Chapter XVIII: Lorimer's Plot 270 (7)

"As soon as ever the room gets lighter, work away at the picture, so as to give the impression that you are finishing it, and take no notice of anything else around you.... Hush, I think I hear her coming!"

Sounds were heard coming from Dora's room.

The door was opened slowly.

"Now then, attention!" whispered Lorimer, "and quite steady, please, as the photographers say."

The doctor led in Dora, followed by Hobbs.

"How dark it is!" said Dora; "have I slept a long while? Mr. Lorimer is gone, I suppose?"

Lorimer was watching from behind a screen the working out of his stratagem.

"Dear Mrs. Grantham," said Dr. Templeton, "I am going to make a particular request of you. I want to try an experiment. Just to please me, would you mind taking this palette and these brushes, and seating yourself in front of that easel?"

The reader remembers that Dora had placed, side by side, in her poor room, the two easels that had so stood in Philip's studio.

"It is not exactly a favour I ask, it is a prescription that I have great faith in for you, and that may have great results--I beg of you!"

"Why, of course, with pleasure," said Dora, allowing herself to be drawn towards the second easel.

"Now, mix your colours and prepare to do some painting."

"But what shall I mix?" demanded Dora; "I am only too willing to obey."

"Oh, never mind what--I am making a little experiment with you--that is all; I will tell you later on more about it--come, you can't refuse me.

"But, my dear doctor, the room is too dark; I cannot see; is it evening already?"

"You are right. I will give you some more light."

Little by little, the doctor raised the blind. Philip did not stir. Faithful to his instructions, as soon as the light was let in, he began assiduously using his brush.

Dora, languid and ignoring all that was taking place around her, was mechanically mixing her colours, while waiting for Dr. Templeton to tell her that he had finished his experiment, and that she might rise from her seat. The room was now quite light.

"Well, doctor," said she, "is it over?" She turned round, and saw Philip at work on the portrait, and absorbed in his occupation, as he had been in the dear old days gone by. Palette and pencils fell from her hands. She gazed silent and breathless. She took her head in both hands, as if to assure herself that she was awake and not dreaming.

Philip turned with an imploring look in his eyes. Then, laying down his brush and palette, he rose slowly and stood with open arms.

Dora uttered one cry, "Philip!" and, sobbing with joy, she buried her face in her husband's breast.

"Dora, my Dora!" repeated Philip, caressing the beautiful head that lay once more in his embrace.

They remained for several minutes, oblivious of everything around, united in a new-found exquisite bliss.

Hobbs ran to hide her own tears and emotions in the bedroom of her beloved mistress.

"Well, my dear doctor," said Lorimer, "we have had an afternoon's work, but it has been successful, eh?"

"Yes," replied Dr. Templeton, "she is saved."

"And now I am going to wind up the old clock and set it going once more," said Lorimer.

This done, the two men softly stole out of the studio.

And the old clock, with its good, round, cheery face, seemed to smile at Philip and Dora, while its tick-tack said, as plainly as could be, "Here are the good days come again, and I will count their hours for you."

THE END

PRINTED BY
MORRISON AND GIBB LIMITED
EDINBURGH

_Frederick Warne & Co.'s Publications_

In Connection with the De Willoughby Claim. By Frances Hodgson Burnett. In crown 8vo, cloth gilt, price 6s.

"... We have no hesitation in saying that Mrs. Burnett's new work
is one of the most moving novels of the year ... and it contains
scenes of a most tender and pervading sweetness.... As is always
the case in Mrs. Hodgson Burnett's best work, it is the lovableness
of her characters which gives such charm to her pages.... To pass
from scenes of keen pathos to others of such tender charm, from the
piteous figure of Margery to that of the radiant Sheba, is an
employment which, however affecting to our emotions, is very
fascinating.... It is an exceedingly attractive novel."--_Daily
Telegraph._

"Mrs. Burnett has never written better than in this story. She has
never delineated character more delicately, more sympathetically,
her pathos has never been truer, her humor more engaging. The book
gives one the impression of having been written with great and
worthy care. No writer, not the very ablest, who made a point of
turning out, say, three novels a year, could possibly have done
anything so good as 'The De Willoughby Claim.' The book is well
worthy to be read, and will be read by the wise."--_Daily
Chronicle._

* * * * *

Vroni: The Weaver's Heart's Dearest.

By the late Blanche Willis Howard. In crown 8vo, cloth gilt, price 6s.

"'Vroni' is one of those pathetic and charming stories which the
reader does not readily forget. 'Guenn' we had learnt to regard as
Miss Howard's masterpiece, but in point of artistic finish, and
perhaps in power, 'Vroni' takes a higher position. It is the only
novel, we believe, which has for its heroine a 'cook,' for such is
Vroni Lindl, daughter of Dionysius, the weaver, born and reared in
the bleak hill-country between the Danube and the Neckar, known as
the Rough Alp. Dionysius was a simple man, peasant born 'with
gentle ways and a soft mode of speech'; and Vroni, his little
maedel, was devoted to her father--indeed, worshipped him. It is
this wonderful affection between father and child which forms the
vein of gold that runs through the story. One word best expresses
our feeling regarding the story--it is delightful."--_Birmingham
Post._

* * * * *

John Gilbert, Yeoman: A Romance of the Commonwealth. By Richard Soans. Frontispiece and Vignette Illustration by Lancelot Speed. In crown 8vo, cloth gilt, gilt top, price 6s.

"The stirring times of the Commonwealth afford a fine setting for
the romance, 'John Gilbert, Yeoman,' by R. G. Soans. It is an
ambitious work, but the author has produced a story which will bear
comparison with the best historical fiction of modern writers. It
is far above an immense mass of novels sent out recently; it is
what may be described as a strong story, containing nothing flimsy
or trivial, and in certain features it even recalls the romances of
Scott. Nothing seems out of joint--foreign to the picture. What is
presented is a seventeenth century England with seventeenth century
figures. There is no undue straining after effect or of the
probabilities.... Events, exciting and dramatic, follow fast upon
each other, and the interest is closely rivetted till the end. It
is a story which deserves to find many readers."--_Scotsman._

"Quite a fragrant fresh feeling, redolent of the breezy rolling
Surrey Downs, in which the story is laid, comes to one in reading
the adventures, love, troubles and vicissitudes of the young hero
farmer.... Not the least recommendation of this romance of the
Commonwealth is its freedom from anything repulsive or
objectionable."--_Weekly Sun._

* * * * *

The Fortress of Yadasara: A Narrative prepared from the Manuscript of Clinton Verrall, Esq. By Christian Lys. With Original Illustrations by Lancelot Speed. In crown 8vo, cloth gilt, gilt top, price 6s.

To the lover of genuine romance this novel will bring pure
enjoyment. Clinton Verrall, the hero, who narrates his adventures,
claims to have discovered, on the southern slopes of one of the
Caucasian ranges, a marvellous and hitherto unknown land which, by
a sudden and gigantic landslip, was cut off from the rest of Europe
and "stopped short" at the Middle Ages. Of his singular adventures
therein, his hairbreadth escapes, and final exit therefrom, we can
only say they are well worth the reading, and the book is not
likely to be laid aside unfinished.