Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1896-10-09
CRUEL
=AS-
THE CRAVE, ,
The Secret Of DunraVen
Castle.
BY ANNIE ASHMORE,
Author of Faithful Margaret" ETC.. Etc
CHAPTER vII.-Contlnued.

OF her proud eyes, ana OILY leellBg IndI
she might betray her thrilling hope and
fear unless she changed her position.
Still holding her hand, he rose with
her, and spoke On with imperiOus urgen-
cy. Speak; do you grant my request,
or must take my own?"
A stifcd sob came from her very
= heart; she could not comprehend him.
~The- the namo?" she stammored.
"What is it?"
"Whatl YOU do not guess?' cried he,
with fierce DISQUALIFICATION a ance
of satanic mirth crossed his la'e, anx-
ious face. She tore her hand from him
in wild revu sion Of shame and wrath
"How should | guess the new object OF
your vagrant fancy?" demanded she,
disdainfully
"No, no; this is no fancy" exclaimed
Accring ton, forgetting every lessor emo
tion in his fervor, "thiS is the best love
of my life; | grew nObor merely by
musing On her; she is my peace, nay
happiness; without her | can never be
complete-my golden-tressod Aurora!"
"IIer name?" breated Mrs. Deliamere
with b GODDESS lips and dilatcd eyes, like
one fascinated by t rrOr.
"Oh, true, you c aim formal an
nouncoment," said AccringtOn, recover
ing himself 81 love your daughter Love
day, dear madam, and crave her for my
wife"
The tide of Mrs Del amcru's feelings
reached its highc t point of horror.
"My daughter your W fe." she ex-
claimed bitter y, with a recoiling gest-
ure. al shall never CONSENT Such q
Il [ ho oIhcrr0nf - n nf
ural instinct"
"You refusc!" said Accrington with
flashing eyes. ais tho past, which l
have outli,cd, so sweet to you that 1t
rendersssuch a union unnatural?"
~ But he could not goa her into consent
thus; it was her chi.d'S happiness sho
was defending she could suffer humili-
atin3 taunts for her sake.
ait is impossible or that and every
ground" So she, her voice shaken
with passionate repugnance. "You are
q treacherous man; there have been
falsenesses In your life that even have
seen You cannot have my daughter.
Also, her heart is engaged"
She shook off b grasping hand from
her caslmeres, and hastened away
But not far; before she ha taken a
Nhalf dozen steps he was by her, look
ing into J. er face with a laughing devil
in each of his eyes.
There can be but one explanati of
this resistance" said he. "You love me
yet"
She stood looking up at him, her eyes
flashing with iercc scOrn; her hands
locked together to crush down the wild
forces within her which threatened to
leap cut in some yengefuI act
"You are craven" she said, with
something grating in her sweet tones
"If my heart could still cling to man
like YOU l should tear it from my breast.
You are false, l shrink from you, l
despise yon; is that love!
She waited a moment, with glowing
eyes fastened upon him, for any reply
he might venture to make, but as he
made none, only gnawod his lip in
Speechless humiliation, s g turned quick
", and passed from his view with her
ewn silent, sweeping gra c.
He returned tJ the fountain and
threw himself once m, re upon the stone
seat with muttered maledicto on.
He had not believed she could defy
him. he had not prepared him OF for
the open exhibition OF her 81 orn.
Conscious of his powers Of manage
ment, he had thought to- manipulate
Mrs. Delamere through her wounded
pride until she would give him her con-
sent to win Loveday to save herself from
the uspicion Of loving him yet
She had laughed him to scorn, and
he was vulnerable to tho shame Of be-
70 foar ond
hate her.
Many thoughts passed through his
busy brain. He recalled his various
loves and how sincere each had been in
its time. How much this proud. impe ia
beau y, Laura, had been to him in her
dayl how sweet and warm had been
that early ovel and how he had SUI
fered when she cast him aside for a
richer mattel
Ah! she deserved to suffer in her turn;
he should not spare her.
Then a wild memory OF Enge 'onde
Inchcapo few Ike o red-hOt bo t
through his soul, her ma iestic purity,
her Lnsullied fidelity, and her bitter
fate.
He clenched his hand and drove the
blighting thought away with heartfelt
imprecat on.
Then sto,c the image Of Loveday Del
lamere upon him, tender, softly; no
shadow of mortihcati or remorSe
blurred that mem ry; he mused upon
her dawn-like youth and innocence, her
sunny bcau,y, which rad ated pure Oy,
and he craycd for her with passionate
inten 'ity as the wret he'd era for lap
pine S
Then he revi wed tie SIS tance just
offered to his desire, a laughed sar-
donic lily
He would brush ide this opposing
will as Ii 1t were cOAweb across his
Iath. let who might suffer
CHAPTER VIII.
CALAIS, I HAVE A RIvALln
Was it true that the dashing Scotch
belle, Merrion Rae, had fallen in love
with young Auberon Crecy?
The ancient siby Carisbrooke said 0,
but then she said many foOlish things,
and saw twice as far through mill
ct re as other people.
When Accr ngton returns to the more
immediate scene of gayety, he finds a
dance on the grass in progression. the
musi hidden b hind a ia leafy screen,
onI fOxvnrv lanke hOundino tho hall