The Snare of the Fowler

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Cassell's Series of Copyright Novels. The Squire. By Mrs. Parr. The Snare of the Fowler. By Mrs. Alexander. A Modern Dick Whitting-ton. By James Payn. The Wrecker. By Robert Louis Stevenson and Lloyd Osbourne. Illustrated. The Little Minister. By J. M. Barrie. Leona. By Mrs. Molesworth. The New Ohio. A Story of East and West. By Edward Everett Hale. Sybil Knox, or Home Again : A Story of To-day. By Edward E. Hale. The Story of Francis Cludde. By Stanley J. Weyman. The Faith Doctor. By Dr. Edward Eggleston. Dr. Di_tm_inv's Wife. By Maurus Jokai. Translated from the Hungarian by F. Steinitz. CASSELL & COMPANY, Limited, London ; Paris &> Melbourne. 35-293 BV MRS. ALEXANDER, ADTHOB OF "THE WOOING O'T," " THE FRERES," "SECOND LIFE," J/ "MONA'S CHOICE," ETC. ETC. A. CASSELL & COMPANY, Limited: LONDON, PARIS $ MELBOURNE. 1892. [ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ] CONTENTS.

Chapter I. Matters Of Business

Among the passengers who alighted at Earl's Court from a Mansion House train one fine warm afternoon in July, was a short, dapper, wiry man, of uncertain age. He was exceedingly fresh and spruce in his attire, with light hay-coloured hair, whiskers a shade or two darker, and green-grey twinkling eyes. He carried a tightly rolled umbrella in one hand, and in the other a professional-looking black bag, new and shiny. His air and bearing were almost offensively prosperous and self-satisfied. He ran actively up-stairs, apologised effusively to a lady with whom he had almost come into collision, and leaving the station took the first turning on the right, which is that well-known and highly respectable street, Melford Road, which debouches on the older thoroughfare called Salisbury Avenue. The houses were of the correct " Queen Anne " pattern, in red brick, with bay windows, balconies, porches, and pediments, but on a diminished scale ; a quiet, orderly street, where the curtains usually looked fresh and the brasses were conscientiously polished.

Yet not a street suggestive of wealth or luxury — rather of genteel independence and severe self-respect, P With a certain air of familiarity the spruce waj' farer walked straight to the door of a house half-way down on the left side, and rang. The door was promptly opened by a grave-looking servant in black, with a beautiful white apron and cap, the latter decorated with black ribbons. " Can I see Mrs. Dallas ? " asked the visitor. " Yes, sir ; this way, sir," and she preceded him up stairs, past a small well-kept conservatory, to a door draped with some " greenery -yallery" art stuff; opening which, she ushered him into a pretty, comfortable drawing-room, saying in a subdued tone, " Mr. Deedes, if you please, 'm." A lady who was sitting at a writing-table in the usual smaller back room rose and came forward to meet him — a tall lady, with a remarkably graceful, though rather full, figure.

She was dark — very dark, and pale ; but her lips were red — redder than seemed quite natural. She was carefully dressed in fresh widow's weeds, and her thick black hair showed in strong contrast to the soft snowy whiteness of her cap. " You are very good to come so early," she said, with a smile, while her great lustrous dark eyes looked kindly on him, as she held out her hand — a very small hand, but darker than her face, and glittering with gems ; she spoke low, with some deliberation, and her voice sounded slightly guttural : " I know you are a very busy man." " Your affairs are my business at present," said Mr. Deedes, in a friendly but respectful tone. " I have brought the papers you wished to see." He laid his bag on a small ottoman, and took the chair to which she pointed. " I trust you feel more composed — more your self?"

" Thank you ! I find work my best help — and I have much to do." " Just so ; yet you are spared much trouble and vexation by your late husband's action in settling his property on you during his lifetime. It has also saved j'ou a considerable sum." The lady sighed. " He was always so infinitely thoughtful for me in every way — too thoughtful. The present is unspeak ably desolate, now that his helping hand is withdrawn from me for ever." She paused abruptly, as though striving to control her feelings. Mr. Deedes preserved a sympathetic silence, and seemed to study the pattern of the carpet with much attention. " I must not waste your time, my dear sir," she resumed, in a firmer voice. " I have asked you for this information as I must know how I stand exactly before I make any plans ; and I confess I feel anxious for change of air and scene."

" Very naturally ! I do not think there is much unknown to you in Colonel Dallas's affairs. That sum of five thousand three hundred, which you very wisely induced him to invest in Indian railway shares, is now worth three-eighths per cent, more than he bought in. I have brought you a list of securities, and some notes as to the mortgage." He proceeded to unlock his bag and produce sundry documents which he and his client discussed for the next quarter of an hour with a degree of com prehension on the lady's part that, if possible, in creased the respectful admiration with which her legal adviser regarded her. He had begun to return some of the papers to their receptacle, and to lay aside b others to be retained by Mrs. Dallas, when she rose and rang the bell. " I am forgetting that you must sorely need a cup of tea," she said, with her grave, soft smile.

" How selfish sorrow and preoccupation make one ! — Tea at once," she added, when the servant appeared. " It is indeed fortunate that my dear husband's care spared me the cost of proving his will and of succes sion duty. As it is, I shall have a greatly diminished income— his half-pay and pension are very inade quately replaced by the small amount left to me. Do not imagine I complain; my tastes and habits are simple enough, but I feel anxious to push my son's fortunes. You know he failed, through ill-health, to pass for the Indian Civil Service, and I succeeded in getting him into Messrs. Overton and Colville's house — they are connections of his father, my first husband. He seems to be doing well, but he has cost me money. However, I thank Heaven this tie is left to me." She rose and went to a small tea-table near the bay window, through which came the scent of flowers.

The tea was daintily served, though the equipage was inexpensive, save for a pretty, old-fashioned silver tea pot ; but the tea itself was fragrant and of the best ; the thin brown bread-and-butter was fresh, and the biscuits were delicate and crisp. Mr. Deedes was evi dently quite alive to the merits of afternoon tea, and for a few minutes there was silence, while the fair widow's guest imbibed the cheering cup. " You were, I think, somewhat uneasy respecting that five thousand," he resumed. "But it is quite safe. It is included in the deed of gift which the colonel executed little more than a year ago. I suppose the late Mr. Frederic Dallas left little or no property ? " Mrs. Dallas shook her head. " A mere trifle — the remains of his capital, on which he had been living for some years," she replied.

" He was indeed a rolling stone, poor fellow ! I never saw him, but my husband was greatly attached to him, though they rarely met after their boyish days. It is from a desire to carry out his wishes that I have, perhaps imprudently, undertaken the supervision and partial support of Mr. Frederic Dallas's daughter." " His daughter ? I thought he died unmarried ? " " He did, I am very sorry to say, which makes the case a peculiarly hard one. Colonel Dallas, when he retired and left India to join me in London, travelled from Brindisi to Munich, where his brother had resided for some time. My husband found him dying of fever, too far gone to speak, but I beheve he made some gesture as if he would commit this girl to his brother's care. So Colonel Dallas, who was most generous and impulsive, brought her to me.

I confess I thought it extremely imprudent, and I persuaded him to place her at school. She was only fifteen, terribly untrained, and altogether difficult. I have impressed upon her the necessity of fitting herself to earn her own bread." " Of course, of course — poor young thing ! '* ejaculated Deedes. " It is a painful position." " Exceedingly painful," returned Mrs. Dallas. "Justly or unjustly, there is a prejudice against persons so situated, and this girl's conduct is not calculated to remove it. She is headstrong, and somewhat inclined to coquetry; indeed, I do not care to have her in the house with my son. It might be well to tell her the truth about herself, but Colonel Dallas was always averse to letting her know. In fact, he was perhaps weakly tender towards her ; but I hardly Hke to go against his wishes now he is gone."

" It would do no good to destroy her respect for her parents," said the lawyer gravely. " Such know ledge might harden as well as mortify her." " It is impossible to say," returned Mrs. Dallas coldly, and paused ; then, with a change of tone, she resumed, " I have not found the papers you thought might be amongst my late husband's, but I have not looked through half of them yet ; there are some of his brother's also, and the leases may be among them. The property is of little value, you say ? " " Little or none ; merely a couple of tumble-down houses in a country town ; but as these are the only part of his estate not included in the deed of gift to yourself, why, we must hand them over to Captain Forrester, his next-of-kin." " He is but a second or third cousin," said the widow, in a regretful tone.

" Even so ; Colonel Dallas had no nearer relative ; the family has dwindled sadly of late years." " I imagine it must have almost died out with my husband," she said thoughtfully. " Take another cup of tea, Mr. Deedes ? " " Thank you ! I really must exceed my usual allowance ; it is too good." After some further talk respecting investments and affairs generally, the lawyer rose to take leave, when a young man entered somewhat abruptly, exclaiming, " Mother ! " Then, seeing Deedes, he paused, and added, " I did not know you were engaged ! " " Good-day, Mr. Ashby," said the lawyer. " I need not trouble Mrs. Dallas any longer; I was just wishing her good-morning." "You must not let me shorten your visit," returned Ashby, politely offering his hand. He was like his mother, though darker and less good-looking.

His eyes especially resembled hers, save that they were sleepy -looking and more watchful. He was scarcely above middle height, slender and gracefully made, but decidedly un-English in aspect ; a very slight jet-black moustache marked his upper lip, and an almost constant caressing half-smile showed a range of dazzlingly white teeth. He looked like a mother's darling, and Mrs. Dallas's great dark eyes softened as they rested on him. " I met Myra as I came up from the train," he said, addressing her. " She was coming here. Will you see her ? " Mrs. Dallas hesitated half a moment, and then said — " Yes, tell her to come up." Young Ashby turned, and left the room, and his mother said quickly, in a low voice— " This is the girl we spoke of ! You will under stand my objections when you see her."

She had hardly uttered the words, when her son returned, and held the door open to permit a young lady in rather rusty black to walk in. She was tall and slight, with a white face, and eyes of rare, real dark blue— very sad, nearly tear ful eyes. A lot of nut-brown hair was turned back from her face, and not too tidily twisted in a roll, which showed below her shabby black straw hat, with its bows and ends of dusty black ribbon. Her skin was delicately but not pinkly fair, and though her nose was of the retroussd order, it seemed more pathetic than saucy ; an expressive mouth, not very small, was trying to smile, and succeeding tremulously, as she approached Mrs. Dallas, who rose and held out her hand. " Well, Myra ! " she said. " Oh ! " exclaimed Myra, catching the hand in both her own, " I am so awfully sorry for you !

Such a terrible loss as yours must break your heart. Why — why — would you not let me see him once, only once before he died ? He was my best, my only friend." " Do not excite yourself," said Mrs. Dallas gently. " The colonel deserved your deepest gratitude, and if you prove it by following my advice, you will find a friend in me." Mj'ra let go her hand, and pressing her handker chief to her eyes, wept silently for a minute or two, while Mr. Deedes, looking on with a keen sense of discomfort, thought that Mrs. Dallas's fear of this interesting, impulsive girl was not unfounded. "I must wish you good-morning," he said hur riedly. " You will let me know when you have com pleted your search ; or should you wish to see me before ? " " Thank you, my dear sir ! I can never forget your ever-ready kindness."

" Shrewd, sensible woman ! and deuced hand some," was the little lawyer's reflection as he left the house. " Shouldn't wonder if she found another husband. Sorry for that poor child, but I daresay the aunt — no, not her aunt — her father's sister-in-law — will be a kind, judicious friend to her." " I don't want him listening and prying here," thought his client. " Take some tea, Myra ! " she said aloud, in a civil tone. " Try not to give way to grief; self-control is a great power to all, but to those who have their bread to win. it is absolutely essential." " I am sure I know that ! " returned Myra. " And I believe I am better than I used to be ! but when I think that I shall never, never see Uncle Edward again, or hear his voice, I can't keep back the tears ! I could scream out ! " " Pray do not," said Mrs. Dallas, " or people will think I have a private lunatic asylum !

" and she looked rather sternly at her husband's niece. " People have been shut up for such unbridled emotion before this ! My loss is greater than yours, and I do not cry or scream ! " " Ah ! you have your son ; I have no one ! " said Myra, trying to control herself. " I wish my mother's son could console you, Myra," said Ashby, with a long look at the weeping girl. " Do dry your eyes, and take some tea or a glass of wine ! " Myra was silent for another moment, evidently struggling to compose herself ; then she said wearily — " No, thank you, I do not want anything." " Why did you want to see me, then, Myra ? " asked Mrs. Dallas. " I had waited so long thinking you would send for me, I grew afraid you would never see me again ; and though I know you do not like me, I do not want to be thrown off and — and disowned ; then Mrs. Fairchild constantly asks me what I am going to do, and I do not know what to say !

" " I daresay," replied Mrs. Dallas thoughtfully. " No one likes to be burdened with a girl — a helpless girl. What do you think of doing yourself, Myra ? " " I — I don't know. Have I no money at all, aunt ? " Mrs. Dallas shook her head sadly. " But," urged Myra, " my father had some ? We were not rich, but we had a servant, and everyone was paid somehow ! " "Your father was an artist, and, I suppose, sold his pictures." " Very few of them ; and latterly he painted very little. He was so unwell for a long time," replied Myra. " Then I fear he must have spent his capital ; at any rate, you may be sure your uncle did not rob you. For his sake, Myra, I am going to make you an allowance — something to help you to work for your self — for you cannot expect me to support you altogether." " No, certainly not !

I wish I could do without any help from you. I may later. What can I do ? I hate teaching ; and I know nothing well enough— I would rather be a servant ! " " Nonsense, Myra ! You have had great advan tages : you speak German, Itahan, and I believe you draw, you play " "I do nothing well," ejaculated Myra, with a desponding gestiu*e. " More shame for you, then. I hope you are not lazy ! However, I shall have a consultation with Mrs. Fairchild, who is very friendly to you, as soon as I see what allowance I can make you ; and you must remember you are no relation of mine, and you have no claim upon me." " I know that very well ! " said Myra, with increas ing composure ; " it is an act of charity on your part to give me anything ; but I thought, I did think, my dear good uncle would have remembered me — would have " She stopped abruptly, struggling to keep back her tears.

Ashby shifted his seat nearer to her, and whis pered in her ear. " Well, Myra, I assure you I did not influence him against you," said Mrs. Dallas, with cold composure. " I do not say you did. I do not suppose you did," said Myra. " I daresay he did not think of me ! Why should he ? After all, I had no real claim upon him ! But I told you I only came to ask you what I ought to say to Mrs. Fairchild. This morning she told me she had great difficulty in finding a German governess, and if I would undertake the class for two or three months, she would give me five pounds a quarter." " That is a fair offer," replied Mrs. Dallas. " What did you say in reply ? " " I said I would ask you. I could teach German pretty well ; and then I might paint a httle." " You had better ask Mrs. Fairchild to call on me to-morrow afternoon, if she can, and we will arrange something, at all events for the present."

" I wdl, aunt ; but she is busy ; she is going to Ramsgate next week. Still, I know she wants to see you." There was a moment's silence ; then, with heightened colour, Myra turned to Ashby, and said abruptly — " I wish you would go away, Lionel ! I want to speak to — to your mother." " Very well," said the young man, rising slowly. " But you need not mind me." As soon as the door closed behind him, Myra drew her chair nearer to Mrs. Dallas, and looking earnestly at her as if seeking for sympathy, she said hesitatingly — " I am so sorry to trouble you, but — but this is my only dress, and all the money I possess is tenpence halfpenny." " I do not imagine you are a good manager," returned Mrs. Dallas, knitting her brows. " However. I am willing to give you some money on account of the allowance I shall make you ; but pray be prudent."

She rose and took a note-book out of the drawer of her writing-table, from which she extracted a new, clean five-pound note. " There, Myra, make that go as far as you can. I would close with Mrs. Fairchild's offer ; and I may as well say that you may count on five pounds a quarter from me, so long as you con duct yourself to my satisfaction." Myra looked at her with surprise. " I did not think you would have been so generous to me, aunt ! " she exclaimed. " I wish you liked me better, so that I might feel more warmly grateful to you ; but I am obliged, very much obliged. One day I may earn enough to maintain myself; then I should be glad to relieve you, aunt." " I wish to be just, Myra, and I hope that gratitude to me will induce you to discourage my son's foolish fancy for you, which you know annoys me.

It is but a passing whim, but " " I always do discourage him ! " interrupted Myra somewhat vehemently. " I do not want his whims or his fancies, and I have no fancy for him, as you know very well, aunt." " I know nothing about what you feel or pretend to feel," said Mrs. Dallas, with an angry flash from her big black eyes. " But I beg you will not call me ' aunt,' now that your uncle is no more ; there is no connection between us." " I shall not forget, Mrs. Dallas," returned Myra, the tears gathering in her eyes. " I will not intrude any longer upon you." " Stay, Myra ; you must give me an acknowledge ment for that five pounds. Now you must expect no more for three months." She traced a few lines and gave Myra the pen to sign them. Then that young lady drew on her much-mended glove, and looking straight into the black eyes so sternly bent upon her, said — " I wdl not offer you my hand, for I do not think you would like to take it.

But I am thankful that for my dear uncle's sake you are generous to me. Good-bye." She was gone before Mrs. Dallas could reply. " That girl is a puzzle to me," she thought, her eyes stdl fastened on the door by which she had disappeared. " Is she stupidly proud and distrustful ? or is she stupid only ? I never could make her out ! As to her indifference to Lionel, that is rank affectation, probably to conceal some design upon the foolish boy. It is amazing that any man can care for such a colourless piece of unformed femininity ; and yet how fond the colonel would have been of her ! Well, it is a costly experiment, but I have done well in stopping her mouth. She will not trouble me much more." She returned to her seat by the tea-table, and sat for some minutes in deep thought. Meanwhile Myra descended the stairs slowly, and was passing through the hall when the dining-room door opened, and Lionel Ashby came out to interrupt her progress.

" I cannot let you go back alone, Myra, though you will not deign to give me your confidence ! " " Oh ! no ! no, Lionel ! You must not come with me ; I really do not want you. I am accustomed to go about alone, and it is quite unnecessary to make any fuss about me." " No matter ! If you do not want me, I want you, Myra ! You shall not treat me with such coldness and contempt," he added, his dark cheek mantling. " You are silly and provoking ! I cannot let you come — you will only vex your mother and Let me pass, Lionel ! " " Yes, you may pass," he said, stepping aside, :' but I will come with you to St. John's Wood." He took his hat from its peg, and followed her down the steps. " You only annoy me, Lionel," she exclaimed, as he walked beside her. " And I am not going to St. John's Wood ! " " Then where on earth are you going ?

" in a tone of great surprise. " To my friend Mrs. Keene." " What ! To that inn-keeping woman ! I can't say you have very refined taste, Myra ; and you know my mother does not like you to go to these low people." " I cannot help that ! Your mother has just told me I am not to consider myself her niece any longer, which has vexed me because she was treating me generously at the same time ; but Mrs. Keene is perfectly respectable, and her house is a private hotel. I only go to her own room, and see no one but herself and her grand-daughter. She is the only friend I have, and I am not going to give her up to please you or your mother. I wish you would go back ! Mrs. Dallas will be so annoyed ! — not more than I am." " Why are you so unkind, so hard, Myra ? Why will you not love me ? Other girls are ready enough to listen to me.

Why are you so proud and dis dainful ? " " I am not disdainful ! I just do not hke you that is, in the way you want— and I never shall. You are too conceited. You had better put me out of your thoughts and amuse yourself with the girls who do appreciate you." " It is no question of amusing myself, Myra. It is something too deep for that ! I wonder," he went on, a fierce light coming into his eyes, " I wonder you are not afraid of treating me so scornfully." " Oh, nonsense ! You don't carry a poniard, do you ? " showing a row of small pearly teeth as she laughed good-humouredly. " You drive me mad ! And I so seldom have a chance of speaking to you." " I wish you would go back ! There — there is my omnibus. What is the use of sitting in a disagreeable crowded omnibus, where }*ou cannot speak a word to me ? besides, I think there is only room for one more.

There, it has stopped ! Good-bye ! Don't be cross — I do not want to vex you ! " A smile, a quick wave of the hand, and she vanished into the capacious vehicle. Lionel Ashby stood for a moment looking after it with a curious, angry, longing glance, while the small brown hand with its dark nads, which hung by his side, clenched itself tightly, and he murmured something — not exactly a blessing. Then he turned and walked sharply back to his mother's house. Entering with a latch-key, he met the servant carrying down the tea-things, and found Mrs. Dallas still sitting in deep thought in the window. She looked up as he entered. " You foolish boy ! " she said, with a frown. " You have taken the trouble of escorting Myra to the train, or the omnibus, and you know how these atten tions annoy me. I would rather follow you to your grave than see you committed to marriage with Myra !

She is no match for you or for any gentleman ! " " Well, my dear mother, at present she is the only woman — the only girl — who could induce me to think of marriage, and that is probably because she does not want me. No match for me ! She, I assure you, does not consider me a match for her." " Her insolence is intolerable ! I trust you will see no more of her. I am going to give her a hand some allowance out of my husband's money, and wash my hands of her." " An allowance ! " repeated the young man with immense surprise. " Why, what — what for Heaven's sake induces you to do such a thing ? It is not like you." " Because I think it right. Because I have good reasons, you may be sure." " I should think you had ! " he ejaculated ; " though I am pretty sure you will not tell me." " Not now, Lionel ; but if you are guided by me and give her up, if you will turn your thoughts and fancies elsewhere, I will take you into my confidence and show you all my plans ; and I have great ambi tions for you, my son."

" That is more than I have. I only want to be rich and comfortable, and have Myra aU to my self." Mrs. Dallas made a gesture of disgust and con tempt. " What ! " she exclaimed, " a creature that treats you with coldness and disdain ! " The young man laughed — not a pleasant laugh. " That's what gives a sort of zest to it. I should like to have her in spite of all — if it is all real, which I doubt." " So do I," echoed his mother dreamily ; and then silence fell upon them. Mrs. Dallas's thoughts were evidently far away. Lionel yawned slightly, and rolled himself a cigarette ; then he stretched out his hand to take a weekly society paper which lay on the sofa near him. For a minute or two he glanced carelessly at it, and then asked, in his usual gentle tone — " Isn't this the relative I have heard the colonel talk of ?