The times., 1898-02-20
CHAPTER LII.

ulu not see MlmSy at Iuncn, though
1 heard her come back. Harry was not
with her. and the dismounting was per-
formed in silence. / could not spare
time to go into the (iining-room. so Har-
ris brought some food into my private
room, and | snatched a mouthful when
L could. After that 1 had to go to the
hospital, and IL was not until dinner was
served that 1 saw her again. and then
her expression conveyed nothing to me.
She was very quiet, of course. A young
person receiving an offer of marriage for
the first time might naturally be sub
dued, whether she had accepted it or not
She toyed with her soup, and barely
tasted the daintiest morsel of grouse
4 could find to send her. Once when
caught her eyes for a moment, / saw an
expression Of pain in their blue depths,
but the meaning Of it | could not fathom.
Dinner over, She wandered through the
window On to the terrace as she had
done in the morning; but then she had
been bathed in sunshine: now the shad-
ows were fallig across her. / could not
help making the comparison. and pang
went through me. Was this prophetic ?
what ages ago it seemed since she stood
there feeding the pigeons,
She crossed the terrace and sat per
fectly still on the balustrade. leaning
against one Of the stone pillars her head
slightly bent. her hands hanging listless-
ly down. The dependency of her atti-
tude touched me painfully. and. instead
OF leaving her TO tell me what she would
In her own time, as L had intended. /
went out and Joined her. standing quite
unheeded close by her side Only this
morning and she would have jumped up
to meet me, or turned and seized my
hand. or leaned against me with a mute
caress. Now she remained apart, quite
still. This was the beginning of the
change. then, and 1 must confess that
tn spite of my resolution to give her TO
Harry l did not relish having our old
relations upset in this way Perhaps
she. too. felt this.
John, she said, at last without look
ing me. how much money have / of
my very own?"
She had accepted him. then, and now
business must be discussed
You have eight hundred a year.
And is it settled on me?''
Yes, settled on you absolutely
SO that, If / like, / can set up house
of my cwn, and live all by myself?"
Yes. when you are of age
Who settled this money on me,
john
Il did
Why
Because. in the event of your mar
Z.
should have complete control of your
money affairs
You seemed to be quite sure L should
marry"
1 nodded.
Il thought it possible
Mimsy was silent for a lor~ time.
Then she said: Does Priscilla know ?''
Yes; Priscilla agreed with me-"
Does Priscilla want to get rid of me.
too"
Il don't understand you, dear child;
no one wants to get rid of you"
Another pause. Then
john
Now it was coming. Prepare your
self, John Trayers. for a singing blow
L braced myself up.
Yes. Mimsy."
This morning Harry asked me to
marry him.
And
And / said I couldn't. And then / |
was miserable. because I hated to hurt |
Harry. and he looked so unhappy. And |
then he said you would be glad if / |
married him-{the deuce he did, Har- |
~ had taken a great deal too much for |
granted there)-and that made me |
more miserable
why did it make you miserable. |
1T hurt me to think you would be 4
glad to get rid of me-
Il could never be glad to lose you,
little one
Then why did Harry say that?"
81 think can explain it. Harry OBJ |
tanned my consent to speak to you of /
his love (and / believe he loves YOU |
very iearly); and, having gained that |
consent. he naturally supposed it given |
with certain amount of pleasure"
Which it was not?'
(which ii most decidedly was not"
She gave a sigh of relief
Pm glad of that. 1t hurt me dread |
fully, John; like a sharp stab would |
do"
why. sweetheart" 1 said emphati-
cally, you cannot suppose for one in
slant that il would be pleasure to me |
and to Priscilla U thought / had |
better put that into know that our
nesting might choose to fly away, per-
haps to India, with Harry, and take |
ali the sunshine from our home, leaY-
ng it desolate without her. Life would |
never be the same again Then i
checked myself; it seemed to me /
night go too far.
And how did it end" / went on, as
she made no comment.
1t ended like this: Harry asked me |
f 1 cared for any one else, and I said
yes
Good gracious. the child. She closed |
me wound only to open another. Who |
vas this man for whom she cared?
That she had many admirers knew,
'ut it had always seemed to me that