Telegram-herald., 1889-11-02

=
g-asra1y 3lss1reed az = The hrtas party
he I'D % suddenly appeared amongst,
continued. Perhaps ! h&d better hGa
oslt my rooms. ana return later
VERY vel. sssented Alice. Nj.
Mayne. d ~ with kr v@nbratcn and
look after hiEn-
The new conner hardly appeared ss II
ae required looking after. bat the young
.aan obeyed. aud the two left the room.
And now viii YOU explain what al
this means cried Anna. with an az #
great hewlderlnent
Willingly, said Alice. and seated
lerseH az the table. and. resting her
elbow oa il, shielded Der face with one
hand. - that she could watch her com
Danion with her own oounten2nce half
hidden.
The evening We arrived here. a fort
night ago. / accidentally. really aocl-
lentally met this gentleman. Nh. MSyne.
who was once very great friend Of
mine. but whom l was forbidden. for
certain reasons Of nay mothers, 70 be
any longer friendly with On the spur
of the moment l made up q plan by
which l could enjoy his society for al
least a few weeks before we parted,
probably forever Very few Of my
friends are acquainted with either Gerald
Mayne or Mr. Vanbruton, so ! proposed
10 the former that he should. as = sort et
Joke, you know. take the name or the
latter, just while in our company; you
may have observed that have never in
troduced him 10 any casual acQuaintances
here. | impressed upon him that If you
knew who he really was, you would report
his presence 10 mamma. and then adieu
20 al our fun ~ Lucerne. He agreed
he generally did 10 anything | chose 10
dO-and | introduced him 10 you as my
fiance. OF course, il was all very wrong.
but meant it as sort Of practical joke,
a bad one. perhaps. especially as / soon
found my ,ot was to play second fiddle.
and VOLTA tout!'
That was not ALL" Miss Rogers said
slowly. 1T was not all joke; there
was something else. "
There was silence for a minute or two
between the two women. and nothing
was heard but the gentle splash-splash
Of the lake; then, with a visible effort,
Alice said, in hurried and nervous
voice:
"Yes, you are right; there was some
thing else. You remember the day you
came TO Haythorpe? l fetched your
handkerchief from your room. there
was an unfinished letter on the floor
(Which you read" Anna interrupted.
How honorable! How truly honor
able~
You need not sneer So" retorted
Alice. 1T was hardly honorable on
your part to purpose doing your best 10
marry my intended husband. was re-
placing your letter on the table, when
twoor three words arrested my attention,
and | read it through / then twisted it
up and let it blow away out of the win
dow. You see, it was | who did evil
that good might come. / have not lost
my husband, and you are engaged to be
married TO the man you profess 70 love
No harm has been done, and l suppose
all parties will be satisfied"
"And how do you think the real Mr..
VanbrutOn will enjoy this little comedy?'
asked Miss Rogers quietly.
Il dare say it may amuse him, if you
think it absolutely necessary to tell him, &"
replied Alice carelessly. But he will
hardly think much of the part you have
played in it; as for mine, ] have no
doubt that l shall be able to explain it
satisfactorily. And now you mention
him." she added, rising and going to tho
door, Il will go and see where he is.
Shall send Gerald?"
Zone minute, Miss Patterson" ex-
claimed the other; Il should like to say
one thing more. | know it is useless to
ask your pardon, but l swear that | was
sorry when it was too late. How can a
girl like you, brought up to have every
thing almost that you can wish for, loved
by fond parents, shielded by them from
all possible care or sorrow, know or
guess the temptations which surround a
woman like me, who have been left to
shift for myself from earliest childhood.
| have had no one to guard me against
hardships and troubles. True, ] have
a brother who lends me helping hand
when he can, but, poor fellow, he needs
one too often himself"
AS Alice listened, the hard expression
in her face melted away. and her voice
was kind and gentle as she replied
''DO not speak 80 bitterly, Anna. II
what you say is true. my fault is much
tI,,. e.
excuse. Believe me, in everything there
is compensation. Remember, after all.
YOU have Gerald. and if ne is not a Mr..
Vanbruton. at least he is not quite penni-
less And so saying Alice quietly left
the room.
After all. you have Gerald~ These
words rang in Anna's ears as she paced
to and fro; but had she cot him? What
would he say if he knew. If he ever
happened to know? She was thinking
thus when the man himself entered the
room. He went straight to her and took
her into his arms
Darling, can YOU ever forgive me for
having so grossly deceived YOU? At FIRST
I did it for fun. and then afterwards
did not dare tell you. as feared that you
would send me away. thinking that I
was AliCes lover whom she was not TO
meet. and that | should have 20 leave
you What must YOU have thought of
me. believing me 20 be engaged % one
girl and set knowing. as YOU must have
known. that had fallen in love with
your VIII YOU forgive me. dearest
She drew herself gently away from
him.
Il forgive you with AL my heart.
listen 70 me, and then ! wonder If YOU
can pardon as easily