Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1894-08-23

| wood would not nave Kept 1T 4 secret.
She is far too c-'tspoken. l must beg
her to tell everything she knows, not
to be afraid of my mixing her name
up in the matter i'll any way. When
she sees that Charles and do not dis
approve she will feel less responsible
ity.'
And it was with a comfortable sense
of her own and Charles" unworldli-
ness that Mrs. Shelby prepared to in
dite the important letter.
She saw little Of her brother till the
afternoon. He did not appear at lun-
cheon, having left word that he had
gone for long walk.
provided only that he is not too
late for the Densters'," thought Made
! line, with little sigh over the perver-
sity of mankind.
But her fears We're unfoundcd. At
ten minutes to four Mr.. Norreys made
his appearance in the hall, faultlessly
attired. apologizing with his usual
courtesy. in which to his sister he never
! failed. for his five minutes delay, and
Mrs. Selby. feeling pleased with herself
outwardly and inwardiy. for she was
! conscious both of looking we'll in a
very pretty new bonnet and of acting a
| truly higll-rlinded part as Il sister, seat
ed herself in her place. With glance
Of satisfaction at her companion.
! Everybody will be cnvying me-" she
said TO herself. With tiny sigh as she
| remembered former air castles in Des-
pards behoof. The Flores Carter
| girls and Edith and Bertha Ryder. i'll
deed all the ncghborhood, get quite
excited if they know he's here. He
! might have had his choice of lie best
| matches in this county. to my own
| knowledge, and there are several girls
With money. All. Well"
| The grounds seemed already full Of
| guests when the brother and sister
| drove up to the DenstcrS' door. Mrs.
| Seiby was at once seized upon by some
OF her special cronieS, and for half an
hour OF So Despard kept dutifully be-
! side her, allowing himself to be intro
ducel to any extent, doing his best
to please his sister by responding gra-
clously to the various attentions which
| were showerod upon him. But he grew
| very tired of it all in little while
a curious dreamy feeling began to come
over him, born no doubt of the I'M
| wontcd excitement Of his conversation
| with Madeline that morning. He had
gone long walk in hopes of recovering
his usual equanimity, but had only
succeeded in firing himself physically.
The mere fact of having put in words
to another the conflict of the last few
months seemed to have given actual
| existence to that which he had by fits
| and starts been trying to persuade him
self was but q passing fancy. And
| even to himself he could not have told
whether he was glad or sorry that tho
latter had come to q point-had, as it
| were, been taken out OF his own hands
For that Madeline had already written
to Mrs. Enslpwood he felt little doubt.
| women are always in such des-
perate hurry" he said to himself. which.
all things considered. N'ls surely most
unreasonable. Nor could he have de-
MED that it was so, for even as he made
the reflection he began to calculate in
how many. or how few rather, days
they might look for an answer, and to
speculate on the chances of Mrs. En-
gleWood's being acquainted with Mai
sizes present whereabouts.
"Maisie.' he called her to himself.
though he had somehow shrunk from
telling the name to his sister. 1t was
so sWeet-so like her. he repeated soft
ly. though truth to tell, sweetness Was
not the most conspicuous quality in our
heroine. But Despard was honestly in
love after ALL as many better and many
worse men have been before him, and
will be again. And love of the best
kind. which on the whole his was, is
clalryoyant-he was not wrong about
Maisie's real sweetness.
| Il do care for her. as deeply, as
thoroughly as ever man cared for a
woman. But 1 don't want to marry:
it's against all my plans and IDEAS /
didn't want to fall in love either, for
that matter. The whole affair upscts
everything I had ever dreamed off,
He fell to dreaming now-he had man.
aged to leave his sister and her friends
absorbed in the excitement of watch
ing game Of lawn tennis between the
best players of the county, and had
stolen by himself down some shady
walks away from the sparkle and chat
ter OF the garden party. The quiet
and dimness soothed him, but increased
the strange unreal feeling Of which he
had been conscious since the morning.
He felt as if nothing that could hap
pen would surprise him-hc was actu-
ally, in point Of fact, not surprised
when, at a turn in the path, he saw
suddenly before him, advancing toward
him, her cloudy black drapery-for she
was in black as ever-scarcely distin-
guishable from the dark shrubs at each
side, the very person around whom all
his thoughts were centering-AIaisie-
Maisie Ford herself!
He did not start, he made no ex-
clamation. A strange intent look came
into his eyes as he walked on toward
her. Long afterward he remembered,
and it helped to explain things that she
too had testified no surprise But her
face flushed u little, and the first ex-
preston he caught sight of was one
OF ACKNOWLEDGMENT, long afterward,
he remembered this too
They NEITHER hands touched. But
for a moment he did not speak.
How do you do, Mr.. Norreys?" she
said then. 1T is hot and glarng on
the lawn, is it not? l have just been
seeing my father off. He was too
tired to stay longer, and l was glad
to wander about here in the shade a
little