Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1895-05-13
A BROKEN LETTER.

Lady EvsshaIn, rushing like a whirl.
VIM in a riding habit into the great,
cool. pillared hall Of Evesham house
enc fair May morning
"His iordship is not yet down, my
lady. bat Leon has been with him three
quarters of an hour, answered Parkins.
Then serve breakfast. His lordship
won't DO long" And Lady Evesham
betook herself TO the sunlit flower deck
cd snuggery where she and her husband
always had their first meeting Of the
| day. From there she turned TO the
breakfast table and ran through her
mornings correspondence.
"What dull postl wonder il John
has got anything betterF
Her white fingers wandered among
the pile of letters by her husband 8
| plate.
From the steward; from jerks, the
trainer; from the lawyers. Three with
the city pnstmark. five from clubs. That
one is from Lady Janet Stepney, know
begging, Of course. for her orphans or
curates or INDECENT mothers; that's from
BERTHE Stanhope-what niggle he
writes-and, oh, this must be what they
call typewritten thing"
Lady Evesham picked from the scat
tered pile common square envelope
bearing an east end postmark and adj
dressed in type to ''The Visccunt Eve
sham, Eyesham House, Park Lane
'How queer it seems that machine
should write all that so straight and
neatl had no idea it looked so tidy
and businesslike / think I'll make
John buy me one to write TO my dress
maker with. Typewriting looks SO
awfully fierce. I" She scrutinized the let
tiers still closer. "This one isn't quito
faultless. though. There's something
wrong with the capital Il. It's got a
white spot All, John, at lastp'
She dropped the letters among the
others and ran to greet her husband.
who stopped from his superior height
and kissed her lovingly.
A year ago society had called John,
Viscount Ieresham, aged 40, q fool to
saddle his wealth and his freedom with
a mere girl as wife, but his bride had
been SO sweet, SO gracious, SO innocent
ly pleased with her new surroundings
and so unaffected that at the beginning
of this her second season the most Gym
ical had voted the marriage success
and the young yisoountoss an acquisi-
tion.
Lord Evesham adored his wife, yet
with that tentative worship, that love
tinged with doubt, which must always
be where the adorer is speeding swiftly
down life's hill and the object of adora-
ton is every day growing more lovely
and more desirable
His first few months of married life,
when, bride, Lady Evesham had won
widespread and open admiration, had
been torture to him. Even now his self
depreciatory doubts were only lulled to
slumber by the perfectly blameless con-
duct of his wife,
I'm sorry to have kept you waiting,
my dear, he began, with old fashioned
courtesy, "but the morning was so fine
made sure You would prolong your
ride"
$50 / might have done, for Mr..
Leighton-he has constituted himself
my cavaliere servante in the Row-was
most amusing, but Kittie Hamer joined
us. and it's horrid riding three abreast
-one has to shout So left them at the
top of the Row and"--
Leighton rides with you, does he?''
queried Lord Evesham, looking over the
top of his letters.
Eyes, dear, almost always" And
then an utterly unaccountable blush
came over her until her throat, ears and
cheeks were alike bathed in the crimson
tide.
"Humi" said his lordship, while
Lady Evesham, furious with herself at
the trick her unruly self consciousness
had played with her, took refuge in her
breakfast. Silence reigned, broken only |
by the faint tinkle of the silver and |
china and by the rustic of Lord Eve
;ham's letters.
Suddenly he started, grew pale, then |
red, looked from his wife to a slip Of |
paper in his hand and back again.
What strange coincidence!
watch your wifep' in typewritten |
characters, stared from the paper before
him. Opposite was the downcast face |
If his wife-the face which had been
out moment back dyed with guilty I
blush at the chance mention -
lame Of mere arr5nf ner chair,
HHby was such a fool?'' she cried
, herself in tall mirror. What mace
q do suoh hateful, stupid, underlined
inc as to blush like gawky school
;rl--and at Rupert Leighton's name
oo,--a man who -" She did not speak
he words that rose to her lips. only
he faint, coquettish smile--the smile
. a woman who is beautiful, who is
battered, who is beloved-dawned again
n the misty depths of her eyes
Before Lord Evesham's eyes ana IN
his ears were ever the words. "Watch
vour wife, A younger man, one surer
If his hold upon a woman's heart,
have shown her the shameiul
thing. But he was afraid. he tried TO
keen the burden Of doubt and disDeiie,
70 himself, yet Beatrix Evesham guessed
at ito existence, though she knew neither
its origin nor reason. Only she felt that
there was no love behind his courtesy,
NO warmth in his kindness, no faitn IN
watch your wifer' Lord Evesham
vatched. and Lady Evesham knew It.
One night, at Nottingham, her wound
ed pride found vent. Rupert Leighton,
as ever. was by her side as she stroileo
to the rivers edge, and with the petu-
$500 ~ a Snoild chilled for the first time