Only a girl's love
servant opened the door of the boudoir, and there stood the tall,
graceful, lady-like figure of Lilian.
Stella sprang forward and caught her in her arms, with a cry that
brought Leycester bounding up-stairs.
The two girls clung to each other for at least five minutes, crying
softly, and uttering little piteous monosyllables, after the manner of
their kind; then Lilian turned to Leycester.
"Oh, Ley, don't be angry. I've come!" she cried.
"So I see, Lil," he said, kissing her. "And how glad we are I need not
say."
"And she shall never go again, shall she?" exclaimed Stella, with her
arm round the fragile form.
"Why, I don't mean to!" said Lilian, piteously. "You won't send me
away, will you, Stella? I can't live without him, I can't indeed. You
will let me stay, won't you? I shan't be in the way. I'll creep into a
corner, and efface myself; and I shan't be very much trouble, because I
am so much stronger now, and--oh, you will let me stay?"
There is no need to set down in hard, cold, black letters their answer.
"There is only one thing more I want to make my happiness complete,"
said Stella; and they knew that she meant the reconciliation of
Leycester with the old people.
So Lilian stayed, and made an additional sunshine and joy in the little
house; and it amused Leycester to see how soon she too fell at the feet
of the new beauty and worshipped her.
"If any one could be too good for you, Ley," she said, "Stella would be
that one."
Well, time passed; the season was at its height, and the countess came
to town. The earl had been in his place in the Upper House from the
beginning of the season, of course; but the countess had remained at
the Hall nursing her disappointment. She came up in time for one of
the State balls, at which her presence was indispensable. It was the
great official ball of the season, and crowded to excess. The countess
arrived with the earl just before the small hours, and after the usual
ceremonies and exchanges of salutations with the great world which she
had left for so many months, she had time to look round the room. She
did so with a little inward tremor, for she knew that Leycester and
"his wife" were to be present. To her relief--and disappointment--they
had not arrived. For all her pride and hauteur the mother's heart ached.
But if they were not there, their reputation had preceded them. She
heard Stella's name every five minutes, heard the greatest in the land
regretting her absence, and wondering what kept her away.
Presently, toward two o'clock, there was a perceptible stir in the
magnificent salon, and the murmur went up:
"Lord and Lady Trevor!"
The countess turned pale for a moment, then looked toward the door
and saw a beautiful woman--or a girl still--entering, leaning upon
Leycester's arm. Society does for a man or woman what a lapidary does
for a precious stone. It was precious when it first came into his
hands, but when it leaves them it is polished! Stella had become, if
the word is allowable when applied to her, the pink of refinement and
delicacy, "polished." She had learnt, unconsciously, to wear diamonds,
and that with princes. As she came in now, a crowd of "the best" people
came round her and did homage, and the countess, looking on, saw with
her own eyes, what she had heard rumored, that this daughter-in-law of
hers, this penniless niece, had become a power in the land. It amazed
her at first, but as she watched she lost her wonder. It was only
natural and reasonable; there was no more beautiful or noble looking
woman in the room.
The band began to play a waltz, the crowds began to move, dancing and
promenading. The countess sat amongst the dowagers, pale and smiling,
but with an aching heart. Where was Leycester? Presently four persons
approached her. Charlie, with Stella on his arm, Leycester with another
lady. Suddenly, not seeing her, Charlie stopped, and Stella turning,
found herself face to face with the countess.
For a moment the proud woman melted, then she hardened her heart and
turned her head aside.
Leycester, who been been watching, passed in front of her, and he put
his hand out.
"Leycester!"
But he drew Stella's arm within his--she was white and trembling--and
looking his mother in the face sternly, passed on with Stella.
"Take me home, Leycester," she moaned. "Oh, take me home! How can she
be so cruel?"
But he would not.
"No," he said. "This is your place as much as hers. My poor mother, I
pity her. Oh, pride, pride! You must stay."
Of course the incident had been noticed and remarked, and, amongst the
persons who had seen it was a prince of the blood.
This distinguished individual was not only a prince but a
gentle-hearted man, and as princes can take things as they please, he
disregarded the best name on his ball programme and walking straight up
to Stella, begged with that grand humility which distinguishes him, for
the honor of her hand.
Stella, pale and beautifully pathetic in her trouble, faltered an
excuse, an excuse to a royal command.
But he would not take it.
"A few turns only, Lady Trevor, I implore. I will take care of her,
Leycester," he added in a murmur, and he led Stella away.
They took a few turns, then he stopped.
"You are tired," he said: "will you let me take you into the cool?"
He drew her arm through his, but instead of "taking her into the cool,"
as he phrased it, in his genial way, he marched straight up to the
countess.
"Lady Wyndward," he said; and his clear, musical voice was just audible
to those around, "your daughter has been too gracious to her devoted
adherents, and tired herself in the mazy dance. I resign her to your
maternal care."
Stella would have shrunk back, but the countess, who knew what was due
to royalty, rose and took the fair, round arm in her matronly one.
"Come," she said, "his royal highness is right--you must rest."
All in a dream, Stella allowed herself to be led into a shaded recess,
all fresh with ferns and exotica. Then she woke, and murmuring--
"Thank you," was for flying; but the countess held out her arms
suddenly, and for the first time--well, for many years--burst into
tears, not noisy sobbing, but quiet, flooding tears.
"Oh, my dear!" she murmured, brokenly. "Forgive me! I am only a proud,
wicked old woman!"
Stella was in her arms in an instant, and thus Leycester found them.
When old Lady Longford heard of this scene, she was immensely amused in
her cynical way.
"It would have served you right my dear," she told the countess, "if
she had turned round and said, 'Yes, you are a very wicked old woman,'
and walked off."
So Stella's cup of happiness was full to the brim.
It is not empty yet, and will not be while Love stands with upraised
hand to replenish it.
She is a girl still, even now that there is a young Leycester to run
about the old man's studio and upset the pictures and add to the
litter, and it is the old painter's oft expressed opinion that she will
be a girl to the end of the chapter.
"Stella, you see," he is fond of remarking, whenever he hears her
sweet voice carolling about the little cottage--and it is as often
heard there as at the Hall--"Stella, you see, was born in Italy, and
Italians--good Italians--never grow old. They manage to keep a heart
alive in their bosoms and laughter on their lips at a period when
people of colder climes are gloomy and morosely composing their own
epitaphs. There is one comfort for you, Leycester, you have got a wife
who will never grow old."
[THE END.]
Great Stories by a Great Author
_The New Fiction Series_
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Letters of congratulation have been showered upon us from all over the
country by enthusiastic readers who say that had we not announced that
Mr. Cook wrote all of these stories, it would have been very difficult
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The reason is that Mr. Cook is a widely traveled man and has,
therefore, been enabled to lay the plot of one of his stories in the
"land of little rain," another on the high seas, another in Spain and
Spanish America, and to write a railroad story that a reader of thirty
years' experience decided must have been written by a veteran railroad
man. If stories of vigorous adventure are wanted, stories that are
drawn true to life and give that thrill which all really good fiction
ought to give, the books listed here are what you want.
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_By WILLIAM WALLACE COOK_
1--The Desert Argonaut.
2--A Quarter to Four.
3--Thorndyke, of the "Bonita."
4--A Round Trip of the Year 2000.
5--The Gold Gleaners.
6--The Spur of Necessity.
7--The Mysterious Mission.
8--The Goal of a Million.
9--Marooned in 1492.
10--Running the Signal.
11--His Friend, the Enemy.
12--In the Web.
13--A Deep Sea Game.
14--The Paymaster's Special.
15--Adrift in the Unknown.
16--Jim Dexter, Cattleman.
17--Juggling With Liberty.
18--Back From Bedlam.
19--A River Tangle.
20--An Innocent Outlaw.
21--Billionaire Pro Tem and the Trail of the Billy Doo.
22--Rogers of Butte.
23--In the Wake of the "Simitar."
24--His Audacious Highness.
25--At Daggers Drawn.
26--The Eighth Wonder.
27--The Catspaw.
28--The Cotton Bag.
29--Little Miss Vassar.
30--Cast Away at the Pole.
31--The Testing of Noyes.
32--The Fateful Seventh.
33--Montana.
34--The Deserter.
35--The Sheriff of Broken Bow.
36--Wanted--A Highwayman.
37--Frisbie, of San Antone.
38--His Last Dollar. Published during Jan., 1913.
39--Fools for Luck. Published during March, 1913.
40--Dare, of Darling & Co. Published during May, 1913
41--Trailing the "Josephine."
BERTHA CLAY LIBRARY
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The only complete line of Bertha M. Clay's stories. Many of these
titles are copyrighted and cannot be found in any other edition.
ALL TITLES ALWAYS IN PRINT
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your dealer does not keep them, and will not get them for you, send
direct to the publishers, in which case four cents must be added to
the price per copy to cover postage.
1--A Bitter Atonement.
2--Dora Thorne.
3--A Golden Heart.
4--Lord Lisle's Daughter.
5--The Mystery of Colde Fell; or, "Not Proven."
6--Diana's Discipline; or, Sunshine and Roses.
7--A Dark Marriage Morn.
8--Hilda's Lover; or, The False Vow; or, Lady Hutton's Ward.
9--Her Mother's Sin; or, A Bright Wedding Day.
10--One Against Many.
11--For Another's Sin; or, A Struggle for Love.
12--At War With Herself.
13--Evelyn's Folly.
14--A Haunted Life.
15--Lady Damer's Secret.
16--His Wife's Judgment.
17--Lady Castlemaine's Divorce; or, Put Asunder.
19--Two Fair Women; or, Which Loved Him Best?
21--Wife In Name Only.
22--The Sin of a Lifetime.
23--The World Between Them.
24--Prince Charlie's Daughter.
25--A Thorn in Her Heart.
26--A Struggle for a Ring.
27--The Shadow of a Sin.
28--A Rose In Thorns.
29--A Woman's Love Story.
30--The Romance of a Black Veil.
31--Redeemed by Love; or, Love's Conflict; or, Love Works Wonders.
32--Lord Lynne's Choice.
33--Set in Diamonds.
34--The Romance of a Young Girl; or, The Heiress of Hill-drop.
35--A Woman's War.
36--On Her Wedding Morn, and Her Only Sin.
37--Weaker Than a Woman.
38--Love's Warfare.
40--A Nameless Sin.
41--A Mad Love.
42--Hilary's Folly; or, Her Marriage Vow.