Hot Springs weekly star. (Hot Springs, S.D.) 1892-1917, 1897-04-09
CHAPTER Nj

and carcsSing his silky mustachc.
III call it flying in the face of provi-
dencc." said Mrs. Dumarcsq.
Anne WAS ont. and Mrs. Dumarcsu had
taken the opportunity of giving in All ar
tistic form a sketch of Admiral I'itzgcr-
aids history and the disposition of his
fortune.
"Aly Only wonder is that she did not
give it all away" said Michele. Il little
cuntcmptuously. ".Annc never seems to
care about it at all
Mrs. DumaresG thought she knew what
she was about. She had Annc's two low
crs. as she considered them. all to her
self. and she did not believe that the story
OF Annc's generosity would do her any
harm in their eyes. Lawrence. with his
soft eyes and romantic face. would be de-
lighted by it. Paul l;astlnkc had so much
quiet COMMON sense that she did not know
whether he would he pleased or not.
But Mrs. pumarcsq did not read the
two characters quite accurately. 1t was
1iastlakc who had far the srcntcr aplra-
citation of Annc'S conduct. Ill" saw the
Justice. as we'll as the generosity of h"r
action. and admired it. AS for Lawrence.
he thought it beautiful but-pcrhaps-a
little foolish: sanity. of course. and just
what Anne Cartcrct ought to do. but not
a convenient frame of mind i'll Il woman
who was ones sister. wife. or friend. But
he said little. and looked grave and ten
der. so Mrs. Dumarcsq was convinced that
the experiment was successful.
"W'herc is Miss Carterct now:' East
lake asked with some hesitation.
"t;onc to the hospital with Mrs. Bur-
ton. She always goes on 81 Wednesday.
Then she WAS To make some calls in town.
and 20 to Il musicale afternoon at Mrs.
Morioni's.'
.Shc is very much in request" said
Eastlakc.
ives. everyone likes her. And she sings
so beautifully. and is So good and sweet
with il all that mt cannot but admire her
too. At least. l think so. There's the
five O'Clock train. l wonder ii Jim will
come by it,
Mrs. Dumarcsu'S wonder was soon sat
isticd. ''Jim." ais she called her husband.
had come by that train. and had encoui!-
tered Anne at tho Alexandria station and
brought her with him. He went ut once
ito the tennis ground 10 convey his news
tn the players. and Anne slowly entered
the drawing room where Mrs. Dumarcsq
still sa: with Lawrence. Both looked up
and uttered some word of greeting as she
came in. and boil, noticed that she seemed
tired. She sal down and began pulling off
the long t.iuvos that covered her slim hand
and half her arm. Her face was Il little
pale. a little grave. and Lawrence noticed
that she would no, meet his eyes. She
poured herself out IL cup of tea and drank
it. then leaned tlloughtfully back in her
chair and fell To smoothing ont her long
gloves upon her knee.
Mrs. Dumarcsq and Eastlakc stepped
out upon the vcranla. and then Lawrence
turned and locked ut Anne. He thought
that there WAS something o,ninou> in the
cold gravity of her face. She broke the
silence at last-nlmost. as ii seemed.
against her own will.
"Nlrs. Burton has had II letter from IL
friend VIII" knows YOU"
''Nnnws me- said Lawrence. flushing
scn~i,i;rly. Then he laughed and said.
IL am much .rati,ied to hear il. And
who is the tricni:"
"A Mrs. Campbell"
oh. yc>. Mrs. leighton knows her.
too. Size lives near my old home. Well.
Miss r.r;rrci. did She tell Mrs. Barton
amy 10y @trrril,lc story of me that you
look so ..ravc:"
VIZ NV FbtN 'i"'A wv ttl' ~ NlaNIl
l.awron.r used that laugiingly rersu;,-
Siv" tonc.
M. oil. no: she said nothing bad of
you"
What did sli" say: This becomes very
interesting" said lie. lying back with II
smile on his lips. but 81 watchfui. ANXIOUS
expression in his eyes.
Her next question tool; him by surprise.
".Arc You married. MIR. L~nwrrncc:"
Anne asked in her usual tranquil tones.
as III she had put the simplest question
in the world.
married! The gods Forbid
~ suppose il is only that You are going
to hc."
But here the color rose in her face a
little. Then as Lawrence looked as if lie
did not quite well know how to answer
her. the color spread over her checks and
brow till they were red as roses. His
face had turned very pale. and his lips
quivcrrd.
"Annc." lie said. sit is not true. nm
not cngagcd-l ann"
He stopped short. Mrs. Dumaresq was
mt the window. Without turning round
Anne moved forward. closed the door be-
hind her and was gone. He made Il move
mcnt as if he would have gladly torn him.
self from his couch and followed Anne.
But he could not as yet walk more than Il
few steps alone. He turned round saw
agcly. clinchcd his hands md bit his lip
until the blood came. Then he asked to
be taken into his room.
He had a wakcful night. and WAS far
from we'll when the doctor visited him
next day. But lie succeeded in Impress
ing his medical adviser with the view that
he required change of air. and was told
that in the course of Il few days he might
siar, il liz liked.
III l had In. II moment lengcr." Law
rcncc had been saying 10 himself through
the long hours of fcverish walefulness:
eff Mrs. Dumarcsq had stayed away and
1 could have explained it all. how much
easier it would have been for both of us!
What can l do now! What can l say to
her? How can 1 tell her the whole truth:
She would never forgive me. l will he
wise in time. Now's my chance. 1t will
he all over with me if l do not leave her
now. 1 have just strength enough to save
xn..,lc cr,J %1,ck Moan. r;r1 Il, If.1,. 1V. n oSf-