Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1891-02-27
CHAPTER XVI.

puNh ~ Boolt hlbic,
frightened girl that for the moment she
scarcely knows her. Can this be the dainty
Duchess?
1t is! With quick exclamation she
goes forwai d, and lays her firm white hand
upon the shrinking Norahs sho llder, and
twists her round so the light may fall
more fully on her.
80 you have come home / wonder
you weren't ashamed" she says. "And
in sact n plight tool Where j. your beauty
gone, l wonderS' She seems to find rich
enjoyment in the girls miserable appear
ance. Come, you have row to exp ain, "
she says, and using a little IA very little is
all that is needed Of the strength that be-
longs TO her, she compelS the WORKOUT
child to follow her, and enter what seems
10 her sad, terrified, half-dulled brain, q
room crowded with condemnatory eyes.
When she left Denis she had been fortu-
nate in taking at first the path that led
direct to Ventry. At the gates she had
met two Of the stablemen, whom she at
once dispatched TO the cabin where lay the
unconscious Delaney. A third man she
had sent OF for the doctor; and having, as
she felt, done now for him all she could do,
the strain at last relaxed and she gave in.
Ii seemed TO her as if something had given
way within her head, and she lost thought
for most things, being only DESTROYS Of get
ting away from everyone, To be alone, be-
yond the view of prying eyes; able to give
herself up TO the deadly lethargy that is SO
surely overcoming her.
Then Katherine had seized upon her as
she endeavo Ell, ike some wounded thing
TO creep stairs unseen TO her own room,
and now she puts up her hands as if to
shut them all away from her.
''Norah! Norahl' cries Lady Glandore,
rushing TO her; she is not frst-Madam 10
before her, and has caught the girl by both
her shoulders, and is, in her agitation,
sway ing her gently to and fro.
''Norah, where is Denis2 Where is my
SOM"
The poor child, bewildered, gazes from
one TO the other. A feeling of faintness is
overpowering her, mingled with that ter
rible dread OF what they Will say of her
Of public oeasure-that had tormented her
all through the past interminable night
oh, TO escape-to get away! She looks
round her helplessly, AMI makes feeble
effort to shake oil Madam's OBTAINING
grasp.
'Norah, speak," says Lady Glandore in
a kind, conciliatory tone. Where have
you been since last nighty''
''ln the wood, says the Duchess trem-
bling, repeating half unconsciously the
words she had drilled herself TO say in the
lonely hours spent beside the insersible
body. He is safe now. The men must
have found him. She cannot lay herself
open to the cruel insinuations of katherine
Cazalet. How if she were, in her fury, to
tell them all of that scene in the garden!
Oh, no, no.
II n. II
that horrible pain in her head beating with
maddening force. Il went on--on. 1
could not come back; there was rain. It
was very dark. l." She breaks of this
incoherent speech, trying in little piteous
way to collect herself and only succeeding
in repeating again the words she had i'm
pressed upon her tired brain in a more
lucid moment. ~ lost my way" she says
slowly.
Mss Cazalet laughs out loud.
did Iens lose his way, tooy'' she asks
at Is really refreshing, in such n material
age as this, to hear of two beings so charm
ingly unsophsticated. Two veritable
babes in the woodp'
''Ee silent, girlr' cries Mrs. O'Shaugh-
messy, with horost Indignation
''No. i shall not be silent What Is
all her path, however depraved, to be made
smooth for hery'
what path" demands Nancy Blake,
quickly. Confess at least that your first
surmise was false one. There has been
no elopement.
al am nevertheless as firmly convinced
as ever, that she, and she alone knows why
Den.s is absent from his home -
AT the sound of Delaney's name Norah
.tarts violently.
''Ha! do you see thatS' cries Miss GAIA
let triumphantly. ''Deny, now, if you can
that she is hiding something from us
"Norah, dearest, try TO explain" says
Lady Glantore, moving near To the half
fainting girl and passing her arm around
her.
Eyes, do. Do my dear! Sure word
will settle 1t one way or the other" says
Mrs 'Shaughnessy, with an encouraging
pat ON the back.
"Oh, Duchess II there is anything TO
tell, tell itH' entreats Miss Blake, in deep
distress, evidently on the verge of tears.
But Norah is past understanding now.
II lost my way" she murmurs foolishly.
1T was so dark, so cold. / went on, on; !
lost my way" She looks round her with
darkeniug eyes and an agonized expires
sion.
''Wbyr' exclaims Miss Cazalet, creeping
slowly up TO her, with her head bent and
gaze fixed upon Norah's gown, what is
thisp' she lifts corner of it. at Is bloodr'
she cries, shrilly. "Blood She has muir.
dered him. Look at her. look. 1t is blood,
/ tell you She has killed him.
Don't lie foolp' says Mrs. O'Shaugh
messy with more force than elegance. Bu'
even as she says IL her tone trembles.
That awful word has penetrated the
mists that troubles Norah's intellect, stag