Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1890-12-19

Naturally enough. Mrs. Lnley rcmon-
s,rat,d. Surely ought 10 read letter for
warlcd hv my LAWYER. Why are you hiding
the address from me? l. il from some per
son whu~t Handwriting, We both know: She
locked arain at her silent mother, reflected,
and guessed the truth. Give il to me di-
rc:ly." She said: my husband has written
TO me.
Mrs PreSty's heavy eyebrows gathered in
To a frown. is it possible" She asked,
stcrnlv. that YOU are still fond enough If
that man To care about what he writes 10
yon?" Mrs. I.lnry held ont her hand for
the letter. Her Ms, mother found il dc-ir-
able TO try Icl>;a lon next. ii you really
won't .iye way. lny dear. hrmnr me tor once.
VIII YOU let me rr.,l it t" y"il!'
Yes if you promise To read every word of
it,
Mrs. Presty promised with mental res
revatiOnl. and oltned the letter.
Al the two first WORDS She stopped and be-
gan to clean her >prrtac!rS. Had her own
eyes deceived her. or had Herbert Liniey
actually addressed her daughter, after hav-
inn been guilty of the crucl'st wrong that
husband can inilct on wife as Dear Cath
crime? YES there We're the words. WHEN
she out her epcctaclts on again. Was he in
his right senses. or had he written III state
of intoXication?
Mrs. Linley waited, with a preoccupied
mind; she showed 10 signs Of impatience OF
surprise. As it presently appeared. she was
not thinking Of the letter addressed to her by
Herbert, but of the letter written by Randall.
Il want to look at it again." With that
brief explanation she turned at once to the
closing lines which had offended her when
she first read them.
Mrs. PreSty haZarded a guess at what was
going on in her daughters mind. Now
your husband has written to YOU" she said,
''are you beginning to think that Randa's
opinion may be worth considering again"'
With her eyes still on Randals letter. Mrs
Linley merely answered: "Why don't you
besin?" Mrs. Presty began as follows, leav.
ing out the familiarity of her sOn-in-law's
address to his wife:
II hope and trust you will forgive me fol
venturing to write to you, in consideration OF
the subject of my letter. have something
| to say concerning our child. Although
have deserved the worst you can think OF Inc
l believe you will not deny that even your
love for our little Kitty (whle we were liv.
ing together) was not truer love than mine.
Bad as am, my heart has that tender place
left in it still. l cannot endure separation
from my child"
Mrs. Linley rose to her feet The first
vague antlcipatiOns of future atonement and
reconciliation, suggested by her brother-in.
law, no longer existed in her mind. She fore.
saw but too plainly what was to come. Read
faster" she said, 'or let me read it for my.
self"
Mrs. Presty went on: "There is no wish
on my part to pain you by any needless allu-
sion to my claims as father. My one de
sire is to enter into an arrangement which
shall be as just toward you as it is toward
me. l propose that Kitty shall live with hel
father one-half of the year, and shall return
to her mothers care for the other half. II
there is any valid objection to this I confess
! fail to see it"
Mrs. Linley could remain silent no longer
docs he see no difference" she broke out
'between his position and mine? What con.
sOlatiOn-in Gods name what consolation is
left to me for the rest of my life but my
child? And he threatens to separate us fol
six months in every year! And he takes
credit to himself for an act of exalted justice
on his part! Is there no such feeling as
shame in the hearts of men"'
Under ordinary circumstances her mother
would have tried to calm her. But Mrs.
Presty had turned to the next page of the let
ter at that moment when her daughter spoke.
What she found written on that other side
produced startling effect on her. She
crumpled the letter up in her hand and threw
1t into the fireplace. 1t fell under the crate
instead of into the crate. With amazing
activity for a woman of her age, she ran
across the room to burn il. Younger and
| quicker, Mrs. Linley got to the fireplace first
and seized the letter. There is something
morev' she exclaimed. "And you are afraid
of my knowing what it ISL
Don't read itv' Mrs. Presty called out
There was but one sentence left to read /:
"lf your maternal anxiety suggests any mis-
| giving, let me add that wOman's loving care
will watch over our little girl while she is
under my roof. You will remember how
fond Miss Westerfield was of Kitty, and you
will believe me when l tell you that she is as
truly devoted to the child as ever"
Il tried to prevent you from reading it."
said Mrs. Presty.
Mrs. Linley looked at her mother with a
strange, unnatural smile.
II wouldn't have missed this for any,
thingr' she said. 1.-THE cruelest of all sepa-
ratiOns is proposed to me-and l am expected
to submit to it because my husbands mis-
tress is fond Of my childp' She threw the
letter from her with frantic gesture of con-
tempt and burst into fit of hysterical laugh
ter.
The old mothers instinct-not the old
mothers reason-told her what to do. She
drew her daughter to the open window and
called to Kitty to come in. The child (still
amusing herself by fishing in the lake, laid
down her rod. Mrs. Linley saw her running
lightly along the little pier, on her way to
the house. That influence effected what no
other influence could have achieved. The
outraged wife controlled herself for the sake
OF her child. Mrs. Presty led her out to meet
Kitty In the garden, waited until she saw
them together, and returned to the breakfast
room.
Herbert Linley's letter lay on the floor; his
discreet mother-in-law picked it up. 1t could
do no more harm now, and there might be
reasons for keeping the husbands proposal.
UNLESS l am very much mistaken" Mrs,
Presty concluded, I'VE shall hear more from
the lawyer before long," She locked up the
letter, and wondered what her daughter
would do next
In half an hour Mrs. Linley returned
pale, SILENT self-contained.
She seated herself at her desk, wrote lit
orally one line, signed 1t without an instant's
hesitation, and folded the paper. Before it
was secured in the envelope, Mrs. Presty in
terfered with characteristic request You
are writing to Mr.. Linley, of course" she
said. May see it?''
Mrs. Linley handed the letter to her. The
one line of writing contained these words:
II refuse positively to part with my child.
Catherine Linley."
"Have you considered what Is likely to
happen when he gets this?" Mrs. Presty in
Quired.
mo. mamma"
"Wil you consult RandalT'
| II would rather not consult him."
Twill you let me consult him for your
''Thank yOu-no."
"Why not?'
"After what Randall has written to me
don't attach any value to his opinion" With
that reply she sent her letter to the post and
went back again to Kitty.
After this, Mrs. Presty resolved to wait
the arrival of Herbert Linley's answer, and
| to let events take their course. The view
from the window (as she passed it. walking
up and down the room offered her little help
in forecasting the future. Kitty had re.
turned to her fishing. and Kitty's mother was
walking slowly up and down the pier, deep
In thought Was she thinking of what might
happen, and summOning her resolution
which so seldom showed itself on ordinary
occasions?
XIV.
| No second letter arrived. Int a telegram