A Game of Chance. A novel

Front matter

A NOVEL BY ELLA J. CURTIS (SHIRLEY SMITH) AUTHOR OF "THE FAVOURITE OF FORTUNE," "ALL FOR HERSELF," " HIS LAST STAKE," ETC, etc. IN THREE VOLUMES VOL. II LONDON HURST AND BLACKETT, LIMITED 13, GREAT MARLBOROUGH STREET 1889 All Rights Reserved PRINTED BY TILLOTSON AND SON, MAWDSLEV STREET BOLTON CONTENTS OF THE SECOND VOLUME. CHAPTER PACE I.— HUSBAND AND WIFE I II. — MISTRESS AND MAID 14 III. — JACK ERSKINE'S WIFE 2& IV.- THE FATAL MESSAGE 42 V. — AT THE LYCH GATE . 54 VI. — FACE TO FACE 65 VII.— TRUE OR FALSE 78 VIII. — MRS. ERSKINE FORECASTS THE FUTURE CjO IX.— MISS MASHAM HAS HER SUSPICIONS . . . IOO X. — THE BEARER OF BAD NEWS Ill XI. — FATHER AND DAUGHTER I23 XII. — OTWAY SAYS GOOD-BYE CONTENTS OF THE SECOND A'OLUME. CHAPTER PAGE XIII.— THE FARMER'S SON 143 XIV. - MRS. JOHN F.RSKINE's LETTER I5S XV. — LOVE AND I'RIDE 169 XVI. — THE MEETING IN THE PORCH lSl XVII. — A TERRIBLE TEMPTATION 195 XVIII. — A WEEK OF TAIN 2IO XIX. — SAVED 221 XX. — HOW IT ENDED 232 XXI. - WHEELS WITHIN WHEELS 246 XXII. - UNEXPECTED NEWS 258 XXIII.- MRS. MURRAY PICKS UP A WAIF .... 270 XXIV. -TAKEN AT HIS WORD 285 XXV. — MRS. JOHN ERSKINE COMES HOME .... 296 XXVI. — MRS. JOHN GETS INTO RAPTURES ....

Chapter I

. HUSBAND AND WIFE. When the excitement of the wedding was over, the evening promised to be unusually quiet in Halkin Street. Sir John and Miss Lambton dined quietly together at half-past seven, and the meal was about half over, when a sharp ring at the hall door bell announced a late and unexpected visitor. Someone came in, and Miss Lambton, whose ears were very sharp, turned first red and then pale, and said, in great agitation — VOL. II. B " It is very like Letty's voice, John. What can be the matter ?" Sir John burst out laughing. " Letty, indeed," he said. The butler was at his elbow as he spoke, "Miss Erskine — Mrs. Herbert Otway — I beg pardon, Sir John," he said, " is in the library and wishes to see you." Sir John rose in a hurry and threw his dinner napkin among the dishes. " Bless my soul!" he cried, "what has happened now ?"

And in the library, sure enough, he found his daughter ; not calm, cold and con temptuous, but in a state of the most violent agitation. "Oh papa — papa!" she cried, clinging to him, " I thought I should never get here. I haA'e come back to you, papa. I cannot stay Avith him ! It is of no use to ask me ; it Avould kill me ! Do not ask any questions, please, but keep me with you always ! Do not let me be taken aAvay !" HUSBAND AND AVIFE. 3 " But you must be mad, child ; completely out of your senses ! You marry a man of your own free will at twelve and run away from him before eight. No one ever heard of such a thing. What in the world came between you ? You went away like a pair of turtle-doves !" " Oh, I don't know, I don't know ! It is only that I dislike him so much." The girl sobbed as she suddenly broke down, and just then little Miss Lambton stole into the room, and stood inside the door wringing her hands.

" Oh, my poor child ! My poor, dear child !" was all she could say. Sir John began to get angry. " I insist upon knowing what it means," he said, sternly. "It has no meaning, except that I dislike him too much to live with him," Letty sobbed out. " But are you aware, you foolish girl, that, as your husband, he can make you ?" In the middle of her sobs Letty laughed. " He make me ! He will beg and pray," she said, " but that is all he will do." " But the law gives him rights," Sir John persisted. " You are as much his property as his tables and chairs. I dare not keep you when he comes here and insists upon having you." " Indeed," she said ; " is that so ? Then if he insists, I suppose I must go ; but you will keep me for to - night, will you not, papa ?" " Well, for to-night, of course, you must stay here.

Oh, Louise, are you there ? Just see Avho that is knocking at the door, will you ?" It was the butler with a telegram. " This is from Otway," cried Sir John It Avas very concise. " Reply at once and say if your daughter is AA'ith you." "And now I wonder what will happen next," said Sir John, as he took a form and HUSEAND AND WIFE. 5 wrote his reply. It contained but three words, "She is here." Two days passed and the deserted bride groom made no sign. The runaway bride shut herself up in her own room, and saw no one but her aunt, who was a most consoling companion, for she praised and blamed ex actly as she was expected to do. With her father. Letty was in deep disgrace: but at the end of the second day he relented a little, chiefly because he was hurt and offended with Otway for having taken no steps to bring about a reconciliation.

The third morning, however, brought a curt, but very polite note, to the effect that Mr. Otway would be glad to see Sir John Erskine on business. Letty was not even mentioned. "He will probably want to see me, papa," the young lady said, indifferently, "and I suppose I cannot refuse. It will be very dis agreeable, but of course, this kind of thing cannot go on. You say that, having married him, I must put up with him ; so if he asks to see me, you can send him up to the drawing-room. The interview between Sir John and his son-in-law was short and rather stormy. The view taken by Otway of Letty's conduct was so unexpected that it left her father abso lutely without a word to say in her defence ; and at last, glad of an excuse to let the two most interested in the issue of the affair come together and patch up a truce, if truce Avere possible, he told Otway that Letty was pre pared for his visit and sent him upstairs.

No greeting, even of the most formal kind, passed between them when he went into the room. Letty's face Avas flushed, and she was trembling with excitement ; Otway was apparently calm, but when he saw her his self-control Avas sorely tried. "Your father told me you were here," he said. He leaned with one hand on the table, as he stood facing her ; she was seated at a little distance ; the light fell upon her, and never had she looked prettier or more capti vating in his eyes. " I came — what do you suppose I came for ?" he said. She expected a torrent of reproaches, and he asked a question in a cold, measured voice. The change in his manner was too marked not to strike her, and she faltered out " I — I do not know." " You may perhaps imagine, judging me by the past," he went on with a little laugh, " that I came to beg — to implore of you to come back to me ; perhaps you think I came to kneel at your feet, to entreat for your love ; to beseech of you in your goodness to come to my arms and accept me as your husband.

But do not be afraid ; the law gives me rights over you, as perhaps you know. I could compel you to live under my roof as my wife, but I am not going either to beg or to enforce. Having left me as you did, you evidently wish to live apart from me ; besides, you told me in the plainest possible language that you did not care for me — that you shrank from my touch and loathed my caresses. If a man does not understand such words he is a fool ; and, being a fool, I did not understand at first, but I do now, and we will live apart. I make no appeal to your pity or your forbearance — love not existing, I cannot appeal to it — but Letty, remember that you haA'e outraged and in sulted as pure and true a love as ever man felt for woman. No husband could loA'e with more passion and devotion than I loved you — you cruel, heartless girl — Avhen I put that ring on your finger a few days ago.

A few days ! It seems months, years almost, since I stood with your hand in mine and believed you were mine for evermore. But now I am awake as if from a long sleep, in which love for you debased my manhood, and made me a puppet and plaything in your thoughtless hands. Yes, I am awake now, ; my strength has come back to me. I have not quite conquered my love, for a passion like mine does not die in an hour, but I can leave you, for I despise you. I do not insult you by reminding you that my honour is in your hands, for it is your honour also ; we are man and wife, and unless you wish to have the bond legally set aside, man and wife we must remain. I shall take no step in the matter, but neither shall I make any objection if you wish to be free." To say that Letty was amazed and con founded at this unexpected address from the man who had hitherto been swayed, like a reed in the wind, by a glance from her eyes, is to give a very inadequate idea of her feelings at the moment.

So bewildered was she, that she would have liked to make him repeat it all over again, that she might try to understand his meaning clearly. Was it 1O really Herbert Otvvay who was standing there before her, with those stern, unloving eyes? Was that his voice that addressed her in those cold, measured tones, and that uttered such contemptuous and cutting words ? She tried in vain to answer him, but not a word would come ; she sat with her eyes on the ground and a deep flush of shame and intense mortification burned on her face. And with these visible signs of perturbation, there was a wild storm of pride battling in her heart with another strange and per plexing emotion, the very existence of which she had not suspected until that moment. " I am glad to see you have the grace to blush," he went on, mercilessly.

" 1 have blushed for you many times since that evening at Richmond, when you left me to be the laughing-stock of the men and women who helped nv to search the empty house for you. But since that night I have blushed more for my own folly in having loved you. You will be glad to know, I am sure, that the cure of my madness has begun ; indeed, you showed me yourself how to begin, and for that I thank you. But it might be a blow to your A'anity were I to tell you how I begin to rejoice in my freedom." After that she could bear no more. Anger and mortification — and with them was still that other feeling, as yet unnamed, which prompted her to fling herself at his feet to implore his forgiveness — got the better of her ; she rose and faced him boldly. " You have said enough — more than enough," she cried, hotly, "and I must beg to be left alone.

Everything you say only proves that our marriage would be a most unhappy one, and that it is better to part in time, and that — that — but I cannot answer you properly — you have been very — rude." Words failed her ignominiously, and she knew that tears were coming to complete her mortification. And had those tears but welled over, the victory would have been with her ! As it was, at the sight of her beautiful face, with that unknown look of alarm and distress upon it, his sternness was fast melting aAvay. "But suppose," whispered pride, "you meet Avith another rebuff; remember she does not love you." And how glad he was that he had resisted the passing weakness when, raising her head with an imperious gesture, Letty said — " I am sorry to be obliged to ask you, for the second time, to lea\Te me, Mr. Otway."

" I obey your command with infinite plea sure," he answered, with dignity equal to her own ; and backing to the door, apparently in order to make an effective exit, but in reality to see, until the very last moment, the face that was so lovely, and, for all his boasting, still so dear, he bowed low and disappeared. Letty remained standing where he left her until the sound of his footsteps died away upon the stairs ; then she threw up her arms with a despairing gesture, and broke out into passionate weeping. And if the sound of those tempestuous tears had but reached the man whose bitter taunts had called them forth, he would have learned that, just as he repaid her with scorn for scorn, his wife's heart was won.

Chapter II Mistress And Maid

A year and some months subsequent to the marriage and immediate separation of Mr, and Mrs. Herbert Otway, Mr. or, as he now was, Captain and Mrs. John Erskine were at Simla. Young John, as he was still called, not at the Chase but at Little Centre Bridge, had been appointed, soon after the birth of his son, aide-de-camp to his Excellency the Governor-General, and this post of honour was a source of infinite satisfaction to Mrs. Erskine ; for in the first place, it took her aAvay from the " regiment," and for one cause or another, knoAvn only to the women them selves, she, and the wives of her husband's 'S brother officers, did not get on too well together. It is quite possible that Mrs. Erskine was too popular with men to be liked by women ; it is also a fact that she gave herself " airs " — traded on her popularity in fact, and made enemies right and left.

A fruitful source of gossip and scandal at once dried up at its spring when the Erskines went to Calcutta ; but stray rumours of Mrs. Erskine's triumphs at Government House were wafted from time to time to the distant station she had left with such satisfaction, and when it was known that she was enjoying the delights of the favourite Hill Station, while many of those she had so often eclipsed by her beauty were obliged to swelter in the plains, envy was the dominant passion in every female breast, and much loud - spoken pity was lavished upon that "poor deluded Captain Erskine." But if John Erskine had any real cause for unhappiness, he contrived to hide it from the world very successfully. It would not be absolutely true to say that marriage with the woman of his choice had dispelled no illusions, or even substituted, for the heartaches of love, heartaches noAv and then of a different kind ; but, on the whole, he and Amy got on very well.

Unlike her unknown sister-in-law, Letty, who had quarrelled with her husband on her wedding-day, for seemingly no better reason than his excessive fondness for her, Mrs. Erskine could not, she affirmed, have lived with a man who did not give way to her in everything, and whose eyes were not so blinded by love that he could see no faults. She held the whip and reins, and woe betide her steed if he shied, or showed the slightest desire to kick over the traces, or get the bit between his teeth. John Erskine was patient and docile to a fault ; and if he erred in over-indulgence to his beautiful wife, he had the satisfaction of being envied the possession of such a lovely woman wherever and whenever she appeared. As soon as she arrived in Calcutta, and was seen in what might be called the train of the Governor-General, she laid herself out for conquests more brilliant than any she had yet achieved, and having learned by experience how foolish she was to make enemies of women, she struck out a new line, and did her best to captivate her own sex also.

She succeeded fairly enough, but whether her heart was not really in the work, or whether it is true that women never take very kindly to women, she was still the favourite of the men, and among the men she had, of course, her special favourites, although no one man could boast with truth that he had been singled out from among his fellows. There was one who hoped that he was first in favour, but Mrs. Erskine encouraged his visits for the simple reason that he vol. 11. c brought her plenty of news and gossip, and she was unkind enough to laugh at him behind his back. It was very ungrateful of her so to do, for he was always ready to fetch and carry for her, and at a ball she could always say she was engaged to " Gus Lewin," if an objectionable partner presented himself. Being also one of his Excellency's aides, this good-looking, but not specially fasci nating or dangerous young man, migrated to Simla Avith the rest of the Viceregal Court, and he was a constant visitor at the pretty bungalow inhabited by the Erskines.

Mrs. Erskine could have lived in one of those provided for the Government officials, but she insisted upon a much larger and more comfortable residence, that stood among the rhododendron groves and pines Avhich cover the mountain with the double summit on which Simla is built. This roomy bungalow was perhaps somewhat lonely, being, in a measure, isolated and shut in ; but Mrs. Erskine was perfectly satisfied with it. Those visitors who were anxious to enjoy her society thought nothing of the ride from the town, indeed a longer pilgrimage could be borne when it was remembered that, at the end, was that delicious verandah, cool and shady, with chairs standing about to tempt men who were lazy to lounge, or to teach energetic men, if there are any in Simla, how to be lazy. And the beautiful mistress, who either reclined in a hammock or upon a heap of cushions, was very charming to look upon, if she was not strikingly brilliant or original in conversation.

She was more often to be found upon her cushions than in her hammock, for she had not quite mastered the difficulties of getting in and out of it gracefully ; this was a great disappointment to her, as she had lately read a well-known Indian romance, the scene of which is laid in Simla, and she thought it would be very " fetching " if she could imitate the charming heroine of the book by appear ing in a hammock. But on a beautiful afternoon, about a month after the migration to Simla, the verandah was deserted, and Mrs. Erskine was under the hands of her maid. She had been for a ride, and she was about to change her dress for luncheon ; some men were coming out with her husband, for a polo match was to take place between four and five. " You have not put out a dress for me, Rossitur," — she was always called by her maiden name — the lady said, Avhen the maid appeared in answer to her mistress's bell.

" I understood you were going to the polo match, madam," was the answer, "and that you would lunch in your habit." " I have changed my mind ; I am not going. It is too hot." Rossitur's lips parted in a peculiar smile, as she turned away to take out a dress to re place the habit. " You can go if you like," Mrs. Erskine continued, as the maid began to brush out and arrange her hair. "Pottinger can take you. By-the-bye, how is he to-day ?" " He complained a good deal of his head last night ; but he seems quite well again to day." " I saw little Georgy this morning," Mrs. Erskine went on. "Your master says he wishes his boy looked as strong as yours, Rossitur." " But mine is a month older, madam." " Oh, that is nothing. Jack is a very tiny mite for his age; but I am sure I cannot help It it. " No, madam ; you nursed him as long as you could."

" And are you sure you do not care to go to the polo match, Rossitur ?" " Quite sure, madam. The mail goes out to-morrow, and I want to write to my sister." "And I have never written to John's people at the Chase. Not one line have they had from me since I was married. But I cannot write to people I never saw, can I, Rossitur?" " It must be rather difficult, madam. Have master's sister and her husband made up their quarrel ? You told me, madam, you remember, that they separated on their wedding-day." " No ; she is still living at home, and I do not think they ever meet. Hoav is that brother of yours getting on — the musician ? Oh ! you have but one, haA'e you ? Well ; how is he ?" "Very well, I believe, madam. He never writes to me himself, but Alice, my sister, tells me about him." " And she told you, I remember, about his giving lessons on the organ to Lady Judith someone.

What has become of her ?" " She was at home the whole of last autumn and winter, and Alice said in her last letter there was a report in the village that she was engaged to a very rich man." " And you were in hopes that she would marry your brother, weren't you ?" An angry flush rose to Rossitur's face. "If she liked him well enough to run after him," she said, " she ought to marry him. Alice says he thinks of nothing but her. He may not have a title, but he's good enough for any lady in England." Mrs. Erskine laughed. " You used to think yourself good enough for any gentleman in India, Rossitur ; and yet you married George Pottinger." "And I was a fool for my pains!" Rossitur broke out angrily — she was evidently not much in awe of her mistress. " I put a log round my neck I can never get rid of the day I went to church with him."

" Oh, you say so now," said Mrs. Erskine ; " but I always thought, and I still think, you were a very lucky girl ; and when Captain Erskine settles at the Chase some day — and no one can tell what may happen ; Sir John might break his neck out hunting any day next winter — you and Pottinger shall have one of the lodges ; or you might set up an inn in the toAvn." " Thank you, madam," said Rossitur, and this time she stooped to pick up a hairpin in order to hide her smile. " Now I am ready," Mrs. Erskine said, " and you may take my crewel Avork and those books out to the verandah and see if your master has come." In five minutes Rossitur came back and announced that Captain Erskine and three gentlemen were waiting for her to go in to lunch. " Who are they, Rossitur ?' Rossitur named the three, one after the other, and Mrs. Erskine, having taken a last survey of herself in the mirror, left the room to join her husband.

" She is expecting someone who has not come," Rossitur said to herself, as she set about to arrange the room and put away the various articles that were scattered about. "And she says I may go and see the polo. That looks as if she wanted to get me out of the way ; and yet why should she, for there is no more harm in having Mr. Lewin here to-day to gossip to her on the verandah than there was in his being here yesterday ? But then he was not the only one yesterday ! And Pottinger and I can have one of the lodges, or set up an inn in the town ! Much obliged, Mrs. Erskine, I'm sure. Only for you and your husband I might have married a gentleman, and had a maid for myself. Yes, and I'll have one yet ! I am as hand some as ever you were, my lady, and I know I have more brains. Who is there ? Oh, it's you, is it ?" as our old acquaintance, Pottinger appeared.

" What business have you here ?" " I only came to tell you," he said, " that luncheon is over, and there's a fine row going on between my master and your mistress." " Oh, you always have some story !" cried Rossitur, derisively. "And half your time you don't knoAv what you're saying !" Don't I ? I know you're a "That Avill do!" she interrupted, holding up her finger. " You will call me a liar once too often perhaps. What are they quarrelling about ?" " Because she will not go and see him play polo." "The best thing he can do is to stay at home and help her to entertain her visitor." " Does she expect anyone?" " She did not tell me ; but perhaps if one comes I might send a message to the Captain." "There will be murder if you do," said Pottinger. He was standing in the half-open door as he spoke.

His wife laughed. "Bella," he said, "do you ever think of the night poor Jem Hathaway shot himself in the Stillingfort Woods ? Don't you try to make master jealous of his wife." Rossitur's dark eyes flashed angrily upon him ; but, before she could speak he heard Captain Erskine's voice calling to him, and awav he ran.

Chapter III Jack Erskine's Avife

When Pottinger told his wife that his master and her mistress were quarrelling, he had slightly exaggerated facts, even as he knew them, for, in the vulgar sense of the term, they never quarrelled. There were not in frequent scenes, and occasionally they ended in a fit of the sulks on the part of the wife, and in penitence and a costly present to " make peace " with, on the part of the husband. This particular afternoon Captain Erskine was surprised and disappointed Avhen Amy appeared at luncheon not in riding dress; but then it was quite possible for her to put on her habit again before it was time to start for WIFE. 29 the polo ground, so he said nothing. But, in answer to a question from one of her guests, she said she was not going to the match, and when pressed for a reason by another, she answered, without giving a thought to what she said, that her little boy was not very well.

Erskine, who was devoted to his child, took alarm at once. " What is the matter with the kid ?" he said. " He was all right this morning. Amy looked at him as much as to say, " What a dear old stupid you are not to see that I am making an excuse," and answered, in her sweetest manner, " Oh, it is nothing of any consequence ; he seemed a little languid, that is all." "Languid ! But he oughtn't to be languid. Have you sent for anyone ? I can't go and play polo if the boy is not well." " My dear John," said Mrs. Erskine, sharply, " the boy is perfectly well. Do 3° not make such a ridiculous fuss about nothing." "Then why did you say he wasn't?" Erskine mattered; and after that he left the burden of conversation upon his wife and the guests. He knew by experience Amy's little habit ot making false excuses serve the place of true ones, and to be obliged to suspect her of not being absolutely truthful always made him angry.

He took his friends away after luncheon to smoke on the verandah, and then, making some excuse, he went back to the dining room to his wife. "What is this about the boy. Amy?" he said. " Is he ill or well ?" "Perfectly well," she answered, readily. " Could you not see that I had to say some thing to put that man off. " " I wish you had not said that" he retorted. " I might have known it was only an excuse. But why can't you come if Jack is all right? JACK ERSKINE'S AVIFE. 31 I thought you were looking forward to the match." "Not I, indeed! I am sick of polo. I never intended to go, although I said nothing about it." "You never intended! Come now; that is a stretch of imagination. Why, all last week you talked of nothing else !" " But, all the same, I never intended to go," she repeated. "You must allow me to know what I meant to do better than you."