The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-05-02

ANO bkOppDu LOT hu uNIAnt hnu tiiNh bNiA Nsb
So S't soms, is,i%idi .Sc;u tP ls,,E' you MIND my tenn
.h @s' in aSanSs: saon wss ea dsisll G.S SSs sSy SO sm Sfs
somewhat impatient movement With Pc
hslf.ontroatihE way said! IT hope ! DON
You Know that sSe first refused me-
si,t a slight toss Of her head. II believe thei
understand. / proposed 70 her because.
thousht 1 had dissovernd that some old stock
1 had had acquired = fabulous value. She DO
I,ovsd 1t, ,, too B but because sSS Sc. s nS,t thought = naaI gIr wa,
mere servant to her fathers Gnests-she TO
fused.me. Refused me because she thought,
not have 1t eaid that she had taken advantage
OF my proposal only when ! was rich enough &c
Well .aid Mrs. Horncastle. incredulous-
ly. looking straight before her. and thenH"
In about AN hour 1 discovered my error,
sur n10 70 R Ro1 and t sSHq Ssr. even " 9n. .bo% aGaei | had &C nc nc
copted me. 1 tell IL to you as her friend" He
drew a little nearer and quito fraternallv laid
his hand upon her own. i know you won't
mo to have told IL: but 1 wanted you to know
how good she was and true"
For q moment Mira. Horncastle was amazed
and discounted. although she saw, with the in
cru,ablo Instinct OF her sex. no inconsistency
6etween the Kitty Q, those days and the Kitty
now shnmefully hiding from her husband in
tho same hotel. No doubt Kitty had some
good reason. for her chivalrous act. But she
upon tho moro logically reasoning husband.
and that IL might lead him 70 be more merci-
conscious kindlincs1 toward her was the out
come OF his affection for his unieservinG wife;
than YOU" she said dryiy. Apart from this
evidence, OF 1t. what other reasons have you
for thinking Il y Sol pG you 4 refer .s. to her 4 inae,
No. sa!d Barker seriously, for I do not
afraid she is about as bad as I am. But I'm
GLAD yon have spoken, for now | San talk con-
,identiaiiy with you. and as you and she are
less conjunction in hearing from you-as your
own opinion-vhat have TO tell you than II |
implicitly. 20 Van Loo's Judgment ms her
broker. | believe he is strictly honorable, but
the general opinion Of his bosines1 insight is
have been at least 20 unlu sky that they might
have learned prudence. The loss of 100000 in
Twenty tho usand !" echoed Mrs. Horncastle.
Yes: why You knew th"t; i, was in the mine min
{ {os Hnu as 'h he f tiu.hed at his G0i indlscre lion, Ie s" "s6e
But Mrs. Horncastle as hastily said. Yes
yes of course. only ] had forgotten the
az cunt" and he continued:
THAT loss would have frightened any man:
Loo ought to have Withdrawn. Don't you
tlink so? OF course I couldn't say any thing to
him without seeming TO condemn my own wife;
couldn't say anything to her because it's her
~ did not know that Mrs. Barker had any
m" "Wei IT. fs say "~P Fl to 'f hsr.S @s said h sapses. with
sublime simplicity. and that would make II
all the worse for me TO speak about it."
flashed upon her which seemed to reconcile all
tho previous Inconsistencies of the situation.
possessing himself OF Mrs. Bankers money.
This accounted for the risks he was running in
this escapade. which were so inconEruous, to
the scandal OF an intrigue would relieve him OF
The perils OF criminal defalcation. 1t was com.
not relieve her vanity Of the part 1t PLAYED in
this despicable comedy of passion. All that
Mrs. Horncastle thoueht OF now was the Of
wife's trusttulness and business ignorance-it
That was the fault OF all u~nselfsh goodness;
II even took the color OF adjacent evil. without
Altering the nature Of either: Mrs. hornesstle
mouth smiled upon Barker. though her ewes
were bent upon the tabieclotn before her.
upon her" she said at last. though 1 fear
they will have little weight II given as my
own. And you overra'e my general influence
Her handsome head drooped in such a
thoughtful humility that Barker instinctile ely
draw r-arer 10 her. Besides she had not lifted
her dirk laShes for some moments and he had
the SKILL youthful habit o: Hooking frankly into
the cyas of those he addressed.
NO." he said eagerly: how could l? She
wouid wish. CAM tell you how glad and re-
como such friends. You know | always
thought you beautiful: ! always thought YOU
but / never until now knew YOU were SO good.
No. stop. Yes. ] did know it. Do YOU re-
member once in San Francisco, when I found
you with sta in your lap In the drawing room:
I knew 1t then. You tried to make me think IL
was = whim-the fancy of a bored and Worried
what You were thinking. Shall l tell yout".
As her eyes were still cast down. although
her mouth was still smiling, IN his ende1vors
10 look into them his face was quite near hers.
He fancied that 1t bore the look she had worn
which had grown suddenly quito hesltatink and
tremulous. ha did not know why-"that the
poor little baby was quite friendless and alone.
You were plying it-you know YOU were-
because there was no one To- give II the loving
care that was It's due. and because II was in
trusted to that hired nurse In that great hotel.
You were thinking how YOU would love 1t II IL
were yours. and how cruel IL was that love was
sent without an object to waste itself upon.
She suddenly lifted her eyes and looked full
into his with a look that held and possessed
tremble on the verge Of theIr. l%ustrous depths,
and he drew back dizzy and frightened. What
no saw there ne never clearly knew: put,
whatever IL was, seemed to suddenly change
his relations 10 her. to the room. TO his wife,
to the world without. II was n glimpse OF n
world OF which he knew nothing. He had
looked frankly and admiringly into tho eyes
o. other pretty women; he had even gaZed into
her own before. but never with this feeling.
A sudden sense that what he had seen there
ae had himself evoked. that II Was nm answer
TO SONS question he had scarcely yet formu-
lated, and that they were both now linked by
an understanding and consciousness that was
irretrievable, came over him. He rose awk-
warily ard went to the window. She rose also,
out mors leisurely and easily. moved one OF the
books on tho table, smoothed out her skirts.
aud changed her seat to a little sofa. II is the
woman who always comes out OF these crucial
moments unruffied.
~ suppose you will be glad TO see your friend
Mr.. Demorest when you go back" she said.
pleasantly. For of course. he VII be at Hy-
mettus awaiting you"
He turned eagerly as lie always did at tho
name. But even then he felt that Demorest
WAS no longer OF such importance 10 him. He
felt. TOO. that hs WAS not yet quite sure OF his
voice. or even what to say. As he hesitated.
she vent on. half playfully: 1T seems hard
chat you had to come all the way here on such u
bootless errand. You haven't even seen your
wife yet"
The mention of his wife recalled him to hi n
self, oddly enough. when De n%orest,s name had