Blind Love
Page 299"Faith!" he said, "I thought I was murdered outright. Come, Mick, let
us drag him to the roadside."
They did so, and then with bent heads and slouched hats, they made
their way across country to another station where they would not be
recognised as the two who had followed Lord Harry down the road.
Two mounted men of the Constabulary rode along an hour later and found
the body lying where it had been left.
They searched the pockets. They found a purse with a few sovereigns;
the portrait of a lady---the murdered man's wife--a sealed envelope
card-case: nothing of any importance.
"It is Lord Harry Norland," said one. "The wild lord--he has met his
end at last."
The letter to Iris was brief. It said: "Farewell! I am going to meet the death of one who is called a Traitor
to the Cause. I am the Traitor of a Cause far higher. May the end that
is already plotted for me be accepted as an atonement! Forgive me,
Iris! Think of me as kindly as you can. But I charge you--it is my
latest word--mourn not for one who has done his best to poison your
In the other letter he said: "I know the affection you have always entertained for Iris. She will
tell you what she pleases about the past. If she tells you nothing
about her late husband, think the worst and you will not be wrong.
Remember that whatever she has done was done for me and at my
instigation. She ought to have married you instead of me.
"I am in the presence of Death. The men who are going to kill me are
under this very roof. They will kill me, perhaps to-night. Perhaps they
will wait for a quieter and a safer place. But they will kill me.
which I have always regarded you. I now despise it. I ask your pardon
for it. Help Iris to forget the action of her life of which she has
most reason to be ashamed. Show that you forgive me--when you have
forgiven her--and when you have helped her in the warmth and strength
of your love to drive me out of your thoughts for ever.
"H. N."