Evening star., 1908-01-26
BY
BARONESS ORGY,
Autho, OF
"BEAU BROCADE."

would have kissed his eminenccs mana
! but the latter withdrew 1t gently.
Are there marauders about. lrienu
-! watchman?'' he condescended - ASK, IS
the man prepared to 60 Ihou dos.
not appear to be very strong ,or se.
stouuy armed.
/ Your eminence-s pardon" replied the
man. its for woman L am .olu 10
| watch"
"A woman?
by her grace, the Duchess OF LIN
| coins orders IN,
| sudden interest
"Mavhap some thief or vagrapt, your
eminence.
Ave mayhap. Then go thy way;
good watchman. We'll not hinder thee'
Slowly the man shuffied off, >.inSiing
his lanthorn before him. The cardlhai
watched the patch of brilliant light un-
til it disappeared behind projecting
bosquet.
His eminence had become exceedingly
| thoughtful. 90,
Know you aught of this. my lord?
he asked OF Lord E.veringham VINO
also seemed wrapped in meditation.
= suspect something s,n of hs,e II eePl'ea IS a
story afioat-gossip I thought :t-that
one of the queens maids of honor mas
been playing some curious pranAs at
night-and in Disguise
indeed. hHo" YOU WIN '.io '
is?"
No. nor can l even guess. All the
maids of honor are young and IuiI oi
fun. and no doubt the girlish prlnks
were harmless enough. but her maJesly
is very austere and rigidly stern Wnere
questions of decorum are concerned
$50 the Duchess of Lincoln. like
watchful dragon, would eaten the l'H
mscreant in fiagrante delicto, Ell! scoh-
tinuad his emlnenee.
ll,- bn ttirn along
the path recently followed by the night
watchman His eminence would nave
scorned the idea of any superstition IN
fiuencing his precise. calculating mlnd'
but, nevertheless, he had strahSe pe
lief in the guiding hand OF chance, ana
somehow at the present moment lie ilad
an unaccountable preSentment tnai inns
gossip anent some young Sifl lloiic
would in some way exercise an lniiueiice
on his present schemes.
AS If in immediate answer to these YER!
thoughts a woman's frightened scream
was suddenly heard close by, followed oy
muttered curses in the Waterman S sruH
voice.
What was that? exclaimed EHSiihs
ham inVoluntarily.
..The lady i'm fagrante delicto, me
seems" rejoined the cardinal quietly.
And both men began to walk more rap
idly in the direction whence mad come
the womans scream. The next Ie"
and soon In the gloom they distinguished
the figure of the old watchman apparent, Z,
~ struggling with woman, whose head
and shoulders were enveloped III some
sort of veil or hood. The lanthorn' eNi-
IDENTIFY violently thrown on the ground.
had rolled down the path some little
distance from this group.
The woman was making obvious ana
frantic efforts to get away. whist the
old watchman eXerted all TINS strength
lzIl Df Iay- -rrc
What is it to thee. man. what l am
doing here the woman gasped In the
midst of her struggles. Let me go, 1
say.''
She was evidently not very strong. for
the old watchman. shriveled and shrunk.
her She had lost her balance. and was
soon down on her knees. With vigo-
rous wrench the man contrived to force
her arms behind her back; he held them
there with one hand. and with the other
was grouping in his wallet for a length
of rope.
Not before thou hast given good ac
count of thyself before the Duchess of
Lincoln. my wench.' he said. as he threw
the rope round her shoulders and very
deXterouSly contr1Ved TO plnion nef arms
behind her.
"Her grace" she murmured, contemp-
tuously. 81 have naught to do with her
grace-let me go, man: thou hast no right
to tie me thus"
Now then. my girl. get up. will yeo and
come along quietly with NELL not hurt
ye-if ye come along quietly"
The man helped her to struggle to her
feet Her veil cloak had evidently
fallen from her head for the cardinal and
Lord Everingham. who were silently and
with no small measure of curiosity watch
ing the strange spectacle, caught the CLINT
of woman's face and of bright golden
hair.
The watchman was trying to lead her
away toward the palace.
Let me go, tell thee" muttered the
girl with persistent obstinacy. Il have i'm
portant business here. and
But the old man laughed derisively.
Important business?-and prithee with
whom Wench?"
with the Duke of Wessex," she re-
torted after a slight hesitation, There
now wilt let me go?'
| But the watchman laughed more I'M
moderately than before.
| "Oho.-ho. no, mo! that's a likely tale.
my wench-there's many young woman
has business with his grace, I'll warrant.
But thou'st best tell that tale to the
Duchess of Lincoln first Business with
the Duke of Wessex-ha, ha! ha."
MY friend" here interposed a gentle.
very urbane voice. "meseems thy zeal
somewhat outruns thy discretion. II this
child hath, indeed business with the Duke
OF Wessex. his grace might prefer that
thy head
The cardinal at sound of the duke s
name had gradually drawn nearer to
the group. Lord Everingham. impelled
by the same natural curiosity. had fol-
| lowed him.
You would wish to speak with his
grace. chld?" continued his eminence
with that same gentle benevolence which
| inspired an infinity of confidence in the
unwary: "dc you know him?"
+, THE watchman. astonished. abashed
very highly perplexed at this unexpected
| interference, was rendered absolutely
speechless. The girl had turned detiantly
| on her new interiocutor. whose outline
she could but vaguely distinguish in the
| darkness.
WHATS it to you?" she retorted with
obvious suspicion and A1istrust.
Not much | own replied the cardi-
| raj with imperturbable kindliness; II
only thought that being alone and per-
J haps frightened you would be glad oi
some help"
Your eminence stammecd
the watchman. who was trying to recover
/ his speech.
| "SiIence" commanded his eminence. II
wish to speak with this young woman
| alone
| The worthy Natchman had naught to
| do but to obey. There was no question
| ing an order given by so great a lord as
/ the Cardinal de Moreno himself. The
| good man discreetly Withdrew. his emf
nence quietly waiting until he was out
Of earshot.
Now child. have no fear said the
| cardinal gently Tell me-you wish to
! speak with the Duke of WesseX?
| She turned resolutely toward him.
| You'll take me to him." she asked.
| Perhaps he replied.