"'tis ill work fighting in the dark,

though skilled you be in use of lance;

a random thrust may stretch you sark,

though guided but by fickle chance.

'tis wisest, then, to fight in light,

for you can judge your foeman's skill;

and though in armour he be dight,

your lance may find some place to kill."

the interview which had taken place between mrs. belswin and her italian lover had been productive of a curious change in the demeanour of the latter. from being master he became slave, from commanding he changed to obeying; and taking advantage of this astonishing transformation, mrs. belswin ordered her quondam master about like a dog. she saw that by a single flash of her fierce eyes at a critical moment she had inculcated the superstitious italian with the idea that she was possessed of the evil eye, and had by so doing taken all the manhood out of him. this son of the south, who was decidedly brave in the presence of physical danger, was so completely the slave of superstition that he firmly believed mrs. belswin's eyes exercised a malignant influence upon him, against which he was powerless to struggle. notwithstanding this terrible feeling, he was too much in love with her to think of removing himself from the dread fascination of her presence, and therefore, he accepted his new position with superstitious resignation. once or twice, indeed, he attempted to exert his former authority; but the ominous gleam in mrs. belswin's eyes, and the significant sneer on her lips, soon reduced him to obedience, and he cowered at the feet of his sometime slave in abject terror. it was not physical fear, it was not a want of manliness: it was simply the effect of a supernatural terror acting upon a nature singularly prone, both by birth and training, to yield to such weird superstitions.

having thus reduced ferrari to such a state of bondage, mrs. belswin thought that there would be no difficulty in making him put her husband out of the way in some stealthy manner. here, however, she was entirely wrong, as ferrari, being afraid of the english law, absolutely refused to lend himself to the committal of a crime even at the command of his evil genius. in vain, with all the artistic craft of a woman, she prayed, implored, cursed, ordered. ferrari would not be moved from the position which he had taken up, in holding himself aloof from the power of the law. afraid of her in every other way, he did exactly as she asked him, but in this special case his fear of the visible power of justice was greater than his fear of supernatural visitation from the glance of the evil eye, and after a fortnight's battling mrs. belswin was obliged to confess herself beaten by the steady refusal of her slave to obey her in what she desired most of all things to be done.

by means of belk she had kept herself thoroughly well acquainted with all that had taken place at thornstream during her absence. the bailiff employed his mother, who was always haunting the great house, to find out what was going on. so, the information she gave her son, he, in his turn, retailed by letter to mrs. belswin in london. from this source, therefore, the latter learned all about sir rupert's return, the discovery of the engagement, and the dismissal of archie maxwell by the angry baronet. on hearing all this news, mrs. belswin, with rare resolution, made up her mind to go down to thornstream and see her husband face to face. she saw plainly that she could do nothing criminal against him, and so determined to have an interview with him, and throw herself on his mercy. if he granted her this all would be well; if, however, he spurned her--well---- mrs. belswin knitted her brows, clenched her hands, and drew a long breath. she was a despairing, reckless woman, and would stop at nothing to gain her ends, so it seemed as though sir rupert was in a very dangerous position. the baronet was no coward, but he would certainly have felt a thrill of fear had he known this meditated attack by his terribly savage wife.

one effect of ferrari's newly-born dread of mrs. belswin's supernatural powers was that he followed her like a dog, and seemed afraid to let her out of his sight. formerly, having a full belief in his power to draw her back to himself, he had not minded her being away for certain periods; but now that he deemed his dominating power was gone, he was afraid lest she should leave him altogether, and kept a close watch upon all her actions. he was with her all day, and at night, when forced to attend to his business, insisted that she should come to the theatre and stay in a private box, where he could see her during the performance. mrs. belswin did not wish to abuse her newly-gained power over him, so acquiesced in his somewhat unreasonable demands; but when she made her preparations to return to thornstream, he insisted upon accompanying her there.

"but what about your business?" objected mrs. belswin.

"that will be right, cara mia," he replied rapidly. "see you--we will go down on sunday--i do not sing that night; and i will return on monday--with you."

"i will not return on monday."

"signora, you will, i think so. on sunday night you will behold il marito. he will order you away; and what is left but to come back with your faithful stephano?"

"what you say is very true," said mrs. belswin, coolly, "but things may turn out so that i can stay."

"eh! have you the plan, donna lucrezia?"

"no; i leave everything to chance."

"dio! what faith!" muttered ferrari, lifting his hands; and the conversation ended with mrs. belswin agreeing that ferrari should accompany her to thornstream on sunday afternoon.

with that profound belief in the unseen which is a strong characteristic of half-civilised natures, mrs. belswin, seeing that she could do nothing herself, left everything to chance, and expected this blind faith to be rewarded by some miraculous intervention which should change her husband's heart towards her. she had no grounds for such belief, but, hoping against hope, kept repeating to herself that all would yet be well, and that things would end happily.

nevertheless, in spite of her striving to look upon the bright side of things, she received something of a shock when, on arriving at the deswarth railway station, she saw archie maxwell advancing towards her with a most lugubrious expression of countenance. wishing to speak with him, she sent ferrari off to look after her portmanteau and drew the disconsolate lover into the bare waiting-room, where they could converse freely.

"well?" asked mrs. belswin, sharply, looking at the downcast face of the young man; "is all this true?"

"about sir rupert?"

"yes, of course! what else would i speak of?"

"it's all true! quite true--worse luck!"

"he has refused to sanction the engagement?"

"yes. i received a letter from him, in which he accuses me of acting shamefully in winning his daughter's heart. oh!" cried, archie, clenching his hands, "if he was not her father! you never saw such a letter--a cruel, wicked letter! if he was not her father i would make him apologise for its insolence."

"oh," said mrs. belswin, cruelly. "so, being her father, you are going to sit quietly down under this insult."

"what can i do?"

"do! oh, if i only were a man! do! why, marry kaituna in spite of him. why don't you see kaituna and urge her to marry you at once?"

"i have done so, and she refuses to disobey her father."

"good heavens!" thought mrs. belswin savagely, "the girl is no daughter of mine to allow herself thus to be robbed of the man she professes to love."

she kept this sentiment to herself, however, and only said abruptly--

"what are you doing here?"

"i'm going up to town on business."

"indeed! so you capitulate without a struggle?"

"no, i don't," replied maxwell, flushing at the cold contempt expressed in her tone. "i am going to see my employers about this buenos ayres business which i put off till the end of the year. if i can manage it i'll start for south america next month."

"alone?"

"not if i can help it. on my return i'll try and persuade kaituna to accompany me."

"and disobey her father?"

"there's no help for it," replied archie, with a groan. "we love one another very dearly, and i don't see why our lives should be spoilt at the caprice of a selfish old man."

"what does your friend mr. clendon say?"

"he is entirely on my side."

"and mrs. valpy?"

"the same. they think sir rupert is an old brute,"

"so he is," muttered mrs. belswin, angrily.

"well, mr. maxwell," she said aloud, "i also am on your side. it's a shame that your lives should be spoilt for a caprice. but remember one thing, sir rupert will cut his daughter off with a shilling."

"let him. kaituna and i can face poverty together."

"poor innocents," said mrs. belswin, with a jeering laugh, "you don't know what poverty is."

"you needn't speak so unkindly," replied archie, rather hurt at her tone, "i thought you wished me to marry kaituna."

"so i do, but i don't want you to starve."

"we shall not starve. i can always make a good income."

"my dear sir," said mrs. belswin, candidly, "your income may be enough for one but it certainly is not enough for two, particularly when the other is a girl brought up as kaituna has been. if you marry kaituna without her father's consent, you drag her down to poverty."

"oh!"

"yes, you do. it's no good glossing over those matters. better look at the hard simple facts, mr. maxwell, and you will find it best in the long run. you love kaituna, she loves you, and you look forward to love in a cottage and all that kind of thing, which does not exist out of novels. the reality, however, is not so pleasant."

"then what am i to do? give up kaituna?"

"certainly not. kahuna's happiness is as dear to me as it is to you. if you left her she would pine away, and i'm sure you would not be happy."

"mrs. belswin," cried the young man in desperation, "i don't know what you mean. you blow hot and cold; you are both for and against. you say marry kaituna, and then you add it is a selfish thing to drag her to poverty. i don't understand your meaning."

"oh, the density of lovers," said mrs. belswin, with an angry flash of her fierce eyes. "you are like all men, my dear mr. maxwell, and never see an inch beyond your nose. does it never strike you that i am also fond of kaituna, and would do anything to insure her happiness."

"you?"

"yes, even i. oh, don't look so disbelieving, my friend. i may have more power than you think with sir rupert."

"but you don't know sir rupert."

"don't i?" replied mrs. belswin, grimly. "that's all you know. well, here is your train, mr. maxwell, so i'll say good-bye."

"but what are you going to do?" said archie as they went out on to the platform.

"i don't know--yet."

"will you get sir rupert to consent to our marriage?"

"perhaps."

maxwell jumped into a first-class carriage with a sigh of despair, and put his head out of the window for a moment as the train started.

"mrs. belswin!"

"yes?"

"i don't know your meaning, but you seem to have some power, so i'll leave the future happiness of kaituna and myself in your hands."

"you will trust me?"

"entirely."

"very well; you will see your trust has not been misplaced."

mrs. belswin, however, was promising more than she could perform, and stood frowning deeply as the train went off. from this reverie she was aroused by a touch on her shoulder, and on turning saw ferrari.

"is that the man?"

"what do you mean?"

"is it the one who is ready to do for you what i refuse."

she looked at him mockingly, and, woman-like, determined to torture him.

"my good stephano, if you knew that, you would be as wise as myself!"