The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1888-06-02 00:00:00

CHAPTER XXXVl.—(Continwl.)

As the excessive rolling of the ship subsided, Rose
recovered from the death-like faintness that had op-
pressed her; and she was now able to sit up and
Speak with her friend. Mrs. Pierre placed herself
beside her, and taking her hand, said—
" Our ship has been so seriously dismantled, Rose,
that the captain is steering for New York, which place
we shall probably reach to-morrow night."
Rose's face brightened, and she quickly said—
" Then I can return to London by a direct liner at
Once; and the storm, after all, will prove a fortunate
thing for me."
"But, my darling girl, your uncle and myself have
determined on a new arrangement, which will obviate
all your mother's objections to your continuance with
U. lam so anxious to keep my own Rose with me
—to afford her the pleasure I know this trip will give
her—that I have yielded to the solicitations of Mr.
Chard to become his wife before we proceed on our
voyage."

Rose regarded her with extreme surprise; but she
found nothing to say. Mrs. Pierre went on—
"It is solely on your account, Rose, that I consented
to so unusual a proceeding. lam afraid your mother
may insist on your return to her, unless, as the wife
OF your uncle, I have a claim upon you. To satisfy
Mrs. Chard's scruples, your uncle and myself have
concluded that it will be best to hurry our marriage a
few days. We shall be united in an Episcopal church
In New York as soon after our arrival there as pos-
sible. Then we will write to your mother, and claim
You as our guest until our return to England. What
ao you say to this arrangement, my love ?"
"I scarcely know what to say. Uncle George
Should best know what will promote his happiness. I
have no right to set up my judgment in opposition to
his; but the charm of the voyage is over to me. I
now only wish to get safely on shore once more and
return to mamma."

"I am sorry to hear you say that, Rose, for your
uncle will be deeply hurt if you refuse to go on with
US, After risking Mrs. Chard's displeasure to take
you with us, it is right that you should at least prove
to him that you are grateful. I warn you that he will
never consent that you shall return to England before
carrying out our plans of a visit to Cuba. If you re-
fuse to accompany us further, there is an end to the
proposed marriage till we reachMirandola ; for I only
consented to Mr. Chard's wish,
,to enable me to retain
you with me."

To much exhausted to contend with the strong will
With which she had to cope, Rose sank back upon her
Pillow, and faintly said—
"I suppose my uncle will do with me as he chooses,
and I cannot defy his authority. If he insists that I
shall re-embark with you, I have no alternative but
to consent, though I dread the continuation of this
voyage inexpressibly. I look forward to no pleasure
at its termination, for that which seemed so charm-
ing in anticipation now fills me with a vague dread
that I cannot throw off. I have an intuitive feeling
that evil will come to me through my separation
from my mother."
"That's because you have never been so far away
from her before. All these fancies are but the off-
spring of debility and discouragements. To-morrow
you will view our plans with different feelings; only
Wait till the vital principle rallies from the severe
shock your system has received; and see what your
Inclinations will be when you feel quite well again. I
am sure I would not have you do anything that would
render you unhappy. It will be no gratification to
me to force you to become the companion of my
bridal trip, if your own inclinations are so violently
Opposed to it. If you insist on returning to your
mother, I will induce your uncle to take you back
himself, and leave me to go on under the care of the
captain. It will change all our plans, and render him
very unhappy, but anything is better than to incur
your mother's displeasure by compelling you to make
a visit which is distasteful to you. lam hurt that it
Should be so, Rose, but I see that the wish to sever
yourself from me just as I am about to stand in so
near a relation to you, is paramount to every other.
Why have you ceased to love me? Why should
you fear to go with me? Do you mistrust me,
Rose?"

Poor Rose, thus harangued, could only reply—
"Oh, no, you misunderstand me—you misconceive
my feelings. It is only the yearning desire to see
mamma; to feel that I am beside her, which makes
me so apprehensive. I will not be selfish dear Mrs.
Pierre; I will struggle against these idle fears, and ac-
company you to Mirandola. I shall be better to-
morrow; pray tell my uncle that I acquiesce in his
arrangements; will seek to give you both as little
trouble as possible."
"Now you are again my own Rose," said the wily
syren, and she tenderly kissed the pale cheek on which
the brilliant damask had so lately glowed.
Rose was too young to feel that she had the right
of remonstrance. Accustomed to implicit obedience
to her uncle, reared by her mother with the greatest
respect for him, she naturally thought what he de-
sired must be proper for her, and she resigned herself
to the necessity of going forward on the path he had
marked out for her.

By the time the steamer reached New York, the
effect of the storm had in a measure worn away, and
her interest• in what was passing around her began to
revive. They removed to one of the principal hotels
while the ship was refitting, and took possession of an
elegant suite of apartments.
Mr. Chard lost not a moment in making arrange-
ments for his marriage. A license was procured
within a few hours after their arrival, and taking
the two ladies in a carriage with himself they were
driven to the residence of an Episcopal clergyman,
where the ceremony which mated the two was per-
formed.

The suddenness of the whole thing bewildered
Rose. She had expected the marriage to take place
before they returned to the ship, but not in quite so
precipitate a manner. When they again entered the
carriage, her uncle kissed her and said:
"I have now a claim upon you, Rose; and I insist
that you shall accompany my bride to her own home.
I will telegraph to your mother, and inform her of
what has occurred; I will ask her formal consent for
you to go on with us, if that will be any satisfaction
to you."
"Do, if you please, uncle. If Mamma Amy is con-
tented tl at I shall go with you, I think I can enjoy
the visit. Dear uncle, accept my sincere wishes for
your happiness, and that of your lovely bride. I
gladly greet her as my aunt, and promise her all the
affection due to her relationship." _ _

"Many thanks, my darling Bose," replied the bride,
stooping forward to receive her kiss. Rose was sur-
prised to feel that her lips were cold and tremulous,
and in her dark lustrous eyes was the glitter of un-
shed tears. These tokens of emotion filled her young
heart with sympathy, and she wondered if this
brilliant, glowing beauty, could indeed be attached to
her plain, uninteresting uncle with that deep and true
affection which, in her opinion, could alone hallow
the marriage tie. She turned with a shudder from
the doubt that assailed her, for it was too late now
to indulge it. Love, honour, faith had been pledged
to him, and for happiness or woe, these two fates had
become one.
Little time for reflection was left her; tor the
remainder of the day was consumed in visiting the
most interesting portions of the city, and in the even-
ing they attended a theatre. On the following
morning the announcement of the marriage appeared
in the daily papers, and immediately after breakfast
Mr. Chard came into their parlour with a despatch
in his hand which he said came from London. It only
contained the words: "Rose may go on with you and
your bride if she herself desires it. I trust you may
be happy. A. Chard."
"You see, my dear, here is your passport; now be
as happy as I wish my little girl to be; as happy as I
am. I tell you, Rose, that to-day I would not ex-
change places with a crowned king. I have won a
queen to walk with me upon my path in life, and I am
contented to be only her consort. I have now but
one wish near my heart, and that is to see my pretty
niece brilliantly married."
Rose was scarcely heeding his words; she was
reading again and again the brief telegram sent by
her mother, and feeling hurt that no particular
message was sent to herself. She abstractedly
said—
"You need not trouble yourself about:my marriage,
for I am in no hurry to give myself away; besides, I
know I shall never make what you will consider a bril-
liant match. Mamma Amy's ideas and yours do not
agree on this subject; and I consider myself bound to
abide by hers, rather than yours."
"We thall change all that, Bose; and a year hence
you will be thankful that it is so," said her new aunt,
with a bright smile. "But we will not discuss that
now. If the dead past can bury its dead,' the living
future must bring forth its fruits. There is no need to
force them; they will blossom and mature in due
time. Give me a portion of your loving heart, Rose,
and do not permit your mother to monopolise your
affections to the exclusion of other friends who feel
the deepest interest in your welfare."
"Indeed, you should not utter that reproach, for I
love you dearly; and mamma has always taught me
that to my uncle I owe the affection and obedience of
a daughter."
" 'Tis well that you understand your duty so well,
and I hope you will remember its obligations, should
anything arise to demand its use," said Mr. Chard.
Rose quickly answered—
"Of course I shall, uncle," but she felt uncom-
fortable, and did not quite understand the drift of
these remarks. She knew that Mr. Chard was op-
posed to her union with Ashton, but as that
possibility had not yet been discussed in her family,
she would not think that he had betrayed her unac-
knowledged preference Of the rising young lawyer to
his newly-wedded wife, with the purpose of arraying
her, too, against her own secret wishes and those of
her mother. She arose and said:
"I will write a long letter to mamma, and give her
an account of all that has happened since our de-
parture. Have you any message to send, uncle ?"
"Nothing, except my thanks for her congratulations.
Yes—you may tell her that I am as happy as she
wishes me to be. and proud of the beautiful wife I

shall bring back with me to eclipse the fairest in
London."

Rose nodded, smiled, and vanished.

Lonore raised her bright eyes to his face, and
languidly said—
"l d'o not desire to return to London for some
time yet. We will spend two months in Cuba, and
then, if my wishes have any weight with you, we will
go —"

- She paused, and he said—
" Where, my angel? Only express your wishes, and
they shall be gratified."
" Ah, you are too good! Take me to the Continent
of Europe. I have an earnest desire to visit Paris
again; to see Italy. And, besides, if we carry out our
plans with regard to Rose, some such bribe will be
necessary to reconcile her to the necessity of giving
up Ashton, and accepting his rival."
"Exactly—your forethought is charming. Yes—
we will go to Europe in the spring, and spend a year
in travelling. My affairs at home will not demand my
presence, and when Rose is safely married to Trevor,
Mr. Spring can easily arrange all that will be necessary
abour, their estate."

The bride half smiled at the facility with which
she could induce him to adopt her views, and act upon
them as if they were his own; yet a cold doubt sug-
gested itself as to how long that influence would last,
and what it could accomplish when her husband be-
came aware of facts which the next few weeks must
develop. She felt the need of some one to sustain her
through the approaching ordeal, and she found means
to wire a long message to Trevor without the know-
ledge of Mr. Chard.
"The die is cast, Alfred, and I am the wife of Mr.
Chard. I thought I should feel secure when the tie
was once cemented by the marriage ceremony, but I
do not. For the first time I begin to dread what may
ensue when he learns all my deceptions. He loves
me blindly, but should the veil be too suddenly rent,
I fear ha may recoil from me, and be willing to cast
me off. Yes, I fear it, for I wish to be loyal to him,
to live respectably with him, if I am permitted to do
so. I have secured Rose. Come to us before the
ship leaves New York, as we shall be detained three
weeks, I fortunately find, making repairs; you doubt-
less saw an account of the storm we encountered; it
really seems as if fate played into our hands, as this
detention will afford you the opportunity of joining
us. Mr. Chard has given me a positive pledge that in
six months from our union he will give you his niece
in marriage. He is so strongly opposed to her union
with Charles Ashton, that I have only to hint at the
possibility of such an occurrence to hasten him into
extreme measures. Come, but do not let Rose see
you till after the ship is fairly under way for Cuba.
Your own Losoßß.'

CHAPTER XXXVII.
ROSE PERCEIVES HER DANGER.

THE weather was delightful, and the steamer at length
left New York under the happiest auspices. Rose,
with the elastic hopefulness of youth had entirely
recovered her spirits and looked forward to the next
few weeks of her life as promising unalloyed enjoy-
ment. She had dispatched a long and affectionate
letter to her mother and received a few lines in reply,
giving Mrs. Chard's unreserved consent to her con-
tinuance with her uncle, till she could follow her to
Cuba and reclaim her in person.
Not a suspicion of the true object in removing her
from the protection of her mother, entered the mind
of Rose till the morning after their departure from New
York. She was sitting in the saloon with her
uncle and his wife, when Trevor entered, and
approached them with cordial greetings and warm
congratulations on their recent marriage. Rose was
too much surprised and annoyed to conceal her feel-
ings, and her reception was so chilling, tbathe bluntly
said—

"Really, Miss Chard, after sacrificing so much to
overtake you, I scarcely expected such a reception as
this. I broke every tie that bound me to London so
soon as I heard I could reach New York in time to
come on with you. What's that the poet fellow says
about the chain that lengthens as we go? I found
out after you left, that the chain would drag me after
you in spite of myself, so here I am, you see."
"I am only sorry that you permitted it to drag you
on so fruitless an errand, Mr. Trevor. I thought
we understood each other perfectly before I left
London, and if I had suspected that you were to be-
come the companion of our voyage, nothing should
have tempted me to accompany my uncle and his
wife."

She withheld the hand he would have taken, and
looked so much displeased, that Mr. Chard said, in a
tone of annoyance—
" Rose, I scarcely expected such conduct from you
to one of Mrs. Chard's best friends, one, too, whose
interests are so intimately bound up with your own,
that policy, at least, should induce you to treat him
with more consideration." _

Excuse me, uncle, but I understand my position to.
ward Mr. Trevor better than you do. I am not willing
to be guilty of the meanness of encouraging hopes
that must ultimately be disappointed, because my
interests are balanced against his. Let the decision
of the law be what it will, my hand is not the price
at which the property maybe secured to either party."
"There you may be mistaken, Rose; for in my
opinion it is the price, and will be given for it yet.
But this discussion is premature; Mr. Trevor is our
friend, and as such, I insist that you shall treat him
with a courtesy he has a right to claim. I knew that
he would join our party, and that should be a suffi-
cient warrant to you for its propriety. He has claims
on the estate of my wife, which are to be settled sm
our arrival in Cuba, and we thought it best for him to
join us without delay. As to Trevor's manner of talk-
ing, it is all nonsense, and should not be seriously
taken by you."
Rose listened to this long tirade with glowing
cheeks and a resentful heart. She began to see thd
meshes of the net so skilfully woven around her, and
she possessed sufficient spirit to resist the authority
which she felt was exerted in an unrighteous cause.
She calmly replied—
"l am more than willing to regard it as nonsense,
but if Mr. Trevor means nothing by them, I beg that
he will spare me the utterance of professions which
are deeply distasteful to me. I am willing to treat
him politely, but beyond civility he must not go."
" Pooh ! nonsense! you will change your mind
about this before many days have passed. Retire
with your aunt, and leave me to converse on business
with Mr. Trevor. Lonore, I beg that you will brim,
that headstrong child to reason. You know how to
persuade; use your powers now, and save me the
necessity of using harsh means with one whose
interests I have so deeply at heart."
Mrs. George Chard bowed, smiled graciously, and
twining her arm around the shrinking form of the
young girl, she led her into her state-room. When
there, she used all the eloquence of which she was
mistress to:reconcile her to the sudden appearance of
Trevor; she explained so plausibly the necessity of
his presence in Cuba when her own, property was
finally settled, that Rose was half persuaded that she
had been hasty and unjust. She felt that she must
endure his presence for a season, but she was resolute
to be circumspect in her conduct towards him, and
not permit those around her to gather any hope
from her manner that she could ever be wrought on
to accept him. Deception was odious to her, but
Rose began to feel that craft must be met by craft,
and on the events of the next few weeks. in all
probability, her earthly happiness depended..
How to escape from the snare into which she had
fallen was her next thought; and when she was left
alone, she tried to form a plan of action which would
promise some hope of deliverance from the fate she
now clearly perceived was designed for her by her
uncle and his wife. She knew how deeply interested
Mrs. George Chard was in accomplishing a union
between herself and Trevor, and she began to com-
prehend the manceuvres which had placed her in her
present position. To bring this about, Mrs. Pierre
had given her own hand to her uncle, and with a
sickening sense of desolation, she felt that only as
the wife of Trevor would she be permitted to leave
his protection.
Death, she believed would be preferable to such a
fate, but how :should she evade it P She was on her
way to a foreign land, completely in the power of
those who had already settled her future uestiny,
and she felt the certainty that after having dared so
much to get her in their power they would never
stop short of the end to be attained. In the seclusion
of Mirandola she would be forced to give her hand
to this unscrupulous man, and her weak uncle, under
the influence of his wife, would be her most powerful
oppressor.

*l'hus Rose clearly perceived the evils that menaced
her, without seeing any hope of release; she could
only maintain outward calmness for the present
and resolved to watch passing events, that she might
avail herself of any chance of escape that should
present itself. After the appearance of Trevor on
board, the few passengers with whom any acquaint-
ance had been formed were kept at a distance by the
reserve of Mr. Chard and his wife; and over Rose so
strict a surveillance was kept up, that she found it
impossible to communicate with them with any degree
of freedom.