The Somerset reporter. [volume] (Skowhegan, Me.) 1868-1909, 1897-08-26

p
ter of Piccadilly on her way to the Tot
tenham Court road before she realized
that she had succumbed to temptation
she had successfully combated for
months.
Dismissng the cab some distance be-
low Messrs Alrdsticks' mammoth prem
ises, she walked slowly past the plate
glass windows filled with the cheapest
rubbish that ever the British working
man and his wife were deluded into
buying. Dorothy could have told the
small crowd of wondering women gath
cred round the windows, commenting
ON the cheapness of various bargains, "
many secrets had she been so minded,
but her eyes We're fixed on large mir.
ror, IN which she could see the reflec.
ton of the assistants serving behind the
counter. She was now at the mercy of
her emotions, and entering the shop
book her place among row of women
/ who were waiting to be served by
pale, tired looking girl whose face was
lined by oyerwork, late hours and bad
food Dorothy watched her swift scis-
sors as they ran through the rolls of
calico and the rapid movement of her
hands with fascinated curiosity. She
felt that she was watching herself-the
self of years before. So engrossed was
she that the familiar What can | do
for you, MISS found her with nothing
to say. She looked round helplcssly,
and then gave a trifliug order. While
the girl was doing up the parcel she
leaned forward, whispering:
Have you forgotten me, Lizzie? I'm
Dorothy Maxwell
The parcel dropped from the girls
hands
4 can't see through your veil, y she
said. eve thought you were dead "
Dorothy glanced hastily round the
shop, where under the fiaring gaslights
she recognized many faces. She raised
her hand to her veil, then hesitated
"Where is .lohn?" she asked
John is married, " the girl said sui
lenly, land has set up III business for
himself. u
/ Dorothy Clutchod at the counter, and
for moment the oppressive smell, the
garish lights and the sound of coarse
voices seemed to be one whirling mass
that blinded her.
He waited long time, the girl
went on in vindictive undertone, "but
he got tired and married last year. He
used to say some nasty things about
you, can tell you, for going off as you
did, with never a word, and you en-
gagged to him too. What are you doing
now" she added, raising her voice.
''Still stopping some girl or other from
marrying the man she likes, as you
stopped me from marrying John?'
Dorothy shook her head helplessly, and
throwing some coins down upon the
counter, walked ont of the shop.
Instinctiycly She turned toward the
park, her mind filled with memories of
the past, with its hard and ceaseless
work, its priyations and simple pleas
ures, and with the part John Gregory
had played in that past. So her tender,
/ helpful lover was married. she thought,
dripping trers-married, and she was
i forgotten. And she had come to tell
him that she had wearied of the luxury
of the last four years, that she needed
him to be happy, and that if he would
forgive and forget the wrong she had
done him she would marry him, as she
had promised him in the old days.
John was married. She smiled bit
/ terly to herself as she thought of her
j wild desire, as she drove to the Totem
j ham Court road to tell him everything
of the accident III Oxford street that
had first brought her under Lord Bew-
davon snotice, of his constant kindness
during her following illness, of the
temptation to which she yielded because
she was always tired and often hungry,
and of the four years at Belper Lodge
and now there was no need. Stunned
and dizzy she rose to her feet, clearly
seeing that she had no one now upon
whom to rely to protect her from her
self Her castle of cards had fallen to
the ground, the man upon whom she
! had leaued-perhaps foolishly-to re-
deem the past had forgotten her, and
the agony of her disappointment was
supreme.
But the habits of four years are not
TO be shaken off in an hour and the
striking of the neighboring clocks re-
minded Dorothy that she must return
to dinner but as her cab bore her
through the slippery streets the whirling
wheels seemed to repeat, AS the tree
falls SO it shall lie" Dorothy shud-
dered, but still the words rang remorse-
lessly through her brain, following her
up the broad staircase at Belper Lodge
and into the quiet of her own room.
Then she faced the situation. She
was at least necessary to Lord Bew-
davon, and he, to whom she owed so
much, should not find her wanting. He
loved her, and John had forgotten Per
haps she deserved that he should forget
But when she was dressing for dinner
the pathos of the situation came to her
suddenly. q shall be sentimental for
once, " she thought Tonight l shall
wear mourning for my dead love; to-
morrow | shall forget y
The bright eyed French maid could
not understand madam's inexplicable
desire to wear the only black gown she
possessed that night. A bright dress,
the pink and white, would drive away
madam S migraine, but Dorothy silenced
her objections, and in silent protest the
woman clothed her in the somber garb
she had chosen.
Dorothy had reached the first landing
on her way to the drawing room when
she heard thp hall door omen and "A