The Press., 1897-12-09

Lady Aylmer turned and looked, and Aylmer looked too In truth. the scene was too fair to shut out
 Leave the curtains as they are. Charles
 Very good. my lady.
 So Mrs Granton saw the woods to the disappearing point of dusk
 But later the moon rose Aylmer and she found themselves upon the terrace once more The night was warm Mrs. Granton' s eyes were on the woods Their changed aspect in the moonlight was excuse itself for any comment.
 Must you?" she asked suddenly.
 He looked for her meaning.
 GIT" he said I'll It is not I.''
 'Who then? An, yes. understand They are mortgaged."
 Foreclosure was word she associat- ed with poor plays Such things hap pened thenl She remembered the two men with the businesslike air and the notebooks.
 She laid her arm on the stone ledge of the balustrade.
 "There must be way out, she said.
 If could find it"
 An hour or two later, when she took her candle from his hand, she said:
 Look for the way out.
 She smiled, and he followed her with his eyes as she mounted the stairs, her skirts trailing and the candle held high. She did not look back at the turn in the staircase. Aylmer. in the smoking room, was ruminant.
 It was impossible to mistake her.
 Nor did he misunderstood, She said Yes" when he spoke the next day.
 Lady Aylmer said, Diana, Diana, dear woman, God bless your'
 Perhaps he will, said Diana. ~ .s-
 Now. in her drawing room, the woods saved and his future mortgaged instead. Aylmer took a rapid survey of his life up to the point it had then reached and decided that he had pursued the only course open to him. Neither did he in calmness repent the step he had taken Diana Granton had not her money alone to recommend her She was of the world and admirably fitted for the position he offered her. That she was comedy has been said, and she took sensible view of the situation. He was not in love with her, and she was wise enough to conceal from him the secret that her own heart had been revealing to her gradually for some time past.
 At dinner that evening she looked at him and knew that she loved him. He looked at Diana and thought of forgot ten Audrey
 It was the fault of the roses in the drawing room.
 The scent of them haunted him-fol- lowed him home. Poor little Audrey What would she think? But near as he had come to loving her, he had never made love to her and had nothing to reproach himself with, for which now he was fervently thankful Yet he was not quite happy as his hanson took him to Charges street A memory of some- | thing that was wistful at times in >Au- drey's eyes stirred him The thing was absurd, inconceivable Her mother, gentle as she was, was d woman of the world and had known that he meant nothing Audrey was child to caress and pet It was he tho had suffered at the parting Her tears were the frank l cheeks unconcealed.
 His misgivings told him that he had done we'll to go.
 He thought of the restlessness that had possessed him during the early days of his travel It had sent him from place to place He had written a letter then that was never posted, and had re trained himself until time and distance allowed him to write calmly. Presently the need to write at all ceased and he knew himself cured.
 l But tonight Audrey haunted him. He could be thankful that be had nosmade a fool of himself The girl was not oi his world, and he knew the folly of an ill assorted marriage. but she had been very dear to him
 How fair she wasi Her face insinu- ated itself consistently between him and sleep She must be grown up now yes, Audrey must be l9 The curves of her slender figure would be rounded and many subtle changes mark the time that had seen the crossing of the bor- der line of VOL anhood, but she would be the same Audrey that he had known and had been so near to loving | It was late before he slept Then Audrey came to him in dreams that had no definite shape He tried vainly afterward to remember in what guise and to what accompanying eircum- stances she had appeared to him. He only knew that she had been with him, sleeping as waking. through the night I oir ho erhf 0f ever, cleared his brain He spent 6 morning with Diana, and by the time she was sitting opposite to himat lunch he could view the situation calmly and see that his happiness lay i'll the direc tion he was taking Nor was he con sciously selfish.
 He parted with Diana and walked homeward It was a time of roses, The roses in a flower shop caught his atten tion. They filled the window
 He found himself III the shop He had been attracted by red roses, yet ir the end It was white roses he chose He believed that he made his choice by hazard, though now he sometimes won ders It may be that some thought oi Audrey s nature influenced him
 He took out a card and paused. What to sayr His lover He hesitated and wrote, For auld lang syne Then he gave his directions as to the sending and left the shop
 Three days later letter reached him
 He opened it careIessly. not recogniz Ing the handwriting His fingers tight ened suddenly upon the sheet
 Il put your roses on her heart. wrote her mother. loose. as they came. She would have loved them SO. ''- Lady Realm