! " sobbed poor Lady Betty, going to him; but
he k?pt her back with upheld hand.
" Girl," he said, sternly, " tell me what this means ! Speak
the truth, if you can, or, by Heaven "
His glance was terrible and even Josine quaked ; but she
gone too far to draw back.
" Milord, I know nothing but this," she said in a low,
steady voice; and she repeated her lesson.
For a certainty Miss Carlisle had left Ballyfloe with Lord
Cliffords
"And you you believe this?" he demanded, turning to
Lady Betty.
" What can I do, Bruce ? " she wailed. " It is true. I have
seen the porter, the guard, and and "
Lady Betty shook her head.
" No, Bruce, not a word. I have written to her, begging
her to relieve us of this terrible suspense with one word, but
she has not sent it."
" Go ! " he said, pointing to the door, and the two went out,
leaving Lady Blanche standing there with her hand before her
eyes,
She stood thus for a moment or two, then she ventured to
look at him.
He was sitting in the chair still,- his face turned from
her.
She went up to him and knelt beside him.
"Bruce dear, dear Bruce be brave! Oh, Bruce, she Is
not worth it ; she is not, indeed ! "
He turned his head, and she started and shrunk back.
His face was deathly white to the lips; his eyes filled
with a despair that seemed to have transformed him into an
old man.
For a moment he appeared unable to speak, then he put his
band on her shoulder.
"Blanche," he said, hoarsely, almost inaudibly, as the voice
196 MY LADY PBIflE.
of a man at death's door, " you can do me no good ! Lea
me to myself ! "
"But but " she cast a quick, fearful glance round *ii
room ! his pistol case stood on a side-table, and there was
pair, frenzy on his face.
He smiled an awful smile.
" No, Blanche, do not be afraid ! I shall not do that. \U11
you go now ? "
She got up slowly. She longed, with a tanging past ex-
pression, to throw her arms round him, to pour out the pas-
sionate love of her heart at his feet, to remind him that there
was still one who was faithful, but she dared not dared
not!
She had gone to the length of her tether for the present * for
the future well, it Jay in the hands of the gods !
Slowly she retreated from him, and left him, left him still
sitting with his head bowed, and the awful look in his gray
His valet found him still sitting there when he entered an
hour afterward, and was dismissed with a gesture; he found
him still sitting, like a figure carved in stone, in the morning,
and ventured to touch and speak to him.
At the touch Lord Norman looked up ,at him vaguely,
then rose, rose with the stiff movement and gait of extreme
age.
"We start for London by the first train," he said, in a
Jiollow voice.
The man packed the portmanteau, and they started in the
early morning, almost like thieves, for Lord Norman had
bidden him keep their departure .secret,
They reached London in the evening, and the whole of the
night Lord Norman sat in^his room, as he had sat at Bally-
floe, his eyes fixed on the' ground, his gray face set into a,
marble calm.
In the morning he went to his solicitor's, and obtaining the
address of Mr. Morrel, drove to his office.
Mr. Morrel was considerably startled at the apparition, as
he almost deemed it, of the once handsome, light-hearted earl
against whom he had fought so long.
" T- I am afraid you are ill, iny lord ! " he said, with his
nervous sharpness.
Lord Norman waved all commonplace greetings aside,
MY LADY PRIDE.
" I have come to learn what you know ofof Mioi Car-
lisle ! " he said,, sternly.
Mr. Morrel flashed. He felt a strong temptation to answer
at once, and tell all, but he had given his promise, and he was
a lawyer.
" Be seated, my lord," he said.
Lord Norman declined the chair.
". I ask you for Miss Carlisle's* present address/* he said,
with a terrible significant calmness.
Mr. Morrel shook his head.
" I deeply regret, my lord, that I am unable to furnish you
with Miss Carlisle's address," he said, gravely.
"Do you know it?"
" Yes, my lord, I know it."
"And you withhold it at her request?" he demanded, his
dark eyes gleaming from his white face.
" I do, my lord. I gave Miss Carlisle my solemn promise
that I would keep her whereabouts a secret. It is with the
deepest regret "
1 Lord Norman took up his hat and went to the door, then
he paused, and facing round, looked steadily into the lawyer's
nervous and embarrassed countenance.
"You can cwnmunicate with Miss Carlisle, I presume?"
" Certainly, my lord. I shall be happy to forward any
message '
" Tell her, please," he said, in a low, clear voice, " that
she has nothing to fear from me; but if he should chance to
cross my path I will shoot him as I would a dog! That is
all ! " and he slowly turned and went out.
Mr. Morrel gasped for breath for a moment.
"Phew!" he exclaimed. "Tut, tut! That is it, is it?
Now, who would have thought it of such a quiet, beautiful
girl ? Tut, tut 1 but as to giving her his message no no,
really I think it would be better to say nothing about him.
Dear me! dear me! Looked half mad! Tut, tut! I can
understand now why she insisted upon changing her name!
Poor girl ! I wonder what the rights of the story are, after
aVl? Shoot him who is 'him/ now like a dog! No, no.
my lord, I can't send such a message as that ! "
And so good little Mr. Morrel decided to say nothing about
Lord Norman's visit, and thus another opening door was
closed against Florist good
200 MY LADY PRIDE.
CHAPTEE XXV.
A STRE.ET QUARREL.
" IF I were asked which was the most beautiful month in
the year," said a famous French traveler, " I should answer
' May ; ' and if you asked me where I would choose to spend it,
I should say ( Florence.' '
It was May, a lovely, balmy, pleasantly smiling May, and
Florence was looking at its best.
On one of the bridges, and leaning against the stonework
and looking down at the river was a young girl.
She was dressed in mourning not heavy crape, stiff and
hideous, but simple black merino, relieved by a touch of
white lace or linen at the sleeves and throat.
It was a very lovely face even in that city of lovely faces,
and the people had elected to call her, not by the name she
had assumed, Lillian Wood, but " the pretty English lady ; "
and there were many who were as pleased at winning a smile
from her sweet, sad face as at drawing the copper coins from
the grand'people who rode lazily through the parks or crawled
languidly along the quays.
Among the English at Florence it had been quite an amuse-
ment, during the long, winter months, to guess at the history
of the graceful English girl who was seen so often in her soli-
tary walks about the city; but not one of the chatter-boxes
ever imagined for a moment that the girl who lived in the
little house at the corner of the square, with the eccentric old
Mrs. Sinclair, and who was called Lillian Wood, was nona
other than Floris Carlisle, once so nearly Countess of Nor-
man.
Tloris had come to Florence in the beginning of the winter,
with a heart that was too heavy, as Dante sa^ys, to ache much,
and had found a quiet but not unfriendly welcome from the
lady who had engaged her.
Mrs. Sinclair was one of those "eccentric people who permit
themselves to be absorbed by an idea, and give up everything
in life to the pursuit of it.
Mrs. Sinclair's great ambition was to write an exhaustive
work on botany.
She was passionately fond of flowers, and had made them
ber study ever since she was a girl ; but the book had not got
M* 'LADY PRIDE, 201
itself written yet, though she was now an old woman with
white hair and failing eye-sight.
It was in consequence of this failing eye-sight that she had
advertised for a young girl to assist her, and she soon found
that she had secured a treasure in Floris.
Floris's work was not difficult; for two hours in the morn-
ing and an hour in the evening she was occupied in making
notes and copying extracts for the great work; the rest of the
time was at her own disposal, and she disposed of it in learn-
ing Italian iri the quietude of her own room, or wandering
dreamily about the beautiful city.
To all intents and purposes, so completely was her present
Jife divided from the old one that Floris Carlisle might in-
deed have been dead and Lillian Wood have sprung from her
ashes.
Mrs. Sinclair had no friends beside the clergyman and the
professor; no English newspaper ever entered the house; no
tidings of the great world on the other side of the channel
ever reached the Violet Villa, as it was called, and Floris
knew nothing of Lord Norman's accident and illness, guessed
nothing of the plot which Lady Blanche and Oscar Raymond
had so skillfully woven and put into execution.
Slowly, dreamily, Floris crossed the bridge on this May
evening, and reached the library. She stood talking to the
librarian, to whom she was known, then she set off for home.
With her book under her arm she was walking quietly
through a narrow street when, suddenly, there came upon the
jdrowsy, shadowy silence the sound ' of men's voices raised in
anger.
There was no one in the street excepting a couple of chil-
dren at play in'the road and a woman lolling at a door, and
Floris was Wondering whence the sound proceeded when, from
;the house opposite which she was standing, two men came
out.
They came out hurriedly; the foremost one in silence, the
other one vociferating in the sharp, excited. Italian fashion.
Something in the appearance of the first -man attracted
Florists attention. As she stepped back to allow them 'to pass
she saw that he was an Englishman.
It almost seemed to her for the moment as if she had seen
him before, and she looked at him with a quick, frightened
pulsation of her heart.
He was particularly handsome,, with a pair of dark, flashing
MY ULDt
eyes, and all th* manner of a young man, though hit hair,
cut close to the head, wai gray* almost whit* -and hit face
close shaven.
It was a singularly striking face, and it affected Floris
strangely; why, she did not know.
He did not see her, and would have walked past with a
quick though not hurried step, but the man who followed
him sprung forward and seized him by the arm.
The first man turned and faced him coolly enough, but
with a glitter in his eyes that made Floris tremble.
"Well! " he said in Italian, but with an English accent.
" You shall not go ! Hear me ! I say you shall not go ! "
said the man who held him, vehemently. " You you Eng-
lish are all alike; you win our money and then, houf! vou
fly ! Come back !
" Thanks, no ! " said the Englishman, with a smile that was
more exasperating in its cool sang froid than any verbal retort.
" You will not ! " shouted the other, through his set teeth.
" Certainly not ! " replied the Englishman. " Why should
I ? I have won your money ; is that what you complain of ?
You have won enough of mine, my friend."
The Italian ground his teeth.
u You are a cheat ! " he hissed.
The Englishman laughed.
"You ought to know a brother-artist when you see him,
iN>rtainly," he retorted, quietly. "You are an authority on
\ue subject whom I should not care to dispute."
w You mean " snarled the Italian.
" Just this, mv friend that if I had not cheated, as you
call it, occasionally, I should have stood little chance against
you wLo, cheat always! Good-evening."
And with a simple movement he wrenched the man's hand
from its fismzied clutch and turned away.
At the nnsjnent, while Floris was thanking her stars that
the affair haJ ended and that she was free to go on her way,
the Italian ra^ed his hand, something gleamed brightly in
the murky gas-light, the Englishman uttered a sharp cry, and
fell and staggered up against the post of the doorway ill
which she hid.
Crying for help w loudly as she could, Floris knelt down
beside him and raised Ms head.
The street, so silent a minute ago, seemed to start into life
as if by magic, and a crowd gathered round the two figures
MY LADY PRIDE, 203
the prone man with his white face, and the kneeling girl
with her gentle, pitying one
In another moment the police came up, and Floria hurried
home to tell the terrible story to Mrs. Sinclair.
Floris ^\vas sipping her tea half an hour afterward, when
the servant announced the clergyman.
He was a very old gentleman, very greatly respected and
beloved by the English community in Florence, and a con-
stant visitor at the Violet Villa.
" I am late this evening, dear madam/' he said, after ex-
changing greetings. " But I was detained on my road hither
by an accident. I was crossing the road by the hospital
when the porter ran across and called me in. A man had
been brought in who had been stabbed in the streets."
Floris started and put down her tea-cup.
" He was an Englishman, and that is why they sent for me,
of course. I found the poor fellow in the surgeon's hands,
and very much exhausted. It appears that he was stabbed
while coming out of a -house in one of the streets off the
square. I suspect it was a quarrel arising from some gam-
bling transaction. His account of the affair was not very
clear; indeed, he seemed anxious to hush the matter up, and
was very reticent."
" Is he very badly wounded ? v asked Floris in a slow voice.
"No, toly slightly not dangerously; at any rate, he re-
covered very quickly, and, strange to say, has left the hospi-
tal. They tried to persuade him to remain, but he resolutely
declined and came out with me/'
" Is it possible ? " breathed Floris.
" He is. an Englishman! " he said, as if that explained the
man's obstinacy. "An Italian, now, would have given in
and laid there for a month. Poor fellow, I happen to know
a great deal about him."
"Yes?" said Floris.
" Yes. He is a well-known man in Florence, and bears, I
am sorry to say, too famous a character as a gambler. He
came here, why, dear me, a few weeks before your arrival,
my dear Miss Wood ! A rich man, it was reported ; at any
rate, he seemed to be in possession of a large sum of money,
and for a time lived in great style. He became a member of
one of the fastest clubs here, and soon got himself known
as a man who played continually and for large stakes. Then
he disappoared v for a time, and I heard that he had caught the
204 MY LADY PRIDE,
fever. Perhaps that accounts for the change which 1 ob-
served in him this evening; his hair, which was dark, has
become almost gray, as is sometimes the case with young men
with black hair. His name is Kaymond Oscar Raymond/'
Floris turned the name over in her mind for fully a min-
ute, but she could not recollect ever having heard it before.
She went upstairs to her room, and, setting her lattice back,
looked out into the city, with its countless lights beaming like
fireflies in the darkness; but it was not of Florence or the
scene she had seen in the streets she was thinking; strangely,
unaccountably, her thoughts had traveled backward to Lord
Norman, and more clearly than she had seen him for months
.past his face rose before her mental vision. And yet it did
not occur to her that the face of the wounded man, Oscar
Raymond, was like that of her lost lover.
Perhaps if Oscar Raymond's hair had been black and he
had worn a mustache the resemblance would have been too
gr.eat to escape her notice ; but in the six months of dissipa-
tion Oscar Raymond had altered and aged considerably, and it
would have been impossible for him to repeat the comedy
which had proved a tragedy for Floris Carlisle!
CHAPTER XXVI.
AN ATTRACTIVE BOTANIST.
THREE weeks passed and the routine of Floris's life went on
unbroken like the daily round of a well-made clock, and she
had almost " remembered to have forgotten " the incident of
the gambling fray. She had so far forgotten it that she had
resumed her old solitary wanderings about the city, and one
;afternoon was seated under the trees in the square with a book
in her hand and her eyes fixed on the enpurpled hills, when
she became conscious that some one was standing beside her.
She awoke from her reverie with a start, arid was startled
to see the Englishman she had last seen lying on the cold
stones standing quietly at her elbow.
He raised his hat as she looked up, and his dark eyes met
her startled gaze with a calm but earnest appeal in them.
" Do not be alarmed, I beg of you," he said, in a soft
grave voice. "I fear that I have startled you?"
MY LADY PRIDE. 205
"T$o a little, perhaps, said Flbris, looking up at him
slowly.
She noticed as she did so that his face was more pale and
haggard than when she had first seen it, and that his left hand
was thrust in the fold of his coat.
" This is the second time I have been unfortunate enough
to alarm you/' he said, gently, and with a touch of genuine
self-reproach and regret in his voice. "I beg you to forgive
me."
"There is nothing to forgive," said Floris, calmly.
" Yes, there is a great deal/' he said, gravely. " I have k
not forgotten" he stopped, as if uncertain how to proceed,
then went on after a pause " I fear I must have been the
cause of great uneasiness and alarm to you. I wish that my
friend had made his rash attempt half an hour sooner or
later."
- It was said so coolly, with such an utter lack of resentment
against the man who had attempted his life, that Floris gazed
at him with renewed interest.
" I am glad that you are better, that you were not badly
hurt. I mean," she added, glancing at his arm, " that you
were not killed."
" Oh, it was nothing," he said, quietly ; " but it might have
been worse but for you, madam."
" For me ? " with a quick glance of surprise.
" Yes," he said, in a low voice. " You stanched the wound
in time; they said at the hospital that my recovery owed
everything to that."
Floris looked down.
" I did very little ; I was too frightened. But " with an-
other upward glance " how did you know it was .1 ? "
" I saw you for a moment as the blow was struck, and at
the hospital they gave me this."
And he took from inside the breast of his coat her hand-
kerchief.
"My handkerchief!" she murmured. "I had forgotte^
- it." I
And she held out her hand.
He- was looking at the handkerchief with a strange, intent
expression in his eyes, and it dwelt in them still as he turned
them on her and held out the handkerchief with a reluctance
which, though not marked, Floris did not fail to notice.
206 MY LADY PRIDE.
police they are always fond of mystery declined to give me
your name. Perhaps they were right; yes, they were quite
right you had suffered enough annoyance. Not having your
name, I was forced to wait and watch for you. 1 have seen
you twice before, but not alone, and I wanted to see you
alone and thank you."
Floris inclined her head. It affected her, this knowledge
that she had been watched and waited for by this strange
man.
He stood beside her silently for a moment, then he said:
" There was something else of yours, madam, which fell
into my hands, A book "
" Yes," said Floris, quickly.
" It was picked up close by the spot where I fell ; and they
gave it me under the impression that it belonged to me. I
will restore it you if you will tell me where I may bring it."
" Send it to Violet Villa," said Floris, " if you please."
lie bowed. Floris was about to rise and bid him good-day
when he spoke again.
" You are fond of flowers study them madam ? "
" Yes," said Fkris.
" I judged so from the contents of the book. I also am
fond of flowers. I have a collection, a poor one, but there are
some rarities among it. Should I be asking too much if I
* begged you to accept of two specimens, madam? "
He spoke with such gravity and respect that Floris could
not find it in her heart to refuse the offer.
" I have a friend who will be very glad to have them," she
said simply. " I am her assistant, and the book was for her
use, not mine. Will you send them to the Violet Villa?"
" 1 will," he said.
Floris went home in a strange condition of mind.
The man's manner his words, had affected her curiosity.
She found herself going over them in her mind with a wild
sense of having heard them before, or rather having heard the
voice before. She said nothing to Mrs Sinclair of the meet-
ing, but set to work that evening with a strong determination
to forget the whole occurrence. In the morning a messenger
,from one of the hotels brought a packet and a note addressed
to Miss Lillian Wood.
With an unusual tremor .Floris opened it.
It contained, in addition to hpr book, a packet inclosing
MY LADY PR IDT:. 2x07
half-a-dozen dried specimens of what she knew at a glance
were rare flowers, and a note. It ran as follows :
vk MAD.\M' 1 send the book which I found, and the flow-
ers. It would afford me a deep satisfaction if you would
allow me to offer you the remainder of my collection, which I
hold as useless unless it prove of value in your eyes. Yours
very truly, OSCAR RAYMOND/'
Floris sat and pondered over this note for some minutes ;
then she went and bodily carried both flowers and note to
Mrs. Sinclair.
The old lady listened indifferently enough until Floris came
to the flower part of the story; then she woke to interest, and
seized the specimens and uttered a cry of delight.
" My dear girl, where did you get these? Who gave them
to you? Where, did you say? Mis collection! Whose?"
Floris explained.
"Accept them ! Rob the man of such treasures ! Impossi-
ble, of course! But I must see it! If the rest are anything
as good as this it must be priceless! What is his address ?"
Floris named the hotel.
"Write to him at once, and ask him to call/' said the ol<3
lady.
Floris hesitated for a moment, then she went to her writing-
table and wrote a short note, thanking him for the flowers
and book., and requesting him to call on Mrs. Sinclair.
She signed the note, of course, with her assumed name,
Lillian Wood, and she resolved that if he should accept the
invitation she would not appear.
On the morrow he, came and was shown into the library,
and as the door was opened for him Floris passed out into the
drawing-room.
When -she heard the servant let him out of the house she
returned to the library to find that Mrs. Sinclair was even
more fascinated than she herself had been.
"That's a wonderful young man you have discovered, my
dear ! " she said, with unwonted enthusiasm.
"I discovered!" said Floris, elevating her eyebrows.
" Well, well; it was through you ! " said the old lady, impa-
tiently. "At any rate, I am much obliged to you. T don't
know when T have enjoyed a visit more. He doesn't know
very much $bout botany, but what he does know he knows
208 MY LADY PRIDE.
thoroughly ; and he has traveled. There do.es not seem to bfc
any place that he does not know. Ah, that is where men have
the advantage over us poor women! He is coining here to-
morrow to tea, and will bring some specimens with him."
The next evening, as the lamps came in, Mr. Oscar Ray-
mond was announced.
Mrs. Sinclair greeted him warmly, but Floris merely in-
clined her head.
She officiated at the tea-table, and gave him a cup of tea,
then took a book and went to a remote corner.
He did not speak a word to her for some time, but confined
his attentions to Mrs. Sinclair, listening rather than talking >
his well-shaped head, with its close, iron-gray hair, bent with
respectful interest.
Two days passed, and on the third Oscar Raymond ^ame
again.
Floris was in the library with Mrs. Sinclair, and scarcely
looked up when he came and made his bow.
As before, he devoted himself to the old lady/ and did not
venture to address Floris until just as he was leaving.
Then he came and stood beside her, with his hat in his
hand, and waited until she looked up.
" Are you going, Mr. Raymond ? " she said, coldly.
" Yes," he answered, with a touch of sadness in his voice \
" I am going. I waited to say ' good-by 9 instead of ' good-
day/ Miss Wood."
Floris looked at the paper spread out on the desk before
her.
" Mrs. Sinclair, having bade him adieu, had turned to 'her
books as if there was no one beside herself in the room.
" You are going to leave Florence ? " said Floris, f of want
of something better to say.
/ " Yes," he said. " You have driven me away."
" T ? " exclaimed Floris, flushing but avoiding his iuiense
gaze.
" Yes, Miss Wood, you. Oh, do not think me so blind as
not to be able to see that my presence is distasteful to you ! "
'' Mr. Raymond ! " she said, very rebukingly.
" It is true," he continued, sadly. " I know that you will
be glad when T am gone. You have avoided me so plainly
that " he paused.
A vague feeling of remorse seized Floris.
" I am very, very sorry," she quietly murmured.
MY LADY PRIDE.
"No, do not say that! I know so well that you are glad
this is the last time you will see me. And yet you do me a
wrong, believe me ! "
" How ?" she asked, in a low voice, though she might hare
safely shouted so far as Mrs. Sinclair, absorbed in her books,,
was concerned.
"In "this/' he said, humbly. "You have heard stories
about me; you have heard that I am one whose character
is so bad that I am unfit to breathe the same air as your- '
self."
Floris lowered her lids.
"You do not deny it/' he went on. "Would to Heaven
that I could say they were false. But I cannot, least of all
.to you! But" he sighed, and his voice grew strangely soft
and sad " but it is possible for even such as I to repent and
change. And I have done both. Miss Wood, the man who
stands before you is a different man to him whom you saw en-
gaged in a vulgar brawl a month ago."
Floris remained silent. Her heart beat fast and furiously.
The soft, penitent voice, the humble, pleading words af-
fected her more than she cared to show.
"A month may be a lifetime, and this month has been a
lifetime to me ! I have learned that all my past life has been
wasted, and of no account worse than wasted, seeing how
gyeat a barrier it has raised between such as I am and you."
Floris tried to rise, to speak, but she could not; the soft,
musical voice held her bound and inthralled, and as she lis-
tened came the old, old question, " Where had she heard it
before?"
" I cannot tell you how your coldness and avoidance of me
Affects me," he went on; "but I can not leave you forever
without telling you that the change which has been wrought
in me is your work, and has been as much your doings as as
that writing beneath your hand."
" I can not listen," murmured Floris, slowly.
" Bear with me ! " he pleaded^ humbly. " Though I know
I risk all by thus prematurely laying my heart bare before
you, I must speak ! I must bare it ! Miss Wood, Lillian ! I
love you ! "
Floris rose, pale and trembling.
" You you ;
"I love you," he said, white and trembling, even as she
was. "There. I have said it. and let it stand. It has been
210 Ml LADY PRIDE.
on my mind on my lips no hope of winning you and yet
I must say it. But before I go, will you let me plead on my
behalf?"
Floris was silent.
The witchery, the fascination which this man could exercise
by voice and manner was insensibly stealing over her.
His handsome face, the dark eyes glowing with the passion
of intense love, seemed to sink into her soul.
A kind of mystic glamour seemed to inwrap her as in some
subtle shroud.
She could not lift her eyes to his; she could not speak.
" I love you/' he repeated, and Floris, as she listened, won-
dered why the words did not ring and re-echo in the ears of
Mrs. Sinclair as they did in her own; but the enthusiast was
absorbed by her books and heard nothing.
" I love you with all 'my heart and soul ! Send me away
from you forever and I shall love you still. While I live I
shall carry your image in my heart. 1 a in a changed man.
I am Oscar Kaymond no longer. I can scarcely recognize my-
self ! A month ago I was all that you had been told I was ;
but now I stand before you a different being, reformed, puri-
fied by my love for you. I beg, I implore you to hesitate
before you cast me dff. Such as I am, my love for you has
made me. For heaven's sake have pity on me."
His voice grew hoarse and broken, but still the nameless
fascination held Floris bound as in a chain.
She panted for breath, like a deer hard pressed by the
hounds and held at bay.
'I I will not listen I can not believe. Oh, go please,
go! " she panted.
He took up his hat.
"Will you meet me in the square, under the limes, to-
morrow, at eleven? 5 ' he pleaded. "If it be the last time,
meet me there. A soul trembling 'twixt evil and good I beg
for one last word."
" I I will meet you/' she panted.
MY LADY PRIDE. 21J
CHAPTER XXVII.
A BLOW THAT STUNNED.
FLORIS lay awake that night thinking of this which had
befallen her.
The passionate words, the pleading voice, rang in her ears
so that she could not sleep, could not think.
She went about the house the next day like a wan ghost, so
pale and quiet,, and yet so lovely in her pallor and quietude,
that even Mrs. Sinclair smiled through her spectacles admir-
ingly,
'' You were right to call yourself Lillian, my dear," she
said. " You are like a lily broken down by rain, this morn-
ing; but I don't like to see you so pale. You must not do
any work to-day."
But Floris insisted with eagerness upon accomplishing her
daily task.
The day wore on, the bells filled the soft spring air with
their melody, and as the sun began to slip behind the hills,
she stole out to keep her appointment.
. As she reached the square, glowing bravely in its budding
foliage and sweet with the scent of almond blossoms, she saw
him pacing to and fro, his arms folded on his breast, the sun
shining on the close-cut iron-gray hair.
He turned and saw her, and came toward her with that pe-
culiar suppressed eagerness which belongs to a lover who is
still in the agonies of suspense, and raised his hat. Floris
gave him her hand, and he walked beside her to the seat.
" It was good of you to come," he said at last. 'I scarcely
dared to hope that you would grant my request ; it seemed a
bold and presumptuous one while I made it, but after I left
you it grew in my mind to be audacious. And vet I could
1 not say all I wished to say last night before ^onr friend. Ah,
yes, it was good of you to come."
Floris looked straight before her ; his voice seemed to sound
as if from a distance and mingled with the strains of the brass
band on the quay.
"I had promised," she said, in a low voice; " but I am
sorry "
"Ah, do net say that," he broke in. '"If you knew how
MY LADY PRIDE.
I have looked forward to this meeting, how I have counted
. the hours "
He stopped, and his white, thin hand went to his lips, as if
to repress the eagerness and passion with which he had begun
to speak, for Floris had shrunk slightly.
" I forgive me I am too impetuous," he pleaded ; " but
the de] th of my love for you must be my excuse. Miss Wood,
I have asked you to meet me here that I may have a precious
opportunity of telling you* how devotedly I love you, and tell
vou what sort and manner of man it is who dares to lift his
eyes to you. Love, they say> levels all distinctions ; but I feel I
that there is a gulf between us which only your charity and
mercy uan bridge over."
He paused, and Floris saw the hand resting on the seat near
ber elbow tremble like a leaf in the breeze.
" Last night, when I spoke to you with the mad reckless-
ness of a man possessed with one idea, one hope, one mad
lodging and desire, I expected, I dreaded that you would send
n>^ from you with a word of contempt and anger. Miss Wood,
it would have been only just contempt and well-merited anger.
Who am I that I should dare to speak of love fco such as you?
Who ?m I? I will tell you. I was once a gentleman, have
been an adventurer and a gambler for heaven's sake, do not
turn away ! Hear me out," for Floris had shrunk away from
him slightly but preceptibly. " Hear me out-, I beseech you,"
he pleaded, moistening his lips and clutching the seat. " I
say that I was an adventurer and gambler, yet a change
has come over my life my very thoughts. Fate favored
me ; I saw you again in the quiet sanctity of your home ;
the reverence which you had filled me with leaped into a love
so deep and passionate that I could not repress its utterance.
Though I felt that you must drive me from you, as I deserve
to be driven, I must speak, I must tell you all that your
beauty, your purity, your goodness have wrought in me."
Floris roused herself from her reverie and raised her head,
but he put up his hand slowly.
" Do not answer me yet. Give me a few more minutes, a
few kind words, then -then do with me what you will. I
have said that I am a gentleman by birth ; but I am poor
oh, I know you so well, though I have seen you so few times
that I know money, wealth or poverty would make little
difference to you! I am poor. I could be a rich man yet,
for I have learned some skill at the gambling table,, but all
MY LADY T'lfim . 213
that is passed. I have touched my last card, come what will.
From the hour that I first saw you I resolved that my life, if I
decided to keep it, should hecome a changed one. In the
future I would place myself in the ranks with honest men,
would leave the old life of adventure and trickery forever.
There may be little chance for me in the future, and yet
and yet I am not without hope. I am not an old man ; I am
younger than you think/' and he smiled, faintly, "though
my hair has gone gray and the life I have led has left its
marks upon my face. I am young enough to hope that, if you
will trust yourself to me, I can make a place for you in
the world in which you would be secure. I am young enough
to feel ambition, an honorable ambition, thrill through every
nerve at the prospect of a life spent in devotion to you. Will
you accept that life? Will you trust me? Will you be my
wife?"
He bent over her as he spoke and extended his hand tremb-
lingly toward her, his face white and working, his eyes
pleadingly fixed on hers.
Floris sat motionless, looking beyond him with eyes that
saw nothing of the lovely almond blossoms or the fair scene
stretched at her feet.
What should she say to him? His words, his manner of
saying them, moved her as deeply as it was possible for her
to be moved by voice or words.
That he loved her she could not doubt ; passionate earnest*
ness had rung in every tone.
He had not asked her to love him, he did not seem to ex-
pect it ; he had asked her to trust him, to be his wife, to shar
and encourage his struggles toward a better life.
Should she say " Yes? " Should she trust him?
What was there left to live for? No friends, her lover false
and treacherous, no object in life.
Why should she not become of some use in the social
scheme, and let this man take her?
Her silence tortured him.
"Ah ! ''' he breathed. " I see it is hopeless. My past has
shocked and alarmed you. How could it be otherwise. How
could I hope that you would trust yourself to one whose past,
on his own confession, has been as black as mine, for your
life has been like that of an inoncent child playing amid the
flowers that lined its path ; you have known nothing of man's
baseness and I come to you with my life all seared and
'-I \ 4 MY LADY PRID1.
stained! Of course, there can be only one answer for me!
You will fcell me to go, to live honestly if I can, and to forget
you ! But that is not possible. I can not forget. But I will
remember you as one who, like an angel indeed, shone in my
path for one brief moment to show me that there was still
hope for even such as I ! "
His voice trembled and grew almost inaudible.
Floris's eyes were filled with tears.
It was as if a soul on the brink of the precipice were hold-
ing out its hand to her, and crying, in a very piteous voice,
" Save me ! "
She turned her eyes upon him; he saw the tears, and a wild
hope sprung up within him.
He drew a sharp breath, and his white hand stole very
gently and fearfully to her arm.
She put up her hand, and set it as a barrier between them,
"Wait/* she said, with a little pant. "You have not
heard ; I have not told you
" What have you, to tell me? " he sked, fearfully. " Speak
to me give me an answer, for heaven's sake. See, I am
patient, and and ready to hear anything, to obey you in
everything/'
She struggled against the tremor that had seized her, then
she raised her eyes, full of trouble" and uncertainty, to his.
" I am a stranger almost to you you know nothing about
me"
He waved his hand passionately.
" I know that I love you ; all else "
She shook her head gently.
"And is all the confidence to be on one side ? " she mur-
mured." You have laid bare your life to me, and I can not
let you think, even though we are to part now
" Do not speak of parting," he pleaded, with feverish eager-
ness.
" Even though we are to part, I can not let you think that
my past has been no history, that that I can not go on," she
broke off, piteously.
"Do not," he said quickly; "'you shall tell me some other
time. Oh, it is the present and the future for which I am
begging. Trust yourself to me ; say ( I will be your wife/
and all will be well. I know it ; I feel it. I will make the re-
mainder of your life so happy that the past, sad though it may
MY LADY PETDK 215
hare IMNNU, hall <wem like a draam from wbiab sujr love lias
awakened you ! "
She hung her head.
" I I do not ask you to love me not now, at once," he
went on. " In time "
She raised her eyes and looked at him, and the look made
his heart grow cold for a moment.
" ISFo," she said, in a low voice, " you have not asked me to
love you. Had you done so, I would have answered you be-
fore this, at once, I can not love you."
His face went from the faint flush which hope had im-
planted there to a very wan pallor.
" I can not love you," she said, bravely and firmly. " I
have no power of loving left. My heart is like a stone."
She pressed her hand to her side with a piteous little gesture
which wrung his heart.
'" It is as if it were dead," she went on, still in the low,
quivering voice. "There can be no such thing as love for
me. Is it not right that I should tell you then, who have
been so frank with me? " and she turned her large eyes on him
piteously.
He bit his lip, and was silent.
" You ask me to trust you," she murmured. " If you knew
how all faith in a man's words was slain in me you would
scarcely hope that even what you have said could move me."
The tears came into her eyes, but she brushed them away
quickly.
"Before I can give you any answer I must tell you my
story. When you have heard it, you will know how impossi-
ble it is that there should ever be any power in my heart to
give back the love you have spoken of. If if when you
have heard all, you still think you will wish that I should be
your wife "
He seized her hand, but she disengaged it, and went on,
with an unnatural calm.
" If you should still think that I could make your life bet-
ter worth the living, then "
" Then you will say ' yes ? ' You will be my wife ? " he
murmured, huskily. " Oh, take my answer now ; before you
say another word ! I care not what may have happened in the
past. I care not. Oh, do I not know beyond all doubt that,
let it have been what it may, you are pure and blameless ! "
His absolute trust and devotion touched her.
2W MY LADY PTUDE.
" Listen to me and be patient/' she said. " You, who have
only seen me here in Florence, only know me as a woman with
a broken spirit, living a life under a dark and hewpy cloud.
It is hard for me even to remember that a short time ago
ah, how long it seems sometimes I was a happy, light-hearted
girl ! I don't think " pensively, and with a faint smile that
i was more piteous than tears " that there was ever any girl
happier than I was ! I used to fear .sometimes that I was too
happy, and to tremble lest the gods should be envious and
send a thunderbolt to shatter my joy-dream
" I know," he murmured, softly, sympathizingly. " Evet
since last night I have told myself that it would not be possi-
ble or right for man to be so happy as your ' yes ' would
make me."
Moris sighed.
" I was engaged to be married to a man I loved with all
my heart and soul "
He did not move, but his lips set themselves tightly, as if
he had determined to permit no sigh of any suffering her story
might inflict on him to escape him.
" I loved him with all my heart and soul," she repeated,
almost to herself, as if she found some strange comfort in the
words. " He was my superior in rank and wealth, in position,
but the world had forgotten that, and everybody thought that
we were going to be very happy. I did not doubt his love, no,
to the last, the last moment, I clung to my faith in him.
Even now I wake sometimes at night and wonder whether I
have not been deceived, whether it could be possible that he
should have been so base and false."
She paused a moment. Like a statue Oscar Eaymond
leaned on the back of the seat, his hands clasped, his eyes
fixed on her face.
" We were almost on the eve of our marriage," Floris went
on, in a low voice, which, try as she would to keep it calm and
steady, quivered like the tremulo of a harp.. " We were stay-
ing at a great country house. Happy, so happy, that I began
to look upon myself as one beyond the reach of sorrow. One
day " she stopped, and her face grew white.
" Why tell me ? Why torture yourself, dearest ?" he whis-
pered, imploringly.
" One day," she went on, as if determined to go through
with the task she had set herself, " a servant came to me with
MY LADY PRIDE. 217
a wild story which I at first put down to the ravings of a luna
tic. She told me that the man I loved was false to me
He did not move, but his eyes grew fixed ; with an intent
expression in them, as if he were looking through and beyond
her.
" She told me that another woman in the same house had
stolen his heart from me, and that that very night they had
planned to fly together ; that he had in cold blood .decided to
leave me for her, to desert me who loved him with -all my(
heart and soul, who would have given my life to insure one
hour's happiness to him, who, if if 'he had come to me and
told me that he loved her best would have given him his free-
dom and " she broke off, and a passionate sob seemed to
choke her.
The man beside her did not move, did not speak.
" I I treated the girl's story as a lie, a stupid invention
prompted by malice. I I oh, heaven ! it all comes back to
me now ! I would not believe until T had proof, until I saw,
heard, was shown beyond the shadow of a doubt that my lover
had been false to me. The girl offered proof. That after-
noon I followed her to a conservatory near a room. I I
saw the man I loved at the feet of the woman who had stolen
him from me; I I can not go on. T oh, leave me! leave
me!"
And hiding her face in her hands she wept, wept bitterly
for the first time since her mother's death.
And he?
He stood beside her like a man turned to stone.
Gradually the truth had broken in upon his soul.
Gradually, step by step, he had traced the identity of this
woman he loved with all the passion his intense nature was
capable of, with the girl whose happiness he had, with diabol-
ical ingenuity, wrecked and ruined.
The blow stunned him. Tt was as if some one had plucked
his heart out by the roots.
Despair despair darker and more terrible than that which]
falls upon the assassin fell upon him, like the cold hand of !
death.
The girl with the pure, swept eye?, with tKe pale r lovely,
suffering face, was the girl whose happiness lie Kafl Hunted
down and destroyed !
She was not Lillian Wood, but Ploris Carlisle!
218 aiY LADY PK1DL.
CHAPTEE XXVIIL
FIGHTING HFE\S BATTLE
FLORIS CARLISLE ! He clutched the seat with both hands,
and looked down at her as she bent forward, her face hidden
in her hands, her slight figure shaken by her grief; looked
down at her with an expression in his face which, dreadful
as it was, but poorly reflected the remorse within him.
lietribution ! What retribution could be more dire more
complete than this ?
That the very woman who had, as it were, plucked him
from the depths of degradation and inspired him with a de-
sire for a higher life should prove to be the girl whom he had,
with cold-blooded heartlessness, tricked and deceived !
It seemed so direct a blow from an indignant Providence
that lie stood stunned and overwhelmed.
What should he say to her?. Great and merciful Heaven!
what could he say? In an instant a wild temptation assailed
him. Why should he tell her who he was, and the crime he
had committed?
Why not keep his secret forever, or at any rate until he had
married her and made her his own? He might tell her then,
perhaps.
He put the terrible temptation away from him with a shud-
der. Vile as he "had been, he was not vile enough for that.
His head drooped ; a wistful, aching longing came over him
to toll her all ; to throw himself at her feet and say, " It is I,
who love you better than life itself, who have done this !" but
he could not find strength" for it.
Tie waited ; silent, motionless his brain whirling, his heart
aching- with a dull, gnawing despair.
Toon's struggled with her outburst of grief.
Rlowlv she raised her head, and stretched out her hand
fownrd him, bnt he did not could not take it.
""Forgive me!" she said: "T T have been very selfish.
"Rnt it will all come back to mo so plainly! Tt seems only
yesterday that it all happened, instead of months ago! And
now .now that T have told you all, you see, do you not, th'at
it i impossible T could evor be your wife: do yon not?"
Ho tried to speak, but tlio words rHod away on his dry lip?.
"Ah, yes/' she said, " it is better that it should be so,
MY LADY PIUDE.
you should understand why why it cannot be as you would
wish it. But I am very grateful; you have been very kind
and considerate, and I am sorry that 1 could not say yes. As
to trust, yes, I would have trusted you. 1 do not think you
will go back to the evil life you have lived. If 4f ," she went
on,, looking up at him and starting slightly at the sight of
the palor and haggardness which had settled on his face, " if
you have freely forgiven me for inflicting so much pain on
you, will you promise me that that you will keep the resolu-
tion that you have made ?"
He was silent.
She sighed.
" If you would," she pleaded meekly, "it would be some
consolation for me in my solitude to feel that I had been the
means of effecting some good in my poor, miserable life !
Will you not promise to keep upon the path which you have
struck out for yourself?"
She put out her hand with a humble, deprecating glance at
him, and slowly he took her hand and held it in his own, hot
and burning and feverish.
" I promise," he said, hoarsely. " I promise ! You shall
see that I can remember, and keep 'my promise. 5 "
That was all. He could not trust himself to utter another
word.
He put her hand clown gently, looked into her eyes with all
the agony of despair burning in his, and turned and left her.
With unsteady steps, and with the face of a man who has
suddenly been told that he is condemned to death, he made
his way to his hotel.
Tt was the Hotel Italia, the best hotel in the place, and he
held the best rooms in it.
For when he had told Floris that he was poor he had omit-
ted to tell her that it was his intention to give up the money
he had to some charity.
He crossed the street, and. entering the hall, went up to the
landlord, whose voice he heard raised in loud conversation
iwith his wife.
Oscar Raymond leaned against the window of the little
office and waited till the man was disengaged.
Now and then fragments of the conversation reached him.
It seemed that they were deploring their lack of accommo-
dation.
An English milord was about to arrive with his friends
220 MY LADY PRIDE.
and suite, and the Hotel Italia was too full to afford them
the rooms they required.
"BaftaJ It is always so!" ejaculated the little landlord,
excitedly. " When one is busy then come persons -of im-
portance, and one has to send them to the attics at other
times, when one is empty, then no one comes of any kind; it
is always so!" '
Oscar Eaymond stepped up to him.
"You can have my rooms," he said. "I leave Florence
to-night."
" But, signor "
" You can have them in half an hour," went on Oscar
Raymond. " Send my luggage to the railway station."
The landlord was profuse in his regrets at losing so good a
customer as Signor Eaymond, and gratitude for his consider-
ation.
" You see, this is a great English milord oh, very great !
and naturally the Hotel Italia would like to give him of its
best."
"Who is he?" asked Oscar Eaymond, indifferently.
The landlord tried to remember the name, but after strik-
ing his forehead melodramatically several times, gave it up
as a bad job, and Oscar Eaymond ascended to his rooms and
listlessly packed his things. When he had finished, he de-
scended and gave the keys of his apartments to the landlord.
" They are at your disposal now," he said.
Having paid his bills, he went to the station, and aimlessly
took a ticket for Paris. In Paris he would be able to think
of his ultimate destination. Here, in Florence, he could think
of nothing save the pale, lovely face of the girl he had left
weeping in the square; the girl whose happiness he would
give his heart's blood to secure ; the girl whose felicity he had
ruined and wrecked.
More utterlv wretched than he had thought it possible for
"him ever to be, he paced tip and down the station.
The usual bustle and stir of an arriving train passed him
by unnoticed, the people stared now and then at the tall, dis-
tinguished man with the wan, haggard face, but he was un-
conscious of their glances. All his thoughts were concen-
trated on Floris Carlisle.
The expected train came in, and he was turning in his rest-
less promenade to get out of the way of the bustle^ when he
MY LADY PRIDE.
saw the door of a first-class compartment open and a gen-
tleman alight. It was Lord Norman.
In a moment, at sight of him, Oscar Kaymond stood mo-
tionless, then with an effort he recovered his presence of mind
and slipped behind a pillar.
Lord Norman held out his hand to some one in the carriage,
and the some one proved to be Lady Blanche.
Lord Seymour followed, and the two valets and Lady
Blanche's maid came up to them from ^a second-class car-
riage.
Oscar Raymond took in all the scene meant in a moment.
They were married !
He leaned against the pillar, his arms folded across his
chest, his head drooping.
They were married ! The plot he had conceived had been
successful !
Lady Blanche had triumphed, and Moris Carlisle was left
in the blankness of solitude and desertion.
An awful rage and despair sprung full-born into his breast.
Lady Blanche looked more beautiful than ever as she stood
by Lord Norman's side. The old serene, placid loveliness
had returned to her fair face, and shone in her velvety eyes.
"I have triumphed! I have won!" seemed to proclaim
itself in her very gait and bearing.
And as he looked there rose before his eyes the vision of
Floris, pale and sad and despairing, robbed by the vilest acts
of her lover, and her young life condemned to melancholy
and hopeless solitude.
A mad rage devoured him. With clinched hands he strode
forward as if to accost her, then he remembered what he
was and shrunk back. But he would not leave Florence now.
He waited until the party had started for the hotel,
tn the grandest carriage available, then moodily followed
'them.
When he reached the hotel, the confusion attendant upon
the arrival of such important guests reigned rampant.
In the stir and bustle and confusion of waiters and cham-
bermaids flying apparently with no definite purpose, hithei
and thither his return was unnoticed.
He waited in the shadows of the hall for a little while,
with no settled intention in his mind, only a dim, vague rage
of impatience, then a thought struck him.
He went tc the office and opened the visitors' book. Never,
222 MY LADY
for it moment, did he doubt, thai the\ wrre married, but he
thought he would ascertain.
With trembling hand In* turned to the page for the day
and bent over it in the dim light.
Then, with a low cry of relief, he shut the hook and wiped
from his brow the sweat that had gathered there.
The name she had written was not Blanche Norman, but
Blanche Seymour !
They were not married yet!
CHAPTER XXIX
THE SPORT OP THE GODS.
THE moon rose over the city and poured its light on to the,
front of tin? Hotel Italia.
In a balcony on the first floor Lord Norman was seated in a
low chair.
A cigar that had gone out was between his fingers, and his
thoughts seemed to have wandered far away.
He was looking older by some years than when we saw him
last, and there was a scar on his forehead which Lord Harry's
stag had left as a slight reminder.
There was, too, a sad moodiness in the dark eyes that
robbbed his face of its youth fulness, and was not good to see.
It was the look of a man who had found life considerably
less worth living for a look of doubt and distrust of his fel-
lows, which Trousseau might have worn in his worst epoch.
lie sat very still, and with the grave, queer look in his eyes,
and doubtless his mind was wandering to some of those moon-
light nights on which, with Floris by his side, he had felt
assured that the world was the best of all possible worlds, and
that life was well worth living.
Absorbed in this moody contemplation, .he did not hear a
light step on the window-sill behind him ; and Lady Blanche
stepped out and laid her hand on his shoulder before he knew
that she was near.
"How beautiful it is, Bruce!" she said, softly, looking out
on the city that lay in the moonlight beneath them like a pie-
lure of Canaletto's. " T am awfully fond of Florence. And
one sees it at its best to-night."
MY LADY PRIDE.
He nodded, but did not speak.
Never very talkative, he had become remarkably silent and
short of speech since the news of Floris's " falseness " had
been broken to him.
"Poor papa has gone to bed/' she went on, softly, her
hand resting on his shoulder, so that her white, delicate fin-
gers could touch his hair. " He is tired out. What do you
think he said to-night, Bruce?" and she blushed and smiled.
" Don't know," came listlessly from his lips.
" He said that we might have waited until we were married
-6efore we made this trip, and that it was confoundedly like a
honey-moon. Poor papa ! It was a little too bad to drag him
across the channel; but it will do him good, and I am sure
you are ever so much better, aren't you, Bruce ?"
" Considering that there hasn't been the slightest thing the
matter with me for months past, I may say that I am," he
answered, languidly. " I've noiced, Blanche, that you've got
a fixed idea in your head that this trip was made for my es-
pecial benefit, It is very flattering to me, but my "
" Yes, yes; I know," she said, with a little laugh, but with
a midden restless shimmer in her eyes that was strangely at
variance with her serene and reposeful voice. " But all the
time it was I who was so anxious to get out of England.
" It is quite time, Bruce ; I had grown sick of England ; Scot-
land, especially."
" Scotland isn't England," he murmured.
" I longed to get away, and I should have been ill if I hadn't
crossed the channel. And and it was so good of you to con-
sent to our marriage taking place at Paris "
He looked at his cigar, and seeing that it was out, flung it
away and felt for his cigar-case.
" I have a letter to write now, Bruce," she said, presently.
" It is but a short one. Wait here and I will join you when
I have finished.
And she left him.
Fwe minutes passed, and then he rose and began to pace up
and down. The balcony ran the length of the house, and,
making a turn, reached the head of the staircase leading to
the street.
The city looked so beautiful that he felt tempted to stroll.
He got his hat from the room, and passing along the bal-
cony went down t*he steps into the street.
Ten minutes after he had gone a tall figure, a duplicate
224: MY LADY PRIDE.
of bis, stepped out from one of the rooms on the same floor,
and, walking to the spot where he had sat, went to the rail
and leaned over.
As he did so Lady Blanche came through the window with
the letter she had written in her hand.
" Bruce, I have written my letter. Shall we go and post
it? A walk would be beautiful now, it is so cool and pleas-
ant. Bruce, are you asleep ? " and she went up softly behind
him and touched his arm.
The man turned slowly and raised his hat, the moon-
light falling fully upon his wan and haggard face.
Lady Blanche staggered and clutched the rail with one
hand while the other flew to her heart.
" Oscar Raymond ! " she breathed, with ashy lips. " Oscar
Raymond ! "
Lord Norman stood for a moment at the bottom of the
steps, then aimlessly turned to the right and sauntered along
the quiet street.
The beauty of the city, hushed in the serene rays of the
moon, touched him with a pensive sadness, and recalled the
past with a peculiar poignancy.
He was to be married to Lady Blanche in two or three
weeks, by which time they expected to reach Paris in their
wanderings; but if any one had stopped him and asked him
why he was marrying her he would have been puzzled to find
a good and sufficient reason.
After the recovery from the shock of Floris's supposed
baseness, he had declared that he would never again look upon
a woman with the eyes of kindness, would live and die hating
and avoiding her sex.
For weeks he had kept himself secluded from the world,
had shut himself up and yielded to the bitterness and grief
which the destruction of his faith in the beautiful girl-love
had caused him.
But men of Lord Norman's class can not remain in seclu-
sion long. They have duties to perform which may not be
neglected, and gradually he emerged from his retirement and
was seen in his old world again the world of the clubs and
" the shady side of Pall Mall."
Lady Blanche played a waiting game, and her reward cam9
in due season.
ITT LADY i>RIt>12. 225
One evening, in the midst of a song she was singing while
he was lounging in the glass-house within hearing, the song
Came to an* abrupt stop.
He turned to see the cause, and saw that her head had
dropped on her hands, as if she had broken down. .
He flung his cigar away and went quickly to her.
" What is the matter, Blanche ? " he asked.
She looked up and tried to smile, as if ashamed and an-
'noyed.
" Nothing, nothing at all, Bruce/' she said, wiping her
eyes. " I felt rather low-spirited, that was all. Everything
seems to go wrong, and at cross-purposes, doesn't it? Go
back to your cigar, Bruce, and I'll play something excruciat-
ingly lively."
"Do not/' he said.
Then he stood still and looked down at her.
He knew that she loved him ; she was beautiful a woman
of whom any man might well be proud.
It was necsesary that he should marry, unless he wished
the old title he bore to die out.
Why not she as well as any other? In time, he told him-
self, with a swift pang, he should forget Floris, should learn
to love Blanche.
He made up his mind in a moment as he stood there.
" Blanche/' he said, laying his hand gently on her shoul-
der " will you be my wife? "
For a moment the color left her face, and her heart seemed
to stand still. It had come at last.
" Be my wife, Blanche," he said, gently, " and I will try
to make you happy."
She turned her face upon him and looked at him with all
her soul in her eyes.
"Ah, Bruce, you would have to try such a very little! Ah,
you know you know ! "
Then he. bent and kissed her, and she put her arms round
his neck and drew him down to her in a passionate embrace.
And so she had won him at last. She was too clever to rest
assured on a false security.
While Bruce was in England he might meet Floris Carlisle
at any hour, explanations might ensue, and
She persuaded him to take her, Lord Seymour accompany-
ing them, on a Continental trip.
MY LADY PRIDE;
" We can be married at Paris, Bruce. I hate Loadoxu Let
us be married at Paris/" .
lie had consented, as he would have done if she had asked
him to take her to Timbuctoo; and so here they were in Flor-
ence, and in a few weeks they were to be married.
lx)rd Norman sauntered on, thinking of it all., wandering
mentally back to the old days when Floris was at his side, and
he had so often tried to persuade her to name the day for their
union. She had always put him off.
" She loved Bertie all the time,, poor girl," he thought bit-
terly, as he stopped and looked at the river, leaning on the
bridge, all unconsciously, where Floris so often stood. " Poor
girl, why did she deceive me? Why did she not come to me
and say, c Bruce, I do not love you ; I find that my heart is
not given to you ; I love Bertie ? ' Heaven knows, I would
have let her go without a single hard thought/'
He lighted another cigar, and turned from the bridge.
Presently, he heard the sound of a piano. It would not
have attracted his attention for it was not the first piano he
had heard that night but there was something in the air that
seemed familiar.
What was it ? A voice now rose a very soft, pretty voice,
and accompanying the piano. He could not catch the words,
and yet, almost unconsciously, he found himself supplying
them. What were they ? Surely, he had heard them sung to
this tune :
" My sweet girl love, with frank, gray eyes,
Though years have passed I see you still.
There where you stood beside the mill,
Beneath the bright autumnal skies
Low o'er the marsh the curlew flew,
The mavis sung upon the bough. .
Oh, love, dear love, my heart was true,
It beats as truly, fondly now.
Though years have passed, I love you yet;
Do you still remember, or do you forget?"
Where had he heard them? They were the verses Florib
had sung to Bertie one morning the morning of the fancy
fair. A pang shot through his heart; in his mind's eye he
her as she looked that day so fair and bright and girlish !
He looked up at the house. It was a villa almost shrouded
MY T.ADY PRIDE. 2
by trees; -there wa a light burning in the window on the
ground floor, and through the open window came the sound
of the piano and the voice.
A few minutes passed, and he was about to go on his way
when he heard a light step behind him. Some one had come
from the house into the garden, tempted into the night air by
the moonlight. He wondered vaguely whether it was the un-"
known singer.
The steps came nearer, and the tall, slim figure of a girl
came slowly down to the gate and stood behind it, so near
that he could have touched her with his hand, but he could
not see her face.
So there she stood within reach of him, all unconscious of
his proximity.
She stood for a moment and then turned, but at that in-
stant a longing to see her face," which had fallen upon Lord
Norman, became irresistible.
He rose to his full height and turned to the gate.
He knew her at once, and his heart seemed to stand still.
If it had been to save his life, he could not have resisted
speaking her name.
" Moris ! " he said, softly, yet in a tone of intense feeling.
She heard him, and uttering a faint cry, put her hand to
her heart, but she did not turn her head.
Perhaps who knows she thought that it was a trick of
her imagination.
How often in her dreams she had heard him call her thus!
In her dreams !
"Floris!" he said again.
Then she turned her white face and looked at him.
For a moment they looked into each other's eyes as if they
were both looking at the ghosts of their dead selves.
Then she saw it was indeed he, and with a low cry of pain'
actual pain she covered her face with her hands.
He set his teeth. He misunderstood the gesture, and took
it for one of guilt and remorse.
" Floris/' he said, in a low voice, " it is indeed you ? Are
yon afraid of me?"
2SS Mt LADY PRIDE.
CHAPTER XXX.
THE CURTAIN UPLIFTED.
HER hands dropped from her face, and she shook her head,
her great eyes fixed on him with a wistful yearning.
"Will you not speak to me?" he said, holding the gate
with his hot hands, his heart beating fast, " You are not
afraid of me? You have no need to be! Speak to me,
Floris ! "
She opened her lips the lips ,he had kissed.
" No ; I am not afraid," she murmured, and her voice
sounded to him like a ghost's. " How why di4 you come
here ? " and she looked around.
" I am staying here, in Florence," he said, with a voice that
shook from agitation. " I did not know "
" You did not know that I was here," she finished for him,
" or you would not have come."
"No; I should not have come. No! And yet I am not
sorry that I have seen you ! "
A pause for a moment. She could not summon strength
enough to leave him. His eyes so wistful, so sad, so re-
proachful held her as by a charm.
" Have you been ill ? " he asked, suddenly, almost gently.
She shook her head.
" Why dp you wear that black dress ? " he asked.
" My mother " she faltered.
He hung his head.
"I did not know. Why did you not tell but why should
you? And you are not ill?"
" No."
"And and you are happy ? " he continued, hoarsely.
"The look of reproach, of angelic sadness that shone from
her dark eyes went to his soul.
He sighed it was almost a groan.
" Has he tired of you already ? " he said, hoarsely. " Great
Heaven! Is it possible? Floris, I could almost wish that I
had not seen you and yet "
Two tears gathered in her eyes and fell slowly on her cheek.
The sight of them tortured him.
"For heaven's sake, don't cry!" he said, hastily; "the
the past is over and done with. I I am sorry yeu are not
MY LADY PRIDE.
happy. Oh, Heaven ! to see you standing there and to know
the gulf that divides us ! Floris Floris, why did you do it? "
She looked at him with troubled, wondering questioning.
" Why did you, Floris ? Heaven why did you not tell me
why did you not come to me and and but to go like
that without a word ! Did you want to break my heart
were you quite -heartless, Floris? "
She looked at him as if she could not believe her senses^
and one white hand went to her forehead tremblingly.
" I do not understand ! Why do you speak to me like ihis
why do you ask me these questions ? Oh, it is cruel, cruel,
knowing how wicked you have been how hard and heartless
yourself ! "
" I ! " he said, in amazement ; and in his eagerness and ex-
citement he pushed the gate open ; but, as she shrank back,
he too stepped back and closed it again. " I ! "
" Oh, do not mock me ! " she almost wailed. " I do not
want you* to say that you are sorry ; I did not wish to see you ;
I was learning to forget
Her voice faltered arid broke.
" Forget ! " he echoed, almost ^fiercely. " You can talk of
forgetting to me ! Do you think that any human being, how-
ever callous, can forget another she has wronged as you
have wronged me ? "
" Wronged you ! " she cried, in a low voice ; " wronged you ?
I? Oh, Bruce, Bruce I"
" Yes, cruelly, foully wronged me ! " he said passionately.
" Did ever man love a woman more dearly than I loved you ?
And you stole away from me, jilted -me without a word of
warning one word of remorse or penitence! If I did not
love you, I could strike you down at my feet now."
She shrunk back from his blazing eyes and wild, wicked
words.
"I did you no wrong," she said, sadly, her lips quivering.
He controlled himself as if by a mighty effort, and drew a
long breath.
" We will not bandy words," he said, grimly ; " I will not
detain you many moments longer. I want to say this, and'
then I will go. When I heard of your treachery and his I
swore that whenever I met him, let it be when and where it
might, I would kill him. But I have repented of that rash
oath; I should have remembered that your love made him
sacred to me, Tell him that he need hide no longer that he
30 MY LADY PHIDE.
need not fear me. For your sake he shall go unpunished for
as black a piece of treachery as the world has seen sincr
Judas ! "
Floris put out her hand to him.
" What are you saying? What are these wild words? Whoip
am I to tell? Oh, am I dreaming?"
"Whom? The man who stole you from me Bertie- Clif-
forde," he said, white to the lips and unnaturally calm..
Floris put her hands to her brow.
" Bertie Clifforde the man Oh, Heaven ! what does this
mean ? "
lie looked at her, a wild, mad doubt rising in his mind.
" Yes, Bertie Clifforde ! Are you not married to him ? "
" N"o," came from her parched lips.
He clutched the gate.
" No ! Then, do you tell me but no, he would not be so
base and vile as that. Then where is he ? You fled with him ;
you left Ballyfloe together! Will you deny that?"
Floris came nearer. Truth alone in her face, the dignity of
injured innocence beamed from her dark eyes.
" T deny ! No ! It is true, I came with Lord Clifforde from
Ballyfloe
He made a despairing gesture.
" Why should we bandy words ? Good-by, Floris ; good-by !
Tell him he is safe from me ; tell him that " he turned, as
her voice rung out, clear and commanding :
" Stop ! "
He stood stock still and waited.
" Lord N"orman, you have cruelly slandered me ay, more,
an absent man ! One so honorable and good that his name
should not pass your stained and dishonored lips ! You accuse
me of flying flying with Lord Clifforde ! "
She laughed a terrible, piteous laugh.
" What mad story you have heard I know not. The truth
is all T know or care for. Lord Clifforde met me by accident
at Ballyfloe station; he accompanied me to London^ and then,
having done all that a brother could do to comfort and con-
sole me under my heavy trouble, he left me. Since that hour
I have neither seen nor heard f roin him. There is my answer
to the foul lie you heard and believed ! "
He glared at her white, breathless.
" Tan you received a telegram from him ? *
MY LADY PRIDE. 231
"A telegram? " she repeated. "Ah ! From him? No, from
home. It was to say that my mother was dying "
" Great and merciful Heaven ! Floris Floris ! " he cried,
in a voice of despair, " is this true ? Oh, how blind, blind I
have been ; how mad ! Floris, forgive me ! Forgive oh, my
poor darling ! Why are you here ? Why did you not write to
me ? Why my brain is reeling ! Have pity on me, Floris,
and tell me all ; this hideous mystery holds me in a net ! "
She saw the sweat standing in great drops upon his brow,
and his hands clinch on the gate until they were white as his
face.
" I am here earning "my living/ 7 she said, simply. " I
came here to be away from England, to learn to forget, to
to I must go now Lord Norman. Good -by."
u No ! " he cried, hoarsely; " not yet. Go? By Heaven, you
shall not go ! Floris ! Floris ! My darling, my long-lost
darling ! " and he stretched out his hands.
A light, a beautiful light, shone in her eyes, and she made
a step forward. Then suddenly she stopped and shuddered.
" No no ! " she wailed. "You forget you have forgotten
Lady Blanche!"
He started and a cold chill fell upon his passion.
" Blanche ! " he echoed, huskily.
Great Heaven ! He was to be married to her in a few days,
married to her ; and Floris
She put out her hand to him.
" Oh, Bruce, Bruce, how could you have been so wicked?"
He hung his head.
" Be just ! " he murmured. " You left me. I was alone
in the world. I had lost you why did it matter whom I
married "
She moaned and hid her face, then she looked up sud-
denly.
" I left you ! " she said, in a low, intense tone. <e You had
lost me ! Oh, Bruce, Bruce, you were false to me before I
left Ballyfloe. You think I do not know"
He started.
" I false to you before I false to you ! Floris, what is
this? For heaven's sake, speak plainly! Speak out at once!
I am almost frenzied with this torture! I false to you! Am
I dreaming? "
She looked at him, her eyes full of a sad reproach and de-
spair.
232 MY LADY PRIDE
" Why do you f ore me to speak ? " she said, in a low voie.
" What can it matter now ? All is pait b6twen us. You are
married
" No ! " he thundered.
She panted, then her quick eyes read the truth.
"Ah, not yet, but going to be. Is it not so, Bruce ? "
He hung his head then he looked up.
" Never mind Blanche," he said, hoarsely, " tell me what
you meant by my being false to you. What lies have they
told you? Great Heaven, what is this mystery which has
wrecked and ruined both our lives? What have they told
you?"
She came nearer.
" Bruce," mournfully, " what they told me would hava
mattered little, but I saw for myself ! "
"Saw for yourself! Saw what?" he demanded.
She turned her head away.
" Bruce, I I was in the greenhouse on the afternoon you
came back from Scarfross to meet Lady Blanche, and saw
and heard all that passed between you! Oh, Bruce, Heaven
forgive you as I have done ! " and the tears welled to her
eyes.
There was silence for a moment, silence broken by an awful
oath.
She started and turned to him. He had flung the gate
open and stood before her, his eyes blazing into hers, his lips
set.
"Are you mad ? " he cried, ' almost inaudibly. " Floris,
look at me ! Look at me ! Look at me, I say ! "
She raised her eyes to his fearlessly, though there was
something awful in the expression of his face.
" Now tell me, slowly, carefully, what you mean; what yon
think you saw ? "
She opened her lips once, twice ; the scene came back in all
its force and shook her very soul.
" Bruce, I saw yon at her feet. I heard you implore her to
fly with you. I heard you tell her that you had never loved
loved any other than her! I heard you say that I* oh, J
can not go on ! Spare me ! "
" You saw yon heard ! " he said, his face close to hers.
" Great Heaven! am T going mad? When was this?"
" The day you left Ballvfloe for Scarfross. Ah, have you
no pity on me, no mercy ? "
MY LADY PRIDE. 233
et The day I left Ballyfloe ! " he repated, disregarding her
ftttreaty. " You say I came back to Bally floe that I saw
Blanche ? It is a lie ! Do you hear ? It i^ a lie ! Whoever
told you but you saw me, you say? Floris, let me look at
you. Is this my Floris who stands here and tells me this?
Am I mad are we -both mad? Merciful Heaven, what does
it mean ? Listen to me ! " and he drew her closer to him by
her arm, so close that his hot breath fanned her cheek.
" Listen to me, as if the words I am going to speak were those
of a dying man! Floris, you could not have seen me on that
day you did not see me, as you describe it, on any day, at
that time; but on that day 1 tell you solemnly here face to
face, with Heaven above us to hear me, that I did not come
back to Ballyfloe that day ! "
She panted, and drew back her head to gaze at him.
" Bruce ! "
" I did not come back," he repeated, in a frenzied voice.
" I went straight to Scarf ross ! Great Heaven do you doubt
me ? A dozen witnesses can prove it. There were men whose
side I never left; Lord Harry Donald. Go back why, I did
not go back for weeks ; I was nearly killed the following morn-
ing;
"Ah," she breathed, her breath coming in quick gasps.
" Was struck down by a stag, and kept at Scarfross for
weeks . confined to my bed to my room. All this can be
proved ! Are you listening ? Why do you stare at me so ? "
" Then then, that is why you did not write? " he gasped,
an awful sense of mystery inwrapping her.
" Yes ! At first I was senseless for days ; unable to write
for weeks. When I was able, they told me that you had had
fled with Bertie! Now do you understand that you can not
*Save seen me with Blanche/ as you suppose ? "
5 She uttered a cry of despair.
/ " Bruce, I saw you "
" Great Heaven ! I shall go mad ! "
"And if it was not you who was it ? "
He looked at her scared, frightened face.
" Who was it ? V I saw you heard you speak to her. The
girl Josine "
" Josine ! " he muttered.
" Josine told me that I should do so : led me to the place ;
stood beside me. If you speak of proof ask her. Oh, Bruce !
and yet and yet "
234 MY LADY PRIDE.
H laughed grimly, savagely.
" And yet you think I do not speak the truth. My poor
Floris ! My brain is reeling ! There is some devilish mystery
at j:he bottom of this ! What it is,, Heaven only knows ; but
I will learn. The girl Josine, you say where is she? and
Blanche"
"Who told you that I fled with Lord Clifforde?" asked
Floris, quickly.
" Blanche ! " he returned, quickly.
A cold shudder ran through her. and her head drooped.
" Do you mean to say that " he could not go on for a mo-
ment " that Blanche lied, and purposely deceived me de-
ceived both of us ? " he said, hoarsely.
She shook her Ixead wearily.
"I do not know! I can not say! It is all dark, dark
to me !
" But there shall be light ! " he exclaimed. " Blanche is
here in Florence. She shall tell me the truth; the girl Jo-
sine, I will wring the truth from her ! Oh, my darling ! Oh,
Floris, my Floris, thank Heaven it is not too late ! " and he
put out his arms.
She drew back from him, deathly pale, and her lips parted
slowly, sadly.
" Too late ; it is too late ! " she murmured, gently. " We
can not bring back the past. It is too late! Think of
Blanche, Bruce! She has done no wrong. You you are to
be married to her "
His hands fell to his side, he turned his face* away.
"Why should she suffer? For us, Bruce, all is lost save
honor. You must still keep , that ! There has been some
dark mystery; I do not know what it is, no, not even yetty
but we have met again too late. Good-by, Bruce good-by.,
In time, far away in the future, we may meet '' her voice)
broke, and with a groan he took a step toward her, but she
drew still further back " in time you and I will will meet as
friends dear, true friends but no more, Bruce. Good-by !"
She put out her hand as she spoke, and he seized it and
held it.
' Good-by ? " he cried, hoarsely. " Do you think I am
going to let you go like this? Xo ! Floris, you are mine
you love me still "
"Ah, yes/' she breathed, the tears running down her sweet
face; "I love you still; but it is because of that we must
MY LADY PRIDE. 235
part. Stand firm by your honor, Bruce ; do not play Lady
Blanche false as as I once thought that you had played me.
Good-by!"
He caught her hand to his lips and kissed it passion-
ately, his hot lips burning it, and with a cry of mingled pain
and joy that he should so kiss her, she drew her hand away,
and vanished.
CHAPTEE XXXI.
t
TO RIGHT THE WRONG.
LADY BLANCHE, recoiling against the balcony, gazed up
at the wan, haggard face with the black, sombre eyes glowing
like lamps-amid its whiteness*
"What are you doing here ? " she gasped. " What do you
want with me ? "
He looked down at her with a fixed, intent expression on
his face, as if he were looking through her, like a man play-
ing some difficult part and trying to remember it. The look
haunted her for years afterward.
"Why are you here?" she demanded. "You promised
to
" Keep away from England," he said, and his voice sound-
ed dull and hollow. " Is this England? I have -not sought
you you have followed me. It is the hand of fate ! If I
had not seen you to-night I should have been a hundred
miles away. It is fate! We played with it for spme time,
trod it under foot, and laughed at it. It is fate's turn now
to laugh at us, to tread us undel- its avenging feet. Lady
Blanche, the whirligig of time brings its own revenges; it has'
brought vengeance upon us "
" What do you mean ? " she said, trying to look him down,
to awe him with the cold hauteur which was her second nat-
ure; but the dark eyes did not flinch, the hard, hollow voice
did not falter. Like some prophet of t)ld he stood before her,
unyielding, implacable. "Why did you follow me here to
the hotel ? Do you want money? If so, you shall have it. I
will send it to you. Every moment you remain here is one of
peril. Lord Norman is with me. He will return immediate-
ly, and if he finds you '
He did not seem to be listening.
MY LADY PRIDE.
" Money ! " he said, as if that word alone had caught his
ear. " I have sold my soul for money. Judas brought
baok his blood-stained gold' I bring back yours, Lady
Blanche ! "'
He thrust his hand into his breast quickly as he spoke, and
drew out a leathern case.
" It is here all of it ! Take it ! It has been a curse to
fine! Look at me, Lady Blanche, and see that I will speak
the truth!"
She looked at his haggard face, with its deep lines telling
of dissipation and remorse; at the white hair, which, when
she had last seen him, was black as Lord Norman's; at
the cavernous eyes gleaming with a feverish intensity of pur-
pose.
" Since I left you in England, carrying the price of my
treachery with me, I have beeri living the life of a gambler.
I have been like one drifting toward the whirlpoof of destruc-
tion conscienceless, without remorse. But a hand was
stretched out to save me. To-day, Lady Blanche, for the
first time, I have seen the cruelty and vileness of our work in
its true colors. It is as if a veil had been torn from before
my eyes, and the true meaning of what we conspired to do,
and did, was revealed to me. Lady Blanche, you asked me,
when last we met, if I had no remorse. I laughed the ques-
tion away. It is my turn to ask you if you feel none ? "
She made a gesture in. the negative.
" It has fallen upon me ; it will fall upon you. Thank
Heaven, while you have time, that it is not too late to repair
your 6vil work ! "
" What do you mean ? " she asked in a voice of suppressed
anger and doubt.
. "Thank Heaven that you are not married to Bruce Nor-
man ! The task would have been a thousand times harder for
you if you had been ; it is plenty hard enough now/'
" What is hard ? Why do you talk and look so strangely ? "
she demanded, trying to speak haughtily, but trembling.
" This night, Lady Blanche, Lord Norman must be told all
that you and I have done ! "*
"What?" she gasped.
" This night he must be shown how cruel an injustice has
been wrought an innocent girl; he must be told that it was
you who were false and not Floris Carlisle ! "
She looked at him for a moment with a very wild; ineredu*
MY LA 1 ,**" PRIDE. 237
tous stare, then laughed a sv/ppressed laugh of scorn and de-
fiance.
" I see ! You want more money/"'
He dropped the leather** case at her feet with a dull, grim
apathy.
She started.
"If it is not money, what is it you want?" she said.
" You will not deceive me with this rant. You forget that I
am acquainted with your lore of the melodramatic. This is, I
suppose, a piece of play-acting for my especial behoof and (
amusement or "she turned pale, and her eyes flashed i
" you have met with Floris Carlisle and betrayed me ! Is that *
it? She has bought you over perhaps promised you half of
Lord Norman's wealth ! Is that it ? You have met her ? "
He eyed her listlessly, wearily, with the same set look of
resolution.
" Yes, I have met her," he said ; and for the first time a
faint touch of color came into his face " I have seen her,
and I love her ! "
" You love her ! " she echoed.
" I love her. Do you misunderstand me, Lady Blanche.
I love her without hope; I am content to love her, so that I
can make her reparation. It is all I have to live for, and I
will do it."
There was silence for a moment.
" What do you wish to do ? " she asked, almost inaudibly.
" There are two courses," he said, in a slow, grave voice.
" Either you must make your confession to Lord Norman, or
leave it to me. I care not which it is/
" He will kill you ! " she panted.
He shrugged his shoulders with absolute indifference.
" Perhaps. I thought that you would prefer that he should
hear the story from your lips. You know best which will be
the less bitter course for you."
She looked at him with murder gleaming in her velvetjf
eyes.
If she had had a weapon she would have struck him down I
then and there without pity or fear.
"I I can not do it ! " she wailed. " I can not do it ! "
" There is no need ! " said a voice at her side and starting,
she turned and saw Lord Norman standing in the open
window.
Lady Blanche glanced at his face, saw that he had heard
238 MY LADY PRIDE.
all, and, flinging her hands before her eyes, crouched down
as if be had struck her; but Oscar Raymond stood firm and
folded his arms across his breast.
Lord Norman looked from one to the other.
His face was very pale and stern, but there was a light in
his eyes, a reflection of relief and hope, which had been
strangers to them for a long time.
Slowly he raised his hand and pointed to the staircase.
4i You may go ! " he said, quietly.
Oscar Eaymond lifted his dark eyes calmly, almost sol-
'\nnly.
" Is that all? 1 am ready to give you any satisfaction you
...uay demand." We are in a foreign land, my lord
ki You have given me all the satisfaction it is possible for
you to render," said Bruce, in a low, steady voice. " I have
no wish to kill you; I yield you your life an3 remorse.
Go!"
Oscar Raymond bent his head and moved away.
Lord Norman waited until hjs footsteps had died away,
then he picked up the leathern case and dropped it at
Lady Blanche's feet.
" Blanche/' he said, in so low a tone of voice that she could
scarcely hear him, "I have seen Floris; I have learned all
that this man would have forced you to tell me. There is no
need that you should speak a word. Get up now and go to
your room. I shall go away from this place, this hotel, at
once, and will leave a letter for your father, telling him that
the the engagement is broken off by mutual consent.
There need be nothing more said on either side. Heaven for-
give you, Blanche, for this that you have done forgive you
as I and she forgive you ! "
He laid his hand on her head for a moment, pityingly,
forgivingly, and when, a moment afterward, she raised her
heavy eyes, he was gone.
jar LADY PHIDK.
CHAPTER XXXII.
T II K .H I' R 1) E N F A S I G H.
FLORIS arose the next morning, after a sleepless night, <lu
ing which she had laid awake possessed in one moment with i
poignant grief and the next with a subdued joy.
She had lost him. lie had gone from her forever, and he
would marry Lady Blanche.
That was her grief, but he loved her still ; he had not been
false to her. That was her joy ; and her joy in the knowledge
of his truth and constancy far outweighed her grief at the loss
of him.
And he was here in Florence.
She knew him well enough to know that he would not re-
linquish her without another attempt; she felt certain that
she must place temptation beyond his reach.
She would leave Florence that morning, would put it out
of his power to break his word to Lady Blanche.
Pale and sad, and yet with a trace of the great joy shining
in her lovely eyes, she went to Mrs. Sinclair's room.
The old lady was in bed she sat up too late over her pre-
cious books to be an early riser and was made to understand
that Floris wanted a holiday, and at once.
"Where are you going, my dear? " she said.
Floris was staggered for a j moment.
"Into the hilk. I shall only want a day or two," she ex-
plained.
He would not remain in Florence long, she thought.
" Oh, very well, my dear ! You had better take one of the
girls with you. And, by the way, you might gather some of
the crested fern for me, you know ; keep it as cool as you can,
will you? And if you should happen to see any specimens of "
here followed a dozen long Latin names "you might
bring them also."
Floris promised that she would, and went upstairs and
packed a bag with the few things she required ; then she made
a faint pretense at breakfast, and in an hour had started with
a little maid, who was a favorite of hers.
The morning passed in a dreamy kind of way for Floris.
Slowly the carriage ascended the hills, the driver singing
240 MY LADY PRIM.
below his voice, the maid delighted with her holiday, chatting
light-heartedly.
Presently, the maid stopped her prattle, and put her head
on one side.
" There is some one on the road beside ourselves this morn-
ing, signorita. Perhaps they> too, are taking a holiday,*
" Perhaps, Marie," said Floris quite dreamily.
The girl, leaned forward and looked back,
It is a horseman, signorita, and he is riding fast. The
poor horse is panting* It is not a holiday for him, poor,
wretched beast ! "
Floris nodded; she scarcely heard what the child was say-
ing, but suddenly the coachman pulled up, and the n6xt in-
stant the horseman was beside the carriage, and Floris beard
her name spoken.
She looked up and met her lover's eyes fixed on her, and
her heart gave a great bound.
" Bruce ! " she whispered, joyfully yet reproachfully. " Oh,
Bruce, why have you done this ? "
He leaned forward and laid his hand on the carriage door.
" I can not speak to you there. Will you come out ? I
must speak to you ! Ah, why did you run away from me ? "
" Because I knew I felt I was afraid you would come to
see me, and " she said faintly, in a troubled voice. " Oh,
go back,, Bruce ! "
" I will shortly," he said in a strange voice, with a strange
light in his eyes. " Come into the road for a moment or
two."
He got down and opened the door, and held her hand even
after she had alighted, forgetting his horse.
" Signor, the horse ! " shrieked the coachman, but it was
(too late, the sagacious animal, having had quite" enough
%ork for that day had swung around and was off in a good,
round trot for Florence.
" Never mind," said Lord . Bruce, with a short laugh ; " it
does not matter. Nothing matters now, Floris ! Hush ; not
a word yet ! "
He drew her arm within his, and led her under the trees,
out of sight of the curious, wide-open eyes of the man and
maid.
"And so you were running away from me, were you ? "
he said, holding her hand*s and looking into her eyes with the
fire of excitement and happiness in his. "Kunning away
MY LADY 9RIDE.
from me was that fair ? Oh, my darling, how eafi^ I tell
you the words tremble on my lips ! My heart is so full of
ioy and happiness "
" Bruce ! "
" Yes, so full that I can scarcely wait for the words that
must be spoken. Floris, since I saw you last night all has
been made clear. Look ! "
He drew a card from his pocket and was about to show it
to her, when he whipped it behind his back. <
" Wait ! Floris, you are sure it was I you saw that after-
aoonat Ballyfloe?"
Her head drooped.
" Oh, Bruce why ask me? Why not let it be buried? "
" You are sure you would know my face again ? " with a
arrange laugh. " See is that the face of the man you saw
at Lady Blanche's feet?"
And he held out the card.
She took it very slowly and looked at it.
It was .a portrait of Oscar Baymond, which he had found
among the papers packed in one of his portmanteaus.
A bewildered expression came into her eyes.
" Yes it is ! But, but " she raised her eyes to his face
" is it not you, Bruce ?"
" No," he said, gravely ; " it is not. Look at the back ;
you will find the Aame written there, Floris. It is the por-
trait of a man who, for purposes of his own, passed himself
off on you for me. Look at the name, please.."
She turned the card.
" Oscar Eaymond to Lord Norman " was written on it.
For a moment her biam wam, and he put his arm around
her and held her close to him, or she would have staggered.
" You see, darling !" he cried, "it is all clear now, is it not ?"
And in swift, hurried words he told her the whole story. ,
"All this I heard last night from their own lips. Ono
thing only is a mystery to me still, *nd that is the cause of
the repentance that is still an enigma, Jloris."
" ShaH I tell you, Bruce?" she whispered; then, with her
hand upon his shoulder, she made the last portion of the mys-
tery clear.
"My darling!" he murmured. "And it is you, you who
have really saved us both, after all ! If he had not seen you,
we should still be Oh, I can not think of it! Oh, my
darling, my Floris ; once again and forever! Let tts thank
242 MY LADY PRIDE.
Heaven humbly and deeply for its mercy! A few day* \rt,>r?
and all 'would have been lost; there would have been A gulf
between us which death only could have bridged and now,
death only can divide us! " and, with a cry of almost solemn
joy, he strained her to his bosom.
With his arm around her waist they walked through the
woods,, her head resting on his shoulder, her eyes suffused
with the tears which sprung from joy almost too incense for
endurance.
It had come so suddenly, this flood of light after darkness
that she felt bewildered and dazzled. Coulf? ^t be true? "
In low, endearing tones he told her over and over again all
that had happened, dwelling on the misery and helpless de-
spair, and making all the points that had seemed so dark
clear and intelligible; and every now and again He stopped
and looked at her face, ay, and kissed it, as if ne, too, felt
there was something too marvelous in. his good fortune for it
to be quite*real.
They forgot the coachman and little Marie; Yjut those two
individuals resigned themselves to tlie circumstances with ad-
miral)! e philosophy ; the coachman drew his horse into the
shade, and, lighting a cigar, flung himself, Italian-like, into
the sun and went to sleep and Marie gathered some flowers
and made a posie "for the signorita when she should come
back."
And #t last Flois remembered where she was.
" Bruce, dear, we must go on," she said, with a blush, and
a glance at her watch. " I had had quite forgotten every-
thing! Have we been hours in this dear little wood or only
minutes? We must go on to Pelago."
" Why Pelago ? " he said, smoothing her hair. " Why not
come back to Florence with me? You don't want a holiday
now, seeing that you will have such a big one altogether di-
rectly ! Besides, unless yon take me back to Florence, how am
I to get there? My horse bolted, you know ! "
"I had forgotten that," she said, with another blush, and
only too ready to accept the offered excuse. " Of course I
must take you back !"
They went back to the carriage very sedately, but Marie,
though young, was knowing.
" Oh, signorita," she whispered, as Floris. full of tenderness
to all and everything in her new-born happiness, stooped and
MY LADY PRIDE.
kissed her. '* Is that signer your lover: Yes? Ah, but he
is handsome and noble, is he not ? "
It was a magic journey, that return to Florence, and
though the two said but little their hands locked together,
and their eyes, which met each other's ever and again,
spoke volumes.
Mrs. Sinclair expressed no astonishment whatever at their
return.
" I thought you would come back," she said, dryly ; " and
.tow I suppose I may finish niy great book myself, Miss
Wood, I mean, Miss Carlisle ! "
" Oh, no ! " said Floris, flushing ; " I shall stay with you,
madam."
But Mrs. Sinclair caught Lord Norman's eye and met his
smile with a significant one of her own.
That evening he sent a telegram to Lady Betty.
It was very short, but it was emphatic enough, for in three
days Lady Betty was at the Violet Villa.
Floris's astonishment at her appearance was only equaled by
her delight.
" Now, I don't want to know anything more than Bruce
has told me, my dear," she said, after she had a good cry and
nearly exhausted herself by lavishing caresses on Floris. " In
fact, he had forbidden me, at the risk of his sore displeasure,
to talk about the past ; but I've only one question to ask, and
that is, Can you start for England to-morrow?"
" To-morrow ! " said Floris, aghast.
" Yes, my dear ; that is - B race's wish."
/'But you, dear Lady Betty?"
" Oh, I am of no consequence," said her ladyship, with a
laugh. " Besides, really and truly, I am dying of anxiety to
get you home, to have you to myself for a few days I sha'n't
have you long, I know, for Bruce is most intemperately anx-
ious to appropriate you altogether. But do let us start to-
morrow, if you can; I am sure no one will be gladder to seo
you than Sir Edward. My dear, if I wasn't one of the most
sensible woman in England, I should have been most dread-
fully jealous of you! Sir Edward thinks there is no one in
the world so clever and bright and good-looking as 'Miss
Carlisle,' and he has talked of you and regretted your absence
every day. So let us go back to-morrow."
They started in the morning. Everything that wealth and
244 MY LADY PRIDE.
influence could effect was done to turround the jourmty
luxury and ease.
If Floris Carlisle had been a princess of the blood royal,
as Lady Betty said, there could not have been more fuss ; and
yet there was so little real fuss.
In his quiet way, Lord Norman secured sleeping-cars, en-
gaged the best rooms, had carriages in waiting, and arranged
everything almost as if by magic.
And so it happened that Floris, who a few months back
had left England alone and friendless, returned to it like a
Queen of Sheba !
Their welcome in Grosvenor Place was characteristic of Sir
Edward.
" How do you do, Miss Carlisle ? " he said, holding her hand
and looking at her in his grave way, but with a kindly light
in his keen, absorbed eyes. " I am very glad to see you back,
and I have missed you very much indeed. Bruce is a lucky
fellow to have recovered you, a very lucky fellow indeed," and
* he took and wrung Lord Norman's hand.
After dinner Sir Edward sat over his wine with Lord Nor-
man for a little while, then he rose.
" Going to the House, I suppose ? " said Lord Norman.
" N-o, not to-night, I think/' answered Sir Edward.
" Not to-night ! Why, I thought you had to speak ? "
" Y-es, so I had ; but I don't think I will go to-night that
is, if I sha'n't be in the way. I don't know what the papers
will say; no doubt they'll imagine I've had a domestic bereave-
ment.
It was a great compliment to Floris, and one she was fond
of talking about in after-life, when Sir Edward had become
the " great statesman of the day."
They spent a quiet, delightful evening, and when the two
ladies had gone to their rooms, Lady Betty held Floris at
arm's-length.
"Ah, my dear, how happy you look ! " she said, her eyes
full of sympathy very near to tears.
" Do I ? I am glad of that," whispered Floris, " for I arrt
very, very happy, clear. Happier, perhaps, for all that has
passed. You see, one wants to know what misery is to be
able to appreciate, at its full value, such happiness as mine ! "
MY LADY PRIM. $45
CHAPTEE XXXIII.
FLORIS, COUNTESS OF NORMAL.
THE season was in full swing when these two lovers -so
long separated, so strangely united returned to London, and
their advent made a pretty considerable stir.
The world at large knew nothing of what had happened,
but rumor, with its usual readiness, invented a hundred and
one stories, of all of which Floris was the heroine.
Consequently there was the greatest anxiety to see her, and
Lady Betty was besieged with invitations, all pressing in the
extreme.
" I think we had better go to the duchess's ball, and get
it over, my dear," said Lady Betty. " Of course, you'll be
mobbed and stared at; people are simply dying of curiosity
to know the true story of your adventures. But you won't
mind?"
"No, I sha'n't mind," said Floris, with her old -naivete;
" not in the least, seeing that I don't mean to tell anyone."
" Very well," said Lady Betty ; " then we'll go to-morrow
night and gratify the world with a sight of the future Count-
ess of Norman,, whose adventures ' :
" More or less fabulous," put in Floris.
" Have filled the society papers."
It was a grand ball, and more crowded than it would have
been if the duchess had not carefully circulated the news that
Miss Carlisle and Lord Norman were actually coming.
For the first few minutes Floris was a little shy under the
battery which was directed at her by go many curious eyes;
but she grasped her lover's arm, just to reassure herself of
this presence, and glanced up at his handsome face, with its
old patrician impassiveness, and courage came back to her.
Before they had been in the room an hour th Lynches
came in, and Floris needed no courage to meet these true
friends.
Sir Joseph and his good-natured wife were overwhelmed
with pleasure at seeing her, and scarcely left her side the
whole evening.
A little after midnight Lord Norman went to the re-
freshment-room to get a drink, and had got his glass of
245 MY LADY PRIDE.
champagne, whan he law a gentleman tutoring at the door op-
posite him.
He set the glass down and strode across the room, with a
glad " Bertie ! " on his lips.
Bertie Clifforde, for it was he, started and turned around,
and extended his hand; then, before Lord Norman .could
seize it, drew it back, and, with a cold, low bow, was about to
pass out.
Lord Norman flushed, turned pale, and stood for a moment
irresolute; then he followed him and put a hand on his
shoulder.
"Bertie!" he said.
" Well ? " said Bertie ; and his face paled sternly under its
bronze. " I have no desire to hold any conversation with
you, Lord Norman."
Lord Norman bit his lips.
" What does this mean, Bertie ? " he said, gravely. "Ah,
I see ! "
Bertie flushed.
" My memory appears to be a better one than yours, Lord
Norman," he said; "at any rate, it is too good for me to
forget that a man who has acted as you have done to an inno-
cent and trusting lady has lost the right to accost me or any
honset mam."
"Stop for heaven's sake! Come with me," said Lord
Norman, quickly, and seizing his arm he drew him into a re-
tired spot. Bertie, have you not heard have you seen none
of the papers ? "
" I have just returned to England," said Bertie, " and have
seen no papers, nor heard any scandal whatsoever; that which
I refer to your conduct happened before I left, Lord Nor-
man. But I am glad I have met you thus soon, as it affords
me an opportunity of demanding satisfaction on behalf of a
lady whose name had not better be memtioned, I at who honors
me with her friendship."
" Satisfaction yes ! " said Lord Norman, gravely and qui-
etly. "No, there is no need to mention Ler name."
He paused a moment, then went on, his voice quivering a
little :
" Bertie you see I still dare to call you so Bertie, if any-
thing could strengthen the friendship and respect I have for
you, these words you have spoken, this greeting you have ex-
tended to me would do it! Yes, Bertie, I know what you
MY LADY PRTDE.
mean~the lady you think I have wronged, to whom Heaven
forgive me I did all unintentionally, is my is Eloris Car-
lisle my future wife ! "
Bertie stepped back, mute with astonishment.
" Hush, don't say a word," said Lord Norman, much agi-
tated. " Wait until 1 have told you the whole story, Ber-
tie."
* The two men remained in the quiet corridor for half an
hour.
At first, amazement was the predominant emotion in ]j|er-
tie's heart, but this soon gave- place to relief and thankful-
ness.
"Thank Heaten!" he said, at last. "Bruce, forgive me;
and yet "
" I scarcely deserve forgiveness ; you are right. I. believed,
like a credulous fool. But don't think I have escaped pun-
ishment; I have had enough of that, Bertie, to satisfy even
you. But come and see Floris. If there was anything want-
ing to complete her happiness your presence will supply it
we have talked of you so much, old fellow. How did you get
home not invalid not wounded ?" and he looked him over,
anxiously.
"Invalid, but not wounded," said Bertie ;~ "but I am all
right now. I shall be able to dance at your wedding, Bruce,"
he said, with a faint flush. "Wait a moment, will you?" he
added, as Lord Norman was for taking him to Floris. " This
Oscar Raymond ; you remember the man, of course ? See
here, Bruce, I don't want to startle you, but I have news of
him."
" News of Oscar Raymond ! " repeated Lord Norman, as if
the name were difficult for him to pronounce calmly.
Bertie nodded gravely.
" Yes. I came by the overland route, you know ; my doe-
tor insisted upon my taking a round of it, anxious as I was
to reach England. At Genoa we stayed at the Three Keys 9
Hotel"
" Yes, yes, I know it."
" The night we stayed there a man was found dead in his
room. He was an Englishman, there could be no doubt about
that, but there was nothing to lead to his identification except-
ing a cigar-case with the initials ' 0. R.' *
Lord Norman started and bit his lip.
"Did you see it the case?"
MY LADY 'PRIDE.
" It was a Buifciam-leather case witb the Ckrit Ckurch
arms on the back."
" Yes, 31 assented Bertie. " You know it? ?>
" It was one I gave him when we were at college together;"
said Lord Norman, gravely. " You saw him ?"
"Yes, for a moment. Now I know of 'this strange story,
I remember enough of the face to trace a likeness; but this
man's hair was iron gray almost entirely gray, I am sure !"
" It is the same man. Great heavens ! Dead so soon ! "
"Yes, and died by his own hand. We found a bottle
of chloral by the bedside; there was no doubt in the doc-
tor's mind. We did all we could, and I stayed and saw him
buried. What did you say, Bruce?" for Lord Norman had
murmured something.
" Vengeance is mine ! " he said, aloud and solemnly.
"Don't tell me any more, Bertie; and and not a word to
Floris. Come to her now."
But Bertie held back for a moment longer.
" I think I'll call in the morning, Bruce," he said, in a low
voice, but at that moment her voice was heard behind them,
and the next she had caught sight of him.
In an instant she broke from the arm of Sir Joseph, who
accompanied her, and came toward Bertie, with outstretched
hands and glowing eyes.
"At last ! " she breathed, as he held her hands, both of
them utterly indifferent to the people around them. " At
last! Oh, how glad I am! How I have longed for you to
come back ! How glad, how glad I am ! Where did you find
him, Bruce? It only wanted this "
"What did I tell you, Bertie?" said Lord Norman, with
quiot triumph. *
Bertie said nothing, not a word, but probably, like the par-
rot, he thought the more.
Certain it is that from that moment he became, indeed, a
brother to the beautiful woman, and that, though he never
married and was a constant visitor more constant by a very
great deal than brothers are Bruce never felt the slightest
twinge of jealousy.
It was a very quiet wedding, at least that was how Lady
Betty described it, though, as Floris said, if hers was a quiet
one she pitied the bride who had to endure a grand one.
MY LADY PRIDE. 249
The date of the wedding had aot about, perhaps Lady Betty
whispered it in the strictest confidence to a lady friend or two,
and the little chapel in the Savoy was crammed.
All Florists friends were there, the Lynches and Doctor
Greene included; and the great duke who. was related to
Bruce, at his own request, gave the bride away.
Bertie was best man, and not a few of the young ladies who
were present cast pensive glances in his direction; but Bertie
seemed to think on this, as on all other occasions, that there (
was only one woman in the world worth thinking of, and as
he could not have her, the rest, as Hamlet says, " was si-
lence."
The wedding-breakfast was a great success, principally, I
think, because there were few speeches, and those short ones ;
and among the presents spread out on the drawing-room
tables, amid the articles of gold and silver and the splendid
jewels, was a bunch of rare orchids from Florence, with Mrs.
Sinclar's best wishes.
Floris looked very beautiful; indeed, the great society paper
declared emphatically that she would be the most lovely bride
of the season; and Bruce, who had lost his haggard look, was,
as Doctor Greene remarked, " as fit as a man could be."
They had decided to spend the honey-moon at Xorman
Holme; they both had had enough of the Continent for the
present, and soon after the breakfast they started, the guests
thronging the entrance hall with the usual rice and slippers,
most of the latter, it is scarcely necessary" to state, striking the
coachman and the footman.
One honey-moon is generally very much like another, but
Floris and Bruce's was an exception to the rule.
They had so nearly lost each other that their reunion had
seemed almost miraculous, and Bruce would sit and look at
her sometimes, in the quiet of the after-dinner hour and ask
himself what he had clone to deserve this great joy which had
fallen to him. /
After three weeks of this perfect happiness they went to i
London, but tlie honey-moon was not over, and they went J
without fuss or notice to their friends.
" Let us enjoy ourselves together for a week or two at
least," said Bruce. "We won't go to 1he London house, but
put up at Claridge's, and well just take "a holiday as Susan
the house-maid and James the footman do when they are
mated. We'll go to the theatres and do the galleries and eon*
250 MY LADY rniDE.
certs,, and Fli row you to Toplow-on-the-Tharnes on especially
fine days^and you shall be quite a Bohemian.''
And they carried out their little plan to perfection.
The ceremony and hard work pertaining to her as the
Countess of Norman were put off for awhile, and they devoted
themselves to each other like " Susan and J ^mes."
One night, as they were returning from one of the theatres,
their little brougham broke down near Leicester Square.
It was nothing very serious, and no one was hurt, not even
the horse.
Bruce got Floris out in a moment, and was calling a cab,
when Floris, who had got on a bonnet and thick, plain
wrap, said :
" It is a lovely night, Bruce. Can't we walk ? "
"All right," he said. " You are sure you are wrapped
up ? *'
" Perfectly; and the walk will be so nice. I've never walked
in London so late as this. How strange it looks."
x He took her on his arm, lighted a cigar, and they walked
toward home.
To avoid crowded thoroughfares, Lord Xornian turned
down a quiet street, and they were just passing a French cafe,
the lights from the windows of which quite lighted up the
streets, when the door was violently thrown open and a woman
came hurrying out.
She was weeping bitterly, but in a dull, heavy fashion, as
if she were accustomed to it ; and Floris seeing her, pressed
Lord Norman's arm and whispered:
" Oh Bruce, that poor woman ; see ! "
He turned his head, and at the moment a man, evidently
intoxicated, came out of the cafe, looked round in search of
the woman, and with a tipsy oath, aimed a blow at her.
Lord Norman was just in time to seize his shaky* arm and
push him back against the wall.
The man stared at him for a moment, then, mumbling in-
coherently, shuffled and staggered back into the house.
Floris, whose pity was always, as Bruce said, ready for man
or beast, went to the woman and touched her on the arm.
"Poor creature!" she murmured.
The woman dropped her apron from her eyes, and Floris
started back.
If was Jos I no !
JoeirK 1 , H pale, careworn, harassed-looking woman, with
MY LADY
2&1
sunken eyes and tear-swollen lips; there was a dark-red stain
on one side of her face showing that the brute/ had already
struck her before she had left the house.
Floris shrunk back into the shadow, and Bruce came up 1<>
her.
"Are you hurt?" he said, quietly. " Is there anything I
can do for you ? "
Josine shook her head dully and despairingly.
" No, sir; he is my husband. Look at my face ! " she raises]
her head to the light : " look at me ! He who did that was
the man I raised from beggary my husband ! He has spent
all my money, and 1 "
She stopped and shrunk back with a cry of fear and dread,
for the light had fallen upon Bruce's 'face, and she recog-
nized him.
"Milord Norman!" she gasped. "Oh, mercy, my lord,
mercy ! " and she seemed about to fall on her knees; but Floris
caught her arm and held her on her feet, murmuring words
of forgiveness and pity.
She would have stopped with her. goodness knows how long,
and would have taken her away, but Bruce drew her to him
with gentle firmness.
"Come, now, Floris; you can do nothing to-night. T will
come and see you to-morrow, Josine. You have behaved very
wickedly, but you have received your punishment, my poor
girl."
: 'Yes, yes, milord/' sobbed Josine, gesticulating wildly.
" It was all the money. If T had not had Lady Blanche's
money, this man would not have married me, and I should
have been spared this," and she pointed to the scarlet stain on
her white face. "Ah, we were very clever, milord, but it is
Miladi Floris who has won the game after all, while we
and with a shrug of her shoulders and a dull sob she went
into the house.
On a night in June, when the season was at its height, was
held one of the great state balls.
The room was very crowded, and dancing was rendered
almost impossible.
For the most part the brilliant throng gathered in groups
and chattered, while they listened to the music or watched
152 MY LADY PRIDE.
the daecers who had found sufficient eetirage to take ttit
floor.
The centre of one of these groups was Moris, Countess of
Norman.
She had never looked more lovely than she looked to-night,
and it was no wonder that with her beauty and the vague air
of romance that had come about her, London should be
metaphorically at her feet.
Close by her side, as-usual, was Bertie, and not very far off'
young Lord Harry, whose devotion to Bruce was almost dog-
like in its intensity.
Bruce had attempted a waltz with some one, but had found
the attempt a failure, and was sitting it out with his partner
in a cool nook near the door.
Presently hi* partner was taken away from him by the man
to whom she was next engaged, and Bruce was making his
way to his wife's side, when he came full tilt upon Lady
Blanche.
She was so much altered that for the moment he was stag-
gered ! but the next, as he met the calm, serene gaze of the
brown, velvety eyes, his heart swelled with a righteous anger.
She held out her hand with a cold, icy smile, though her
heart may have been beating wildly notwithstanding.
Lord Norman touched her hand with his fingers, and stood
regarding her.
" How do you do, Bruce? " she said. " I did not know you
were in town. We have just come back. Is " she paused a
second " is Lady Norman quite well ? "
He bowed.
" Yes, we have just come back. I suppose I ought to tell
you that T am engaged to be married to the Count d'Encion."
Bruce knew him ; an old man, and a bad one. .
"To the Count d'Encion?" he said, speaking for the first
time, his eyes stern and cold. " Then I may conclude that
you will spend a greater portion of your time in Paris ? "
"Yes, certainly/' she said. "Why?'
" Because, as Lady Norman would decline any invitations
to houses which you intended visiting, it would be as well to
know when you were in town."
Lady Blanche rose she had sunk on to a chair and looked
at him; she was deathly white and breathing hard.
* You you do not forgive or forget, ( it seems, Bruce."
" I forgive, we both forgive, and we are anxious to forget
MY LADY PRIDE. 253
that is wky I do not intend my wife to meat you, Blanche,"
he said, calmly.
She opened her fan, shut it with a sudden click, and turned
from him.
A few minutes afterward he heard " Lady Sey mour's car-
riage " called for.
He could forgive Oscar Eaymond, dead by his own hand;
he could forgive Josine, with her drunken husband as a pun-
ishment; but he co\ild not forgive, entirely and completely^
Lady Blanche 1
THE
THE ROYAL SEKIE8.
Bright Stories by the Rest Authors.
I2m<x Size, Illustrated Covers, Clear Print, 250 to
500 Pages Each.
Price, 15 Cents Each, or 2 Books for 25 Cents,
Postpaid.
1 Adrain Leroy Charles Garvice
2 Elaine "
3 Farmer Holt's Daughter "
4 Her Ransom
5 Her Humble Lover *
6 , Her Heart's Desire "
7 My Lady Pride "
8 Royal Signet "
9 The Sculptor's Wooing .......
10 A Wasted Love u
11 Woven on Fate's Loom
12 A Bridge of Love B. M. Clay
13 A Dead Heart
14 A Golden Dawn
15 The False Vow
tl6 Her Second Love
(1 7 Lord Lynne's Choice
18 Like no Other Love "
19 Love For a Day
20 Under a Shadow
21 Heiress of Hilldrop *
22 Set in Diamonds
23 A Squire's Darling
24 The Shadow of a Sin
25 The Shattered Idol *
26 Thorn in Her Heart
27 Thrown on the World *
?8 A Woman's Temptation
THE ROYAL SERIES.
29 Wedded and Parted B. M. Clay
30 A Woman^s War
31 A Queen among Women "
32 His Wife's Judgment
33 Dora Thome
34 A Broken Wedding Ring C. M. Braeme
35 Sir Arthur's Heiress
36 A Golden Heart
37 A Fiery Ordeal
38 A Mad Love "
39 At War with Herself
40 On Her Wedding Morn "
41 For Another's Sin
42 Wife in Name Only "
43 Between Two Loves
44 Her Faithful Heart
45 A Passionate Love
46 Shadow of the Past
47 Her Only Sin C. M. Braeme
48 My Wonderful Wife . . : Marie Corelli
49 Mildred Trevanion The Dutchess
50 A Maiden, All Forlorn
51 The Duchess
52 The Haunted Chamber
53 The Honorable Mrs. Verekw "
54 Lady Valworth's Diamonds
55 A Life's Remorse "
56 Marvel
57 Under Currents "
58 A Crown of Shame Florence Marryatt
59 A Little Stepson
60 The Poison of Asps
61 Deserted Elsie Whittlesey
62 Unknown
63 Hemlock Swamp
64 Helen Ethinger
65 Not Exactly fcight
THE ROYAL SERIES.
66 The Lost Heiress H. W. Taylor
67 The Little Countess O. Feuillet
68 The Two Orphans Dennery
69 Mrs. Vereker's Courier Maid The Dutchess
70 Corsican Brothers Alexander Dumas
71 Catherine's Flirtations B. M. Clay
72 Camille , .Alexander Dumas
73 A Fatal Wedding Mrs. M. E. Braddon
74 The Clemenceau Case . Alexander Dumas
75 The White Slave Elizabeth Van Loon
76 The Kreutzer Sonata Tolstoy
77 Sapho Alphonse Daudet
78 Woman against Woman . . .Mrs. M. E. Holmes
79 The Price of Honor . . Charles Garvice
80 Old Lady Mary Mrs. Oliphant
81 The Mistress of Court of Regna. .Chas. Garvico
82 Claire
83 A Coronet of Shame
84 Love of a Life Time
85 His Perfect Trust
86 Her Love So True
87 Sherlock Holmes . . . A. Conan Doyl*
88 The Child Wife " Ada M. Howard
89 The World's Desire H. Rider Haggard
90 Pretty Peggy Charles Reade
91 At the World's Mercy Florence Warden
92 The Australian Aunt Mrs. Alexander
93 A False Scent c "
94 Look Before You Leap
95 Only a Governess, .by author of Tfie Child Wife
96 The Dean and His Daughter. . ,. .Mrs. Phillips
97 A Lucky Young Woman
98 A House Party ; . . .Ouida
99 Lord Vancourt's Daughter Mabel Collins
100 The Marquis Charles Garvice
101 Old Hagar's Secret Mary J. Holme c
102 Meadow Brook .- *
THE HOYAE SERIES.
103 Dora Dean Mary J. Holmes
104 Lady Dina's Pride Bertha M. Clay
105 The English Orphans Mary J. Holmes
106 Homestead on the Hillside "
107 Tempest and Sunshine
108 Lena Rivers "
109 Jennie Bertha M. Clay
no The Black Beauty Anna Sewell
III Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde R. L. Stevenson
. 112 The Lady of Lyons Bulwer Lytton
113 Marriage at Sea Clark Russell
114 Parisian Romance Octave Fenillet
115 Romeo and Juliet Wm. Black
116 Ten Nights in Bar-room T. S. Arthur
117 House of Seven Gables N. Hawthorn
118 Charlptte Temple Mrs. Rowson
119 Lucy/ Temple
120 Flower and Jewel. .Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller
121 What Gold Can Not Buy Mrs. Alexander
122 Merle's Crusade .Rosa Nouchette Carey
123 Lord Lisle's Daughter C. M. Braeme
124 Love's Surrender
125 Earl's Error
126 Jessie
127 Bonnie Doon "
128 Madam Claire, or "the Blessing of the Holy
Rose Walter Besant
129 The Inner House
130 "Self or Bearer" . . .Walter Besant
131 Allan Quatefmain H. Rider Haggard
132 She
133 Tour of the World in Eighty Days. Jules Verne
134 The Heir of Linne Robert Buchanan
135 Called Back Hugh Conway
136 Story of an African Farm O. Shriner
537 By the Gates of the Sea David C. Murray
138 Circumstantial Evidence Hugh Conwa^
THE ROYAI SEBIES.
139 Jennie Harlowe. Clark Russell
140 Second Thoughts Rhoda Broughton
141 Out of His Reckoning .Florence Marryat
142 Forging the Fetters :Mrs. Alexander
143 A Week's Amusement The Duchess
144 She Trusted Him Chas. Garvicc
145 Leslie's Peril ,..,,*,.,,,. ttt
OLD SLEUTH SERIES.
A new library. The following list comprises some
of the best Detective Wprks ever produced by the
Famous Detective Old Sleuth. Printed on good
paper from clear type; covers illustrated.
PRICE, loc per Copy.
I. The Lightning Irish Detective.
2 The Great Indian Scout Detective.
3 Variety Jack.
4 Ray's Adventure.
5 On Their Track.
6 The Omnipresent Avenger.
7 Tradegy and Strategy.
8 The Man who Vanished.
9 The Irony of Fate.
10 A Case of Identity.
11 Beaten by Woman's Wit
12 The League of Rogues.
13 The Great Bank Robbery.
14 Detective Thrash.
15 Gentleman Thorne.
16 Henry Broch.
17 Old Ironside.
18 Detective Murdock? The Silent
19 A Straight-Out Detective.
20 Gypsy Frank.
21 Step by Step.
22 Billy Mischief.
23 Tom Dashton.
24 The Final.
25 The Wizard Detective.
26 The Two Conspirators.
27 A Startling Discovery.
28 A Wall Street Tragedy.
OID SIETITH SEEIES.
29 In Desperate Straits.
30 Working in the Dark.
31 A Struggle to Win.
32 The Giant Detective.
33 The Mysterious Yankee.
34 Old Terrible.
35 Old Sleuth's Triumph.
36 The Kidnapped Heiress.
37 Old Sleuth's Wonderful Revelation.
38 The Gypsy*t)etective.
39 The Beautiful Blackmailer.
40 The Queen of Rogues.
41 Iron Burgess.
42 Black Jess, the Outlaw.
43 The Fire-Fiend among the Moonshiners.
44 Old Electricity, the Lightning Detective*
45 Desperate Larry.
46 That Dangerous Humpback.
47 The Giant Athlete.
48 A Million in Jewels.
49 The American Thug.
go (The Girl Champion.
THB
FRENCH FICTION
IIBEARY
r A selection of Realistic Stor-
ies by the most famous French
authors. Bound in attractive
paper covers.
Price, 50 cts. per Copy
301 THe Clemenceau Case Dumt
302 Camille "
303 Sapho Daudet
304 Which Woman Loved Him Best
305 Korzoff's Courtship "
306 The Gay Count M. N. Shrwoo3
307 A Lustful Sin "
308 Bonnie Marie
309 Gabrielle, the Unfaithful Wife. . *
310 Repented ,
311 His Friend's Wife
312 Marrying Off a Daughter
313 Secrets of a Princess Pfeti) DC Koclc
314 Love and Passion "
315 The Strange Will ,
316 A Mother's Sacrifice. -.,
317 Betrayed , *
318 Love's Vigil
319 Love and Jealousy
320 Her Husband's Friend ,
321 His Hearth Delight
322 Crime of a Countess
323 His Father's Crime
324 Eugenie's Confession Henry Greville
THE FRENCH FICTION LIBRARY.
326 Wanted, A Conscience .Henry Grevillo
327 Elyria, by the author of Deserted
328 The Millionaire's Wife Allen
329 A Crooked Path, . . .by the author of the*Freres
330 Scarlet Letter . . .,N. Hawthorne
331 Amours of Phillippie. Octave Feuillet
332 Adventures of a Flirt M. Rutledge
333 Exiles of Siberia. Tissot
334 The Fugitives
335 Led Astray .Van Loon
336 A Sinner's Sentence .A. Larder
337 Jealous Husband "
338 Pierre Goriot .".".. . .Balzac
339 The Flower Girls of Marseilles Emile Zola
340 Claude's Confession "
341 Nana's Brother "
342 Germinal
343 Mysteries of the Court of Napoleon. . "
344 Stranglers of Paris Beloi
345 La Grande Florine Belot
346 The Devil's Die .'.'.' .' Alter
347 Michael Strogoff . , '. Jules Verne
348 Romantic Adventures of a Milkmaid. .T. Hardy
349 Strange Adventures of Lucy Smith.Mrs. Phillips
350 Jennette's Repentance George Elliott
351 Countess Eva J. H. Shorthouse
352 An Old Man's Love Anthony Trollippe
353 The Black Venus Adolphe Belot
I. & M. OTTENHEIMER
321 W. Baltimore St. Baltimore, Md.
Kellar's Wizard's Manual
One Dollar Book Reduced to 25cts.
Secrets of Magic Black
Art, Ventriloquism
and Hypnotism
Fully Explained
and Illustrated.
In this advertisement we
mention but a few of the
many wonders that every
person can perform after
reading the Wizard's
Manual. It actually con-
tains more information than
all other such books com-
bined.
SECRETS
How Hypnotize
Ventriloquism.
How to Bat Fire.
How to Bring a Dead Bird to Live.
How to Change Cards and Money.
How to Change a Card in a Box.
The Card in the Egg.
The Obedient Watch,
The Multiplying Mirror.
How to Make the Pass.
How to make a piece of Money
Sink Through a Table.
How to Cut a Man's Head Off.
How to Eat Knives and Forks.
How to Cook an Omelet in a Hat.
How to Tear a Handkerchief in
Pieces and Make it Whole again.
,Thc Phantom at Command.
Every Secret is unfolded
so clearly that even
children can learn.
REVEALED
How to Put a Ring Through One't
Check.
How to Cnt Your Arm Off Without
Hurt or Danger.
How to Draw a Card Through Your
Nose.
How to Turn Water Into Wine.
How to Break a Gentlemen 's Watch*
The Magic Twelve.
The Mystical Dial.
How to Make a Lady Fall Back-
ward.
How to Make a Lady Sleep.
How to do all kinds of Card Tricks.
How to Do All The Latest Coin
Tricks.
How to Do Hundred of other Mar*
vellous Feats of Legerdemain.
SENT POSTPAID FOR 25 CENTS
I. &, M. OTTENHEIMER
321 W. Baltimore St. Baltimore, Mo
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY
BERKELEY
Return to desk from which borrowed.
This book is DUE on the last date stamped below.
fOSepWHT
LD 21-100m-9,'48(B399sl6)476
YB 75 1 76'
966804
THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY