Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1890-05-01
CHAPTER XXXJI To IRA

resentative introduced Il lady, closely
velled-and that lady was iris.
CHAPTER XXXII.-GOOD-BY TO IRIS.
Lady Harry lifted her veil, and looked
at Mountjoy with sad entreatv in her
eyes. Are you angry with me?7 she ask
ed,
81 ought to be angry with you" he said.
''This is very imprudent, Iris!''
''It is worse than that" she confessed
'It's reckless and desperate. Don't say
ought to have controlled myself. I can't
control the shame feel when | think OF
what has happened. Can | let you 60
OH what Il return for your kindness!-
without taking your hand at parting!
Come and sit by me on the sofa. After
my poor husbands conduct, you and are
not likely to meet again. l don't expect
yOu to lament it as l do. Even youl
sweetness and your patience-so often
tried-muSt be weary of me now"
''If yOu thought that possible, my dear
you would not have come here tonight, .
Hugh reminded her. while we live, we
have the hope of meeting again. Nothing
Lord Harry himself told me that he was
a variable man. Sooner or later he Will
come to his Senses
Those words seemed to startle Iris. az
hope you don't think that my husband
is brutal to mel" she exclaimed, still re.
sen ing even the appearance of a reflection
on her marriage. and still forgetting what
she herself had said which justified a
doubt of her happiness. Have you form.
ed Il wrong impressiOnw she went on,
HAS Fanu| Mere innocently-"
Mountjoy noticed, for the first time, the
absence of the maid. 1t was circun-
stance which justified him in interruptng
Iris-for it might seriously affect her il
her visit to the hotel happened to be dis
covered.
Il understood" he said, that Fanny
was to come here with you"
Yes! yes! She is waiting in the car
riage. We are careful not to excite atten-
ton at the door of the hotel; the coachman
will drive up and down the street till
want him again. Never mind that!
have something to say to you about Fanny.
She thinks of her own troubles, poor soul,
little without meaning it. l hope she has
not misled you in speaking of her master.
1t is base and bad of him, unworthy of a
gentleman, to be jealOus-and he has
wounded me deeply. But, dear Hugh, his
jealousy is a gentle jealousy. | have heard
of other men who watch their wives-who
would even have taken away from me
such trifie as this" She smiled, and
showed to Mountjoy her duplicate key OF
the cottage door. ''Ah, Harry is above
such degrading distrust as that! There
are times when he is as heartily ashamed
of his own weakness as | could wish him
to be. l have seen him ON his knees be-
fore me, shocked at his conduct. He is lie
hypocrite. Indeed, his repentance is sim
cere while it lasts-only it doesn't last
His jealous rises and falls like the wind
He said last night (when the wind was
high): If you wish to make me the hap
piest creature on the face of the earth
main in Paris. Try to make allowances
for him.
81 would rather make allowances, Iris
for you. Do you, too, wish me 10 leave
PARISH
| Sitting very near to him--nearer thar
her husband might have liked to see-lri:
drew away little. Did you mean TO bt
cruel, in saying that" she asked. Il dom
deserve it,
1T was kindly meant" Hugh assured
her. IF can make your position more
endurable by going away. L will leave
Paris tomorrow"
Iris moved back again to the place which
she had already occupied. She was eager
to thank him (for a reason not vet men
tioned). as she had never thanked hin
yet. Silently and softly she offered hel
gratitude to Hugh by offering her cheek
The irritating influence of Lord Harry's
jealousy was felt by both of them at tha
moment. He kissed her cheek-and lin
gered over it. She was the first to recover
herself
when you spoke Just now of nv posi-
rIon with my husband" she SAID. You re
minded me of anxieties, Hugh, in which
you once shared and of services which
can never forget
Preparing him in those words for the
disclosure which she had now to make
Iris alluded to the vagabond life of adven
ture which Lord Harry had led. The
restlessness in his nature which that life
implied had latterly shown itself again
| and his wife had traced the cause to let
ter from Ireland, communicating report
that the assassin of Arthur Mountjoy had
been seen in London, and was supposed to
De passing under the name of Carrigeen.
ate resolution to revenge the murder OF
his friend, with which Lord Harry had
left England in the past time, had been
urged into action once more. He had not
concealed from Iris that Sha r,11St ho ro,