Ci' 
 
 L I E> RARY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 UN IVERSITY 
 
 Of ILLINOIS 
 
 %Z3 
 C77j 
 
 V.J 
 
 A)^
 
 The person charging this material is re- 
 sponsible for its return on or before the 
 Latest Date stamped below. 
 
 Theft, mutilation, and underlining of books 
 are reasons for disciplinary action and may 
 result in dismissal from the University. 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS LIBRARY AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN 
 
 AU G 1 3 1972 
 
 L161— O-1096
 
 Juliefs Lovers 
 
 BY 
 
 MABEL COLLINS 
 
 AUTHOR OF 
 
 'the prettiest woman in WARSAW,' ' VIOLA FANSHAWE, 
 
 'A DEBT OF HONOUR,' ETC. 
 
 '•Fatal crca/iire, bitter-sweet ! ' 
 
 Sappho. 
 
 IN THREE VOLUMES 
 VOL. I. 
 
 LONDON 
 WARD & DOWNEY 
 2 York Street, Covent Garden, W\C. 
 
 1893
 
 g^3 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTEE I. 
 
 " Socrates calls Love the Wizai^d ; Sappho, the Tretrver pack 
 of Fictions'' ..... 1 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 " An Infant, crying in the Night " . . .13 
 
 CHAPTEE III. 
 
 " There is. We see, a Vagabond Friendship " . . 25 
 
 CHAPTEE IV. 
 
 " What is She, cut from Love and Faith " . .47 
 
 CHAPTEE V. 
 
 Juliet's Life begins . . . . . 64 
 
 CHAPTEE VI. 
 
 " Sad with Delight and Sweet with Dread " . . 78 
 
 CHAPTEE VI I. 
 
 Juliet's First Lover ..... 89 
 
 CHAPTEE VII L 
 
 How Lord Francis punished Him . . . 113 
 
 CHAPTEE IX. 
 
 " The Wine of Triumph " . . . ,129
 
 vi Contents. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 Another Lover ...... 147 
 
 CHAPTEE XI. 
 
 " There is absolutely Nothing in the World but 
 
 Youth" ...... 168 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 " With You to Live, to Die, were Bliss for Me" . 176 
 
 CHAPTER XIIL 
 
 The Bitter Seed . . . . .196 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 " Wiien Anger spreads through the Breast, guard - 
 
 Thy Tongue from barking idly " . . . 217 
 
 CHAPTER XY. 
 
 " Now Love masters My Limbs and shakes Me, Fatal 
 
 Creature, Bitter Sweet " . . . . 230 
 
 CHAPTER XV L 
 
 " I know not what to do, My Mind is divided" . . 247
 
 JULIET'S LOVERS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 " Socrates calls love the Wizard ; Sappho, the 
 Weaver of fictions. ^^ 
 
 Juliet Vane was tlie result of one of those 
 unfortunate marriages which are a character- 
 istic of these Jin-de-siecle days. 
 
 Her mother, Marguerite Vane, was an 
 actress. She was a tragedienne of the first 
 water ; but the world never saw her at 
 her best, nor knew what her genius really 
 was, because, when she was just at the 
 summit of the ladder — when she had put 
 her pretty foot on the last round, she left 
 the stage. 
 
 VOL. I. A
 
 2 Juliefs Lovers. 
 
 After playing comparatively trivial parts 
 for two or three years, she came to the 
 great opportunity which arrives in the life 
 of every genius. A manager recognised 
 her merit, and gave her an opening in 
 London in Shakespearian drama. This was 
 absolutely her metier; in life and on the 
 stage she was cut out for a Shakespearian 
 heroine. First she played Beatrice, and 
 won the town with her smiles ; then Eosa- 
 lind, and captivated it with her grace ; 
 then she was given the final, the sublime 
 opportunity ! She played Juliet ; and Lon- 
 don succumbed to her youth, her beauty, 
 her divine genius, her tragic, emotional 
 atmosphere. 
 
 But she only played it on the stage for 
 a week ; then she deserted the footlights 
 to play the same part in private life. 
 
 She committed the great mistake. She 
 fell in love. The "fatal creature, bitter-
 
 yuliefs Lovers. 3 
 
 sweet," came to her, and heaped her lap 
 with flowers, and then tore her heart in 
 twain. 
 
 Lord Francis Ellerton, then about thirty- 
 four years of age, bat not looking more than 
 twenty-five, was the man who won her to 
 himself, and took her from the world, from 
 her profession, and deprived the stage of 
 a brio:ht lioiit. 
 
 They were married very quietly. Mar- 
 guerite Vane loved Lord Francis with all 
 the fervour and passion of her Juliet-like 
 heart ; but, as Lord Francis himself ex- 
 pressed it in later years, she was " not to 
 be bought with any trinket but a wedding- 
 ring." 
 . What his love for her was, may be guessed, 
 when one knows that his marriage with her 
 was literally the result of a wager. A 
 certain leader of fashion anion £[ the gilded 
 youth of the day, who had laid steady
 
 4 y telle fs Lovers. 
 
 siege to Marguerite's affections without 
 result, made a heavy bet with Lord Francis 
 that he would be equally unlucky. Now, 
 Lord Francis had lost heavily at cards to 
 this admirer of Marguerite's ; if he won 
 the wager, the debt of honour, which was 
 distinctly inconvenient at the moment, would 
 be wiped off; moreover, the bet was made 
 in the presence of a select crowd of the 
 jeunesse dove and Lord Francis felt that 
 his reputation as a lady-killer was at stake. 
 He determined, therefore, to go in and 
 win at any cost. He was troubled when 
 he found not diamonds, nor horses, nor an 
 expensive villa, was the price he had to pay, 
 but simply a slender gold ring. He could 
 hot afford to retreat, though marriage was 
 the last folly he had ever proposed to 
 commit. Therefore he went on, with the 
 more readiness that Marguerite's exquisite 
 charm inspired a warm passion in him
 
 yuliet's Love7's, 5 
 
 for the time being. And he was very 
 proud to take her from the stage, and let 
 all the world know that it was because of 
 him that her place was empty ! The 
 theatre-goers cursed him, and he gloried 
 in it. 
 
 It was impossible for Marguerite to resist 
 him, for she loved in earnest. And she 
 believed in his love. It would have been 
 a worldly-wise woman indeed who would not 
 have believed in it ! One of the curious 
 facts in human life is that the men who 
 love seldom know how to make love. Lord 
 Francis did not possess a heart himself, but 
 he knew how to make a woman's heart throb 
 to the point of agony. 
 
 Well, they were married. And Marguerite 
 from thenceforward lived in a nun-like seclu- 
 sion. For she soon found that liOrd Francis 
 had not the slightest idea of giving her her 
 place as his wife, or of presenting her to
 
 6 ytdiefs Lovers. 
 
 his family and society as Lady Francis. He 
 was at the age when diplomacy has a fascina- 
 tion for men of his type, and he preferred 
 to visit the courts of Europe as a bachelor, 
 in the early days of their marriage this did 
 not trouble Marguerite. She was too happy, 
 too lost in her dream of love, to care about 
 anything outside the charmed circle in which 
 she lived. For more than a year Lord 
 Francis was a devoted lover and husband ; 
 and he always looked back on this after- 
 wards as an extraordinary circumstance, which 
 showed how great were Marguerite's charms, 
 and how profound his sacrifices for her sake. 
 When their child was born, she was called 
 Juliet, in memory of that night when her 
 mother, in all the glory of her youth and 
 power, came on the stage and saw the man 
 who was to change her whole life, sitting in 
 the stalls. His eyes held her ; they seemed 
 to penetrate her soul, and tell her a love-
 
 ytdief s Lovers. 7 
 
 tale such as even Shakespeare knew not of. 
 That was because her heart suddenly awoke ; 
 and the story of one's own love is of neces- 
 sity infinitely more beautiful than that of 
 any other. 
 
 Juliet inherited her mother's passion, her 
 mother's genius, and her beauty ; she was a 
 reproduction of her. Marguerite was known 
 as Mrs EUerton ; but when Juliet herself 
 went on the stage she took her mother's 
 maiden name. This, however, was not until 
 after that mother was dead. Marguerite's 
 desire, and earnest prayer, was that her 
 daughter should never become an actress. In 
 her brief, bright career she had seen enough 
 of the dark side of the life to make her dread 
 it for her child. She knew what its hardships 
 were ; its crosses and disappointments. The 
 world knows nothing of these ; it only sees 
 the actor and actress when they are successful ; 
 when they fail, or are pushed back, no one
 
 8 
 
 Juliefs Lovers. 
 
 thinks of them. But even in Marguerite's 
 exceptionally fortunate stage life, she had 
 often shed hot tears of anger and of disappoint- 
 ment ; glad was she to leave the arena ; and 
 she hoped her child might never enter it. 
 If she had lived longer probably Juliet would 
 have married young, or entered on some 
 other profession, and this history would never 
 have been written. But, after educating 
 Juliet perfectly, training her in all arts and 
 accomplishments, and instilling into her an 
 almost Puritanical spirit of purity. Lady 
 Francis Ellerton died suddenly and unexpect- 
 edly of heart disease, leaving the proud, 
 beautiful, reserved, inexperienced girl to face 
 the world alone. Perhaps worse than alone ; 
 for she believed in her father. Marguerite, 
 like all romantic women, insisted on worship- 
 ping her idol to the end; and she taught 
 Juliet the same religion. One of the most 
 cruel mistakes made by good women is in 
 
 I
 
 Jtdiet's Lovers. 9 
 
 the rearing of tlieir daughters. Juliet was 
 an instance of it. She had been so sheltered 
 and screened from all evil that she did not 
 know of its existence. She was educated to a 
 standard of nobility, virtue, purity of thought 
 and feeling, and disinterestedness such as is 
 utterly out of place in the nineteenth century. 
 Such girls are turned out, defenceless, into 
 the world every day by loving mothers, who 
 think that in this way they make them good 
 and happy. It is like thrusting a lamb into 
 the midst of a pack of wolves. Marguerite, 
 in her love, was a "weaver of fictions"; 
 for her Lord Francis remained always what 
 he had at first appeared. It was so easy 
 to deceive her, that this cynical man of 
 the world thought it less trouble to do so 
 than to disillusion her, as he would other- 
 wise have done. x4nd so she died, having 
 lived a Juliet's life, with the name of her 
 Romeo on her lips and graven on her
 
 lo Julief s Lovers. 
 
 heart. And she left her child to find 
 out, by degrees, what that Komeo really 
 was. 
 
 Juliet Vane was seventeen when her 
 mother died ; of the voluptuous type of 
 beauty — tall, white-skinned, with warm 
 brown hair and golden-brown eyes ; finely 
 shaped, yet slight enough to have some- 
 thing serpentine in her movements. She 
 had every physical and mental advantage 
 for taking the town by storm, as her 
 mother had done before her ; and no sooner 
 was Marguerite laid away in her grave than 
 Lord Francis suggested to her that she 
 should make the attempt. 
 
 His reasons for this were simple enough. 
 Marguerite had been possessed of a small 
 income, which died with her. Lord Francis 
 had willingly enough contributed to her ^ 
 establishment, partly because she had an 
 undeniable claim on him, and partly because,
 
 yidiefs Lovers. 1 1 
 
 as he expressed it, he had " been very fond 
 of her at one time." 
 
 But he had not the slightest idea of pro- 
 viding for Juliet. He considered that her 
 inherited gifts were quite a sufficient provi- 
 sion for her ; and he proposed that she should 
 turn them to advantage as soon as possible. 
 With Juliet on the stage under her mother's 
 maiden name, he felt that he would be rid 
 of all responsibility, and his marriage would 
 be as though it had never been. He was 
 v/onderfully young looking still, with that 
 gleam of youth in eye and mouth that is 
 so lovable, and which only very wicked 
 and unscrupulous persons ever seem able 
 to preserve. Probably this is because they 
 have no dealings with their consciences — 
 an immense saving of wear and tear. How- 
 ever that may be, Lord Francis was still 
 in the prime of life ; extremely handsome, 
 very distinguished looking, and with a con-
 
 12 Juliet's Lovers. 
 
 summate charm of manner ; courted, petted, 
 feted wherever he went. It is little won- 
 der that he wished to free himself from 
 the responsibilities brought on him by the 
 follies of his early youth, of which Juliet 
 was one.
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 "An infant, crying in the night." 
 
 During the whole of his married life, Lord 
 Francis retained his bachelor establishment 
 in Half-Moon Street, where he gave some 
 of the pleasantest dinners given in London, 
 and where some most exciting and pro- 
 tracted card-parties were held. For Mar- 
 guerite he took, when they married, one 
 of those delightful villas on Putney Hill, 
 a remote suburban residence, where the air 
 is almost as fresh as on Dartmoor, and the 
 flowers grow luxuriantly, and yet one is 
 within easy driving distance of Piccadilly. 
 When they were first married he lived in 
 this pretty box, and drove into town every 
 afternoon ; gradually this arrangement re- 
 
 13
 
 14 Juliet' s Lovers, 
 
 versed. Then he gave up the daily drives, 
 and visited Putney Hill once or twice a 
 week ; eventually once or twice a month. 
 By that time he had separated his life en- 
 tirely from Marguerite's; the love-dream 
 was over. And yet it lived in her heart, 
 always, to the end. It was part of her 
 religion to think that a woman's love 
 should remain the same, unchanged even 
 by the presence of a doubt. She was one 
 of those who look on men as beings of a 
 different race from women. Lord Francis, 
 when he did come, treated her with the 
 profound respect and devotion of an old- 
 world admirer ; he never allowed his in- 
 difference or cynicism to mar the beauty 
 of his manner. And this was enough for 
 her, poor soul ! 
 
 Well, she was gone, and Juliet was alone 
 in the Putney villa, with the servants and 
 her old nurse, Mrs Graham. This woman
 
 yuliefs Lovers. 15 
 
 had been Marguerite's dresser, her theatrical 
 maid, and had become so attached to her that 
 when her mistress left the stage she followed 
 her fortunes. And since then she had lived 
 the humdrum life of a confidential maid, 
 nurse, housekeeper, and companion, in the 
 quiet of Putney. She was an old woman 
 now, though upright and active. She was 
 always busy, always neatly dressed, and 
 always to be depended on when she was 
 wanted. Juliet looked upon her as a fact 
 in nature, and would as soon have expected 
 to be without her as to be without light in 
 the daytime. But it rather startled her, 
 in the awful quiet and silence of the house 
 after her mother's funeral, to realise that 
 she had no woman friend in the w^orld but 
 Graham. 
 
 She had been passionately fond of her 
 mother ; indeed her love for her coloured 
 her whole life. She would estimate her
 
 1 6 Jtdiet's Lovers. 
 
 words and deeds to the end by her 
 mother's standard ; years afterwards she 
 found herself hesitating before committing 
 herself to some action, and wondering 
 whether her mother would have approved 
 of it. The tie between them was so strong, 
 that it was no wonder she was prostrated 
 by the sudden and utterly unexpected shock 
 of her loss. She looked like a beautiful 
 ghost when Lord Francis came out to see 
 her one day, about ten days after all the 
 signs of death had been removed from the 
 house — excepting the black dresses. It was 
 summer, and Juliet sat in the garden in 
 her black robes, her hands lying idle in her 
 lap, her eyes closed, languid from the tears 
 they had shed. Mrs ■ Graham sat beside 
 her sewing, and talking a little. When 
 Lord Francis drove up to the gate and 
 entered the garden, she did, as she had 
 always done in Marguerite's lifetime
 
 yuliefs Lovei^s. 17 
 
 — rose stifEy, curtsied very profoundly, and 
 went away. If such an expression can be 
 used of people placed so far apart by station 
 and circumstances, she and Lord Francis 
 had never liked each other. But the aversion 
 had been a silent one on. both sides, neither 
 ever having given cause for complaint. 
 
 Lord Francis sat down on a chair opposite 
 Juliet, and regarded her very seriously. 
 
 " You positively mustn't cry any more, 
 dear child," he said, "you will make your- 
 self so ill." 
 
 " I think I have finished," said Juliet 
 wearily. " I have no strength left." 
 
 " It has been an awful trial for you," said 
 Lord Francis ; " but don't let it make you 
 ill. That would only make lier sad, if she 
 knew." 
 
 "Yes," said Juliet. She had heard this 
 argument so often in the last few days. 
 
 "When will you be fit to think about 
 
 VOL. I. B
 
 1 8 Juliet's Lovers. 
 
 things ? " asked, Lord Francis. " You know 
 we must decide what you are going to do 
 — where you are going to live, and how.' 
 
 " Oh, I suppose so ! " said Juliet, a little 
 startled. This necessity had never occurred 
 to her. She had. imagined herself going 
 on living always just as she was, and just 
 as she had always lived. But Lord Francis 
 soon gave her a new view of things. 
 
 " Can't I stay here ? " she askerl, some- 
 what doubtfully, not quite knowing, as a 
 matter of fact, what it was that had to be 
 decided. However, Lord Francis soon en- 
 lightened her. 
 
 "Well," he said, as if considering the 
 matter for the first time, '' not very well 
 alone ; but I can find a lady to live with 
 you, if you prefer to live in a house of 
 your own. That, however, isn't quite so 
 much the trouble as the matter of expense. 
 You see your mother's income is at an end
 
 yuliefs Lovers, 19 
 
 now, and unfortunately I am not as rich 
 as I ought to be. I am one of those 
 unlucky members of the aristocracy whose 
 income is totally insufficient for their wants 
 and the demands made on tliem. In a 
 couple of months I have to go to St 
 Petersburg, and it will cost me a pretty 
 penny. And before then I must see you 
 settled satisfactorily." 
 
 " You know I will do anything you wish," 
 said Juliet. " Ouly tell me what it is." 
 To her this was the ideal man, her mother's 
 idol, and her own ; the man who must 
 always be right, because he was her own 
 dear father. This unreasoning trust of good, 
 afi'ectionate women ! 
 
 " That's spoken well," said Lord Francis 
 (and well he might so say !). " Well, then, 
 dear, I'll tell you exactly what I have 
 in my mind. I want you to think about 
 going on the stage. You have all your
 
 20 Juliets Lovers. 
 
 mother's talent, and her appearance. You 
 have even one advantage — you are taller. 
 You got your height from me. But don't 
 cry any more ! — you will get lines in your 
 face ! " 
 
 Lord Francis was looking at her critically 
 while he spoke, much as he might have 
 looked at a young horse he proposed to 
 enter for a race. Abject worshipper though 
 she was at this shrine, yet something in 
 his words, and the way he spoke, struck 
 cold upon her heart. 
 
 " She did not want me to go on the 
 stage," said Juliet, turning her head away 
 to hide the two hot tears that sprang into 
 her eyes as she spoke. 
 
 " I know that," said Lord Francis reflec- 
 tively. **But I think it would be difi*erent 
 if she could see you now\ I know she had 
 the idea that you would marry before she 
 left you — though how you were ever to
 
 yidiefs Lovers. 21 
 
 get married, living here like a nun, I can't 
 imagine. Of course, you would have had 
 to go into some sort of society, and go 
 about the world a little. It's no good 
 thinking about that now, because you've 
 no one to take you about ; and, besides, 
 there's the awful money question." 
 
 There was a pause. For the first time 
 in her life Juliet, who had always been 
 guarded and cared for like a rare exotic 
 or a precious jewel, realised that she might 
 be in the way. The first time this con- 
 sciousness comes is one of the most dreadful 
 moments in the lives of the spoiled darlings 
 of tender mothers. 
 
 She had enough innate sense to know 
 that she was too ignorant of the world to 
 make any suggestion herself. She was 
 conscious that her father was talking as 
 she had nev^r heard him talk before. She 
 did not understand the difference, and
 
 2 2 Juliefs Lovers. 
 
 wanted time to realise it and know liow to 
 meet it. He had always preserved a certain 
 tone of romance with Marguerite ; that 
 was gone now. Juliet was dimly aware 
 that she was being, so to speak, " valued," 
 and that, after all, while in her present 
 position, she was not worth much. 
 
 '^ Is there not something else I could 
 do ? " she asked presently ; ''I think 
 it would grieve her to think I had 
 gone into the life she seemed to dislike 
 
 so." 
 
 " Well, my dear girl, try if you like. 
 How will you set about it ? Answer 
 advertisements for governesses ? From 
 what I see in the comic papers, governesses 
 don't get any salaries now-a-days. You 
 wouldn't do for a lady-help ; and you 
 have not been educated for a telegraph 
 clerk. Take my advice, Juliet. You were 
 born for the stage. Don't throw away
 
 y telle fs Lovers. 23 
 
 your fortune because of a fancy. And 
 I can put you there, I think. A manager 
 who knew your mother much wishes to 
 see you. Whereas, in those other interest- 
 iag professions which I have mentioned. 
 I can do nothing for you. I don't want 
 to see you doing other people's work 
 and starving over it. I want to see you 
 succeed in the world." 
 
 " As you will," said Juliet indifferently. 
 She was in reality too worn out with 
 her grief and too absorbed in it to care 
 much what became of her. She agreed 
 to what her father said simply to please 
 him. 
 
 ''Well, then, I'll drive Heywood down 
 here to-morrow," said Lord Francis. " Tell 
 Graham I shall bring a friend to lunch. 
 And don't cry any more to-night ! If 
 we can arrange things with Heywood, 
 I will find a lady to live with you
 
 24 Jidiefs Lovers. 
 
 and I daresay you'll get on very 
 well." 
 
 "At all events," was his mental con- 
 clusion to this speech, " I shall have 
 done my best."
 
 CHAPTEK III. 
 
 " There is, we see, a vagabond friendship." 
 
 Arthur Heywood was generally supposed 
 in the theatrical profession to be mad. If 
 he was, then there was a wonderful amount 
 of method in his madness. He was per- 
 fectly aware of his reputation for extreme 
 eccentricity, and found it very useful. He 
 could say the most atrociously insolent 
 things, on occasion, under cover of this in- 
 firmity ; he could indulge in breaches of 
 good manners, in outbreaks of temper, which 
 otherwise would be inexcusable. But it was 
 noticed, by those who took the trouble to 
 study him, that these lapses never occurred 
 when they would stand in the way of his 
 own interests ; only when they would be of 
 
 25
 
 26 Juliet's Lovers. 
 
 service. No man knew better how to imi- 
 tate good manners, though the veneer was 
 somewhat too coarsely put on and too pal- 
 pable, savouring a little of burlesque. He 
 never forgot the veneer when he was with 
 Lord Francis. 
 
 These two had been allies since the early 
 days, when Marguerite Vane was the favour- 
 ite of the town, Lord Francis one of the 
 gilded youth, and Arthur Hey wood a poor 
 actor, living in a garret. 
 
 Heywood was of such a grotesque appear- 
 ance that it was only possible for him to 
 play certain parts. He was so thin as to 
 resemble a skeleton, his face cadaverous and 
 deeply lined, with a curious look of an old 
 woman's countenance about it. To such a 
 man, the career of the jeune premier is for 
 ever closed. But, having great ability of a 
 peculiar kind, he made a hit in character 
 parts — being especially successful in the sim-
 
 yitliei s L overs. 1 7 
 
 ulation of drunken madness. He scraped 
 acquaintance with some of the gay lordlings 
 who haunted the theatres, and discovered 
 ingenious ways of making himself useful to 
 them. In this manner he had got to know 
 Lord Francis, and one of those vagabond 
 friendships sprang up between the two, 
 which are so unaccountable to outsiders, 
 and yet which we sometimes see outliving 
 other and more natural associations. So it 
 was in this case. 
 
 Eighteen years ago these two began to 
 give and take, and they still found each 
 other extremely useful. Heywood was now 
 a manager, with a London theatre, and 
 companies constantly on tour in the 
 country. He knew every art and trick 
 of the trade — how to squeeze the goodly 
 premium out of the innocent aspirant, 
 how to overreach an experienced profes- 
 sional in the making of a contract, how to
 
 28 JtUiefs Lovers. 
 
 take money with both hands, and pay with 
 neither. With Lord Francis he was always 
 on his best behaviour, for he knew that he 
 had to deal with a man as clever as him- 
 self. Each had a consummate genius for 
 playing a hand quietly, whether at whist 
 or in life; each could ''bluff" to perfec- 
 tion at poker, or in a business transaction. 
 And, in this vagabond friendship, the real 
 ground of respect felt by both lay in the 
 fixct that he thought the other to be, if 
 possible, the greater villain. 
 
 Heywood was now not only a manager, 
 but a dramatic author. He wrote plays, 
 and brought them out at his own theatres, 
 — a system he found excellent, because 
 there were no authors to pay. Some 
 persons — and they were not a few — who 
 disliked him, either with or without a 
 reason, discovered unaccountable resemblances 
 to other I3lays, and strange importations
 
 Julief s Lovers. 29 
 
 from works in other languages, in his 
 dramatic masterpieces. But this did not 
 trouble Arthur Hey wood. As he would 
 innocently declare, with a Uriah - Heap- 
 like modesty, he was a poor uneducated 
 wretch, who knew no language but his 
 own. So long as his enterprises paid, and 
 he just steered clear of the law, he cared 
 nothing for what might be said about him. 
 
 The whole question of Juliet's appearance 
 on the stage had been talked over thoroughly 
 with him before Lord Francis mentioned 
 it to Juliet herself. Nothing remained but 
 for Heywood to see her. He freely allowed 
 that if she was her mother over again, as 
 Lord Francis represented, she would be just 
 what he wanted. He had a new play ready 
 to bring out, which he had tested once or twice 
 in remote provincial towns without much 
 success. He attributed this to the fact that 
 on both occasions the ingenue, a very import-
 
 30 Juliefs Lovers. 
 
 ant character in the piece, had been very 
 badly played. He had taken premiums for 
 both these appearances, a slight consolation to 
 himself for the unfortunate results, but none 
 to the public. He knew that if he brought 
 out the play in London there were only two 
 or three professionals on the stage able to 
 play the part, and that all these young ladies 
 knew their price perfectly well and would 
 exact it. He was quite aware that he could 
 not get a premium from Lord Francis, as he 
 would have done from anybody else, for 
 putting Juliet on the stage ; but he rightly 
 judged that if she was her mother over again, 
 she would play the part better than any of 
 the professionals he had been considering, and 
 he would get her, for a first engagement, for 
 a third of the money. So that the drive 
 down to Putney with Lord Francis was quite 
 a matter of business. He intended to see 
 Juliet, and if she proved equal to his expecta-
 
 yuliefs Lovers, 31 
 
 tions, to enter upon a courtly and polite 
 tug-of-war with his old friend, and make the 
 best possible bargain over her that he could. 
 
 This was the visitor Lord Francis brought 
 with him to lunch the next day. 
 
 Juliet was walking in the garden. When 
 the carriage stopped at the gate she turned 
 and came across the grass to meet her visitors, 
 her black robe trailing behind her. She 
 carried no sunshade, and walked bare-headed 
 in the bright light, which revealed all the 
 perfection of her fair skin and richly-tinted 
 hair. 
 
 " She's all right," was Hey wood's comment 
 as he looked at her. And Lord Francis heard 
 the praise with as much satisfaction as if it 
 had been expressed in the most elegant 
 manner possible. He knew what it meant 
 from Hey wood ; a daily paper criticism of two 
 columns could not contain more eulogy. 
 
 Juliet was much surprised to see what
 
 32 yulief s Lovers. 
 
 appeared to be quite a young man, though a 
 surprisingly ugly one, approaching her. One 
 of the curious things about Heywood was that 
 he really looked very little older now, when 
 he was admiring her, than he had looked 
 eighteen years ago, when he had admired her 
 mother. He had been an old-young man 
 then, and though the adjectives were reversed 
 now, the effect was much the same. Some- 
 times he would say to Lord Francis (who had 
 an abject terror of the advent of wrinkles and 
 other marks of decadence), *' I have the 
 advantage of you there, my Lord ; I'm not 
 afraid of growing old, for I'm used to it ; I 
 have never been young." 
 
 But he knew very well how to seem young. 
 When he chose, Heywood could assume the 
 most delightful manner, and could very often 
 captivate a new acquaintance with it. He 
 was seldom equal to the task of sustaining 
 this manner after the first interview, and
 
 yulief s Lovers. 2)Z 
 
 people who liked him at first were left to 
 marvel afterwards at the total disappearance 
 of whatever it was which had pleased them. 
 He was in his best vein to-day ; and kept 
 Juliet almost amused with his bright talk. 
 Lord Francis wandered into the garden 
 after lunch with his cigar, and left the two 
 together for a little while, and then Hey- 
 wood spoke to Juliet of her mother so feel- 
 ingly that he quite won her heart. 
 
 " Well ? " said Lord Francis, w^hen they 
 were in the carriage again driving to town. 
 
 " She's all you said, my Lord, and even 
 handsomer than her mother. But I shall 
 have to teach her everything, and take all the 
 risks. I must have some of the advantages 
 too ; that's only fair. Til take her, but I 
 must have a contract for five years." 
 
 " How much ? " asked Lord Francis 
 laconically. Hey wood named a figure. 
 He had been trying, all lunch time, to 
 VOL. I. C
 
 34 Juliefs Lovers. 
 
 make up his mind whether he dare name a 
 lower one. 
 
 Lord Francis shook his head. 
 
 "No, Heywood, that's not good enough. 
 We're old friends, of course, but it's my 
 duty to look after the child's interests. 
 She shall sign a contract for a year at that 
 salary, but not for a day longer. 
 
 " You mean that ? " said Heywood, 
 quietly. 
 
 " Certainly I do. You don't suppose I 
 put the girl on the stage for amusement, 
 or to exhibit her good looks ? I don't 
 want Marguerite's daughter to become a 
 part of the fringe of society ; besides, it 
 would be no use — she hasn't got it in her, 
 any more than her mother had. They 
 belong to the romantic type. No, Juliet 
 will either be a good woman, sacrificing 
 herself for some useless, high-fiown idea — 
 and I'm thankful to say she hasn't picked
 
 ytdiet' s Lovers. 35 
 
 up an idea yet, for which to undergo 
 torture — or else a great artist. I intend 
 her to be a great artist. Under these cir- 
 cumstances you must perceive that her 
 salary is very important." 
 
 " It's a hard bargain, my Lord," said 
 Heywood. He was very thoughtful. He 
 wanted the honour and glory of bringing 
 out Marguerite Yane's daughter ; he wanted 
 her to appear in his new play ; he wanted 
 to oblige Lord Francis ; but it irked his 
 very soul not to benefit more over the 
 transaction. Still, a year was something ; 
 and after all, she mioht not be a success. 
 
 " That or nothing," said Lord Francis 
 briefly ; and changed the conversation. 
 
 Heywood followed his cue, thinking 
 the while. Of course, there were plenty of 
 other theatres, and plenty of other managers. 
 With Juliet's name, from her mother ; her 
 father's influence, and her own beauty,
 
 36 Juliefs Lovers. 
 
 there would be small difficulty indeed in 
 brinmns^ her out. 
 
 Lord Francis was to drop Heywood at 
 the stage door of his theatre. As the 
 carriage turned into the side street in which 
 this door was situated, Heywood reverted 
 to the subject on which his thoughts 
 dwelled. 
 
 " I'll take her, my Lord," he said ; " I'll 
 draw up a contract for a year. But before 
 it is sig^ned I must see her rehearse. I'll 
 send her part down to-morrow." 
 
 " All rig-ht," said Lord Francis. " I 
 thought you'd be a sensible fellow. Come 
 into my place after the theatre to-night — 
 there will be a few men there." 
 
 So Juliet's fate was sealed ; and Lord 
 Francis, very well satisfied that he had done 
 his duty by her, forgot all about his daugh- 
 ter until circumstances brought her again 
 before his mind. He departed to fulfil the
 
 yttliefs Lovers, 2>7 
 
 manifold engagements of an evening in 
 London in the season, as became one of the 
 most popular nobleman of the day. 
 
 The next morning Juliet received her 
 " part." It was all Greek to her, for she 
 had never seen a part before, and had 
 not yet discovered that mysterious power 
 in herself, by which an actor or actress 
 can interpret these isolated speeches, without 
 wanting to know anything about the plot or 
 the story. It is said that one of the most 
 successful actresses of this generation has 
 often played without even understanding the 
 meaning of the words she spoke herself, 
 much less the purport of the rest of the 
 piece. Juliet turned over the pages idly, 
 unable to grasp any meaning in them, and 
 laid them by. 
 
 Mrs Graham, coming to Juliet about 
 some trivial matter, paused suddenly in 
 the midst of what she was saying, and
 
 ^S yuliet's Lovers, 
 
 looked at the roll of manuscript on the 
 table, covered with brown paper, the one 
 word " Evangeline " written on it. She 
 recognised the look of the thing instantly, 
 and started, as if at a snake in the grass. 
 
 '' You are going on the stage, Miss ? " 
 she said. 
 
 "Yes, Graham, I suppose so," said Juliet, 
 with a sigh; "papa wishes it." 
 
 *'And what has Mr Hey wood to do with 
 it ? " asked Mrs Graham, with the curiosity 
 pardonable in so old and trusted a servant. 
 
 "He is the manager of the theatre," 
 said Juliet. 
 
 " Manager of a theatre, is he ? " said Mrs 
 Graham. " I can remember when he was 
 something very different, when he wasn't 
 above borrowing a shilling of a dresser and 
 forgetting to pay it back ! Dear Miss 
 Juliet, I saw him yesterday, and knew 
 him at a glance ; he's very little altered
 
 yuliet' s Lovers. 39 
 
 in all this time. I've been wondering if 
 he had come here on any business. Miss 
 Juliet, if you have any business dealings 
 with him, be sharp ! He'll cheat you if 
 he can." 
 
 **Papa will arrange all the business," 
 said Juliet ; " fancy your remembering the 
 man! He is very ugly, but rather nice." 
 
 ''Ah, that's his stage- ways," said Mrs 
 Graham; "you w^on't think him nice after 
 you've seen him once or twice more. And 
 so you're really going on the stage, Miss ! 
 It seems only natural. You must let me 
 dress you, though I'm old now^ ; I should 
 never think any one else would do it 
 properly. Do you knoW' your w^ords ? — I 
 used to hear your dear mother all her 
 parts." 
 
 Graham was like an old war-horse, smell- 
 ing the fray again ; and with her assistance 
 Juliet actually got interested in her new.
 
 40 Jtilief s Lovers. 
 
 work. It did lier good; it relieved the 
 tension of her grief. And when the day 
 for rehearsal came, she looked more like 
 herself, in the new excitement, than she 
 had done since her mother's death. 
 
 Juliet had not seen anything of stage 
 life, and her mother had never talked to 
 her about it ; so that all the detail was 
 as novel to her as to the veriest outsider. 
 She felt chilled when she went out of the 
 bright sunshine of the morning into the 
 gloomy darkness of the theatre, lit by a 
 solitary, flaring, unshaded gas jet on the 
 stage. There is nothing in any other pro- 
 fession so depressing to a beginner as a 
 theatrical rehearsal. In the summer, you 
 are stifled, in the winter, frozen ; there are 
 no softenings of the grim surroundings 
 such as make them palatable at night. 
 Everybody is more or less cross, and 
 silent, except the determined young men
 
 yulief s Lovers. 41 
 
 who never lose an opportunity for flirta- 
 tion, and who are never daunted. They 
 are just bearable at first, but when the 
 luncheon-hour has long passed, and hunger 
 claims you for its own, they appear im- 
 pertinent drivellers. About three o'clock 
 there is but one way to the heart of an actress 
 at rehearsal, and that can only be eflfected 
 by evading the stage manager's eye, and 
 surreptitiously leaving the theatre to pay 
 a visit to the nearest place where food 
 and wine are sold — returning with full 
 pockets. Fortunately for Juliet, she had 
 an invaluable lieutenant in old Mrs Graham, 
 who knew the detail of stage life entirely. 
 She accompanied Juliet to rehearsal, and 
 carried with her a small basket, about 
 which she said nothing till the hour for 
 opening it arrived. A glass of champagne 
 and a sandwich came on the scene, there- 
 fore, at the very moment when Juliet's
 
 42 yuliefs Lovers. 
 
 spirits were beginning to droop utterly, 
 and when the weariness of the dark theatre 
 was making^ her long to be back in her 
 Putney garden. She recovered herself, 
 and when the time came for her im- 
 portant speeches, showed that she had an 
 instinctive knowledge of her work, though 
 entirely ignorant of technical business. 
 
 This went on for a week, Heywood 
 standing every day down by the footlights 
 to watch her every movement, getting more 
 and more interested with every rehearsal. 
 He seldom said anything, usually stand- 
 ing silent, with an ugly grin on his face, 
 which he intended to convey the idea that 
 he was quite pleased with all concerned. 
 He was much too careful a man to indulge 
 in ebullitions of temper, such as some 
 managers indulge in, and he never 
 swore at anybody. He was one who 
 thouc^ht, and calculated, and waited his
 
 Juliet' s Lovers. 43 
 
 hour. That was just what he was doing 
 now. 
 
 Meeting him one evening at the end of the 
 week, Lord Francis asked him how Juliet was 
 getting on. 
 
 " Oh, she'll do, my Lord," was the brief 
 answer. Lord Francis began to think about 
 the matter. " What is he up to, that he is 
 not more enthusiastic ? " he asked of himself. 
 " Some dark game, I am sure. But what can 
 he do? I will get that contract signed." 
 
 But before he had time to attend to this 
 he was distracted by another affair. He 
 found a letter on his breakfast- table one 
 morning which put him immediately into a 
 bad temper. He took it np and looked it 
 over before opening it — a sure sign of deep 
 distrust of the contents, when the hand- 
 writing is perfectly familiar. And Lord 
 Francis not only felt this same deep 
 distrust, but an utter loathin.of of the
 
 44 yuliefs Lovers, 
 
 handwritins: and of everv detail which 
 reminded him of the person it came from. 
 
 " I thought I had done with her ! " he said 
 to himself. " What can she want now ? " 
 
 It would seem that she wanted a great deal, 
 to judge by the expression on Lord Francis' 
 face as he read through the letter — four 
 pages, written closely in a strong, untidy 
 hand. At one point Lord Francis put the 
 letter down with a gesture of despair. 
 
 •' Left her husband ! What on earth's to 
 be done ? " 
 
 His air of horror and helpless anger would 
 have delighted one of his enemies, or such a 
 friend as Arthur Heywood. No one, however, 
 had the pleasure of witnessing it, as, for- 
 tunately for himself, he was alone when he 
 read this disagreeable missive. 
 
 '* What am I to do with her ? — what can I 
 do with her ? " he said to himself several times 
 when he had finished it.
 
 yuliefs Lovers, 45 
 
 " Whatever I do afterwards, I suppose I 
 must go over to Paris now and see her," was 
 his conclusion. *' Fifty pounds would keep 
 her quiet for a bit, I've no doubt ; but then I 
 haven't got it to spare, and it would only 
 mean starting the old plan again, which I 
 really can't afford. No, I must plant her 
 out somehow. The awful question is how ? " 
 
 The practical outcome of all this perplexity 
 was, that Lord Francis ordered a portmanteau 
 to be packed, and crossed over from Dover to 
 Calais the same night. The next morning, 
 about noon, he left his hotel, and took his 
 way to the Kue Jacob. Here he found a 
 certain number, rang at the bell, and asked 
 for Madame Elwood. He was told to go 
 up to the second floor, and knock at the 
 first door. This he did, and a curious sight 
 was that of this most distinguished-looking 
 nobleman, mounting the bare stairway, which 
 told of the poverty of the inmates of the
 
 46 Jitliefs Lovers, 
 
 house ; but there was no one to appreciate 
 it, except Victoria Elwood herself. And she 
 — when she had cried '* Entrez " in answer 
 to the knock at her door — when it opened, 
 and the figure of Lord Francis became 
 visible in the cloud of cigarette smoke 
 which filled the room — appreciated it to 
 the full.
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 " What is she, cut from love and faith 1 " 
 
 Victoria Elwood was more like a man 
 than a woman in her movements, in her 
 manners and habits ; and she was not what 
 is considered handsome. But she possessed 
 a pair of eyes which would have attracted 
 attention to her in any assembly — large, 
 melting, liquid black eyes, fringed with 
 long, black lashes. When she was excited 
 the lids quivered, and the flicker of these 
 lashes had a fascinating effect. Her figure 
 was rather masculine, wanting in delicacy 
 and feminineness ; but her hands and feet 
 were marvels, small, and wonderfully well 
 shaped. The hand that held her cigarette 
 would have delighted a sculptor, with its 
 
 47
 
 48 y2ilief s Lovers. 
 
 fine tapering finger-ends ; and it had a 
 quiver, too, as she laid the cigarette 
 down on the table beside her — a vibration, 
 that spoke of a nature burning with passion, 
 full of suppressed excitement and emotion. 
 It was this suggestion of latent fever that 
 gave her the power she sometimes had 
 over persons of less ardent temperament, 
 and with less excitable minds. 
 
 " So you have come," she said, slowly, 
 risins: from her chair as Lord Francis 
 entered. 
 
 '' Yes. It was not much use to write. 
 You have got into a pretty mess this 
 time." 
 
 Disregarding the second part of his 
 speech, she answered the first with a 
 sneer. 
 
 "And writing's dangerous, too, isn't it, 
 as you've found out ? " 
 
 Lord Francis shut the door carefully,
 
 Julie f s Lovers. 49 
 
 and then looked at the lady he had come 
 to visit, with an expression of the greatest 
 disapprobation possible. The sneer in her 
 words was very fully repaid by the dis- 
 gust on his face. Never was mutual 
 hatred more fully expressed in two faces 
 than in these two now. 
 
 Mrs Elwood wore a shawl-patterned dress- 
 ing-gown, made with great severity, like 
 a man's. Her blue-black hair was cut 
 short, but was not curled. She was not 
 in any sense untidy, but there was some- 
 thing uncompromising in her whole ap- 
 pearance. The room she occupied was 
 one of the barest and simplest of furnished 
 apartments which are let to impecunious 
 people in this part of Paris ; it was not 
 squalid, yet Lord Francis looked round it 
 with a shudder. She caught the meaning 
 of the roving glance, and answered it, 
 fixino- his o-aze ao-ain, meanwhile, with 
 
 VOL. I. D
 
 50 Julief s Lovei's. 
 
 her owD. And never did any human 
 being look another straighter in the face, 
 or with a more unfaltering and straight- 
 forward expression, than did Victoria 
 El wood, at all times. 
 
 " It's not my fault," she said, " that 
 I'm in a place like this. It's a pity it 
 wounds your sensibilities ; but it lies with 
 you to alter." 
 
 "Why did you leave your husband?" 
 asked Lord Francis. 
 
 " I told you. I told you, too, that you 
 ought not to have allowed me to marry 
 him. You knew all about him. He is 
 a drunkard, a gambler, a dissipated wretch." 
 
 ''Most men are subject to their little 
 weaknesses," observed Lord Francis ; " and 
 really I don't think Elwood is much worse 
 than the rest of the world. I know what 
 your temper is ; but can't this affair be 
 patched up somehow ? "
 
 yuliet' s Lovers. 5 i 
 
 " If that's what you came over from 
 London for," said Victoria Elwood, "you 
 might have stayed there." 
 
 And she took a fresh cigarette and 
 lighted it ; Lord Francis knew the action 
 perfectly, and that it was the symptom 
 of an access of passion. 
 
 " Don't get in a rage yet, Victoria," he 
 said. " Let us talk about things first. 
 You can storm by yourself when I'm gone. 
 If you gave Elwood a taste of your 
 temper in earnest, I'm afraid it will be a 
 hard matter to set things straight ; that's 
 my worst fear. Is he to be found at 
 home ? " 
 
 "There isn't a home," said Mrs Elwood 
 laconically. "Everything's sold. He's 
 
 gone to Australia, and I'm living on my 
 rings, for he left me without a farth- 
 ing. It's a good thing you came to- 
 day, for I've only my wedding-ring left, 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 
 
 yppAry
 
 52 Juliefs Lovers, 
 
 and they say it's unlucky to pawn 
 that." 
 
 Lord Francis, who had now taken a 
 chair, sat still and silent, gazing at her 
 without speaking. Evidently, the reality 
 of the case exceeded even his worst 
 anticipations. 
 
 '' I've no money for you," said he, 
 presently, in a tone that carried convic- 
 tion with it. 
 
 " Then you must arrange for me some- 
 how," said the lady. "You know the con- 
 sequences if you don't. 
 
 Lord Francis winced at this, in spite 
 of his great self-control, and Mrs Elwood 
 seeing the wince, smiled with pleasure. 
 Her smile, when she was pleased in this 
 way, was not a pleasant one to see, al- 
 though, when she chose, her mouth could 
 wear a very sweet expression. 
 
 " You can't do me much harm now,"
 
 yultefs Lovers. 53 
 
 said Lord Francis. '' I am too old a man 
 for scandal to be of much importance." 
 
 Victoria Ehvood looked at him witli 
 disdain and amusement. 
 
 " I should not be surprised," she said, 
 eyeing him curiously as she spoke, "if 
 you were to marry a rich woman now 
 you are free." 
 
 Lord Francis glanced quickly at her 
 face. 
 
 ''What on earth put that into your 
 head ? " he asked. 
 
 " Oh — your general appearance," was the 
 reply. 
 
 " I'll think it over," said Lord Francis. 
 *' It's not a bad idea. And if you stand 
 in my w^ay you'll repent it." 
 
 '' I shall not stand in your way as 
 long as you provide for me," was the 
 steady answer. 
 
 There was only one person in this
 
 54 Juliet's Lovers. 
 
 world that Victoria El wood was afraid of, 
 and that was the man she was now 
 addressing. She was perfectly exhausted 
 always after an interview with him, for 
 she had to screw her courage to the 
 sticking-point and keep it there. But in 
 him, and her hold over him, lay her one 
 chance of what she valued most on earth, 
 what she was determined to have at any 
 cost — ease and comfort. Therefore she 
 never showed her fear, cost her what 
 it might. 
 
 "But," she went on slowly, the quiver- 
 ing of her long eyelashes showing the 
 suppressed excitement which shook her, 
 '*if you break your promise to my 
 mother, if you fail in your duty to me, 
 I swear I will make your life a burden 
 to you." 
 
 ''Scenes like this arc not agreeable, my 
 dear Victoria," said Lord Francis in his
 
 Juliet's Lovers. 55 
 
 coldest and most courtly tone. " We 
 understand our bargain on both sides, I 
 believe ? On condition that you never 
 mention a certain subject to any living 
 soul, I will look after you. But I do 
 honestly think I might consider I had 
 finished with you when I had seen you 
 married and settled. If you want me to 
 do anything more for you, you must give 
 me those letters." 
 
 Victoria Elwood's eyes flashed like 
 fire. 
 
 "Indeed, no!" she said. "Don't hope 
 for that, the terms are the same as ever. 
 I know you too well to part with those 
 letters till I die. If I had no hold over 
 you, you would let me die in the street." 
 
 There was a pause. Lord Francis knew 
 perfectly that it was useless to say more 
 on this subject. 
 
 " I haven't an idea what to do with
 
 56 yttliefs Lovers. 
 
 you, that's the worst of it," he .said pre- 
 sently, in genuine perplexity. 
 
 " I know it's rather difficult," said Mrs 
 Elwood, with a smile. She lit another 
 cigarette, and leaned back in her chair 
 with an air which said, " Thank goodness, 
 it's your responsibilty and not mine." 
 
 "If you only had any talent," he 
 went on, looking at her with a most 
 disparaging expression, "a gift for sing- 
 ing, or the stage, like — " he stopped 
 suddenly. 
 
 ''No," said Mrs Elwood quietly, shaking 
 her head with great precision. " I have 
 no such gifts." 
 
 ''I believe I have an idea" said Lord 
 Francis, not attending to her remark, 
 but following his own thoughts ; *' yes, 1 
 think I can arrange for you ; but only 
 if you are capable of absolute silence on 
 the one subject."
 
 y^tlicfs Lovers. 57 
 
 *'I think I have proved that," said Mrs 
 Elwood. 
 
 "Yes, but you will be sorely tempted. 
 And that, you remember, is the condition." 
 
 "Trust me," she answered. " It's a matter 
 of business with me. So long as you keep 
 your part of the compact I keep mine, 
 whatever else may happen." 
 
 '' Very well. Now I will explain to you. 
 Marguerite Vane is dead, as perhaps you 
 know." 
 
 "Lady Francis Ellerton," said Mrs Elwood 
 with a sneer. "Well?" 
 
 " She has left an onlv daughter, who is 
 going on the stage. I want a lady to live 
 with hef." 
 
 Victoria Elwood put down her cigarette, 
 leaned forward and stared at him, her eyes 
 dilated with sudden excitement. 
 
 ''Your daughter I'' she said; "to live 
 with your daughter ! "
 
 58 y 21 /let's Lovei^s. 
 
 "Yes, with Juliet Vane. She is a lovely 
 girl, and ver}' sweet. You would simply 
 have to dress w^ell, behave properly, keep 
 your temper in order, and be alw^ays with 
 her." 
 
 " A lovely girl and very sweet!" repeated 
 Victoria in a low voice, still watching him. 
 
 " You had better pass as a widows I 
 suppose that husband of yours is not likely 
 to turn up again ? " 
 
 " He'll never trouble me any more," said 
 Mrs Elwood in a tone of profound con- 
 viction. 
 
 ''Then dress as a wndow ; it looks a great 
 deal better from the social point of view. 
 Now, I'll arrange this, and give you a little 
 money to get your dress with, if you'll 
 undertake to fulfil the duties. You will 
 simply have to be chaperon and companion. 
 You know what that means. I intend 
 Juliet to marry well, therefore, she must
 
 Juliet's L overs. 5 9 
 
 never be seen about alone, now that she 
 is on the stage. Yon will have to keep 
 your temper, as I have said, and cultivate 
 the art of politeness." 
 
 " Which means hypocrisy," said Mrs 
 Elwood. " So Juliet Vane is a lovely girl, 
 very sweet, and you intend her to marry 
 well ! And you propose I should be her 
 companion ! Great Heavens ! " 
 
 ' * It's the only suggestion I have to 
 make," said Sir Francis, taking up his hat. 
 "Think it over and decide. Don't forget 
 that I saw yoM well married." 
 
 "To a drunken scoundrel," said Mrs 
 Elwood passionately. 
 
 '* Oh, well," said Lord Francis, "most 
 men drink now-a-days. It's not one of 
 my vices, and I think it particularly bad 
 form, and altogether detestable ; but it 
 doesn't prevent a man being a good 
 match, provided he has plenty of money,
 
 6o Juliefs Lovers. 
 
 like Elwood. I certainly shall nob trouble 
 my head whether Juliet's future husband 
 drinks or not. And she's a sensible girl ; she 
 won't come back on my hands like a ])ad 
 shilling, as you have done. Good-bye. You 
 can write your decision to my hotel." 
 
 ''No — " said Mrs Elwoocl. "I've made 
 my decision. I'll be your charming Juliet's 
 humble companion." 
 
 " And fulfil the conditions ? " 
 
 " And fulfil the conditions." 
 
 '' All right ; then that's settled. I'll 
 manage it all." 
 
 "Don't forget to send me a cheque for 
 my dress." 
 
 "You shall have it to-day. Go to one 
 of the best dressmakers in Paris and get 
 dressed as a widow. You look a great 
 deal better wlien properly equipped." 
 
 So saying he departed, without any 
 further fnrewell. She sat listening to his
 
 ytilief s Lovers. 6i 
 
 steps on the stair ; and then, when these 
 had passed away, repeated to herself. "You 
 look a great deal better when properly 
 equipped." A moment later she repeated 
 in the same tone, "Juliet is a lovely girl, 
 and very sweet— I intend her to marry 
 well — oh, of course ! " She burst out sud- 
 denly in a voice of rage. " He'll marry 
 his beautiful Juliet to a duke, I've no 
 doubt — oh, the infamous injustice of life ! 
 Just because he did not marry my mother, 
 the scoundrel, he treats me like this ! 
 While Juliet Vane, because her mother 
 was a clever woman, is to have every care 
 and every chance ! A companion, indeed, a 
 chaperon ! What sort of companions and 
 chaperons has he given me ? " 
 
 She began to pace up and down the 
 room, like a caged animal, wild with the force 
 of her impotent rage. 
 
 Victoria was the child of a Spanish
 
 62 y idief s Lovers. 
 
 danseuscy who had been the one real passion 
 of Lord Francis' life. She could please and 
 amuse him when no one else could ; and when 
 he tired of Marguerite, he returned to her. 
 But she had sprung from the canaille, and 
 with her wit and brilliance was mingled that 
 terrible brutality and coarse temper which too 
 often characterises women of her class. She 
 could fill him with excitement and delight, or 
 make him shudder with horror. But, then, 
 she never intruded on his own life ; he came 
 out of it to spend hours with her, and as soon 
 as she horrified him, returned to it again and 
 forgot her. In her child he saw only the 
 brutality and coarseness, and he hated her as 
 he would probably have hated her mother in 
 time if he had actually lived with her. More- 
 over, Victoria pursued and haunted him like 
 an avenging fiend. For her soul was em- 
 bittered by a constant sense of injustice. 
 She had been educated among people who
 
 yulief s Lovers. 93 
 
 made her feel that her illegitimacy was a 
 curse and a disgrace ; and longed to revenge 
 herself on the man who had brought it on 
 her. She had the power to do so, and would 
 have done so long ago, but that she was 
 wise enough to prefer an easy life even to 
 the luxury of revenge. 
 
 While Lord Francis was thus engaged in 
 finding a companion for Juliet, some odd 
 things were happening to Juliet herself.
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Juliet's life begins. 
 
 The day that Lord Francis went over to 
 Paris, Hey wood called at his house in the 
 afternoon, and found lie had just gone. He 
 had come to talk to him about Juliet and her 
 contract, having a fresh arrangement to pro- 
 pose before it was finally signed. When he 
 found that Lord Francis was out of town, 
 probably for a week, he fell into a profound 
 reverie, which lasted all the time that he 
 walked the length of Piccadilly. Any one 
 knowing him well could have guessed that 
 some great idea was forming itself in his 
 mind, by the queer workings of his grotesque 
 face, and the glitter in his pale-blue eyes. 
 When he arrived at Piccadilly Circus, instead 
 
 64
 
 yicliefs Lovei^s. 65 
 
 of walking on to his theatre, which was 
 within a stone's throw, and where one or 
 two unfortunate persons with whom he 
 had made appointments were waiting to 
 see him, he got into a hansom, and told 
 the driver to take him to Putney Hill. Such 
 are the ways of theatrical managers. 
 
 Juliet Vane was reading, in the quiet, 
 shaded drawing-room, when this unexpected 
 visitor arrived. She received her manager 
 with the quiet dignity of a young chatelaine 
 receiving a business caller. This manner of 
 hers rather disconcerted Heywood always, but 
 he did not show it ; put on his mettle, he 
 appeared at his best. He could not seem a 
 gentleman, or anything even resembling that 
 precious article ; and he had sense enough 
 not to attempt it with her. But Juliet's 
 unconsciously-fine air prevented his address- 
 ing her as " my dear," or indulging in any 
 of the various familiarities of speech which 
 
 VOL. I. E
 
 66 yitliefs Lovers. 
 
 are universally allowed to be the privilege 
 of a theatrical manager. 
 
 " I wanted to see Lord Francis," he said, 
 *' and have been to his house ; but it appears 
 he has gone to Paris for a week." 
 
 " Yes," said Juliet ; " I have just had a note 
 from him." 
 
 ''It is very unfortunate," went on Hey- 
 wood. "I have had a telegram asking me to 
 give the new piece for a week at Portsmouth. 
 It would be a good thing to do, for it 
 would get the company into working order. 
 But, of course, we can't do anything with- 
 out you, and your contract is not signed 
 
 yet." 
 
 " But Lord Francis will be back in a 
 few days," said Juliet, not yet seeing any 
 necessity for feeling interested in Mr 
 Hey wood's information. 
 
 " Ah, but I have to wire my answer at 
 once ; and we must all go down to-morrow
 
 Juliefs Lovers. 67 
 
 afternoon, to play in tlie evening. Another 
 company has broken its engagement, through 
 the illness of the star, that's why it's so 
 hurried." 
 
 " To-morroiv l'' exclaimed Juliet, interested 
 at last. 
 
 *'Yes; what's to be done? Do you know 
 where Lord Francis is ? Can I telegraph to 
 him ? Or will you take the responsibility 
 yourself of deciding to come with us ? Of 
 course, I shall refuse to take the offer unless 
 you come." 
 
 ''And you would rather accept it?" 
 
 '*0h, certainly, because, as I say, it 
 would get the company into working order. 
 And it will not cost much. You need not 
 bring anyone with you, as there are the 
 other two ladies. For one week like that 
 it will be best for you three to stay in 
 the same house. Miss Luton is used to 
 life on tour, and will arrange everything
 
 68 Julief s Lovei^s. 
 
 for you, as you are new to it. I'll speak 
 to her about it, if you'll come." 
 
 "Thank you," said Juliet; ''but I think 
 I had better take Graham." 
 
 ''Better not," said Heywood ; "she will 
 be dreadfully in the way, and an additional 
 expense. The dressing is not a matter of 
 importance for a week in the country ; you 
 ladies must help each other. Will you 
 come { 
 
 " Oh, yes, I will come, of course," said 
 Juliet. " I am sure Lord Francis would wish 
 me to, as you say it would be a good thing 
 to do." 
 
 "That's all right," said Heywood, with 
 an air as if much relieved. He rose to go. 
 " I will write you the time of the train, 
 to-night. It will be in the afternoon. And 
 don't bring Graham." 
 
 " You prefer me not to ? " 
 
 "Yes, really. This is only a little trial
 
 yuliefs Lovers. 69 
 
 trip, which can be a sort of holiday ; and 
 maids are always a nuisance." 
 
 " Very well," assented Juliet, though 
 failing to see the argument. She did not 
 like to be too determined, as she was so 
 entirely new to the life and its details ; 
 but she would much have liked to have an 
 old servant like Mrs Graham w^ith her, when 
 amono; these novel surround inos. However, 
 this was a trifling matter, for so short a 
 time. She had inherited so much of the 
 real love of the work, that when put to it 
 she was quite willing to sufter an incon- 
 venience for its sake. 
 
 As soon as Heywood had bowed himself 
 out, with a great many expressions of 
 gratitude for her complaisance, she called Mrs 
 Graham. She felt some inward excitement 
 at the thought that, in so short a time, she 
 would make her first appearance in public, even 
 though only at a provincial town. And she
 
 70 yuliefs Lovers. 
 
 wanted to express this to someone. Graham, 
 as ever, was at hand, in her prim, dark 
 dress, with her quiet manner, but her face 
 all alight with sympathy. 
 
 *' To-morrow night, Graham! — positively, 
 to-morrow night ! I shall be on a real 
 stage, and make my first appearance. Oh, 
 my darling mother, how I wish she could 
 be with me ! " Hey wood would hardly have 
 known her. 
 
 "Well, you've got dresses that'll do very 
 well for a country town ; two evening dresses, 
 and two walking dresses, and a tea-gown to 
 die in — that's what you'll want. As you 
 must wear colours on the stage, your old 
 dresses will do nicely. I'll go and begin 
 getting ready, and tell the girls I shall be 
 away a week with you. They're sure to be 
 up to some nonsense ! Hadn't we better 
 lock the house up ? " 
 
 " Oh, but, Graham, I'm to go alone. Mr
 
 Juliet's Lovers. Ji 
 
 Heywoocl wishes it — I suppose to save money, 
 for papa says lie is very mean. I am to live 
 with Miss Luton." 
 
 " Mr Heywoocl wishes it ! " repeated Mrs 
 Graham in a tone of surprise. '' That's a 
 funny idea, for a lady like you, and a star 
 actress, as you are and must be, from the 
 minute you're seen, like your mother w^as 
 before you. And have you arranged it so, 
 Miss, really ? " 
 
 " Yes ; really, Graham, 1 don't like the 
 idea, but Mr Heywood seemed so much 
 to wish it that I gave way. Of course, 
 one must give way to one's manager ! " 
 
 And Juliet, with the inborn instinct of 
 an actress, ran to a Psyche mirror that 
 stood in her room, and began practising 
 her poses as " Evangeline." Mrs Graham 
 began her own arrangements, ruminat- 
 ing the while very seriously. She did 
 not all like her " young lady " going off
 
 72 ynliefs Love7^s. 
 
 like this, out of her care, when Lord 
 Francis was away. And she had a pro- 
 found distrust of Arthur Hey wood. Still, 
 she had no excuse to interfere, and there 
 was no actual fault to be found with the 
 arrangements. If Juliet lived with Miss 
 Luton, she would be well cared for, and 
 there was really no necessity for anyone 
 else to go with her. Graham, having 
 attended all the rehearsals, knew Miss 
 Luton quite well by sight, and knew that 
 she was a lady ; besides, she had kept up 
 her acquaintance with stage life by read- 
 ing the daily papers, and understood per- 
 fectly well ''who was who." At the same 
 time, it would have seemed more natural 
 for "her lady" to have had her own maid 
 with her, and she felt sure Lord Francis 
 would have insisted on it. But she had 
 been too well trained to speak when it 
 was useless, so she said nothing further.
 
 Jttlief s Lovers. J 2) 
 
 In the morning a letter came from He}^- 
 wood, simply giving the time of the train 
 — five o'clock — and by mid-day all was 
 ready. Juliet's trunks were packed, and 
 she herself, sure of her " words," was wan- 
 dering about the garden, going over the 
 impassioned scenes with flushed cheeks and 
 bright eyes. Perhaps if Marguerite could 
 have seen her then, she would have been 
 glad to see the apathy of grief and the 
 weariness of a lonely life replaced by ex- 
 citement, even though it were the excite- 
 ment of the stage, that life she had always 
 so dreaded for her child. 
 
 The afternoon passed. Juliet drank a 
 cup of tea, and found, to her surprise, 
 that her throat w^as parched. The cab 
 came to the door, her boxes were placed 
 on it, and off she started, to read the 
 first page of theatrical life. Graham went 
 with her to see her off.
 
 7 4 yuliefs L overs. 
 
 They expected to find Hey wood and all 
 the company at the station, but no one 
 was there, except a boy from the theatre, 
 who was waiting for them. Directly he 
 saw Juliet, he came to her, and gave her 
 a letter, and then hurried away. Juliet 
 opened the envelope in wonder. It con- 
 tained a hastily-scrawled line from Hey- 
 wood. 
 
 " Miss Luton gone down by an earlier 
 train; take your ticket and go on. At 
 Portsmouth, go to the Royal Hotel, and 
 ask for her. You stay there with her to- 
 night, and she will find rooms to-morrow." 
 
 Juliet showed the note to Graham, who 
 merely said, — 
 
 " Well, Miss, it's a good thing we have 
 plenty of money with us for the ticket. 
 He might have sent you a telegram this 
 morning, I think." 
 
 There was but just time to see to every-
 
 Juliefs Lovers. 75 
 
 thing, and for Juliet to get into the train, 
 and when it moved off, and she looked 
 at Graham left on the platform, she felt 
 very lonely. It would have been pleasanter 
 and easier if everyone had been there, and 
 started together. 
 
 Mrs Grraham watched the train out of 
 the station, and then went slowly on her 
 way to find a Putney omnibus. In the 
 street, on some hoardings, there were a 
 number of theatre bills posted which caught 
 her eye. She paused to look at them, out 
 of mere habit. The bill of the ''Queen's," 
 Hey wood's theatre, was there with the rest, 
 and she looked the list of names up and 
 down, thinking of the day when she would 
 see "Juliet Vane" in large letters at the 
 head. Suddenly she saw something, under- 
 stood something, which made her heart 
 stop beating and her blood turn to ice, 
 as it seemed. She knew perfectly who of
 
 76 Jtdief s Lovers. 
 
 the company then playing at the " Queen's " 
 were in the new piece, and Juliet had 
 told her all that Hey wood had said. How, 
 then, was it, she asked herself, that these 
 same actors and actresses were in to-night's 
 bill at the London theatre ? There was 
 Miss Luton's name, and the name of the 
 jeune ^9rc^;>wV?', Maurice Denvil, and others 
 besides. AVas there some awful mistake ? 
 She stood o;azino; at the bill for some 
 moments, unable to understand what she 
 saw. Heywood's name was not in the bill, 
 but she remembered that he did not play 
 in this piece. Still, he was in town : his 
 letter, though it actually did not state it 
 as a fact, gave the idea that he was not 
 going down to Portsmouth till later. Mrs 
 Graham resolved to go off to the theatre 
 and see him, and find out whether there 
 was any mistake. And, having thus re- 
 solved, she started off as quickly as pos-
 
 yulief s Lovers. yy 
 
 sible. " Oh ! " she thought to herself, " if 
 my dear young lady finds something wrong, 
 and is there all alone ! But what can be 
 wrong ? It isn't possible there can be any 
 thing." And yet her heart misgave her 
 and she trembled as she hurried along.
 
 CHAPTER VL 
 
 " Sad with delight and sweet with dread.' 
 
 '&" 
 
 At the stage door she found that all-power- 
 ful person, its keeper, lounging idly as if 
 he were in the enjoyment of a holiday. 
 
 " Is Mr Heywood in his room ? " she 
 asked. 
 
 "He's not in town," said the man, 
 with an expression of contentment, which 
 showed that Heywood was not one of the 
 men who are loved by their subordinates. 
 
 " Not in town ! " she exclaimed, com- 
 pletely surprised at this answer. "You 
 must be mistaken. He sent a note to Miss 
 Yane half an hour ago, from here." 
 
 ''I don't know anything about any notes," 
 said the man. "I know Mr Heywood went 
 
 78
 
 yuliet's Lovers. 79 
 
 out of town this morning, and* may be 
 gone a day or two — thank goodness." 
 
 Mrs Graham stood still in amazement, 
 blocking up the narrow entrance. Some 
 one behind her said, " Will you allow me 
 to pass ? " She stood back, and Maurice 
 Denvil came in. 
 
 " Oh, sir ! " she exclaimed, " how is it 
 you are not at Portsmouth ? " 
 
 Maurice Denvil turned, and stared at 
 her, apparently under the impression that 
 she must be mad. He had not the slisfht- 
 est idea who she was at first ; but 
 after a moment her face struck him 
 as familiar, and he remembered havinor 
 seen her sitting in a corner at the re- 
 hearsals. 
 
 " I don't understand you," he said ; " I 
 never had any idea of going to Ports- 
 mouth. What do you mean ? " 
 
 *' But the company for the new play
 
 So yulief s Lovers. 
 
 — for 'Evangeline,' they are all gone, but 
 you, sir, surely ? " 
 
 *' No, indeed," he answered ; " they are 
 all in town, I can tell you for a fact. I 
 don't know wliat you are talking about." 
 
 Mrs Graham turned deadly white, and 
 looked, ready to faint. All she could say 
 was, '' Oh, my poor young lady — what can 
 it mean ? " 
 
 " Is it something about Miss Vane ? " 
 asked Maurice Denvil. " Can I help you 
 — or her ? " The " her," was added timidly 
 and eagerly, and Mrs Graham's quick ear 
 detected it. But she looked in his face, 
 and met a pair of charmingly frank, pleas- 
 ant grey-blue eyes, with a smile in them, 
 and a softness that made them look like 
 wet violets. Maurice Denvil had many per- 
 sonal advantages, but if he had possessed 
 none but his eyes, he would still have won 
 all the women's hearts. Mrs Graham yielded
 
 Jtiliefs Lovers, 8i 
 
 to their charm. She felt it was absolutely 
 necessary to talk to somebody, and she 
 was certain she might trust the face she 
 looked at. 
 
 '' I don't know, sir," she said hesitatingly, 
 with a glance at the stage door-keeper. 
 She did not feel inclined to take him into 
 her confidence. 
 
 " Come up into my dressing-room," said 
 Maurice DenviJ, " and tell me all about it." 
 
 He was very eager now, for Juliet's Vane's 
 beauty had fired his heart from the first 
 moment he had seen her. It was fated 
 to fire many another heart, when she was 
 before the public ; but few are born who are 
 capable of experiencing the emotions which 
 shook Maurice when he first saw her. It 
 was as though he had never lived until 
 that moment. For various reasons he had 
 kept his distance, and not allowed his 
 passionate admiration to exhibit itself in 
 
 VOL. I. F
 
 82 Julief s Lovers. 
 
 any way that she could recognise. But he 
 trembled with excitement at the thought 
 that, perhaps, an opportunity had come 
 which might give him the privilege of her 
 friendship. But this pleasant excitement 
 gave place to a feeling of alarm which 
 banished the pleasure, as he listened to 
 what Mrs Graham had to tell. His face 
 grew ominously grave. 
 
 "And she will arrive alone there," he 
 said, in a low tone. "She will be at the 
 mercy of that scoundrel ! " 
 
 " Do you suppose he is there ? " said Mrs 
 Graham. 
 
 " Of course he is ; she will find him at 
 the Eoyal Hotel. Heywood is capable 
 of anything ! " 
 
 " But my young lady has a spirit of her 
 own, sir ; she can take care of herself" 
 
 ''No doubt," said Maurice Denvil;"and 
 under any ordinary circumstances you might
 
 yulief s Lovers. 83 
 
 trust to that. But let me tell you, that no 
 power on earth can protect her from that 
 man's tongue, when once she has been 
 placed in such a false position. He can 
 say anything he likes. I suppose his aim 
 must be black-mail, though I should scarcely 
 have thought that of him." 
 
 " Oh, I never thought of that ! " cried 
 Mrs Graham, starting up as if she had 
 been shot. " What must I do ? " 
 
 " Follow her by the next train," said 
 Maurice Denvil. 
 
 " Of course — yes, yes ; you're right, sir. 
 I wonder when there's a train ! " 
 
 " They've a Bradshaw in the office down- 
 stairs," said Denvil ; " I'll find out for 
 you," and he was gone instantly. 
 
 Mrs Graham paced up and down the 
 room impatiently. 
 
 " In half-an-hour," said Maurice Denvil, 
 as he came in at the door ; he had been
 
 84 Jullefs Lovers. 
 
 turning the pages as he came upstairs. 
 " You can get a train in half-an-hour." 
 
 " Oh, but I must go home first ! '* 
 exclaimed Mrs Graham ; "I have no 
 money ! Miss Juliet didn't expect to 
 have to buy her own ticket, and it took 
 all we had between us." 
 
 " I can give you the money," was the 
 answer. " Don't let anything keep you. 
 And bring her back to town to-night." 
 
 ''I'll do it, sir; trust me. How thank- 
 ful I am I met you ! " 
 
 " Better take enough money to bring 
 you both back," said Denvil, thanking Pro- 
 vidence mentally that for once in a way he 
 happened to be "flush." He gave it her, 
 and she took it, thanking Providence also. 
 ''I'll go down with you and see you into a 
 cab," he said. " Merciful powers ! if I 
 were Lord Francis I'd break every bone 
 in that man's body."
 
 yttliefs Lovers. 85 
 
 " I don't doubt his lordship '11 find a 
 way to make things even," said Mrs 
 Graham drily. 
 
 " He can't be in love with her ? " specu- 
 lated Denvil ; he spoke in a low tone, 
 for they were hurrying down the narrow 
 stairway now. "Somehow, I can't imagine 
 that." 
 
 "Mr Arthur Hey wood was never in love 
 with anything but his own pocket," said 
 Mrs Graham, with conviction; "and never 
 will be." 
 
 "Ah, you know him, then!" 
 
 '^ Of old, sir ; when he was a young 
 man, and I was Miss Marguerite Vane's 
 dresser." 
 
 "I'm glad of that," said Denvil. ''You'll 
 know how to deal with him." 
 
 Mrs Graham made no answer to this, 
 for they were in the street ; but her silence, 
 and a certain grim look in her face, was
 
 86 y telle fs Lovers. 
 
 quite as satisfactory as any speech could 
 have been. 
 
 In another moment she was in a cab, 
 driving off for the station. 
 
 Maurice Denvil walked back to the 
 theatre, went upstairs, shut himself in his 
 dressing-room, locked the door, and then 
 sat down to think. He had made a 
 discovery which had rather taken his breath 
 away. The thought of any danger threaten- 
 ing Juliet Vane had revealed it to him 
 in all its fulness in a moment of time. 
 She was dearer to him than anything in 
 the world. He had known before that 
 her beauty was a ceaseless delight to his 
 eyes ; that the magnetism of her presence 
 made his pulses throb wildly ; that to 
 touch her hand, to hold her in his arms — 
 as he had to in " Evangeline " — made his 
 head swim as though a mortal faintness 
 were upon him. He had thought it was
 
 ytiliet' s Lovers. 87 
 
 passion, that feeling roused by a woman's 
 beauty, and which a man can conquer and 
 put aside, if he choose, or revel in. But, 
 no ; he knew now ; it was love, the fatal 
 creature, bitter-sweet. Already he was 
 tasting the agony that goes even hand in 
 hand with the joy of love. "What, if she 
 should sufter — what, if she ivas suffering — 
 and he not there to help or protect her. 
 She, the most beautiful, the most precious 
 thing in all the wide world. What a 
 stab the thought of such a possibility gave 
 him ! He clutched his hands as he thought 
 of Hey wood, and knew that he was 
 capable of murdering any creature who 
 wronged or injured Juliet. He found him- 
 self lost in depths of feeling that he had 
 never known he possessed. He had simu- 
 lated them on the stage, but had never 
 had any knowledge of their reality till 
 now. What an awakening this is, when
 
 SS yztlief s Lovers. 
 
 the emotions are first roused. There are 
 many persons who go down into the grave 
 never knowing au2fht of that awful blended 
 agony and delight. Maurice was not doomed 
 to be one of these ; though he might have 
 been if he had never met Juliet Vane. For 
 Juliet possessed the gift which singles a 
 Avoman out of the crowd of women ; the 
 gift of inspiring love mingled with passion, 
 according to the power and depth of the 
 nature she touched. Terrible gift ! — for while 
 it brings love from one, perhaps two persons 
 — love, the one great joy of life — yet it 
 brings also the hatred of the thousands who 
 are disappointed or envious. 
 
 " Love was made to madden and plague us ; 
 Fresh as the flowers of the river-bed : 
 Sharp as the sword that's dipt in Tagus ; 
 Sad with delight and sweet with dread."
 
 CHAPTEK YII. 
 
 Juliet's first lov^er. 
 
 Juliet's journey was a very quiet and easy 
 one. She was in an express train, which 
 carried her quickly, as she thought, to a 
 new excitement. And so it did, but not 
 to the kind of excitement she expected. 
 
 All the way she sat still and silent. 
 Under her breath she was repeating the 
 words she was to speak aloud in the 
 evening, as she supposed. In her imagina- 
 tion she rehearsed the poses, the attitudes, 
 the " business " of her part. She had one 
 or two awful fits of stage fright, in which 
 she felt that the only possible course 
 open to her was to disappear directly 
 she arrived at Portsmouth, and never
 
 90 Juliefs Lovers. 
 
 allow any one to know where she was 
 again, in order to avoid the dreadful 
 ordeal of her first night on the stage. 
 She was of a very excitable and nervous 
 temperament, and a fit of stage fright 
 was, with her, a keen sufi'ering. When 
 she arrived at Portsmouth, her principal 
 idea was that she would be late — another 
 form of the terror malady, which all be- 
 ginners on the stage have to experience, 
 unless they are born without nerves. 
 She glanced at the station clock — the 
 train was a little late, and it seemed to 
 her she had really not enough time to 
 get to the Koyal, find Miss Luton, go 
 on to the theatre, unpack her trunks, 
 dress, and all. Sincerely did she regret 
 that she had not followed her own wishes 
 and brought Graham, for with that well- 
 trained aide-de-camp to help her, she 
 would have felt safe. But now she was
 
 Juliefs Lovers. 91 
 
 a little unnerved. In tliis humour slie 
 drove off to tlie Royal, with her trunks 
 on the top of her cab. Arrived there 
 she told the cabman not to take the 
 trunks down, but wait for orders ; her 
 idea being to go straight on with them 
 to the theatre as soon as she had spoken 
 to Miss Luton. She entered the hotel, 
 and asked the porter at the door if Miss 
 Luton was there ? He went and called 
 a waiter, who, coming forw^ard, asked 
 Juliet to follow him upstairs. She did 
 so, and found herself in a sitting-room. 
 Supper was laid on the table, but no one 
 was there. She walked impatiently up 
 and down the room, longing to go on to 
 the theatre. At last the door opened 
 and Hey wood came in. She was a little 
 surprised to see him instead of Miss 
 Luton, but not at all startled. It was 
 only natural he should be there.
 
 92 Jitliet's Lovers. 
 
 " Let me go on to the theatre, Mr Hey- 
 wood," she said. " If Miss Luton knows 
 I am come, I need not wait to speak to 
 her now, need I ? I am so afraid of 
 being late." 
 
 " You needn't be afraid of that, my 
 dear," said Heywood ; " there's no necessity 
 w^hatever. Plenty of time ! " 
 
 He had never used the customary thea- 
 trical familiarity of address to her before, 
 and she was more startled by that than 
 she need have been ; for she did not 
 know how usual it is. She turned 
 haughtily to the door, saying, — 
 
 " I will send a message to Miss Luton, 
 and go on to the theatre." 
 
 But when she reached the door she 
 found it was locked and the key gone. 
 Heywood was a master in "business" of 
 this sort, and had put the key in his 
 pocket, without her being in the least
 
 yuliefs Lovers. 93 
 
 aware of it. She faced him, pale with 
 passion. 
 
 " Open the door, if you please, Mr 
 Heywood, and let me go." 
 
 ''Not so quick, if you please, young 
 lady. Come and have a glass of wine 
 after your journey, and I will tell you 
 why I have kept you a prisoner like this." 
 
 Juliet was utterly puzzled by his words 
 and manner. She was too ignorant of the 
 world to jump at such conclusions as 
 Maurice Denvi] and Mrs Graham immedi- 
 ately drew from the circumstances. But 
 the situation was exceedingly unpleasant, 
 and Heywood's manner struck her as ex- 
 tremely odd — there was a kind of gloating 
 triumph in it which puzzled her. Her 
 first mood of indignant anger gave place to 
 one of wonder — was he drunk — or mad? 
 and then suddenly she remembered that 
 she had often heard Heywood was mad.
 
 94 JtUief s Lovers. 
 
 and her lieart stood still with fear. Had 
 one of his mad fits come on ? Oh, where 
 was Miss Luton ? Why did they leave 
 her shut up alone with this madman ? 
 But her courage came back in a moment, 
 for she was naturally of a fearless tem- 
 perament. Very soon someone would come, 
 for the play could not begin without her- 
 self and Heywood, who played the two 
 principal parts. Eeassured by this recol- 
 lection, she determined not to allow him 
 even to fancy that she felt any alarm. 
 
 Heywood went to the table and poured 
 out two glasses of wine. One he held out 
 to her. 
 
 " Come, my dear, take it, and eat a 
 sandwich. You must want something after 
 your journey." 
 
 Juliet was, in fact, very thirsty and 
 exhausted ; and as she did not intend to 
 show that she thought anything was wrong,
 
 yuliet's Lovers. 95 
 
 she concluded that her best course would 
 be to take the wine and drink it. She 
 therefore approached the table, and taking 
 the wine glass, said "Thank you," and put 
 it to her lips. But she had no sooner 
 done so than she put it down. 
 
 " There's something wrong with that 
 wine," she said. "What a queer taste!" 
 
 "Is there?" said Hey wood. "Oh, no, 
 I think its your fancy, the wine here is 
 considered very good. Drink it, my 
 dear." 
 
 She looked at him and met the keen 
 glitter of his pale eyes, which seemed full 
 of secret amusement and delight. She 
 regarded him steadily and he looked down. 
 She noticed that he only touched the w^ine 
 with his lips in spite of his praises of it. 
 Her ears were strained in the hope of 
 footsteps coming to the door, but there 
 was not a sound.
 
 g6 ytUief s Lovers. 
 
 "Has Miss Luton o^one on to the 
 
 o 
 
 theatre ? " slie asked. 
 
 Hey wood looked up at her, and laughed. 
 
 " She isn't down here at all," lie said. 
 
 " Not down here ! where is she then ? 
 Where are the others ? " 
 
 '' Well, the arrangements fell through, 
 and none of them have come down." 
 
 Juliet crossed the room and rang the bell. 
 
 "What's that for?" asked Hey wood. 
 
 " To tell them to take my luggage back 
 to the station. Please to unlock the door, 
 Mr Hey wood ? " 
 
 She looked straight at him as she said 
 this. Either her resolute manner con- 
 quered him for the moment, or he really 
 did not wish to create a scene in the 
 hotel. Heywood's mind was too obscure 
 and cunning for any one to fathom its 
 intricacies. At all events, he unlocked 
 the door before the waiter came.
 
 . Juliet's Lovers. 97 
 
 "There is a cab waiting for me," said 
 Juliet. ''Will you please tell the man 
 I am going back to town by the next 
 train ? " 
 
 "Yes, Miss," said the waiter. "There's 
 no up train till midnight, I suppose you 
 know ? " 
 
 " Till midnight ! " echoed Juliet. 
 
 "Just time to have a nice supper and 
 a chat," said Hey wood. " Tell the man 
 to put the trunks in the cloak - room at 
 the station, and bring back the tickets." 
 
 The waiter departed on his errand. 
 
 Juliet did not interfere. She did not 
 know of any better course to suggest, or 
 what else to do. But, a moment later, 
 she concluded it would be best to go to 
 the station and wait there. She rose and 
 crossed to the door. 
 
 "I'll go in the cab," she said. "Good- 
 night, Mr Hey wood." 
 
 VOL. I. G
 
 98 Juliefs Lovers. 
 
 With the quickness of a conjuror, Hey- 
 wood had passed in front of her, locked 
 the door again, and put the key in his 
 pocket. 
 
 Juliet stood still in alarm. She was 
 beginning to feel a terror of this man. 
 
 ^' Come and sit down, and have a little 
 quiet talk," he said. 
 
 Juliet looked at him very earnestly, dis- 
 guising completely the terror that she felt. 
 
 " I have no objection to sitting down 
 and talking to you, Mr Heywood," she 
 said, "provided you open that door. But 
 I do not choose to be a prisoner." 
 
 " If I unlock it, you'll promise to stay 
 quietly and hear all 1 have to say — even 
 if it makes you angry ? " 
 
 "Yes, I'll hear all you have to say, if 
 I know that I am free to leave you when 
 1 choose." 
 
 Heywood unlocked the door immediately.
 
 yulieis Lovers. 99 
 
 He then returned to where Juliet stood, 
 and, putting his hand on her arm, said — 
 
 " Sit down, my dear, I've a great deal 
 to say." 
 
 Juliet, her eyes fixed on his, did not 
 care to resent the familiarities, but sat 
 quietly down without any sign of doubt 
 or alarm. She thought this was her best 
 course, for she was now quite convinced 
 that the man was mad. With the door 
 unlocked, there was the chance of escape 
 should an opportunity occur. This was her 
 hope — that something would distract his 
 attention from her, and she could fly from 
 the room. 
 
 He sat down in a chair opposite her, 
 and fixed a regard upon her w^hich he in- 
 tended to express profound admiration. 
 
 " You must know," he said, " as well as 
 I do, that all the men that see you fall 
 in love with you. When you have made
 
 lOO . ytiliet's Lovers. 
 
 a public appearance, you will have all 
 London at your feet. You must forgive 
 me, then, if your beauty has driven me 
 to take such a desperate step as this. I 
 cant run the risk of losing you. I'm not 
 as young as I once was, nor as handsome 
 as some men, and I should die of jealousy 
 if I saw someone younger and better look- 
 ing winning your favour. But, my dear, 
 I'm not one of the common sort — I'm not 
 one of those fellows the papers write about, 
 who betray girls and ill-use them. I'm 
 not a manager like that. No, my dear, 
 it's all fair and square with me. I'm 
 going to marry you." 
 
 No convulsion of nature, no thunderbolt 
 descending at her feet from heaven, could 
 have astonished Juliet so much as this 
 speech. She was so amazed that she sat 
 silently regarding the man who made it. 
 He smiled complacently.
 
 Juliefs Lovers. loi 
 
 " I don't wonder you're surprised, my 
 dear," he observed ; " but then your 
 father's a great friend of mine. You'll 
 have nothing to complain of. I will make 
 you the first actress in the world ; your 
 husband will be the most successful 
 manager. What could you wish for 
 more h 
 
 Juliet rose up like a queen. All her 
 fears were lost sight of, even forgotten, 
 in her utter scorn of the creature before 
 her. And in her indignation she said in 
 derision what she had seriously thought 
 but a few minutes ago. 
 
 " You must be mad, Mr Heywood." 
 
 Hey wood laughed. " Some people say I 
 am, you know," was his answer. 
 
 Juliet advanced to the door. " I have 
 heard enough," she said; "good-night." 
 
 Heywood turned on his chair and looked 
 at her. "Juliet Vane," he said in a very
 
 102 Juliets Lovers. 
 
 low voice. There was something so 
 ominous in its sound that Juliet involun- 
 tarily stopped and looked back at him. 
 He had drawn a pistol from his pocket, 
 and it was directed straight at her. He 
 went on speaking in the same low tone 
 of voice, which was much more alarm- . 
 ing than a shout would have been. 
 
 "I don't know if I am mad or not, 
 but I do know I am a dead shot, and 
 I assure you, you will not leave this 
 room alive, if you try to go now." 
 
 This was a strong measure, which Hey- 
 wood had not in the least intended to 
 use. He did it on the spur of the 
 moment. But he had to deal with a 
 person of as great determination as him- 
 self, and he saw clearly that if he did 
 not get some advantage over her, she 
 would be gone in another second. Now 
 Juliet did not want to die ; a young
 
 yuliefs Lovers. 103 
 
 and lovely woman, just at the beginning 
 of an exciting career, naturally does 
 not ; and a pistol aimed straight at you 
 by a person whom you suspect to be 
 mad, is not a pleasant thing to face. His 
 answer to her thoughtless remark brought 
 back the awful dread that he really was 
 mad. She had heard from her father 
 that Heywood was a dead shot ; she 
 knew his boast was not an idle one. 
 She had reached the centre of the room 
 (which was a large one) when he checked 
 her ; it was unnecessary to look round 
 in order to assure herself that she was 
 out of reach of the bell and of the door 
 both. She had turned to look at Hey- 
 wood when he spoke, and kept her eyes 
 on his face. Her mind worked quickly 
 as she stood there a moment, saying 
 nothing. It seemed absurd that a man 
 like Heywood, a prosperous manager,
 
 I04 ytdiet' s Lovers, 
 
 should care to run the certain peualty 
 of shooting at her, here in this hotel, 
 where, the shot heard, the room would 
 be instantly full of people ; but then — 
 if he was mad ! 
 
 After a moment she had got her voice 
 under control, and spoke quietly. 
 
 ''What do you want with me, Mr Hey- 
 w^ood ? " 
 
 "Haven't I told you?" he answered, 
 without moving, and in the same low voice, 
 which had something of the growl of an 
 animal in it. " Come back and sit dowm 
 quietly. I want some supper, and I want 
 to look at you and talk to you. I'll 
 make it all right. I have a special licence 
 in my pocket, and we'll be married to- 
 morrow morning early. You can't do any- 
 thing ; none of the company are down 
 here ; not a soul that knows you, or would 
 believe your story if you told it. Any
 
 yuliefs Lovers. 105 
 
 fuss you might attempt to make would 
 only add tenfold to the scandal. I don't 
 want my wife talked about more than need 
 be. You are in my power, but I mean 
 to do the right thing, for I'm proud of 
 you." 
 
 "Is it possible, — " said Juliet, almost in 
 a whisper, '' that you brought me down 
 here to trap me like this ? " 
 
 " Never mind that, whether I did or 
 no ; I was determined to have my own 
 way, and I knew it was no use asking 
 Lord Francis, and I didn't suppose it was 
 much use asking you. All's fair, you know, 
 in love or war. Now take my advice, and 
 make the best of the position with a good 
 grace. Don't let us begin our life together 
 with any fuss or scandal." 
 
 Sincerely did Juliet wish at that momeut 
 that she had a pistol of her own. But she 
 had not. She could see only one plan — to
 
 io6 Juliet's Lovers, 
 
 talk to him, and hope for the waiters 
 return to the room, then to fly from it 
 instantly, and either escape from the hotel, 
 or tell the landlord Heywood was mad, 
 according to circumstances. She inclined 
 to the former course ; Heywood having told 
 her no one knew her, made her think it 
 would be best to leave the hotel without 
 any explanation, if possible. But it was 
 quite likely that the waiter had been told 
 not to return to the room at all unless 
 summoned. She determined to edge, im- 
 perceptibly, nearer the door, if it proved 
 possible to get him into conversation, so 
 that he would not notice it. 
 
 *' You must know," she said, with 
 qiiiet dignity, " that even if you keep 
 me here against my will, I shall not marry 
 you. 
 
 ** I think you will," said Heywood drily. 
 " When you consider what will be said
 
 Juliet's Lovers, 107 
 
 about you, you won't care to go back to 
 town except as my wife." 
 
 Juliet changed colour a little. She began 
 to realise that this might not merely be 
 a dreadful adveilture for the moment, but 
 that it might stain her life. The thought 
 was unbearable to a girl of her proud 
 temper. She lost her command over herself 
 
 *' I will not bear these insults from you," 
 she said passionately. *'I would rather die. 
 Shoot me, if you like ! " 
 
 She moved so quickly in her sudden 
 access of indignation that Heywood, who 
 had been put off his guard by her quiet 
 manner, was not prepared for it. She 
 darted to the door — and, almost instantane- 
 ously with her movement, but not quite, 
 he fired. The shot entered the wall behind 
 the spot where a second ago Juliet had been 
 standing, while she was speeding down the 
 corridors as fast as youth and strength and
 
 io8 Jidiefs Lovers. 
 
 terror combined could enable her. She 
 could not get out of the hotel without 
 explanation, for the shot had been heard, 
 and the landlady and waiters and chamber- 
 maids were all on the stairs. So she simply 
 went into the landlady's own inner room, 
 where she felt tolerably safe, and sat down 
 breathless. 
 
 " What on earth has happened ? " they 
 all asked, crowding round her. 
 
 " He is mad," said Juliet, as soon as 
 she could speak, having by then made up 
 her mind what to say ; "he wants me to 
 marry him, and because 1 won't, he tried 
 to shoot me." 
 
 "But he told us you were married to 
 him!" exclaimed the landlady; "he said 
 he expected his wife." 
 
 Juliet shook her head. 
 
 " No, indeed," she said. " Thank Heaven 
 for that!"
 
 . ytilief s Lover's,. 109 
 
 The landlady went out and spoke to her 
 manager, who joined the servants upstairs. 
 He cleared them out of the room, looked 
 at the shot in the wall, came out again, 
 and quietly turned the key in the door. 
 Then he came back to the landlady. 
 
 "Now, Miss," he said, ''shall we send for 
 the police ? Do you want him given in 
 charge ? " 
 
 *' Oh, no," exclaimed Juliet ! "Don't make 
 any fuss about it. Now I am safe I don't 
 care. Anything better than give him in 
 charge — it would all get into the papers, 
 then! I will go back to town to-night." 
 
 Suddenly she remembered she had no 
 money ; and her consternation silenced her. 
 For the first time in her life she under- 
 stood the v^lue of money. No one can know^ 
 it till placed in a difficult or compromising 
 position among strangers with empty pockets. 
 Juliet w^as horror-struck at her position when
 
 no Jtiliefs Lovers. 
 
 she realised that she was perfectly helpless 
 among these people, who very likely might 
 not believe her tale at all. She put her 
 hand over her eyes a moment, and tried 
 to collect her thoughts, and not hear the 
 excited talking going on around her. But 
 she could not help hearing it, and presently 
 gathered one thing from it that gave her 
 some relief. Heywoocl was not known there 
 any more than herself. He was spoken of 
 by another name, which he had evidently 
 given on arriving. Oh, if it would only 
 be possible to get away without anything 
 further being known ! She was puzzling her 
 brains how best to act, when she heard some 
 one say, "Oh, my dear young lady, what 
 has happened ! " and looking up saw Mrs 
 Graham standing before her — welcome at 
 that moment as an angel ! 
 
 "Oh, Graham!" she exclaimed in the 
 greatest agitation, " how^ glad I am you are
 
 Juliet's Lovers, 1 1 1 
 
 here ! But how did you come ? Oh, thank 
 Heaven." She drew Graham close, and 
 whispered to her briefly what had happened 
 and what she wanted to do. " Have you 
 got money, Graham ? " she asked. 
 
 "Yes, Miss; Mr Denvil gave me plenty." 
 
 Juliet was sufficiently astonished at this 
 answer ; but did not attempt to ask an 
 explanation then. 
 
 At Juliet's request, the manager went and 
 had an interview with Hey wood, who seemed 
 quite quiet and cheerful. He was drinking 
 brandy, and laughing to himself. 
 
 The manager informed him that the lady 
 did not wish to give him in charge, but 
 sent him a message to say that she would 
 leave it to her father to take any proceed- 
 ings he thought fit. That, therefore, if he, 
 Heywood, would promptly pay the bill, 
 and pay for the damage to the wall, he 
 was at liberty to depart. In fact, he was
 
 112 . ytilief s Lovers. 
 
 requested to do so as speedily as possible, 
 the management not being in the habit of 
 entertaining gentlemen who played with 
 firearms. 
 
 By the time Heywood and his portmanteau 
 were escorted through the hall to a cab, 
 Juliet and Mrs Graham were at the railway 
 station. Both were nearly dead of exhaustion, 
 and they made a dismal supper in the dreary 
 refreshment-room, telling each other the 
 while the strange events of the few hours 
 during which they had been parted. Juliet 
 was as much surprised at Maurice Denvil's 
 kindness, and the concern he had shown, as 
 at anything else.
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 HOW LORD FRANCIS PUNISHED HIM. 
 
 " So that is my first lover," said Juliet 
 bitterly. "Mama always said tliat on the 
 stage lovers are the torment and misery 
 of a woman's life ; and certainly, if this is 
 a specimen of what they are like, she must 
 be right." 
 
 They were in the train travelling to 
 London. Juliet was tired to death ; but 
 every now and then she roused herself to 
 speak, for her mind kept travelling over 
 the incidents of her adventure. 
 
 " I can tell you one thing, my dear 
 
 Miss Juliet," said Graham, '' if it's any 
 
 comfort to you in all this wretchedness, 
 
 that man Hey wood may be mad, and I 
 
 VOL. I. H
 
 114 Juliet s Lovers. 
 
 daresay he is, hut lie's a good deal saner 
 than most people when it conies to money 
 and business. His conduct is the jDl^i^iest 
 proof possible that he knows you are going 
 to be a great actress." 
 
 "How?" exclaimed Juliet. "In what 
 way ? " 
 
 '' My idea — and Mr Denvil's too — was 
 that he simply intended to get you in his 
 power and then blackmail you and his 
 lordship. That would have been a good 
 stroke of business, if he had succeeded. 
 It seemed good enough to me ; but oh, 
 that Heywood, he is wicked ! You see 
 Miss, in your position, his lordship's own 
 daughter, and with such a career as you 
 have before you, Heywood would have 
 been bound to have been paid off, and not 
 to talk about you. But Hey wood's game 
 was bigger He is a manager, you see. 
 Miss, and I don't think a manager is a
 
 yuliefs Lovers. 1 1 5 
 
 man — he has different feelings altogether. 
 I see now that if Hey wood had frightened 
 you into marrying him, as he intended, 
 his fortune would have been made for life. 
 There would have been no contracts then, 
 Miss, no salary to pay ; and you may be 
 sure if Heywood let you engage yourself 
 to another manager, it would have been he 
 would have taken the money. He'd have 
 nothing to do but take money, in fact, if 
 you belong to him, as you would if you 
 were his wife. What an escape ! " 
 
 '' And that is my first lover ! " said Juliet, 
 in a still more despondent tone than she had 
 used before. 
 
 " My dear lady used often to say to me 
 that no plain woman, who finds it hard to 
 make a small living by the work of her 
 hands, can even imagine the torments, the 
 humiliations, and sorrows heaped upon a 
 woman who is beautiful and clever. It is
 
 ii6 JtUiefs Lovei^s. 
 
 as bad as being rich. It teaches you how 
 selfish men are — how they want whatever 
 you have — your talent, or your money, or 
 your beauty, just for themselves. My poor 
 dear lady, often did she say, even when 
 she was young, with the world before her, 
 that if she had to live over again she would 
 prefer to be plain and poor. I think she 
 was right ; but you can't help it if it's 
 otherwise." 
 
 Now, Juliet's mother had never talked 
 to her in this strain ; had never allowed 
 her child to suspect the sadness and dis- 
 appointment that really lay at her heart. 
 So that this view of her greatest gifts, as 
 being disadvantageous rather than otherwise, 
 was entirely new to Juliet. She sat some 
 time silent, trying to grasp the idea. It 
 was not a . cheering one at the very outset, 
 before she had even started on the race of 
 life. After a little while she spoke again.
 
 yiilief s Lovers. 117 
 
 " Graham, I won't go on the stage; It 
 must be a dreadful life. You and I will 
 go and live quietly in the country, in a 
 cottage." 
 
 " It would be happier for you, my dear ; 
 but how could you do it, if Lord Francis 
 didn't approve ? Because you are depend- 
 ent on him now." 
 
 " Yes, that's true," said Juliet, falling into 
 a fit of thought, which lasted till the train 
 went in at the London station. It was 
 nearly two o'clock, and the station wore 
 a deserted, miserable air. But there was a 
 figure standing in the midst of the desert 
 which Mrs Grraham recognised at a glance. 
 
 '' This is the second lover," she said to 
 herself. " Quite a different sort. But if 
 she should come to like him, he'll make her 
 miserable! He's too impetuous." 
 
 It was Maurice Denvil. 
 
 " I knew there was an up-train at this
 
 1 1 8 yulief s Lovers. 
 
 hour, Miss Vane," he said, " so I just looked 
 in when the theatre was over to see if you 
 had got back safely. What an extraordinary 
 mistake for that fellow Heywood to make ! — 
 but he is mad, you know. When I played 
 with him in ' Evangeline ' in the country 
 he went quite out of his mind one night, 
 and tore my coat off. AVhen it's put on in 
 town I must be sure and have relays of 
 coats ready in case of such accidents ! But 
 it's too bad to put you to such trouble, and 
 all this tiresome travelling. Make him pay 
 for it somehow — he'll like you all the better 
 for it. I have a cab waiting — will you take 
 it ? — it's a good horse, and will take you 
 home in no time. I shall walk up to my 
 club; I haven't had supper yet." 
 
 All this was said as they went down 
 the platform, Denvil taking Juliet's rugs 
 and carrying them for her. She was saved 
 any explanation by his talk. " Well 1 " said
 
 yuliet's Lovers. 119 
 
 Mrs Graham to herself, walking a step 
 behind, " he's got plenty of tact any- 
 way." 
 
 The cab was close by, and Juliet, utterly 
 weary, got gladly into it and said, " Good- 
 night." Denvil drew Mrs Graham back a 
 moment. " Tell me ! " he said. 
 
 " He must know she's worth her weight 
 in gold, sir," she answered. " He wanted 
 to marry her, and had got a special licence 
 in his pocket ; when she escaped he shot 
 at her, and it's only a miracle, it seems to 
 me, that she's alive. Good-night, sir, I 
 must go," — for Juliet was leaning forward 
 to see what detained her. 
 
 And Maurice Denvil stood petrified, look- 
 ing after the retreating cab. "Oh, that it 
 were my business to punish him ! " he said 
 to himself. ''Shall I be able to keep my 
 hands off him ? " 
 
 Juliet and Mrs Graham drove home in
 
 1 20 Juliefs Lovers. 
 
 silence, too weary for further discussion on 
 any subject. 
 
 In the morning Juliet received a letter 
 from Lord Francis, giving an address in 
 Paris. She immediately sent a telegram 
 asking him to come back. Lord Francis' 
 face, when he read it, was a study. "What 
 on earth's the matter now ? " he exclaimed. 
 " Am I never to have any peace ? " How- 
 ever, he quickly packed up and took the 
 next train ; first sending a message to Mrs 
 Elwood, telling her to come over to 
 London as soon as she was equipped. 
 
 The next afternoon he arrived at Putney 
 Hill. He found Juliet lying on a sofa in 
 the drawing-room. He had never seen her 
 look so languid ; she had always been the 
 embodiment of health and brightness. But 
 her adventure had wearied her spirit ; she 
 wanted to give up her new life, for she 
 had lost interest in it. She roused herself,
 
 Juliefs Lovers. 121 
 
 however, to tell Lord Francis her story. 
 He did not interrupt her once ; when she 
 had finished he uttered one exclamation, 
 " The infernal scoundrel ! " Then he began 
 asking her questions — very practical ques- 
 tions. She could see that he orrew more 
 and more angry as they talked ; his mouth 
 narrowed, and his pale face looked whiter. 
 
 " God ! but he shall pay for this ! " he said 
 in a low voice, when she had answered all his 
 questions. 
 
 "What are you going to do?" she asked 
 in some alarm. " Oh, don't get it talked 
 about ! " 
 
 " I am going to make him pay. Hey wood 
 is incapable of suffering except in his 
 purse. If I were to horsewhip him from one 
 end of London to the other he would not 
 feel it so much. It shall not be talked 
 about, I promise you. I don't intend your 
 first notoriety to spring from an affair of this
 
 1 2 2 Juliefs Lovers. 
 
 sort, I can tell you ; thougli I daresay Hey- 
 wood does. Goodbye ; I'm off. When I've 
 settled witli him you will see me again. 
 Make your mind easy." 
 
 At the door he paused a moment, and 
 looked back. 
 
 " I forgot to tell you," he said. '' I have 
 found a lady to live with you. She or 
 Graham must be with you always in 
 future." 
 
 And with that he was gone. He returned 
 in the evening, to Juliet's surprise. She was 
 sitting at a table doing some kind of fancy 
 work. Lord Francis came and sat down at 
 the table also, and laid on it a paper. 
 
 *'Kead that," he said, *'and then I want 
 you to sign it." 
 
 She looked at it in surprise. It was a 
 theatrical agreement ; a contract between 
 herself and Hey wood for two years. She 
 uttered a cry of dismay at seeing this.
 
 Juliefs Lovers. 123 
 
 "Read on," said Lord Francis. 
 
 She did so, and even lier ignorance was 
 not so profound as to preventing her utter- 
 ing another cry of surprise when she came 
 to the salary stipulated for. Her eyes opened 
 wide. Lord Francis laughed softly. 
 
 " It was a clever trick of Hey wood's," he 
 said. " He played for a high stake ; but he 
 made some mistakes, and he has lost. So 
 now he's got to pay. Your fortune is made, 
 my dear Juliet. You will cost him so much 
 that he will be obliged to make it back ; he 
 will have to give you parts that suit you, 
 and every possible advantage. Sign it 
 quickly ; I want to go back to town." 
 
 "But, papa," said Juliet, "I told you I 
 don't want to go on with the life ; and with 
 that man ! Oh, it is impossible ! " 
 
 " My dear girl, you are not a fool, what- 
 ever else you may be. Look at it twice, 
 and you will see that the way to please
 
 124 Juliefs Lovers. 
 
 Heywoocl is to let him ruin your future. 
 Nonsense ! Don't throw away a great oppor- 
 tunity like this. Walk over the reptile, and 
 make him suffer, as he wanted to make you 
 suffer. You've spirit enough for it, I 
 know." 
 
 And she had. Her eye lit at the thought, 
 for she did owe Heywood as heavy a grudge 
 as a woman well can owe a man. 
 
 " Perhaps you are right," she said. 
 
 " You won't have any trouble with 
 Heywood, 1 can tell you," said Lord 
 Francis. " The greatest bully in the world, 
 if he has anyone in his power, he is the 
 veriest cur if the tables are turned. I know 
 him, and I know how to deal with him. 
 Of course he had put himself so completely 
 in the wrong, that he could not hope to 
 get off unpunished ; at the same time he 
 tried it on with me, I can tell you. He 
 actually told me that you went down to
 
 Juliefs Lovers, 125 
 
 meet him alone by arraogement, knowing 
 no one else had gone down." 
 
 Juliet looked up with an inarticulate cry 
 of rage. 
 
 *' Don't trouble yourself," said Lord Francis 
 coolly. "I am a judge of character; I know 
 you, and I know Hey wood. He is the greatest 
 liar unhung, I believe. If you want to benefit 
 yourself and punish him, sign that contract." 
 
 Juliet, who had pushed it away from her, 
 drew it back, and looked at it. Her cheeks 
 were flushed ; her eyes glittered. 
 
 " I carit be worth all that money ! " she 
 said. Lord Francis laughed. 
 
 "Of course not," he said, ''the thing is 
 absurd. But you'll be worth every penny of 
 it before the first year is out, for Hey wood 
 will work like a slave to get his money back. 
 No actress ever started under such splendid 
 auspices. All I grudge the wretch is that, 
 you will be worth it before he's done with
 
 126 Jtilief s L ove rs. 
 
 you. He went on his knees for five years 
 instead of two. Not exactly. You shall 
 be a duchess by then, or else have a theatre 
 of your own." 
 
 Juliet had signed the contract while 
 her father was talking. She laughed at 
 his last words. 
 
 "I think I should prefer the theatre," 
 she said. 
 
 " It might be the best," he observed, " for 
 you can always build a theatre if you want 
 one, whereas dukes can't be created at 
 will, and there isn't a marriageable one at 
 present. Now, I have to sign this magical 
 piece of paper, and all's done. Heywood 
 went fishing, and got himself impaled. This 
 is how successes are made, Juliet. People 
 will always wonder how you sprang all 
 at once into the front place on the stage, 
 as you will." 
 
 " There's one more thing on my mind,"
 
 Jtiliefs Lovers. 127 
 
 lie said presently, as he was folding up 
 tlie paper, and restoring it to his pocket- 
 book. ''I've shut Hey wood's mouth, and he 
 has been too much concerned for his own 
 skin, not knowing how I should take the 
 matter, to talk. Graham is safe ; 1 don't 
 like her, but she's to be trusted. But I'm 
 not so easy about that actor, Denvil. It's 
 a thousand pities he ever got drawn into 
 the affair at alL" 
 
 *'But Graham would never have come 
 to me but for him," said Juliet ; " even if 
 she had thought of it, she could not have 
 gone home for money, and got down that 
 night." 
 
 "Yes, that's true," said Lord Francis 
 reflectively ; " what I am debating in my 
 mind is, whether to ask him not to talk, 
 or trust him." 
 
 " I think," said Juliet, " you can trust 
 him." Her colour rose a little as she spoke.
 
 128 ytiliefs Lovers. 
 
 ** He seemed so much concerned, surely 
 he would never be the one to make bad 
 worse ! " 
 
 " Perhaps not — but one can never tell. 
 Men are, in reality, worse gossips than 
 wom.en. The best plan will be to make a 
 friend of him. I'll ask him to dinner, and 
 perhaps bring him down here on Sunday 
 afternoon. But he's dangerously hand- 
 some. Don't fall in love with him, 
 Juliet. I won't have you marry an actor ; 
 there couldn't be a greater mistake. How- 
 ever, I don't think you are likely to fall 
 in love in a hurry, that's one comfort. 
 And a week after you are on the stage, 
 you'll have a hundred men to choose among. 
 I'll write a Hue to Denvil to-night, and 
 make him safe as soon as possible." 
 
 Having thus decided, he said good-night 
 and went away, leaving Juliet to some 
 very confused reflections.
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 " The wine of triumpb." 
 
 " Evangeline " was announced. The play was 
 to be given at a matinee first, and the date 
 for this was fixed. Every paper contained 
 paragraphs, stating that on this occasion 
 Juliet Vane, Marguerite's child, was to 
 make her first appearance. That was enough 
 to excite interest, for Marguerite's name 
 was still one of power. But in addition, 
 the papers were full of bits of gossip 
 about Juliet Vane, of her beauty, her 
 talent, of the secluded life she had led with 
 her mother — any and everything which 
 could excite interest. This was Heywood's 
 doing. He knew all the ropes, and how 
 to pull them ; and he spared no efibrt for 
 VOL. L I
 
 130 Juliefs Lovers. 
 
 Juliet. The clubs were full of her name ; 
 he had spent days in looking up his ac- 
 quaintances in order to drop hints as to the 
 wonderful star that was about to appear. 
 
 This is the way in which a great reputa- 
 tion is made, as it seems, by magic. 
 
 Juliet, spending the days quietly in 
 her home, had no idea that every play- 
 goer in London had seen or heard her 
 name, that it was mentioned at every dinner- 
 table, and in every ball-room, and that 
 all the seats for the matinee might have 
 been booked three times over. 
 
 Juliet was a little altered by her adventure 
 with Hey wood. It had taken away her 
 nervousness. It seemed to her that, after 
 preserving her composure in the face of that 
 detestable man and his more detestable words, 
 a public audience would be as nothing. 
 Some of the fine impalpable freshness had 
 gone from her spirit, and some of the
 
 y telle fs L overs. 131 
 
 timidity. This is the inevitable result of an 
 innocent creature's first experiences of the 
 wickedness of others. Hitherto she had been 
 a little nervous with Heywood, regarding him 
 as a manager of experience who would criticise 
 her crude efforts. Now, she looked upon 
 him as a despicable creature, whose opinion 
 was not worth a thought. It is Cjuite sad 
 to note, in some artistes who have been 
 long on the stage, the profound contempt 
 they entertain for the public they play to. 
 They have seen so much of the worse side 
 of life, that all human nature is cheapened 
 in their eyes, and w^orthless. Juliet had 
 taken the first step in this direction, and 
 it had added to her courage wonderfully. 
 
 On the very day of the matinee Mrs 
 Elwood arrived. 
 
 Everything had been arranged for her. 
 Juliet had given up her own rooms to her, 
 and taken those w^hich Marguerite had used
 
 T32 yulief s Lovers. 
 
 in her lifetime. She had often seen Mar- 
 guerite pause before the Psyche mirror in 
 her room, and speak a few lines of one of 
 her favourite parts. Juliet used it now for 
 the same purpose, and loved to, for it 
 seemed to bring her nearer to her mother. 
 
 Graham had quite agreed with Lord 
 Francis, that a lady was necessary in the 
 house as Juliet's companion. " You will 
 be able to see people, then, sometimes. Miss," 
 she said, " which will be a good thing, for 
 you can't live shut up here like a nun 
 always. You must make friends." 
 
 So Juliet assented, without any demur, to 
 the arrival of this new member of the 
 household. Lord Francis told her that he 
 had the highest references with Mrs Elwood 
 from friends of his in Paris, with whom she 
 had been living in a similar capacity. 
 Nothing could be more satisfactory ; and 
 when Victoria Elwood arrived, her winning
 
 ytdiet's Lovers. 133 
 
 smile and her beautiful black eyes won Juliet's 
 heart immediately. She took a fancy to her 
 on the spot. Victoria assumed her most 
 charming manner ; no one could have guessed 
 at the rage that sprang into life in her 
 heart when she saw Juliet's beauty. Victoria 
 was not jealous in the ordinary sense, as 
 one pretty woman is of another. In spite 
 of her eyes and smile, men never admired 
 her ; and when she saw a woman of the 
 type that all men fall down and worship, 
 the milk of human kindness turned to gall 
 within her. For why, she asked in vain 
 of an unlistening Omnipotence, should the 
 Creator have been so manifestly unjust ? 
 
 A brougham was at the gate for Juliet 
 at half-past twelve ; and as there was an 
 early lunch on the table when Mrs Elwood 
 arrived, she insisted on sitting down to it 
 with Juliet as she was, in her travelling dress, 
 and goino^ on with her to the theatre. She
 
 134 y telle fs Lovers. 
 
 declared she felt no fatigue ; and, indeed, 
 that was a sensation she never appeared to 
 experience. So, when the brougham started, 
 she was beside Juliet, and Mrs Graham 
 sat opposite. 
 
 Juliet had not been to the theatre, or 
 seen Hey wood since her journey to Ports- 
 mouth, and she was rather glad to enter 
 it thus fully escorted, so that she might 
 seem taken up with conversation if she should 
 chance to meet him. But he kept well out 
 of her way. It was detestable to have to 
 play with him in the piece, but as that 
 could not be avoided, she resolved to think 
 about it as little as possible. 
 
 Lord Francis had reserved a box, and 
 into this Mrs Elwood was shown by the 
 prompter, who met them on the stairway 
 and told them its number. 
 
 '' I daresay I'd better go. Miss Vane," 
 said Mrs Elwood, " unless you think I
 
 J It lie fs Lovers. 135 
 
 could be of use. I am afraid of being 
 in the way when you are dressing." 
 
 Juliet looked at Mrs Graham, and 
 reading the expression of her eyes, said, — 
 "Thank you very much, but Graham 
 can do all I want, and I expect we shall 
 be rather hurried the first time. You 
 will be more comfortable in the front." 
 So Mrs Elwood was shown through into the 
 other part of the house, and into a small 
 box, where she found herself quite alone. 
 
 '*0h, that is a relief. Miss!" said 
 Mrs Graham. "I was so afraid she would 
 want to stay in the dressing-room ; and 
 it is so difficult to dress anybody with 
 people sitting about. " 
 
 But there was no risk of that ; Victoria 
 Elwood intended to avoid Juliet's room 
 while the actual business of dressing was 
 going on, lest she should be pressed into 
 the service and made useful.
 
 136 Juliet's Lovers, 
 
 *' Evangeline " was one of those curious 
 plays vvliich come to the surface every 
 now and then, of which no human being 
 can foretell the fcite. It must either be 
 an immense success, or a grotesque failure ; 
 and none, not its author, nor the most 
 adverse critic, could feel sure which would 
 be the event. Evangeline herself is a lofty, 
 other- world character, a girl who has to 
 act up to a standard of Quixotic heroism 
 and self-sacrifice, which might readily 
 seem absurd and far-fetched. She has 
 two lovers, one of whom is her guardian. 
 He, conscious that he has nge and 
 other disadvantages against him, does not 
 speak of his love to her, till he begins to 
 suspect an attachment is growing between 
 her and the other lover. He appeals 
 to her gratitude, and her pity, and implores 
 her not to desert him, now, when he feels 
 an awful malady, which may at any time
 
 Julief s Lovers, 137 
 
 affect his brain, growing upon him. At 
 last her feelings are so harrowed that 
 she decides to sacrifice herself for him ; 
 to become his wife, and repay the care 
 and attention he has given her in her 
 youth. The affair between herself and 
 her young lover has gone further than 
 the guardian has any idea of; and there 
 is a painful farewell scene between 
 them, which he overhears, and eventually, 
 interrupts. He exhibits himself as sub- 
 limely Quixotic and unselfish in his own 
 person, and insists upon giving up Evangel- 
 ine to the man she loves. In the midst 
 of this tender scene, the madness comes 
 suddenly upon him ; he attacks the young 
 lover, and after a horrible struggle, kills 
 him before the very eyes of Evangeline. 
 This is a bare outline of the emotional 
 scenes between the three leading characters 
 in the play. After that, it is chiefly
 
 138 Juliet's Lovers. 
 
 psychological, the weight falling on Evange- 
 line, for her guardian is left a shattered 
 wreck, an imbecile. Utterly sad — yet 
 Evangeline without a brilliant actress for 
 the title role^ would have become a 
 burlesque. 
 
 " Graham," said Juliet, while she was 
 dressing, **it does seem to me so odd 
 that Heywood should play a madman 
 when he is so nearly mad himself" 
 
 ''Oh, Miss Juliet," said Graham, ''he's 
 no more mad than you or I. But I feel it 
 suits him to play the part, both on and 
 off the stage." 
 
 Juliet was thinking of Heywood, because 
 now she had to meet him ; her opening 
 scene was with him. But when she w^ent 
 downstairs and reached the wings to stand 
 ready for her entrance, the glimpse she got 
 of a densely-crowded house drove every 
 thought of Heywood out of her mind.
 
 Jzilief s Lovers. 139 
 
 What a house to play to for the first time ! 
 For a moment the agony of stage-fright 
 came upon her ; her heart stood still, her 
 tongue clung to the roof of her mouth, 
 and, afraid of falling, she caught hold of 
 Graham's arm for support. That old 
 lieutenant knew very well what w^as the 
 matter, and that it would pass in a 
 moment. And so it did. The spirit of the 
 artist rose within Juliet, proud and strong, 
 that spirit which soars out of sight of all 
 personalities, of all small concerns. The 
 moment approached for her to go on ; 
 Heywood was on, and was speaking ; but 
 he was looking anxiously at the wing where 
 Juliet stood, still grasping Graham's arm 
 for support. Graham knew that he was 
 consumed with anxiety, and took a malicious 
 delio-ht in watching him. She knew as well 
 as he did that the debut of many a good 
 actress has been ruined by sheer nervous-
 
 140 yulief s Lovers. 
 
 iiess. If that happened now, what a loss 
 it would be to him ! But Juliet Vane was 
 not what is called a good actress ; she was 
 a great one. Heywood knew that perfectly 
 well, or he would not have played the 
 desperate game he had played at Ports- 
 mouth ; and this knowledge was his one 
 comfort, as he faced the crowded house. 
 For it was a house which had paid, and paid 
 well, for the privilege of seeing the new 
 star, and would brook no nonsense. He 
 had taken its money, and on Juliet 
 depended everything, whether the new 
 play was ridiculed or applauded. A house 
 which has given its money gives no polite 
 applause, as Heywood knew but too well. 
 And he, though a successful manager, was 
 not popular. It would amuse the public 
 to laugh at him. So that altogether he 
 was upon thorns ; yet he had confidence. 
 A large box had been reserved for royalty,
 
 yuliefs Lovers. 141 
 
 and a small one for Juliet's friends, in which 
 Mrs El wood, in her widow's weed, still sat 
 alone. One row of stalls had been given 
 to the newspaper critics and to a few 
 notable people in the theatrical world. The 
 rest of the theatre was crammed by the 
 merciless public, and Heywood, looking 
 from the full stalls to the packed gallery, 
 wondered whether the washed or the un- 
 washed would laugh the most heartily if 
 the venture failed. To offer a new play 
 of a doubtful nature to the public is some- 
 thing like offering a strange and possibly 
 unpopular food to a cageful of lions. 
 
 Heywood fully realised all this as he 
 stood there, delivering a soliloquy, watching 
 the house with one eye, and the apparently 
 fainting Juliet with the other. At last he 
 gave her her cue, and turned his back on 
 her, too anxious to watch what would 
 happen.
 
 142 yulief s Lovers. 
 
 Juliet lifted her head ; a profound quiet 
 seemed to have fallen on her spirit. She 
 took her hand from Graham's, and moved 
 on to the stage immediately, apparently 
 with the calmness of an experienced artist. 
 She began to speak without hesitation, and 
 Graham, watching, saw the start of relief 
 which passed through Heywood's body as 
 he heard her voice — soft, clear, bell-like. 
 He turned and looked at her ; and when 
 he saw her standing there so perfectly self- 
 possessed under the crowd of eyes that were 
 concentrated upon her, his one feeling was 
 that of profound regret that he had not 
 succeeded in frightening her, and making 
 her his wife. For she would succeed — oh. 
 yes ; he had no more fears. He had been 
 on the stage all his life, and he knew the 
 meaning of that breathless attention — that 
 absorbed interest — the public was in love 
 with her at first sight. She had only to
 
 Julieis L overs. 1 4 3 
 
 go on and win. His conviction that this 
 was so put him at his ease with her, and 
 their scene was well played. It was inter- 
 rupted by the entrance of Evangeline's 
 lover — played by Maurice Denvil. 
 
 A change came upon Juliet's manner, 
 upon her face, at the sound of his voice — 
 a changre which seemed to the audience to 
 be the luost profound art. As a matter 
 of fact, it was simple nature. She had 
 neither seen nor heard anything of him, 
 except what Lord Francis had said, since 
 he parted from her that night at the 
 station on her return from Portsmouth. 
 In the feverish excitement of her first ap- 
 pearance she had forgotten even that he 
 lived. But when she heard his voice — 
 one of those rare voices among men, vibrat- 
 ing, low, with a break in it sometimes, 
 yet with a fresh, ringing sound — a gift 
 which had done much to win for Denvil
 
 144 Juliet's Lovers. 
 
 his position on the stage — it was as if a 
 hand had been laid on her heart. It was 
 well for her that the faint shudder which 
 passed through her fitted in to her role, 
 for she was too inexperienced to conceal 
 it. She was but a child still, and here, 
 on the stage, before the eyes of the world, 
 she was passing through what most girls 
 experience at their first dances when they 
 leave school. A child still was Juliet Yane, 
 but, with the glare of the world upon her, 
 soon to be a woman. 
 
 Heywood left the stage, and Maurice 
 Denvil approached Juliet. She had to 
 play her first love scene. Denvil's hand 
 trembled when he laid it on hers. Juliet 
 looked up, and met those w^onderful blue 
 eyes, dewy, starry, shining, with a soft glow 
 that suggested immortal youth and eter- 
 nal love. In that moment the silent throng 
 which watched her, and waited for her
 
 jMliefs Lovers. 145 
 
 words, became, for her, non-existent. She 
 forgot them ; she was unconscious of the 
 presence of these people, these mere out- 
 siders to the life she was living, the passion 
 she felt. She spoke her words — she gazed 
 into those lovely eyes, thinking of nothing 
 else — the curtain came down, and she 
 heard with wonder a wild roar, a thunder 
 of applause. 
 
 " Stay," said Maurice Denvil, looking at 
 her with awe, with a reverend adoration — 
 he knew not which he worshipped most, 
 the artist or the woman — " you will have 
 to go before the curtain." 
 
 And she had — there was no peace pos- 
 sible until she appeared. She looked round 
 the house with a bewildered glance — it was 
 all visible to her now, and it seemed so 
 strange to think that all these people had 
 actually been so near her during the last 
 few delicious moments. She recognised 
 
 VOL. I. K
 
 146 Juliefs Lovers, 
 
 royalty, close to the stage, and very 
 enthusiastic — that startled her a little, and 
 as she moved across, was startled again 
 by a group of faces leaning towards her 
 out of another box. Lord Francis was 
 there, and Mrs Elwood, and with them 
 two gentlemen who gave her the same 
 adoring look she had so recently received 
 from Maurice Denvil. 
 
 The applause thundered on till she dis- 
 appeared and then it died slowly away. The 
 die was cast. Juliet had won her public ; 
 after this, success was certain. And people 
 thought of her as a woman who might 
 make the world her football.
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 ANOTHER LOVER. 
 
 There was silence for a moment or two 
 in the box where Mrs Elwood and Lord 
 Francis sat, though the rest of the house 
 w^as already chattering, after the manner 
 of first-night audiences. Lord Francis was 
 deep in his own thoughts, contrasting and 
 comparing Juliet with her mother ; and, 
 at the same time watching the people in 
 the stalls as they leaned across and talked 
 to each other. Pleased surprise, enthu- 
 siasm, were written on the different 
 faces. Mrs Elwood drew back, after a 
 Ions: eflance round the house, and sat 
 very quietly in the shelter of one of 
 
 the curtains ; her eyes fixed on Lord 
 
 147
 
 148 Jttliefs Lovers. 
 
 Francis. She was trying to read bis 
 thoughts. 
 
 The other two inmates of the box 
 seemed also lost in thought, or memory, 
 or something equally absorbing. 
 
 And it was Juliet's image which filled 
 the mind of every one of the group. 
 
 Presently one of the men raised himself 
 and got up. 
 
 " She's splendid ! " he said laconically ; 
 " simply splendid ! I'll be back in a few 
 minutes." With which he took his de- 
 parture. 
 
 He was an old man with a remarkable 
 appearance of youth about him. Perfectly 
 preserved and appointed, he kept age at 
 bay. His long moustachios were silky, 
 and but faintly touched with grey. He 
 was dressed in the latest mode — entirely 
 in silver grey ; and his perfectly fitting 
 frock coat looked as well on him as on
 
 Jziliefs Lovers. 149 
 
 any of the boys who belonged to the 
 order of the gilded youth. He carried a 
 jpince-nez, heavily mounted in gold, which 
 it was said was only put on to ogle pretty 
 women with. 
 
 This was Dr Pynton Clifford, one of 
 the most fashionable and most successful 
 doctors of the day. It was a matter of 
 pride with him, in whatever assembly or 
 gathering he might appear, to be seen 
 talking to the prettiest woman present. 
 
 "You're half asleep, I believe, Manner- 
 ing," said Lord Francis, turning to the 
 other man, who sat silent and immovable. 
 
 "Not exactly," w^as the reply, in a low 
 voice. 
 
 *' I'm going round to a box opposite. 
 Are you going to stay with Mrs 
 Elwood ? " 
 
 *' I should like to," answered the young 
 man. And Lord Francis left the box
 
 1 50 Juliet's Lovers, 
 
 Mrs Elwood turned her frank, straight- 
 forward gaze upon Mannering's face. 
 
 ''I suppose." she said; "you are in 
 love with her at first sight, like all the 
 rest of the men. How men do run after 
 an actress ! " 
 
 "That's just what I was thinking," said 
 Mannering, evading the first part of the 
 speech ; " wondering what she will be like 
 in ten years, if some one doesn't save her 
 from this life ! " 
 
 "I've no doubt somebody will save her," 
 said Mrs Elwood, sarcastically; ''and if not, 
 in ten years she will be all right. She 
 will have found out that men are hypo- 
 crites and liars ; that for a man to fall in 
 love is the same as for a chikl to have 
 the measles — sharp at the time, no doubt, 
 but soon over, and recovery pretty certain. 
 She will have become a woman of the 
 world, and use men to her own ends."
 
 yuliefs Lovers. 151 
 
 " You are very cynical," said Lord 
 Mannering, looking at her with curi- 
 osity. 
 
 '*No, I only state facts," said Mrs Elwood. 
 '' You know perfectly well that life is like 
 that. Men make women bad, and then turn 
 on them ; and the women revenge themselves 
 as effectually as they can, and quite right 
 too. What else is left for a woman, when 
 faith and trust and belief in human nature 
 are all stamped out of her ? * Oh, how I wish 
 [ could have a cigarette ! I have lived so 
 much abroad that I can't get used to the 
 odd way English people have of looking 
 upon a cigarette as something wicked if a 
 woman smokes it. Surely the English are 
 the greatest hypocrites and humbugs upon 
 earth ! " 
 
 " I don't think there can be any doubt 
 about that," said Lord Mannering. ''I'm 
 dead sick of the country. It's in me to go
 
 152 yuliefs L overs. 
 
 and live in the Australian bush if I get 
 sufficiently annoyed here." 
 
 ''Yes," said Mrs El wood, contemplating 
 him. ''I should think you were capable 
 of it." 
 
 Six-feet-one in his stockings, broad- 
 shouldered, with a magnificent chest, 
 Mannering looked just the man to open 
 a new country or found a colony. He 
 was a blonde giant, with a great tawny 
 moustache, and -a head covered with curls. 
 Mrs Elwood admired him immensely ; he 
 was just the type she thought the perfection 
 of manhood. She had been very disappointed 
 because he never looked at her after they 
 had been introduced, and she began to talk 
 simply to attract his attention. In this 
 she certainly succeeded. 
 
 '* But it takes a great deal to annoy 
 you, doesn't it ? " she asked. 
 
 **Yes, a great deal," he admitted; ** but
 
 Juliefs Lovers, 153 
 
 when it comes I'm bad to deal with. 
 Didn't Lord Francis say you are staying 
 with Miss Vane?" 
 
 " I am her companion," said Mrs El wood, 
 abruptly. "Don't look alarmed," she went 
 on, laughing; " T won't teach her to smoke 
 cigarettes. I know quite well, you think her 
 so lovely and so innocent, it w^ould frighten 
 you to see a cigarette in her beautiful mouth." 
 
 *' You are a thought-reader," said Manner- 
 ing. 
 
 Mrs Elwood laughed. 
 
 '' I have learned to read faces a little," she 
 said ; " and besides, I know something of 
 life. All men feel like that at first about 
 a young woman who is lovely. They are 
 pleased with the picture as it is, and don't 
 want it destroyed. But in a little while 
 they get tired of it, and if some one else 
 doesn't brush the bloom off they do it 
 themselves. And when it's done, they wish
 
 1 54 Juliefs Lovers. 
 
 it had not been done, and go in search of 
 another beauty, who knows no evil, in order 
 to repeat the process." 
 
 " Oh, you are terrible ! " said Mannering. 
 "I really don't think men are all like that." 
 
 "Most are," said Mrs Elwood, ''and the 
 majority make the world. Some man will 
 destroy all Juliet's innocent faith, and she 
 in her turn, if she meets a good man after- 
 wards, will destroy his. So the weary world 
 goes on, and a quiet person like myself may 
 not smoke a cigarette ! " 
 
 Lord Mannering was taken with her 
 straightforward manner, as she intended him 
 to be. 
 
 " Well," he said, '' it is a great thing 
 for her to have one honest friend with her 
 who sees through the shams of life." 
 
 And Victoria knew that she had made 
 just the impression she wanted to make. 
 
 Mannering belonged to the order of men
 
 yuliefs Lovers. 155 
 
 who admire beauty in a woman, and will 
 immolate themselves for it ; but according 
 to Mrs Elwood's knowledge of life, such 
 men always need consoling sooner or later, 
 and then they will turn to a woman they 
 believe to be true, whether she be fair or 
 plain. 
 
 Lord Francis and Dr Pynton Clifford 
 came in together. The curtain was just 
 going up. A profound silence fell on the 
 house, for Juliet was "discovered." No 
 one thought of anything else ; even Mrs 
 El wood leaned forward, absorbed in watch- 
 ing the movements of the beautiful figure, 
 and listening to the rich soft voice. " If 
 I were a man I should love her," thought 
 Mrs Elwood. " Good Heavens ! fancy being 
 a woman, and plain ! A pretty woman is 
 loved — a man loves — but to be a woman 
 and plain ! what a fate ! " 
 
 Dr Pynton Clifford had brought some-
 
 156 yuliefs Lovers. 
 
 thing in, which he placed carefully in a corner 
 of the box. At the close of the scene he 
 rose quietly and fetched it, and just at 
 the right moment leaned forward, and with 
 the skill of long practice flung it at Juliet's 
 feet. It was a glorious bouquet. She 
 looked up and saw who had thrown it. 
 Lord Francis, at his side, had drawn back 
 a little, and was laughing. A moment 
 after a great basket of flowers was handed 
 up from the orchestra. This came from 
 Dr Pynton Clifford also, and containe 
 his card and a note, which he had written 
 hastily at his favourite florist's. 
 
 Lord Mannering said something in an 
 undertone when the bouquet was thrown ; 
 something that sounded angry. Mrs Elwood 
 asked him to repeat it. But he only 
 shook his head and leaned back in his 
 chair, a very savage expression on his 
 ace. Mrs Elwood lauojhed to herself.
 
 Jtdiefs L overs. 1 5 7 
 
 "" He is angry," she thought, " because the 
 old doctor has been so quick and stepped 
 in first. Oh, how simple men are ! As 
 if Juliet had enough sense in her to take 
 any notice of Dr Pynton Clifford's atten- 
 tions. Not yet. She has to fall in love, 
 and break her heart, before she will have 
 any sense." 
 
 Having been played in the country, as 
 well as thoroughly rehearsed, the piece 
 went as smoothly as though it had run a 
 week ; so the audience was kept in a good 
 humour, and its enthusiasm not damped 
 by any misfortunes. The fire burned 
 brio-hter, instead of becomino; exhausted as 
 it sometimes does ; and when all was over, 
 Juliet received a perfect ovation, and Hey- 
 wood was applauded more heartily than 
 he had ever been in his life. The public 
 loved him for the moment ; for had he 
 not given them a new idol ! And there
 
 158 yulief s Lovers. 
 
 is nothing the public values so much as 
 a real idol, one worthy of all adoration. 
 Heywood had given them this, and they 
 applauded him. 
 
 Juliet, hurrying away to her dressing- 
 room as soon as she could escape, found 
 that Graham had placed the flowers on her 
 dressing-table. She buried her face in them ; 
 they spoke to her of fresh air and garden 
 scents. It was very kind, she thought, of 
 her father's friend, to give her these. 
 
 ** Let us go home quickly, Graham," 
 she said; "my head aches, and I do so 
 want to be out in the garden." 
 
 Graham was a perfect dresser, and every- 
 thing was already put away except what 
 Juliet now wore. So in a very short time 
 they were ready, Juliet once more in her 
 black dress. She drew her heavy crape 
 veil over her face, and went out through 
 the narrow passages, Graham following her
 
 Juliet's L overs, 159 
 
 carrying the flowers. Some one came behind, 
 and pushed past Mrs Graham. 
 
 ''Miss Vane," said an eager voice, wonder- 
 fully soft in spite of its eagerness, " I 
 haven't had a chance to congratulate you. 
 What a success ! What a first appearance ! 
 I have never seen anything like it ! " 
 
 It was Maurice Denvil, still in his stage- 
 dress, with the necessary touch of make-up 
 on his face. Yet there was that in the 
 liquid fire of his glance, as he looked into 
 her dark eyes, that came to her like the 
 scent of the flowers — strong, real, glorious. 
 Youth, beauty, love ! She could not have 
 put the thoughts that rushed into her 
 brain into words, but they affected her 
 none the less. She paused and looked up 
 at him, but did not speak, until suddenly 
 she realised that in a low voice he was 
 talking — he was asking her if he might call. 
 
 ** Yes — " she said, "I will tell you — or
 
 i6o Juliet's Lovers. 
 
 write — I am going to have a day, but 
 nothing is settled yet. Yes, you must come 
 and see my garden — it is beautiful now." 
 
 Lord Francis was coming towards them 
 from the stage door ; he looked to see who 
 she was talking to. 
 
 " Yes, Denvil," he said, " the child lives 
 in the country. I'll drive you down on 
 Sunday afternoon. Come, Juliet, you must 
 be tired." 
 
 At the stage door a little group was 
 collected, to see the new star to her 
 carriage ; and her crape veil w^as a woeful 
 isappointment. Dr Pynton Clifford was 
 there, and Lord Mannering. The doctor 
 stood to watch her as she passed, and then 
 went away to his own brougham, in w^hich 
 a very lovely lady was sitting waiting for 
 him. Mrs Elwood, Juliet, and Graham got 
 into their carriage ; behind it stood Lord 
 Francis', and Mrs Elwood saw that Lord
 
 yidief s Lovers. i6i 
 
 Mannering got into it with him. " Was 
 he only giving Mannering a lift, or was 
 he bringing him down to Putney ? " Victoria 
 wondered. It soon became evident (for the 
 horses were good, and civilised London 
 soon left behind) that he was bringing him 
 down to Putney. Then Victoria wondered 
 more. " Does he mean Juliet to marry 
 this young lord ? I expect he does. Well, 
 there will be little difficulty ; he's head over 
 ears in love with her already." 
 
 Juliet was tired, with the pleasant weari- 
 ness that comes after successful work. She 
 leaned back in her corner of the carriage 
 
 o 
 
 and paid no attention to what was going 
 on. Arrived at Putney, she went quickly 
 into the house, leaving the others to follow 
 her. She passed through the hall into the 
 drawing-room ; its windows opened wide 
 upon a green lawn and glowing flower-beds. 
 She took olf her bonnet and in another 
 
 VOL. I. L
 
 1 62 Juliefs Lovers. 
 
 moment was in tlie garden, her face buried 
 among tlie leaves of her favourite rose-tree. 
 
 *' Gone back to nature I " said Lord Francis 
 looking after her. ''Let us follow her. 
 Graham, tell them to send us some tea out 
 into the garden." 
 
 Juliet had a hammock slung between two 
 oak trees, and in this she sat, swinging, 
 her feet just touching the grass, her figure 
 leaning back in an attitude of the most 
 graceful languor. Mannering's eyes de- 
 voured her, and worshipped. Lord Francis 
 saw it, and was content. Victoria Elwood 
 had gone up to her room professedly to 
 take off her bonnet ; in reality to smoke a 
 cigarette. When it was finished she armed 
 herself with a parasol, and joined the 
 others. 
 
 She now saw Lord Francis in a character 
 which he had hitherto not exhibited to 
 her. He was talking, rather brilliantly ;
 
 Juliefs L overs. 1 6 3 
 
 doing all the work. Juliet was too 
 mentally exhausted with the excitement 
 she had passed through to make any effort, 
 and Lord Mannering appeared to be 
 stricken dumb. He simply sat and looked 
 at Juliet. 
 
 " Nature," Lord Francis was saying, " is 
 the one friend who is always true to us, 
 and, of course, we fail to appreciate it. 
 Fidelity soon loses its charm. We know 
 the sun will shine the same another day, 
 and so we neglect it to-day, and are 
 punished by getting old before our time. 
 It is the men and women who love Nature 
 that keep young. She has so much pleasure 
 to give us — always, always unfailingly. But 
 most of us don't think about it till we 
 are already old." 
 
 " Lord Mannering talks of taking to 
 bush life," said Mrs Elwood ; *' Is that a 
 symptom of a love of Nature ? "
 
 164 yuliefs Lovers. 
 
 " No," said Lord Mannering ; ^' it only 
 indicates a disgust for human nature." 
 
 "Ah, that's bad, very bad, my dear 
 boy," said Lord Francis, shaking his head. 
 " Get over that fancy as soon as possible. 
 It is only a passing malady of the mind. 
 Human nature is all right ; it's what it 
 always was and always will be. It is 
 very mixed ; but I do assure you we 
 should be terribly bored if it wasn't." 
 
 " You always seem to fear boredom more 
 than any other calamity," said Juliet, from 
 out her hammock. She was looking at the 
 blue sky through the tracery of the grey- 
 green leaves overhead, and could not even 
 imagine what boredom was. 
 
 *' So I do," said Lord Francis ; " and 
 so will you, when you are a little older. 
 You are young ! Enjoy the priceless gift 
 of youth while you have it." 
 
 " It isn't altogether a matter of youth,
 
 yuliet's Lovers. 165 
 
 I think," said Mannering. " I have known 
 what boredom was ever since I can re- 
 member. My own people always bored me 
 to death, even when I was a boy ; and 
 I fail to see what there is in Nature to 
 give so much pleasure." 
 
 " Your fault is that you haven't learned 
 the art of living yet," said Lord Francis. 
 " You haven't discovered sensation. Some 
 people can only be roused by the touch- 
 ing of certain chords. Tell me, surely 
 there are things in the world that interest 
 and please you ? " 
 
 "Yes," said Mannering, and looked at 
 Juliet. 
 
 ''Then take these things, revel in them, 
 and so you will develop in yourself the 
 fine power of pleasure. Don't go in for 
 denial — it is the maddest folly man ever 
 invented. I'm afraid you've a touch 01 
 monasticism about you, Mannering."
 
 1 6 6 yuliefs L overs, 
 
 "No, not exactly that; but I am dogged. 
 If I can't have what I want, I don't want 
 anything else ; and I admit that makes 
 life difficult. However, I'll do my best to 
 try your prescription." 
 
 And he did. Before a week was out, 
 everybody had got used to Mannering's 
 driving up every afternoon and spending 
 an hour in the garden with Juliet and 
 Mrs Elwood. 
 
 At the end of the week, " Evangeline " 
 was put on at night, and Juliet's life of 
 work began in earnest. All her thoughts 
 were given to that, and she paid no more 
 attention to Mannering than "if he had 
 been an effigy," as Mrs Graham expressed 
 it ; and, indeed, he looked very like one 
 sometimes, patiently sitting by and watch- 
 ing Juliet with his dog - like, worshipping 
 eyes. 
 
 The first night of "Evangeline" was on
 
 JtUiefs Lovers. 167 
 
 a Saturday ; and on the afternoon of the 
 Sunday following it, there was quite a 
 little crowd in Juliet's garden. She held 
 her first reception, and found herself a 
 queen in her own right, as a beautiful 
 actress alw^ays must be. 
 
 Lord Mannering came early and wor- 
 shipped, almost in silence, for about half- 
 an-hour before any one else arrived. Juliet 
 talked to her flowers and forgot he was 
 there, while Mrs Elwood tried to attract 
 his attention in vain. She found she could 
 do this in Juliet's absence, but not in her 
 presence. From which she argued that 
 the young man was really in love, and 
 regarded him with profound pity. 
 
 "And she thinks no more of him than 
 if he were a stufted poodle," reflected the 
 cynic. *'It is always the same!"
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 "There is absolutely nothing in the world but youth." 
 
 About half-past five on that Sunday after- 
 noon Lord Francis drove up, with Maurice 
 Denvil at his side. 
 
 They joined the group in the garden. 
 Dr Pynton Clifford was the most con- 
 spicuous figure in it at the moment. He 
 was the centre of attraction, as he was 
 telling a very good, story. Dressed to 
 perfection in his favourite silver-grey, 
 carrying in his hand a splendid silver- 
 mounted stick, which had. been presented 
 to him by a grateful patient, he looked 
 wonderfully young, even close to Juliet's 
 perfect youth. But he did not feel young 
 to others. What he felt himself none 
 
 1 68
 
 ytclief s Lovers, 169 
 
 can tell. Lord Francis reflected on this 
 as he took a chair by his side, and be- 
 came one of the group of listeners. 
 
 "What a difference!" he thought to 
 himself. " Berkeley is almost oppressively 
 young, but there's not one breath of the 
 real thing about him. Now, Denvil is 
 youth and passion embodied — he has given 
 me a feeling of youth all through our drive 
 — I miss the feeling now, as one misses 
 an accustomed wine — yes, he's a danger- 
 ous fellow is Denvil — if I were a woman 
 I should be madly in love with him. 
 My one hope for Juliet is, that she's 
 too young herself to appreciate his 
 charm. An older woman would want to 
 drink the youth from his lips." 
 
 He glanced up at Denvil, as these 
 thoughts passed through his mind. The 
 boy — for he looked nothing more — here, 
 in the sunshine, with his smooth shaven
 
 170 yttliet' s Lovers, 
 
 face, was standing, waiting to address 
 Juliet, his eyes fixed on her the while. 
 He was beautiful — like a woman — no, 
 like a fawn. Denvil had a certain 
 feminine delicacy of appearance, which 
 gave him something of the beauty of a 
 woman at times, and this was an added 
 charm to those who knew that it 
 was the veil of unusual physical 
 strength. 
 
 Lord Francis forgot, in thinking about 
 Juliet, that though she had the ignor- 
 ance of youth, yet she had inherited 
 ability which almost compensated for it. 
 She had an innate capacity for the art 
 of life ; she did not need to discover 
 sensation, it was awake within her ; as 
 yet she had only found it in Nature ; 
 had given it vent in her passion for 
 flowers, her love of air and movement, 
 and the delights of out-of-door life. But
 
 Juliefs Lovers. 171 
 
 Denvil was teaching her that there is 
 beauty in manhood. She was only dimly 
 aware of it as yet. Nevertheless, she 
 made no mistake. She knew perfectly well 
 that only one person in the group which 
 gathered round her interested her in the 
 least, and that that person interested her^ 
 very much. She liked to look at DenviFs 
 face when he was not watching her ; 
 liked to gaze at those violet eyes, which 
 sometimes made her think of the sea 
 and sometimes of wild woodland violets 
 wet with dew. Sometimes a slight foam 
 came to his lips when he spoke eagerly, 
 for he was very excitable. How beautiful 
 he looked then, all alive and alight! 
 
 Society habits and society instincts veiled 
 all the passions that broke into life on this 
 pleasant Sunday afternoon in that sunny 
 garden. Mannerins; hid under a mask of 
 quiet boredom the rage that consumed him
 
 172 yuliet's Lovers. 
 
 as he watched the old doctor pay his elabor- 
 ate attentions to Juliet. He longed to ask 
 her permission to pick him up and drop 
 him over the hedge into the road. But, he 
 asked himself, even if such conduct were 
 permissible, why open her innocent eyes 
 to the depravity of the creature ? Her 
 ignorance was a perfect safeguard at pre- 
 sent. " But," swore Manneriug silently, 
 " if he ever does insult her — " the mental 
 sentence was finished by a glance at his 
 clenched fist. 
 
 Rather a terrible young man this, to 
 have sitting among a group of quiet 
 people ! However, there he was, and 
 there he seemed inclined to remain. He 
 said but little, yet he clung to his seat 
 next Juliet with as much assurance as if 
 he were the finest conversationalist in the 
 world, and was amusing all the company. 
 Maurice Denvil tried his best to move
 
 ytdiet's L overs. 173 
 
 liim by standing in front of him while he 
 talked to Juliet, but it was useless. The 
 man on the other side, however, being 
 an ordinary person, whose name it is un- 
 necessary to chronicle in these pages, even- 
 tually became too jealous of Denvil's 
 appearance, and the manner in which he 
 took up Juliet's attention, to be able to 
 bear it any longer ; so he got up and 
 went away, and Denvil dropped into his 
 chair. Dr Clifford held to his position 
 in front of her, and in the centre of 
 the group. Here were the elements 
 of a tragedy, and the simmering had 
 already begun, but nobody knew^ it. It 
 is possible Mrs Elwood had some glimmer- 
 ings of it, for outsiders always see most 
 of the game, but certainly no one else. 
 Lord Francis was only tormented by 
 one fear, lest Juliet should fall in love 
 with Maurice Denvil. And he comforted
 
 174 Juliet's Lovers, 
 
 himself with the idea that she was too 
 young and foolish. In such wise do 
 people, who have attained years of discre- 
 tion, make lamentable mistakes. They 
 forget that youth, though it may not 
 have knowledge, possesses intuition. It 
 stands in the same relation to age, in 
 matters of intelligence, that a woman 
 does to a man ; it reasons not, but 
 sometimes acts well from sheer con- 
 viction. 
 
 Juliet was in love, though she did 
 not know it. And she had fallen in 
 love, without hesitation or demur, with 
 the handsomest and most attractive man 
 in London. If Lord Francis had known 
 all that w^'is going on under his eyes 
 he would have said, with regret, — "Deuced 
 good taste ; I should do the same in 
 her place ! What a pity he isn't a 
 duke."
 
 yuliefs Lovers. 175 
 
 Juliet was so ignorant of love, that 
 she knew as little about what was 
 happening as anybody else. The only 
 person who understood was Maurice Den- 
 vil. He had seen her eyes falter and droop 
 before his ; he saw the long lashes 
 tremble and fall when he approached 
 her. 
 
 '' 1 must win her," he said to himself, 
 " whatever it costs me." And he knew 
 it would cost him a great deal. But 
 what a long way he was from measuring 
 that cost !
 
 CHAPTEE XII. 
 
 "With you to live, to die, were bliss for me." 
 
 Juliet Vane, in one week, became the 
 
 rage. She experienced that condition of 
 
 being adored, which is only given to a 
 
 public idol. 
 
 Her dressing-room w^as always full of 
 
 bouquets now. They came round by the 
 
 stage door, and were given to Graham, 
 
 with surreptitious fees. Boxes of flowers 
 
 arrived which were carried to Putney, a 
 
 performance much like carrying coals to 
 
 Newcastle. Smaller boxes also made their 
 
 appearance, containing more valuable and 
 
 durable treasures. These were all submitted 
 
 to Lord Francis, who inspected the cards 
 
 always to be found within, and, after some 
 
 176
 
 Juliefs Lovers. 177 
 
 laughter and amusement which he enjoyed 
 by himself, had them packed up again and 
 sent back. He always knew where to send 
 them, even if there were no addresses 
 on the cards, as frequently happened. 
 
 Victoria Elwood took to visiting Juliet's 
 dressing-room late in the evening, to see 
 what had been sent. She would stand 
 and look silently at the jewels if any were 
 there, blaspheming in her heart the while. 
 One night she actually burst into tears, 
 when she had been lookino: for some time 
 at a lovely diamond crescent sent by a 
 very noble person. Juliet was frightened ; 
 it was like seeing a man cry. 
 
 "Oh, Mrs Elwood!" she exclaimed, 
 ''what is it grieves you like that? Do 
 tell me." 
 
 Victoria dried her eyes and looked at 
 her strangely. 
 
 "I will, some day," she said, "not 
 
 VOL. I. M
 
 178 Juliefs L overs. 
 
 now." For she heard Lord Francis at 
 the door. 
 
 The fact that these various offerings were 
 all sent back was soon heard of at the 
 clubs, and afterwards in drawing-rooms. 
 And Juliet began to receive invitations 
 from ladies who wanted her as an attrac- 
 tion at their receptions. Lord Francis, 
 who arranged all these things, told her 
 to refuse all the invitations she received 
 at first, and dictated the letters. 
 
 Lord Mannering, who haunted Juliet 
 and her father with a dogged tenacity, 
 naturally heard of all this. When he called 
 at Putney he was often left alone with 
 Mrs Elwood, who, as she could never get 
 him to talk of anything but Juliet, told 
 him stories that inflamed his passionate, 
 jealous heart. At last he got into the 
 same frame of mind as Heywood had been 
 in when he went down to Portsmouth,
 
 yuliet's Lovers. 1 79 
 
 though from a very different motive. He 
 loved her desperately, and he felt convinced 
 that any chance he might have would be 
 gone if he waited. He must ask for her 
 before some other man had won her heart. 
 
 And so, before Juliet had been three 
 weeks on the stage, she might have become 
 Lady Mannering. 
 
 He found her alone in the garden one 
 afternoon, and, seizing his opportunity, 
 proposed to her. Very quietly and straight- 
 forwardly did he say what he had to say. 
 It was not necessary to say much — " with 
 you to live, to die, were bliss for me " was 
 the chief thing to be expressed, and he 
 put it into as few words as possible. As 
 to his wealth and his position, everybody 
 knew all about these ; he was the " catch " 
 of the day ; his personal appearance needed 
 no excuse and no recommendation — a fine 
 stalwart Englishman, a specimen of young
 
 i8o Jttliefs Lovers. 
 
 England at its best need say little about 
 himself. And so the ordeal was soon over ; 
 he sat there in the golden summer after- 
 noon waiting for Juliet's answer. After 
 a little pause it came ; a gentle refusal, 
 the blow dealt with the delicate touch of 
 a lady. It was not hesitation as to what 
 the answer should be that caused the 
 brief pause before she spoke — only the effort 
 of choosing the kindest words. 
 
 Mannering got up and left her, with 
 only a word — "Good-bye." 
 
 Juliet sat still, rocking in her hammock, 
 with a pain at her heart that took the bright- 
 ness out of the sunshine. 
 
 " My second lover ! " she said to her- 
 self '* Oh, but I would rather have to 
 fight a wretch like Heywood, than be 
 obliged to hurt a kind soul like Lord Man- 
 nering ! " 
 
 Lord Mannering, passing through the
 
 yttliefs Lovers, i8i 
 
 house, met Mrs Elwood at the drawing-room 
 door. 
 
 '' Going ? " she said. " Hullo ! why 
 what's the matter ? " For he had not been 
 prepared to meet anyone, and the pain he 
 suffered, was visible in his face. 
 
 " Nothing — " he answered, forcing a 
 smile. '' Good -afternoon, Mrs Elwood." 
 
 " Oh, nonsense, don't go away like that ! " 
 said Mrs Elwood ; " you know I'm your 
 friend — perhaps I can help you." 
 
 She spoke with a gentlemanly manner, which 
 she had found successful with Mannering. 
 He was afraid of agreeable women, for he 
 had been angled for ever since he was of 
 marriao-eable acre. But this hail-fellow- 
 well-met style of Mrs Elwood's disarmed 
 him. It ffave him the feelino^ that she was 
 straightforward and honest, and, further, 
 that she did not want to make love to 
 him. He hesitated a little, now, as she
 
 i82 Juliet s Lovers. 
 
 spoke ; she seized her advantage, drew him 
 back into the drawing-room, and shut the door. 
 
 " She has refused you, hasn't she ? " she 
 said. 
 
 ''You are a witch," was Mannering's 
 answer. 
 
 It never occurred to him (for before 
 all else, he was a gentleman) that she could 
 by any possibility have been watching them 
 for the last half-hour. Anybody with 
 average intelligence could read the meaning 
 of the interview without hearing what was 
 said. 
 
 "Don't be cast down," said Victoria. 
 " You men are all so absurdly soft about 
 a pretty woman. She'll accept you next 
 time. She is as deep as — well, as a woman. 
 You don't suppose she is going to jump 
 down your throat at the first chance, though 
 you are the best match going ? Not at all. 
 She wants you to beg and pray her to
 
 ytiliefs Lovers, 183 
 
 marry you, and then afterwards, if you 
 ever turn upon her because she has been 
 an actress — and because — oh, of a hundred 
 things, she'll remind you of that. Believe 
 me, there's not a woman in the world 
 worth suffering for as you are suffering 
 now." 
 
 *' You may be right," said Lord Man- 
 nering ; " but I don't agree with you." 
 
 "With which he took his departure ; re- 
 fusing to say anything further. But 
 Victoria had learned what she wanted to 
 know. She went out to Juliet in the 
 garden. 
 
 **Your triumphs come early, Miss Vane," 
 she said, quietly. 
 
 Juliet looked at her, startled. 
 
 " What do you mean ? " she asked. 
 
 " It is a triumph, is it not, even for a 
 successful and beautiful actress, to be able 
 to refuse Lord Mannering ? "
 
 184 Jtiliet' s Lovers. 
 
 " He has told you ? " said Juliet, who 
 rather resented his having done so. It 
 seemed to vulgarise her sad feeling, and 
 make it a thing of naught, that he should 
 be so ready to talk to an outsider about 
 what had passed. 
 
 " I met him, as he went out," said Victoria. 
 '' He looked like death, and I could not 
 help asking him w^hat was the matter. 
 He told me enough for me to guess what 
 had happened. What a pity you could 
 not make him happy, instead of making 
 him suffer." 
 
 " I could not help it," answered Juliet, 
 in a low voice. '' I had no idea he cared 
 for me in that way." 
 
 Mrs Elwood looked at her with a sneer. 
 
 "Is it impossible for pretty women to 
 avoid telling lies of this sort ? " she asked 
 herself. For she entirely believed Juliet 
 had done her best to encourage Manner-
 
 Jttliet's L overs. 1 8 5 
 
 ing. Her great fault in judging the 
 characters of others, was that she could 
 not help imagining that they liked what 
 she liked, and wanted what she wanted. 
 She had not enough imagination to suppose 
 otherwise. She w^as convinced that Juliet 
 intended to marry Lord Mannering, and 
 was simply acting a part. 
 
 " But you don't care for anyone else, 
 do you ? " asked Mrs El wood, and asked 
 the question in good faith, which showed 
 that Juliet was a very good actress. She 
 was positively alarmed by the emotion 
 which she found Maurice Denvil could 
 rouse in her, and was therefore very 
 much on her guard, so that she had 
 effectually concealed it from everyone but 
 Denvil himself. Whereas her civility to 
 Lord Mannering had been construed into 
 something quite different. 
 
 Juliet was very proud, and very re-
 
 1 86 Jtdiefs Lovers, 
 
 ticent ; no one could force a confidence 
 from her that she did not wish to ^ive. 
 She would have liked to answer Mrs 
 Elwood very sharply for attempting to 
 find out what was in her heart ; but she 
 did not care to show even as much feeling 
 as that. She took no notice of the 
 question, and simply said, — 
 
 ** Lord Mannering is very nice and 
 kind, but he does not amuse me." 
 
 '' But you don't expect a husband to 
 be amusing, do you % " exclaimed Victoria. 
 
 *' I really do not know. I have not 
 thought about it," was Juliet's answer, 
 in rather a cold tone. 
 
 Mrs Elwood rose from her chair, and 
 came and knelt beside Juliet, who was 
 slowly swinging in her hammock. 
 
 '' Why won't you talk to me ? " she 
 said. " Why won't you make a friend 
 of me ? " And she looked up at
 
 Juliefs Lovers, 187 
 
 Juliet with hunger in her great black 
 eyes. 
 
 *'I do make a friend of you," said 
 Juliet, more warmly, " but, indeed, I 
 have nothing to tell you about Lord 
 Mannering or anyone. Let us talk of 
 something else. You have never told me 
 why you cried that night when you were 
 looking at those diamonds in my dress- 
 
 ing-room." 
 
 Juliet had not a particle of curiosity 
 in her nature, and only said this in order 
 to get Mrs Elwood's thoughts from her- 
 self. 
 
 Mrs Elwood sprang to her feet, and 
 ' began to walk up and down on the grass 
 like a tigress lashing herself into a rage. 
 Her long eyelashes quivered with rising 
 passion as she glanced now and again at 
 Juliet. 
 
 "I will tell you," she began, in a very
 
 1 88 Juliefs Lovers, 
 
 quiet voice, " I cried from hatred. Hatred 
 of the world, which is so unjust. Only 
 because you are beautiful, all these things 
 are sent to you ! " 
 
 Juliet looked at her in amazement. 
 She had supposed some tender chord of 
 memory had been touched, and expected 
 to hear some story of the past. 
 
 *' But I don't care for them," she said, 
 not knowing what else to say. 
 
 "That's just what makes it so intolerable," 
 went on Mrs Elwood, her voice full of 
 intense bitterness. '' So with the men, — 
 they throw themselves at your feet, and 
 you don't care for them — or say you don't. 
 Why should everything be given to you, 
 like this ? You did not make yourself 
 beautiful ! I must tell you somethiug 
 a.bout myself I hope it won't shock or 
 startle you. My mother was never 
 married ; I am an illegitimate child. 1
 
 Juliefs Love7^s, 189 
 
 don't blame her much now. She was a 
 ballet-dancer, and she loved a man of 
 high rank. Noblemen marry actresses 
 when the actresses are clever enough to 
 make them ; but they don't marry ballet- 
 dancers. Are you going to turn from 
 me now, Miss Vane ? Are you frightened ? 
 Some people are afraid of an illegitimate 
 child, and think we are not made of the 
 same flesh and blood as other people." 
 
 " But that is very unjust," said Juliet, 
 warmly. " How can you help it ? and what 
 difference can it make in you ? " 
 
 ** Unjust! My God! There is nothing 
 but injustice in this world ! and it begins 
 before we are born. Let me tell you a 
 little more. My father is a man of title, 
 of wealth, of position. He is ashamed to 
 own me, ashamed to acknowledge me ; and 
 what I get from him I get by terrifying 
 him with threats of exposure. For my
 
 190 Juliet's Lovers. 
 
 mother died suddenly, and fortunately for 
 me he was away. I have some nice secrets 
 of his in my possession ; I could ruin him 
 at any moment. And only because of this 
 does he care whether I starve or not. He 
 tried to get rid of me by marrying me to 
 a brute." 
 
 "Are you speaking oi your father V asked 
 Juliet, in a voice of horror. 
 
 " Yes, I am speaking of my father." 
 " He must be a cruel, wicked man." 
 "He is a devil," said Mrs Elwood, and 
 then was silent a few moments, leaving Juliet 
 to digest this piece of information. 
 
 " Does he know you are here ? " asked 
 Juliet presently. 
 
 " Yes, he knows I am here," answered 
 Mrs Elwood ; her eyes were on the ground. 
 Suddenly she looked up, with a flash. 
 "Oh, don't be afraid," she said. "He will 
 never trouble anyone I am with. I had to
 
 yziliefs Lovers. 191 
 
 vow never to breathe his name before he 
 would give me the money to buy the dress I 
 have on. A nice father ! Is it any wonder I 
 am bitter ? And he has another daughter — 
 — a legitimate daughter — one whom he is 
 proud to own — for whom he takes every care. 
 She has had everything life can give, and 
 that I have not had ; care, education, love, 
 money. Is it right such a difference should 
 be made because of a church service. Ah, 
 but injustice begins before we are born. My 
 sister — yes, my sister, though I suppose my 
 father would faint if he heard me call her 
 so — is very beautiful. The men all fall down 
 and worship her at first sight ; they never 
 look at me. Miss Vane, I have told you 
 a secret. I know you will keep it faith- 
 fully. But would you like me to leave 
 the house — -to leave you, now that you 
 know it ? " 
 
 Juliet leaned forward and stretched forth
 
 192 Jtiliefs Lovers. 
 
 both her hands to Mrs Elwood. Her warm 
 heart ached for the embittered one. 
 
 ''Dear Mrs Elwood, no! Don't imagine 
 me so weak as that ! I am honoured by 
 your trust in me. Perhaps you will find 
 a little peace and happiness here to com- 
 pensate for all this misery." 
 
 Victoria came to her, took her hands, and 
 looked down into the lovely upturned face. 
 
 " You are ver}^ beautiful ! " she said. " You 
 are a fortunate woman." 
 
 There was something in the gaze of these 
 great, fierce, black eyes that fascinated Juliet. 
 She looked back into them in wonder at 
 a life and a nature so unlike her own. 
 
 " I am very like a man," said Victoria 
 Elwood. " I think if a beautiful woman like 
 you were to love me, I could be contented. 
 Of course, it is easy to see why everything 
 is yours. You are a delight to the eye. 
 I love to look at that rich hair as much as
 
 yiiliefs Lovers. 193 
 
 any of the men who come here to admire 
 it. I could be contented to be a man, and 
 an ugly one, if I had money and fortune 
 to give to a creature like you, and have 
 you to look at always. I should never let 
 anyone else look at you ! " 
 
 " How strange you are ! " said Juliet. 
 
 " I am what my life and my luck have 
 made me," said Mrs El wood, sullenly. 
 
 She turned away, and began to walk rest- 
 lessly about the lawn. Presently she came 
 back again. 
 
 **Tell me," she said, coaxingly ; "don't 
 you care for Mannering, really ? " 
 
 " I have told you so," said Juliet, drawing 
 back within herself a little. 
 
 She had yet to learn that Mrs Elwood, 
 
 whether from her own nature, or from the 
 
 school of her life, I know not, never believed 
 
 anything. She always imagined that the 
 
 truth had to be either wheedled or startled 
 VOL. I. N
 
 194 Juliefs Lovers. 
 
 out of the person she was talking to. Juliet 
 had never told an untruth in her life, and 
 she could not understand this. 
 
 " But you'll marry him, eventually, sha'n't 
 you?" 
 
 "I have told you I shall not," said Juliet, 
 " and begged you to talk of something else. 
 The subject doesn't please me." 
 
 If she had known more of Mrs Elwood's 
 character, she w^ould have known that to 
 say this was simply to give an invitation. 
 Victoria's greatest pleasure was the dissection 
 of other people's minds and hearts, the 
 prol)ing of their feelings, the discovering of 
 their secrets. She called this the study of 
 human nature ; other people sometimes called 
 it morbid curiosity. 
 
 Fortunately for Juliet another visitor was 
 seen emergrino; from the drawinsf-room window. 
 It w^as Dr Pynton Clifford, carr3dng some 
 offerintr or other in his liand. Mrs Elwood
 
 yuliet's Lovers. 195 
 
 sat down in her chair, and resigned herself 
 to play chaperon. 
 
 "Surely," Juliet thought to herself, "I 
 am safe in talking to this old gentleman ! 
 He might be my father ; nobody could 
 suspect me of caring for him, even if he 
 wasn't married." 
 
 For Juliet, with the terrible certitude of 
 absolute youth, had looked right past Dr 
 Clifford's outer veil of it, and saw him 
 simply as "quite old." It was certainly 
 true he was married ; he had been married 
 so lono; that the fact had almost lost its 
 significance. But his wife gave large parties, 
 and had sent Juliet invitations. So Juliet 
 felt safe and happy.
 
 C H A P T E R X 1 1 I. 
 
 THP] BITTER SEE1>. 
 
 Victoria El wood's confidence in Juliet was 
 shown by the fact that she did not think it 
 worth while to ask her to say nothing of 
 her story to Lord Francis. The talk had 
 been confidential, and she knew quite well 
 that Juliet would regard it as a matter of 
 honour to be silent about it. 
 
 Lord Francis came to Juliet's dressing- 
 room, as he generally did, late in the evening, 
 and found Mrs Elwood sitting there alone. 
 Graham had attended Juliet to the wings, 
 to carry her train, and was waiting for her 
 there. Mrs Elwood seized her opportunity. 
 Lord Francis finished his tour of inspection 
 
 quickly ; there were two bouquets, but no 
 
 196
 
 yuliet's Lovers. 197 
 
 diamonds. She saw he was going — without 
 speaking to her, save a curt " Good-evening, 
 Mrs El wood " — so she addressed him in hei 
 coldest and most disagreeable manner. 
 
 " I believe," slie said, " you consider it 
 one of my duties to tell you if anything 
 particular happens at home ? " 
 
 " Certainly," he answered, turning 
 abruptly and looking at her; "what has 
 happened ? " 
 
 " Perhaps you won't think it anything 
 particular," she said with a sneer; "but I 
 thought I'd better tell you. Lord Mannering 
 proposed to Juliet to-day, and she refused 
 him. I hope you will not let her guess it 
 is one of my duties to play the spy on 
 her, because she might not like it." 
 
 Lord Francis stood as one transfixed, 
 gazing at Mrs Elwood. 
 
 *' Mannering has proposed — asked her to 
 marry him ? — "
 
 198 yuliefs Lovers. 
 
 " Certainly," said Victoria, " all noblemen 
 are not scoundrels." 
 
 "And she has refused him," went on Lord 
 Francis, ignoring Victoria's remark. 
 
 Very possibly he really did not notice it ; 
 he was well accustomed, to such speeches 
 from her. 
 
 He was startled at first ; ])ut immediately 
 recovered himself. 
 
 "I'm glad you told me," he said, thought- 
 fully. " For once in your life you did right. 
 In fact you are behaving unusually well 
 just now. I hope to Heaven it is not the 
 lull before an outbreak." 
 
 " There will be no outbreak if you do 
 not give me cause ! " replied Victoria instantly 
 with a dangerous flash in her eyes. 
 
 Lord Francis paid no heed to her, but said 
 "Good-night" absently, and went away. 
 
 Victoria rose, and walked up and down 
 the room like a tisfress in its cao;e.
 
 yiilieis Lovers. 199 
 
 " Yes," she said to herself, " lie means 
 her to marry Mannering. She is to have 
 wealth, position, luxury, happiness simply 
 thrown at her. And 1 1 A dependant in her 
 house, a servant. And not a creature in the 
 world that cares whether I live or die 1 " 
 
 She stopped in front of Juliet's mirror, 
 and looked at herself. 
 
 " I'm not a bit less good-looking than 
 other women who find it easy enough to 
 fascinate men. Why is it they won't even 
 look at me ? I can make Mannering treat 
 me as a friend ; but that's all. Why, 
 why ? " 
 
 If she had asked herself why she herself 
 admired Juliet, even against her will, the 
 answer would have been not because of her 
 individual charms, but because the magic 
 of sweetness blended the whole. She could 
 have told you that while a pretty woman ~ 
 has opportunities, it is the sweet woman who
 
 20O yulief s Lovers. 
 
 commaiuls life. She knew all this from 
 observation. But we cannot study our- 
 selves, and she did not know that even when 
 she was in her gentlest mood the spirit of 
 bitterness and jealousy that was in her per- 
 vaded her whole being. 
 
 Lord Francis had left the door open when 
 he went out, and someone who was passing 
 paused and looked at Victoria as she stood 
 there. She turned to see who it was. It 
 was Heywood. He knew he was quite safe ; 
 Juliet would be on the stage for another ten 
 minutes. 
 
 It Avould take a very wise ]jerson to 
 account for the fact that people who are 
 at war Avith the world, whose hands are 
 against every man's, always recognise each 
 other. It may be that they are kindred 
 spirits, and feel drawn together. But their 
 friendships are peculiar ; formed for the 
 moment only, and very readily converted
 
 Juliefs Lovers, 201 
 
 into bitterest enmity. Hey wood had felt an 
 inclination to talk to Mrs Elwood ever since 
 he had first seen her. He thought he could 
 persuade her to tell him things he was long- 
 ing to know. He admired and hated Lord 
 Francis and Juliet for, as he would have 
 expressed it, getting the better of him ; he 
 was full of curiosity as to Juliet's present 
 life, her friends, her favourites, her pro- 
 spects. He cherished the hope that some 
 day he might be able to blight these last, 
 as payment of the grudge he considered that 
 he owed her. But his chief difficulty lay in 
 the fact that he could not get any of her 
 companions to talk to him, and tell him 
 what was going on. Lord Francis treated 
 him with silent contempt ever since the 
 Portsmouth episode ; and he knew better 
 than to approach Graham. But his keen eye 
 told him Victoria Elwood was made of 
 different material.
 
 202 Jttlief s Lovers, 
 
 "Good-evening, Mrs Elwoocl," he said 
 in his most agreeable manner, just coming 
 within the door of the dressing-room. 
 
 " Have you quite settled down with Miss 
 Vane now ? " 
 
 "Oh, yes," said Mrs Elwood. 
 
 "She's too proud even to speak to her 
 manager, now^" said Hey wood, assuming 
 the winning air with which he obtained 
 the liking of strangers or persons whom 
 he wished to make use of. " It is always 
 the way with these stars. They are per- 
 fectly unapproachable after they've once 
 mounted the ladder, and quite forget 
 the old friends who helped to get them 
 there. But I can't help feeling just as 
 kindly an interest in her as ever. She's 
 too lovely to forget all in a moment. 
 Tell me, who is first favourite with her 
 now ? " 
 
 " Oh, I don't know," said Mrs Elwood,
 
 Jitliet' s Lovers. 203 
 
 bitterly. '* Of course all the men are at 
 her feet." 
 
 " Naturally enough — she's the fashion 
 just now, that's alL But there's a 
 favourite, of course." 
 
 ''If so, I don't know who it is," said 
 Mrs Elwood, who felt more at home 
 with Heywood than with anyone else 
 she had met in London. '' I begin to 
 think she must be fond of that handsome 
 fellow Denvil, though I must say she 
 never shows it. But how else caii you 
 account for her refusing Lord Man- 
 nering? Either that, or she's mad, 
 or, as I really think more likely, she's 
 playing her airs off on Mannering, 
 and means to marry him in the end, 
 after he's asked her once or twice 
 more." 
 
 " Lord Mannering wants to marr}' her ! " 
 exclaimed Heywood, staring at Victoria, with
 
 204 y^iliefs Lovers. 
 
 liis cold grey eyes full of astonisliment. " It 
 isn't possible % " 
 
 ''Anyhow it's true," said Victoria, ''pos- 
 sible or not.' 
 
 At that moment Juliet was heard talking 
 to Lord Francis. She had come off the 
 stage ; he had waited to speak to her, and 
 they were coming to her dressing-room 
 together. Hey wood made all haste to dis- 
 apj)ear. 
 
 When they entered, a glance from Lord 
 Francis told Victoria she was not wanted. 
 There was always a seat kept for her in 
 the front of the house, and she went round 
 to it now, obeying Lord Francis very 
 readily. Li small matters she never dared 
 to annoy him. 
 
 "You have time to talk to me for a 
 few minutes, haven't you, Juliet ? " he said. 
 
 Graham took the hint now, and went 
 away, closing the door behind her. Lord
 
 J It lief s Lovers. 205 
 
 Francis and Juliet were left alone in the 
 brilliantly-lit little room, strewn with the 
 articles of dress which she had next to put 
 on, and sweet with the scent of flowers. 
 She sat down in the chair before her laro-e 
 mirror. 
 
 " Yes," she said, " I have a few minutes. 
 What is it?" 
 
 There was no time to lose, so Lord 
 Francis plunged into his subject. 
 
 " I have gathered to-night, Juliet," he 
 began very seriously, "that Lord Manner- 
 ing has proposed to you, and you have 
 refused him ? " 
 
 '' Who told you ? " asked Juliet quickly. 
 
 "No one told me — I gathered it. You 
 must understand I know Mannering ver}' 
 well, and can guess a great deal from manner, 
 without needing to be told in so man}- 
 words. Juliet, I want you to reconsider 
 this, and not decide hastily. If you married
 
 2o6 J2dief s Lovers. 
 
 Manner ing all my anxieties for you would 
 be over. If your mother had lived she could 
 not have done better for you. He is not 
 only the best farti of the day, but he is 
 the best fellow in the world. You will not 
 only have wealth and position, but happiness. 
 That is a great deal. I don't ask you to 
 accejDt him ; I don't want to influence 3^ou ; 
 but I want you not to give him his conge 
 immediately. Let him go on visiting the 
 house for a while, if he promises not to 
 speak to you again for a certain length of 
 time. Will you do this to please me ? " 
 
 Juliet shook her head. 
 
 " I would much rather not, papa. Lord 
 Mannering l)ores me." 
 
 "Bores you!" cried Lord Francis. "Good 
 Heavens ! one would think you were a 
 woman of sixty with an assured future. 
 You can't afford to talk like that, Juliet. 
 Yiju must marry ; you don't know, you
 
 Jiiliefs Lovers. 207 
 
 can't guess what the stage is to an actress 
 who stays on it till she is old. It is 
 awful ! There is no hurry, of course ; you 
 have plenty of youth to play with. But 
 you cannot have a better offer than Lord 
 Mannering's if you wait till doomsday 
 for it. Bores you ! My dear, to talk of 
 boredom is a luxury permitted to age, not 
 to youth. Juliet," he said suddenly, in a 
 different tone, " there is no one else, is 
 there ? " 
 
 "Oh, no, no!" exclaimed Juliet. 
 
 What else could she say ? Denvil liad 
 never spoken a word of love to her ; and 
 she had not allowed herself to listen to the 
 talk of her own heart. 
 
 " You're not fal lino- in love with Denvil?" 
 he said, in the same quick voice. " Tell 
 me the truth, Juliet. Any ,woman would 
 be excusable for it, he is so confoundedly 
 handsome. But you can't refuse Mannering
 
 2o8 yulief s L over's. 
 
 for the sake of an actor — remember that — 
 it's impossible ! " 
 
 Juliet had flushed crimson at the mention 
 of Denvil's name. She made no answer. 
 
 ''Tell me the truth, Juliet," reiterated 
 her father. 
 
 "I have nothing to tell you," she said. 
 
 "Well, to please me, be civil to Manner- 
 ing, and let him go on visiting at the 
 house. You may get to like him better." 
 
 At this moment Graham opened the door. 
 
 " It's time for you to change your 
 dress. Miss," she said. 
 
 " Come in, Graham," said Lord Francis, 
 " I'm just going. Come, Juliet, be reason- 
 able. I don't ask much of you." 
 
 " Very well," said Juliet. 
 
 And with this answer Lord Francis 
 was satisfied. He said " Good -night," 
 left her dressing-room, and went out of 
 the theatre by the stage door. He met
 
 y telle fs Lovers. 209 
 
 Heywood and Maurice Denvil, who had 
 apparently been out together. 
 
 When Heywood hurried away from the 
 door of Juliet's dressing-room he met 
 Denvil on the stairs. Heywood had observed 
 Denvil's intense admiration for Juliet, and 
 he seized the opportunity of planting a 
 shaft, without dreaming of the tragic con- 
 sequences which would follow from it. 
 
 '' Have you heard ? " he said, stopping 
 Denvil, and speaking in a low voice. " Do 
 you know our star is likely to become 
 Lady Mannering? The silly fellow actu- 
 ally wants to marry her ! " 
 
 " Is she going to marry him ? " asked 
 Maurice Denvil, with lips that were sud- 
 denly parched dry. The cruel flame of 
 jealousy sprang to life in his heart for 
 the first time in his life. 
 
 " So it's understood," said Heywood. 
 
 coolly embellishing his story ; " but I ex- 
 VOL. I.
 
 2IO J idle f s Lovers. 
 
 pect the affair will quickly be off, when 
 I've seen Mannering. I've only got to 
 say a word or two about that little affair 
 at Portsmouth. I think I ought to, for 
 Mannering s a good fellow." 
 
 "You scoundrel!" cried Denvil, "how 
 dare you talk like that? You know you 
 played a trick on her ! " and he seized 
 Hey wood by the collar and shook him. 
 He was very strong, spite of his almost 
 effeminate beauty, and Heywood's face 
 turned pale. 
 
 " You'll be heard in the front ! " he ex- 
 claimed. ''Be quiet, man, and take your 
 hands off me. It's nothing to you, is it ? 
 You're not the lady's future husband ? 
 We'll see what Mannering says. But, I 
 tell you, she was madly in love with me, 
 and followed me down to Portsmouth, and 
 then, because I would not marry her, got 
 up this story against me ; and, of course
 
 Jidiet's Lover's. 2 1 1 
 
 her father backed her up. Come and have 
 a brandy and soda. You won't be fit to 
 go on, if you get so excited." 
 
 Heywood escaped, and made his way 
 downstairs quickly. He felt a distinct need 
 of the brandy and soda himself, after that 
 shaking. He did not want to quarrel with 
 Denvi], who was very essential to the 
 success of " Evangeline." So he took the 
 shaking quietly. 
 
 Denvil followed him, utterly stupefied 
 with all he had heard. 
 
 "It's an infernal lie what you say!" 
 he began again, the minute they were in 
 the street. " I knew all about it at the 
 time. It was my doing that Miss Vane's 
 maid came down to lier." 
 
 " Oh, that was your doing, was it ? " 
 said Heywood. "Well, it was an uncommon 
 piece of luck for me ; it enabled me to 
 get rid of the young lady. And to me
 
 2 12 Juliefs Lovers. 
 
 she was simply a white elephant, very 
 much in the way. But still I think 
 Mannering ought to have a hint." 
 
 Denvil was thinking hard. He did not 
 believe Hey wood ; but the tooth of jealousy 
 had fastened on him with this news about 
 Mannering, and he listened to what, at 
 another time, he would have laughed to 
 scorn. His mind was all in disorder, and 
 he could not judge calmly. Was she going 
 to marry Mannering ? He Iznew he had 
 her love — it was no matter of hope or 
 fear — he Izneiv it — with the keen sight of 
 passion he had read it in her eyes. He 
 was certain there was no deceit in their 
 glances ; they spoke true. But if she were 
 capable of marrying Lord Mannering — if 
 she were, like all the rest, ready to sell 
 herself for money and position, anything 
 else said about her might be true. 
 
 This is how men argue — men who are
 
 ytiliefs Lovers. 213 
 
 supposed to have the gift of reason. If 
 they are forced to believe a woman guilty 
 of one sin, they are instantly ready to 
 believe her guilty of the whole decalogue. 
 
 So fiercely, so absolutely, was Maurice 
 Denvil in love with Juliet, so convinced 
 was he that he had won her heart, that 
 to him the idea of her marrying Lord 
 Mannering appeared nothing less than a 
 sin. Heywood might be telling the truth 
 — he might himself be utterly deceived in 
 her. Oh, the agony of jealousy he suffered ! 
 
 It was the first time this awful pain had 
 visited him. He had never loved as he 
 loved Juliet ; yet he had always been very 
 successful with women. Naturally, his re- 
 markable beauty had brought him many 
 opportunities. Many a woman had been 
 ready to sacrifice her life for him, others 
 to endow him into fortune and ease. He 
 had never yet been the one to sufi'er. He
 
 2 14 ytiliefs Lovers. 
 
 was not generally fond of women's society, 
 and lived so quietly as to excite some 
 curiosity among liis acquaintances. 
 
 But now everything was changed. He 
 was swept away on the wild waves of a 
 great passion. He knew that if he found 
 Juliet Vane to be the most despicable 
 creature living, he should love her just the 
 same. It made no difference in his passion, 
 this gnawing agony of doubt. His ex- 
 perience of women was not one to make 
 him resolutely reject that doubt. No one 
 had ever told him the actual story of the 
 Portsmouth episode, and he had not cared 
 to ask. As to Juliet's having been in love 
 with Heywood, that seemed to be rather 
 a difficult thing to believe ; but Heywood, 
 in spite of his ugliness, had been known 
 to exercise a strange influence when he 
 chose to. 
 
 Denvil was utterly confused and puzzled.
 
 . yuliefs Lovers. 215 
 
 He tried to talk quietly to Hey wood, and 
 get him to tell more ; but Hey wood would 
 not. 
 
 "Don't give me away," he said at last. 
 "Don't let Lord Francis even suppose I've 
 said anything about this, because I pro- 
 mised him I would not." 
 
 **A11 right," said Denvil ; "I'm 
 not likely to make mischief, but I 
 wish to Heaven I could get at the 
 truth." 
 
 "We shall be late," exclaimed Hey- 
 wood — words that stop any conversation 
 among actors, however vital, and the two 
 hurried back to their dressing-rooms 
 meeting Lord Francis on the way. Denvil 
 would have given worlds to have stopped 
 and asked him whether, indeed, his 
 dauo'hter was such a criminal as to 
 have promised herself to Lord Man- 
 nering. However, that was impossible.
 
 2 1 6 Juliet's Lovers, 
 
 They passed each other quickly, and with 
 
 the merest nods of recognition. Could 
 
 Denvil but have guessed Lord Francis's 
 errand !
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 " When anger spreads through the breast, guard thy 
 tongue from barking idly." 
 
 The Player's Club was a favourite resort 
 of Lord Mannering's, and here Lord 
 Francis went to look for him.. For en- 
 tirely different reasons these two noble- 
 men affected the artistic society they found 
 here ; and were more often to be seen in 
 its rooms than in the aristocratic clubs 
 they belonged to. Lord Francis knew 
 there was no large party that night which 
 Mannering was likely to attend, for the 
 young man w^as not social in his tastes, 
 and was not a frequenter of drawing- 
 rooms. He made his appearance in 
 
 society only on occasions of political 
 217
 
 2 1 8 yidief s Lovers. 
 
 significance. There was nothing going 
 on at the House to take him there ; 
 so it was a choice of looking for him 
 in one of the Pall Mall Clubs, or in 
 this more Bohemian resort near the 
 Strand. 
 
 Lord Francis decided to try the Players' 
 Club first ; and his sagacity was rewarded 
 by finding Mannering in the card-room, 
 playing cards with an expression on his 
 face which showed that he was doing 
 so for the simple purpose of distracting 
 himself from unpleasant thoughts. It was 
 too early for any of the actors yet ; 
 but he had gathered together a small 
 company — an old playwright, a man of 
 brilliant intellect, who was nearly in the 
 grave before the world found him. out, and 
 who was cynical, but not soured ; an actor 
 out of work, terribly soured and jealous, 
 who could not afford to gamble, but was
 
 y it lief s L over's. 2 1 9 
 
 flattered by the chance of playing cards 
 with a lord ; and a stripling who was 
 trying to learn his way about town, 
 and did everything he was asked to 
 do. These four were playing whist with 
 the awful solemnity and silence which 
 characterises that game when played in 
 England. No game is better suited to 
 a man in a desperate humour, for it is 
 one which permits you to maintain a 
 savage silence. A lively party this, 
 which Lord Francis came upon ! Man- 
 nering looked up, and said, " Grood-evening," 
 and relapsed into silence. 
 
 "When your game is finished," said 
 Lord Francis, " I want to speak to you," 
 with which he seated himself in an arm- 
 chair and looked on as silently as the 
 players played. At length the solemn 
 dissipation came to an end, and Alannering 
 rose from the table.
 
 2 20 Juliefs Lovers, 
 
 " 1 am at your service," he said to 
 Lord Francis. 
 
 " Come into a quieter place," said Lord 
 Francis. For now the rooms were filling ; 
 actors and dramatic critics, and the men 
 who affect their society, were coming in 
 numbers. 
 
 The card-tables were besieged by a noisy set 
 of men, who seemed bent on enjoying them- 
 selves. Mannering looked round gloomily. 
 
 "These fellows are making too much 
 noise to be able to hear anything we say," 
 he observed. 
 
 ''That's true," said Lord Francis. 
 
 He turned his chair round so that he sat 
 with his back to the noisy crowd. Man- 
 nering drew another chair close to him, 
 and lit a cigar. 
 
 " What is it ? " he asked, without a shade 
 of interest in his face. 
 
 " It's about Juliet," said Lord Francis.
 
 Jtdiefs Lovers. 221 
 
 ''About Miss Vane?" queried Manner- 
 iug, and a flash came into his eyes. On 
 that gloomy face it was like lightning 
 in a dark sky. It vanished instantly, 
 but not before Lord Francis had seen it, 
 for he was watching Mannering intently. 
 
 " I believe," said Lord Francis, speaking 
 very low, but very clearly, "you did her 
 the honour to-day to ask her to marry you." 
 
 "Yes," said Mannering, "that is true." 
 
 " x\nd she refused you." 
 
 " Yes ; that is also true." 
 
 "Well — tell me, if you don't mind — do 
 you care about it ? " 
 
 " About what ? — about her. refusing rn.e ? 
 Naturally, or I should not have asked her." 
 
 '' You really wdsh to marry her, and do 
 still, in spite of her refusal ? " 
 
 " No other woman but Juliet Vane will 
 ever be Lady Mannering." 
 
 ** Oh, nonsense, ray dear fellow, don't
 
 22 2 Julief s Lovers. 
 
 talk like that. It's absurd. However, 
 what I want to say is this, — If your heart 
 is yet on the thing, I believe it to be 
 only a matter of time with Juliet. She 
 talked to me about it this evening, and, 
 in fact, she sent you a message. Of course 
 I was only to deliver it if I found you 
 in the same mind." 
 
 Now how the gloomy face lit up ! It 
 was transfigured. 
 
 '' What was it ? " he asked, with a break 
 in his voice. 
 
 "Why, this, — she wants you to go on 
 visiting just the same — don't make any dif- 
 ference. I should advise you not to speak 
 again just yet ; give her time. She is a 
 strange girl, like her mother. They be- 
 lono; to the order of women who love 
 once only, and in earnest. They don't 
 take sudden fancies ; they don't value 
 money or position. If Juliet marries you,
 
 Jidiefs Lovers. 223 
 
 it will be for yourself, not because you are 
 the best ^arti of the day." 
 
 *• I know that," said Lord Mannering. 
 " She was very decided to-day. I can't 
 understand this change." 
 
 *' Don't ask me to explain a woman's 
 actions, my dear fellow. I can only tell 
 you facts." 
 
 * ' I have telegraphed for my yacht to be 
 ready for me to-morrow. But I won't go 
 away if she really sent me that message." 
 
 " Of course she did. I'm not likely to 
 invent it. Go down and ask her to-morrow 
 whether she sent it. Knowing Juliet as I 
 do, I think I may safely congratulate you. 
 Good-night, if you are going to stay here." 
 
 Mannering said " Good-night," lit another 
 cigar, and settled into his chair to think, 
 while Lord Francis went out to his brougham, 
 which was waiting for him. It was late, 
 but he still had engagements to keep.
 
 2 24 Juliet' s Lovers. 
 
 The whole face of the world had altered 
 ibr Mannering in these last few moments, 
 and he was shaken by the unexpected tran- 
 sition from gloom to delight. His was a 
 slow, dogged nature, and when a sudden 
 change of feeling fell upon him like this, 
 he had to think it out in order to under- 
 stand it. He was not particularly pleased 
 at being worried into joining a card party 
 by some men who knew him very well, 
 and had just come in. However, he had 
 no excuse to offer, so he joined them. 
 Maurice Denvil was one. They were all 
 very excited, but Denvil the most of all ; 
 there was a wild glitter in those wonder- 
 ful blue eyes of his. They looked, not 
 like dewy violets, not like gleaming sea- 
 water now, but like precious stones — the 
 soft gleam that often made them so fascinat- 
 ing had hardened to this jewel-like glitter. 
 
 The party played poker, and got very ex-
 
 Jziliet' s Lovers. 225 
 
 cited over it. The excitement was helped, 
 no doubt, by a continual supply of brandy 
 and soda. But Denvil, who was the most 
 excited of all, did not drink much. It 
 was unnecessary ; he w^as already maddened, 
 intoxicated, by the sting of his own thoughts. 
 Manneriug was the only quiet man in the 
 group. But at last even he was roused. 
 
 It came quite suddenly and unexpectedly, 
 the crisis of the evening — or rather of the 
 morning, for it was three o'clock. DenviJ 
 had been losing heavily all the time ; 
 his thouojhts were not with the o-ame. 
 Manneriug won. He was always cool, 
 happen what might. Denvil had been 
 ominously quiet for some time, when he 
 flung his hand down on the table. 
 
 " No good ! " he said, " the luck's against 
 
 me. The luck's with Lord Mannering. It 
 
 always is. But how does a man manage 
 
 to be lucky in love and at cards both ? 
 VOL. I. p
 
 2 26 yuliet^ s Lovers. 
 
 It can't be, it can't be ! The luck will 
 turn, Mannering, the luck will turn ! " 
 
 He leaned across the table as he spoke, 
 and looked into Mannering's face. Manner- 
 ing turned a shade paler. 
 
 "What do you mean?" he said, drawing 
 back a little. 
 
 " Just wdiat I say," went on Denvil. 
 " the luck will turn. But I'll give 
 you the tip if you like, — ' See that she 
 deceive not thee as she deceived her 
 father.'" 
 
 "What 'she' is it?" demanded Man- 
 nering, and the two men looked at each 
 other now in a way that showed the 
 other men there was something more here 
 than the mere words that were being said. 
 They were rivals ; their eyes acknowledged 
 it ; each longed to destroy the other, and 
 fling him out of the path. 
 
 The others were silent, startled, for there
 
 Juliefs Lovers. 227 
 
 had been nothing to prepare them for these 
 looks of hatred. 
 
 "What \she' is it?" again demanded 
 Mannering, white with anger. 
 
 Denvil, on the contrary, was flushed. 
 Perhaps he had never looked more handsome, 
 than now ; he was carried out of himself 
 by his rage against Mannering. 
 
 " Do you want me to say ? " he asked. 
 " I've only quoted Shakespeare so far. But 
 I'll say, if you like. I'll give the name 
 of your future wife, and wish you luck 
 of her ! " 
 
 " Denvil ! " exclaimed one of the other 
 men, " keep quiet. You are mad ! " 
 
 "Dare to speak her name here," cried 
 Mannering, " and I'll liorsewhip you ! " 
 
 "Oh, you've the right to protect her 
 now ! — very w^ell — here's to the health of 
 Juliet Vane, the future Countess of Man- 
 nering."
 
 2 28 y7iliefs Lovers. 
 
 He leaned across the table, took up a 
 full glass of brandy, touched his lips with 
 it, and then flung it straight into Manner- 
 ing's face. 
 
 It was all over in a minute. The act 
 seemed to sober everyone, even Denvil 
 himself. Mannering was perfectly quiet. 
 He wiped the brandy from his face, and 
 rose from the table. 
 
 "You shall hear from me, sir," he said, 
 and with a good-night to the others, left 
 the room. 
 
 Denvil bowed in reply, and then fell back 
 into his seat and began to shudder. All 
 the other men dropped away quietly into 
 the next room, but one, the one who had 
 tried to prevent Denvil from speaking. 
 
 " Are you mad or drunk, Denvil ? " he 
 asked, looking curiously at him. 
 
 " Mad ! " was tlie answer. 
 
 And he gave no further explanation ; and
 
 y It lief s Lovers. 229 
 
 his friend left him. Bat presently he was 
 again surrounded. Everyone thought him 
 in the wrong, but he was immensely 
 popular. He would not defend himself. 
 The fierce excitement, which had carried 
 him away so completely, was succeeded by 
 an apathetic despair. All he understood 
 was, that Mannering had, by his words and 
 manner, acknowledged that Juliet was to 
 be his wife. It was true then ! Juliet 
 was to be his wife ! Oh, the false-hearted 
 creature ! Oh, the evil that women do ! 
 That was all his thought. Juliet was to 
 be his wife.
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 " Now love masters my limbs and shakes me, 
 fatal creature, bitter sweet." 
 
 By noon the next day everything was 
 arranged. Mannering had carried matters 
 with a high hand. Every effort was made by 
 such of his friends as knew of the affair to 
 prevent his fighting Denvil. But his mind 
 was made up. No apology from Denvil would 
 be accepted. And as Denvil would have 
 died sooner than apologise the thing had to 
 go on. All the preliminaries were speedily 
 arranged. This was Thursday. On Sunday 
 morning Denvil was to cross to Ostende' 
 Mannering had his yacht waiting for him 
 and could cross at any moment. Denvil,
 
 yulie£ s Lovers. 2 3 r 
 
 of course, could not leave until Sunday 
 morning because of the theatre. If all 
 went well there was time for him to be 
 back for the play on Monday night. 
 
 The men who had been present all 
 pledged themselves to Mannering never 
 to reveal that it was Juliet's name which 
 had caused the quarrel. This they very 
 readily did. She was universally adored, 
 and they all thought Denvil had been 
 mad. 
 
 No one knew how he spent all that day, 
 after the details of the affair of honour 
 were settled. He had received Mannering's 
 messenger at his house at Kensinojton. 
 He lived in a pretty villa here, which had 
 all the appearance of a domestic home ; 
 but only a very few persons were on suffi- 
 cient terms of intimacy with him to visit 
 him in it. Hey wood was one of these ; 
 and as Denvil felt very apprehensive lest
 
 232 Jtiliet's Lovers. 
 
 the manager should get any news of the 
 affair, and come up to question him, he 
 went out directly he was free to do so, 
 and did not return all day. 
 
 Mannering ordered his horses out in 
 the afternoon, and drove down to Putney. 
 Here he found Hey wood, Lord Francis, 
 and the dramatic author who had been 
 23laying cards with him at the Players' 
 Club over night. The old man, whose 
 mind worked as freshly as when he was 
 young, and could have enjoyed the rewards 
 of his work if he might have earned 
 them then, had conceived of a grand role 
 for Juliet. He was to write a play on 
 purpose for her, and they were all engaged 
 in talking about the situations, and in 
 makino; sugs^estions. 
 
 Juliet showed not the slightest emotion 
 at Mannering's entrance. She received him 
 as she would any friend who was quite in-
 
 yuliefs Lovers. 233 
 
 different to her — with perfect civility, but 
 that was all. 
 
 It was close on the end of the season 
 now, and '' Evangeline " was to be taken 
 on tour in the provinces. The new 
 play was to be ready for rehearsal directly 
 the tour was over, and the theatre was 
 to open with it for the winter. The role 
 for Juliet was a great one ; the idea of the 
 play brilliant ; and in the interest and ex- 
 citement about it Juliet received Heywood 
 without any reminder of the past. But 
 she was only coldly civil to him, and he 
 treated her with a cringing respect. Man- 
 nering noted this, and speculated as to 
 what it might mean. He liked to see the 
 proud way in which Juliet carried herself ; 
 Heywood's presence brought a tinge of 
 contemptuous scorn into her manner which 
 became her w^ell. 
 
 Nothing was talked of but the new
 
 2 34 Jttlief s L ove is. 
 
 play. As soon as the outline of it was 
 decided upon Hey wood went away. Man- 
 nering noticed that she did not shake 
 hands with him when he said good-bye ; 
 merely bowing in a very distant way. 
 The others all left soon afterwards, driv- 
 ing back to town to dinner, and Juliet 
 was left alone to dream of her new 
 role until it was time to drive to the 
 theatre. She had a brougham of her own 
 now, and a pair of fast horses, so that 
 the journey did not take long. As usual, 
 she and Mrs Elwood and Graham went 
 together in the brougham. They were 
 very cpiet, for Juliet was absorbed and 
 excited in thinking- of the work before her. 
 The new play w^ould place her on a level 
 with the great actresses of the past, whose 
 names she reverenced, if she could compass 
 her part. Naturally the thought excited 
 her, for she was a born artist. In her imag-
 
 yulief s Lovers. 235 
 
 inatioii she saw lierself, her own face, her 
 own figure, in the situations whicli had been 
 talked over ; and the glorious conviction 
 came to her that she could do it — that 
 she had real greatness before her. Cxraham 
 was very interested too ; she thought to 
 herself that surely Marguerite, with all her 
 dread of Juliet's beino- on the stao-e, would 
 have been proud to see her now, idolised, 
 worshipped, and with it all, as Graham 
 expressed it in her own mind, so modest 
 and such a perfect lady. Mrs Elwood was 
 suftering from one of her tits of envy ; it 
 was like a physical anguish. She always 
 suffered in this way when she had to sit 
 by and see Juliet receive her visitors like 
 a queen. And Mannering's speedy return 
 troubled her. Was it possible, she wondered, 
 that his infatuation was so great as to 
 make him crawl back to Juliet's feet im- 
 mediately, unasked ? Or had Lord
 
 2 2,6 yuliet' s Lovers. 
 
 Francis induced Juliet to call him back ? 
 Nothing troubled Victoria more than to 
 feel that there was something she did not 
 know, however absolutely the circumstance 
 might be the private concern of another 
 person. Envy and curiosity were the two 
 strongest passions of her nature. She 
 glanced at Graham, wondering whether she 
 was in Juliet's confidence and could be 
 cajoled to reveal it. 
 
 Another person looked at Graham in the 
 same way that evening. This was Denvil. 
 He got to the theatre in time to dress, in 
 a state of depression absolutely new to him. 
 He could not shake it oft*. This was Friday 
 night. On Sunday morning he would leave 
 London ; perhaps never to return. Perhaps 
 he would never see her again ! The thought 
 was insupportable. He dare not visit her, 
 for the risk of meeting Mannering was too 
 great. And Mannering had a right to be
 
 Juliefs Lovers. 237 
 
 there, while he had not ! When he thought 
 this the demon of hatred took hold of him 
 ao^ain, and he lonoed for the moment when 
 they would meet in earnest. 
 
 In the meantime the only pleasure he had 
 was to stand at the wings and watch Juliet. 
 Once or twice she looked at him as he stood 
 there, and he saw the glow come into her 
 beautiful eyes that he knew so well. Oh, 
 she loved him, she loved him ! False, 
 treacherous heart, to give herself to an- 
 other man ! While in the agony of these 
 thoughts he noticed Graham standing by 
 him ; he looked at her again. She must 
 know everything. He determined to ask her. 
 
 " Mrs Graham," he said, *' I hear Miss Vane 
 is going to be married. Will it ])e — soon ? " 
 
 Graham looked at him in surprise. 
 
 " Oh, no, sir, you are mistaken," she said. 
 "My young lady is not going to be married." 
 
 "But she is engaged?"
 
 238 Juliet's Lovers. 
 
 "No, sir, no. I am certain of it." 
 
 " But — but — " stammered Denvil, hardly 
 able to speak in liis excitement, ''Lord 
 Mannering — it is understood — " 
 
 He hesitated. Graham reflected a moment, 
 and then decided to speak out. No secret 
 had been made by Mannering or anyone 
 else of tlie situation, and she thought it 
 better for Juliet that there should be no 
 mistaken rumours. 
 
 "Lord Mannering has proposed tc my 
 young lady," she said, with quiet pride ; 
 " })ut she has refused him. I believe Lord 
 Francis has begged her to alter her mind, 
 but she has told his lordship she never can. 
 That is how it stands, sir. It seems a pity, 
 for Lord Mannering would make her verv 
 happy." 
 
 A mist swam before Denvil's eyes ; he 
 thought he should fall ; emotion suffocated 
 him. What ghastly mistake had led him to
 
 yiiliet's Lovers. 239 
 
 insult Mannering — to use Juliet's name in 
 such a way — to place himself in such a false 
 position ! Mannering had no more right to 
 fight for her than he had himself ! (Jh, 
 if they could but change places ! While 
 he was struggling with tliis confused rush of 
 painful thought the moment was approach- 
 ing when he had to 00 on the stao^e. He 
 collected himself sufficiently to speak again 
 to Graham. 
 
 " Hey wood told me they were engaged 
 to be married." 
 
 "They are not, sir," said Graham, em- 
 phatically. 
 
 Denvil's cue came; mechanically he went on 
 to the stage. He had no thought for anything 
 but Juliet. There she stood — the same agita- 
 tion always came upon her at this entrance of 
 his. He knew very wadl it was not feigned — 
 that she was not acting at this moment. His 
 . voice had the power to change the colour
 
 240 J 21 lie f s Lovers. 
 
 in her face. And especially when she knew 
 that the next moment he would hold her 
 in his arms, his breath on her face — for 
 it was their love-scene now. Heywood left 
 the stage, and Denvil came down to Juliet. 
 Never had he acted as he acted to-night — 
 never had that scene been given with 
 such passion. The audience were thrilled 
 by it — there were low murmurs of enthu- 
 siasm at every opportunity. He felt Juliet 
 tremble as he held her. Oh, if he could 
 carry her away now — if these words were 
 but his own — and answered as he wished 
 them to be, and he could take her away 
 now from all the others who wished to 
 rob him of her ! 
 
 Heywood's return to the stage interrupted 
 the scene ; then followed the scene between 
 the two men, ended by the guardian's 
 maniacal attack on the lover. Denvil 
 excelled himself in everything to-night ; he
 
 yttliefs Lovers. 241 
 
 remembered Heywood's lie, as he concluded 
 it to be now, about Juliet, and the struggle 
 between the two men was terribly real. 
 He made Heywood feel, and Heywood, 
 who had by no means forgiven or forgotten 
 the shaking he had received at Denvil's 
 hands so lately, attacked him with a ferocity 
 almost too well stimulated. Juliet stood 
 horror-stricken in reality ; there was some- 
 thing dreadful in the earnestness of that 
 struggle. Had Heywood gone mad in 
 reality ? she wondered, and watched in 
 horror. 
 
 The scene, fortunately, was terminated by 
 a rush of the minor personages of the 
 play, who are supposed to hear the noise 
 and enter hurriedly. Juliet was thankful 
 when this came. If Maurice should be 
 hurt by that maniac ! Her heart 1)eat 
 painfully. The curtain fell amid storms 
 of apjDlause. Heywood, Juliet and Denvil 
 
 VOL. I. Q
 
 242 ytiliet's Love7^s. 
 
 always had to go before the curtain after 
 this scene ; so she remained there, trembling, 
 and looking apprehensively from one to the 
 other. Denvil's coat was torn right across. 
 
 '' Am I to appear like this?" he said to Hey- 
 wood, who, however, made no answer ; he was 
 panting, and looked like an enraged animal. 
 
 Juliet moved towards Denvil, and spoke 
 to him under her breath. 
 
 " Is he mad — has he hurt you ? " she said. 
 
 " No, no," he answered. *' If anyone's 
 hurt, it is the wretch himself He told 
 me a lie about you yesterday, and I have 
 punished him for it. Oh, my darling, my 
 darling, give me the right to protect 
 you from all the world ! " 
 
 They were almost the same words he 
 had already spoken on the stage. Juliet 
 looked at him, half in doubt if he spoke 
 in his own person or no. At that 
 moment the curtain was rung up, and
 
 yuliefs Lovers, 243 
 
 the tliree had to stand side by side to 
 be applauded. To Juliet it seemed as 
 if it did not come down again for an 
 age — as if it was for an eternity that 
 she had to face that sea of meaningless 
 faces. But it came down at last. Heywood 
 left the stage instantly ; for a moment the 
 two others were alone. The scene-shifters 
 began their work, and in the noise they 
 made it was impossible to be overheard. 
 
 "Juliet, do you love me?" said Maurice 
 Denvil. 
 
 She turned and looked at him. Her 
 face grew pale ; she trembled. She was 
 frisfhtened at her own emotion. It mastered 
 her utterly. She could not speak. 
 
 "Answer me," he cried out. "Don't 
 keep me in agony — I cannot bear it ! " 
 
 She put out her hand to him ; he felt 
 it tremble in his. 
 
 "Yes," she answered.
 
 244 ytiliefs Lovers. 
 
 " Oh, God, what joy ! " he exdaimed. 
 " To-morrow, Juliet — may I come and see 
 you in the morning when 3'ou are alone ? " 
 
 " Yes," she said again. The die was east. 
 
 " You will be late," cried an agitated 
 voice through the din made by the scene- 
 shifters. It was Graham. Juliet snatched 
 her hand away, and hurried after her 
 dresser. She had to be quick, she well 
 knew, having lost these few minutes. Lord 
 Francis stood back to let her pass, in a 
 narrow place in the corridor. 
 
 " How beautiful you look to-night," he 
 said, involuntarily, as she passed him. 
 " And how mad the people are about 
 you ! " he went on. " I believe they will 
 tear you to pieces some day." 
 
 She flew on. Victoria El wood, who had 
 been sitting in her dressing-room, came 
 out of it as she entered. She looked back 
 after her, too, with the same thought.
 
 yuliefs Lovers. 245 
 
 " She has never looked so lovely." But 
 she added another with the shrewdness of her 
 kind, " Something must have happened ! " 
 
 Denvil went to his dressing-room in 
 a state of exultation impossible to describe. 
 She was his. He had won her ! He burst 
 out laughing when he thought of Man- 
 nering and the meeting at Ostende. 
 But the next minute he grew serious. 
 How ridiculous to have to fight Man- 
 nering now, on such grounds ! How 
 dreadful to have to leave her and to run 
 such risks so soon ! But his pride would 
 not let him think of drawing back. 
 And even now that he was successful 
 with Juliet he hated Mannering as much 
 as ever for being his rival and having 
 dared to hope — and then Denvil inflamed 
 himself again by remembering that Man- 
 ering had done more — had challenged 
 him as one who had the rig-ht to fi^ht
 
 246 yiiliet's Lovers, 
 
 for Juliet ! He had practically acknow- 
 ledged that they were engaged ! What 
 could it mean ? " Never mind," said 
 Denvil, trying to calm himself. " I shall 
 know everything from her to-morrow 
 morning." And at that thought, at the 
 mere thought of that meeting to come, 
 rapture took possession of him again and 
 he forgot his anger.
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 " I know not what to do ; my mind is divided." 
 
 Juliet was in her own room the next 
 morning; when Denvil's name was broug^ht 
 to her. She had been up and dressed a 
 long while, but she had not wished to 
 see anyone before she saw him, so she 
 stayed quietly in her room as if she 
 were resting. No one disturbed her there 
 in the morning unless she wished it ; an 
 actress w^orks so late at night that she is 
 not expected to begin the day as early 
 as other people. 
 
 Graham came to tell her he had come, 
 and was waiting for her in the drawing- 
 room. It was an unusual hour for 
 
 visitors ; and the old woman quickly put 
 
 247
 
 248 Jttliefs Lovers. 
 
 two and two together. Juliet was dressed 
 early that day ; her toilette was simple 
 but very perfect. " Evidently," thought 
 Mrs Graham, " he was expected." 
 
 " It's a pity," she said to herself, after 
 Juliet had gone down, " it's a pity. 
 Lord Mannering would make her happy. 
 But she'll only go where her heart is." 
 
 Denvil stood waiting by the open 
 drawing-room window, looking out into 
 the garden. Her hammock was swinging 
 there, empty. How often he had watched 
 her in it — the garden seemed desolate 
 without her, spite of its beauty ! But 
 while he was thinking this he heard the 
 door, and turning, saw her there. She 
 was dressed in simple black, the deep 
 mourning for her mother, which she had 
 not lessened yet ; but her face was so 
 radiantly lovely that it needed no aids. 
 
 It is almost pitiable to see two creatures
 
 yiLliefs Lovers. 249 
 
 love each other as these two did ; misery 
 must inevitably follow such intense feeling' 
 sooner or later, in the very nature of 
 things. For a balance is always struck 
 in this world, as all know who notice how 
 strangely events arrive. And yet it is 
 only those who love like this who have 
 any knowledge of what wild joys life 
 holds — of what it is to really live. Every- 
 one who has experienced it confesses that 
 it is better to suffer the pain that dogs 
 such passion like a Nemesis than never to 
 have known it. Yes, not only " better to 
 have loved and lost," but better to have 
 loved and been deceived, to have loved 
 and been dragged throjAgh the hell of 
 jealousy, than never to have felt as these 
 two felt now. Very quietly they met, and 
 Juliet put her hand in his. 
 
 " Then it was not a dream ? " she said. 
 " You did ask me to let you come here this
 
 250 ytdiefs Lovei^s. 
 
 morning ? It all passed so quickly last 
 night, I thought I must have dreamed it." 
 
 "A dream!—" said Denvil, ''God! if it 
 had been, I must have died of the 
 awakening ! " 
 
 And then he began to literally 
 worship her. Kemember for how long he 
 had, every evening, talked love to 
 her, held her hand, held her in his 
 arms, and never dared to say one real 
 word of love ! And now she was all his 
 own ! — this lovely being, that he had 
 regarded with such awe because of her 
 sheer loveliness ! They forgot everyone out- 
 side that room for a long while. But the 
 sound of the garden gate roused Juliet at 
 last. She rose to look out of the window. 
 
 " Oh, it is not papa yet," she said, 
 with a sigh of relief ; " but he may come 
 at any moment. He is coming to lunch." 
 
 "Juliet," said Denvil, "tell me.
 
 yuliefs Lovei^s. 251 
 
 does he want you to many Manner- 
 
 log ? 
 
 " Yes," she admitted. 
 
 " Then he won't approve of me," said 
 Denvil with a sigh. " I have none of Man- 
 nering's advantages." 
 
 " I know he does not approve of you — 
 at least not in the way you mean ? " 
 
 " Why — has he ever said anything." 
 
 "Oh, yes. He was very complimentary 
 to you. He seemed to think you dangerous, 
 and warned me it was quite hopeless ! — 
 that he would never let me marry you." 
 
 Juliet hesitated before she said this. 
 But a moment's thought decided her to 
 speak out. It was better to do so at once, 
 to her thinking. She could be quiet, and 
 reticent, but she was incapable of the least 
 deviation from the truth — especially with 
 one she loved. She was one of the rare 
 women to whom love is a sacred thing,
 
 252 jfiiliefs Lovers. 
 
 penetrating to the inmost recesses of the 
 soul. In winning her love Denvil had 
 won her absolute trust and confidence. 
 
 " Then we must do without his consent," 
 said Denvil instantly. 
 
 The idea chimed well with his own wishes ; 
 it w^as what he most desired ; why, will be 
 seen later on. 
 
 Juliet looked at him in surprise. Denvil 
 boldly advanced on the line he had started. 
 
 "My darling," he said "are you not 
 free to choose for yourself? Are you not 
 independent of Lord Francis ? Surely if 
 ever a woman was at liberty to take her 
 life into her own hands, it is an actress 
 who earns her own living as you do. If 
 you love me, marry me, and do not hesi- 
 tate." 
 
 Now, in the theatrical profession ^marry- 
 ing and giving in marriage are not usually 
 discoursed of much by passionate lovers
 
 yitliefs Lovers. 253 
 
 like Maurice Denvil ; and not to any other 
 woman he had ever met would he have said 
 what he said now. He had never dreamed 
 of marrying — or, at least, so far as his 
 thoughts went that way, not yet ; he had 
 thought he might marry for money or a home 
 in the far future, when all his present life 
 had died away from him. But now he 
 was grasping at a prize which he felt it 
 would be hard to win and might be hard 
 to kee^D ; and with a peer of the realm as 
 his chief rival it was no light matter. 
 
 "He very much wants me to marry 
 Lord Mannering," said Juliet thought- 
 fully. 
 
 " You shall not marry Lord Mannering. 
 I'll kill him first," said Denvil, and he 
 meant it. He was thinking with pleasure, 
 at the moment, of Sunday, and Ostende, 
 and the chance he would have of finishing 
 Mannerino:'s career. And Juliet felt he
 
 2 54 Jtiliefs Lovers, 
 
 meant it. She liked him none the less. 
 Women with a touch of the angel in them 
 like to feel the savage in the men they 
 love. 
 
 " We are going on tour very soon," said 
 Denvil, speaking more composedly. " Marry 
 me quietly before then, Juliet, and travel 
 as my wife. Oh, if you hesitate, you don't 
 love me as I do you ! Where will Lord 
 Francis be ? — with you ? " 
 
 ** Oh, no!" said Juliet. ''He is going 
 to St Petersburg immediately, now that 
 everything is arranged for me. He ought 
 to have gone before, I believe, on some 
 diplomatic mission. Mrs El wood travels 
 with me." 
 
 " She need not come — she can stop at 
 home and take care of your house ! " said 
 Denvil triumphantly. " You will be my 
 wife before then. Yes, Juliet, it must be 
 
 so."
 
 y^diet's Lovers. 255 
 
 " You must let me think," said Juliet. 
 "I owe a duty to my father." 
 
 '* But you know he will try and make 
 you marry Mannering." 
 
 ''Yes, I know that." 
 
 Denvil groaned. The thought was an 
 agony to him. His passion touched Juliet, 
 and made her utterly undecided. 
 
 " Give me a little time ! " she said again. 
 
 " When does he go ? " asked Denvil. 
 
 ^^ Who?— my father?" 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 "In a few days." 
 
 Denvil was silent. He was doubting 
 whether she would yield to his wish more 
 easily when her father was gone. But — 
 no — he judged her, rightly, to be one who 
 acted from conviction, little swayed by cir- 
 cumstance or persuasion. 
 
 "Will you have decided when next 1 see 
 you ? " he asked.
 
 256 y 21 lief s Lovers. 
 
 " Yes — to-night. I shall be alone with 
 my father some time to-day, and I will 
 find out what I have to look for from him. 
 Oh, that my mother lived, and I could talk 
 to her ! You must go now if you do not 
 wish to meet him." 
 
 "I will go," said Denvil. "I had better 
 not meet him to-day — not till you have 
 decided." 
 
 He rose. 
 
 " Oh, what a wrench it is ! " he said. 
 " What an age it will be till I see you this 
 
 END OF VOL. I. 
 
 COLSTON AND COMPANY, PRINTERS, EDINBURGH.
 
 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF ILLIN0I9-URBANA 
 
 3 0112 041689800