The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1900-09-07
I fenE0n'S DiSifiuSiOnL
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! FenEOn'S DiSiffuSion. !
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Fenton was not exactly sentimental
list, else in two months he would have
had time to forget. He was, indeed,
rather a slow man, who took life more as
q matter for calculation than as a series
of startling and unsolvable problems.
But in one matter his faculty Of calcula-
ton had played him false-he had fallen
in love, and the woman whom he loved
had married another man.
Two months consideration and intro
spectiOn did not make the matter clearer
to him. He was an idle man, and this
constant dwelling on the affair began to
tell upon his nerves. His instinct for
placid enjoyment deserted him, and he
moved among his old associates in a self
abstraction that made them nudge each
other. This annoyed him, and one day,
sitting solitary in his room, he decided to
go abroad and escape from it. He ran
over in his mind all the places that were
likely to suit his mood, and, with a folly
that he recognized, but did not trouble
to suppress, decided upon st. Winoc,
a quiet, gray little place on the coast
of Brittany. 1t was there a couple Of
years before he had come to the conclu-
sion that he was in love with Kitty Dens-
more. She, by some happy accident, had
found her way from Trouville to St. Wi
noe, and had persuaded her father to
make a heightened stay there. Fenton
delayed his going also, and together they
spent some particularly pleasant and
growingly confidential weeks. But it
never got beyond that. and perhaps Kitty
was little piqued.
As he stepped out upon the square, Of
which the Hotel du Centre formed one
side, the light was just beginning to fade.
The church reared itself darkly against
a glowing sky. As he skirted its north
ern wall a breath of salt wind blew across
his face. and instantly the spirit of his
last visit returned to him. The folly of
this struck him so definitely that he
laughed, and with the sound Of his own
voice there came an unpleasant sense Of
solitude. He quickened his pace and,
mounting an abrupt and narrow pathway,
emerged upon a great stretch Of level
ground, which, half a mile beyond,
shccred down and joined the ragged line
of coast. Here he paused, letting his
gaze range from east to west along the
changing distance of the horizon. The
sound of breaking surf reached him like
the noise of wind in pine trees. As he
moved forward again he seemed utterly
alone.
Quite suddenly, however, he was aware
of figure that grew out of the dusk like
a darker, moving shadow, and almost at
-. khn
stir of footsteps. He stopped and listen
ed intently. As have said. Fenton was
not n sentimentalist, but his truth Of in
stinct told him instantly that it was
Kitty's step. She also was alone. The
circumstances were so singular that he
accepted them without a mental protest.
He had neither anticipated nor desired a
meeting; but, since the fates so clearly
willed it, he would not turn back. Each
was conscious of the presence Of the 9TH
eY, so that, when they met. any express
sion of surprise on either side would have
helped to make the position false. Fen
ton was thankful for the darkness, not
for his own sake, but for hers. He had
not time to strike out any definite plan
before he was adrift upon the inevitable
tide of circumstance.
81 did not expect to find you here, Mrs.
Corwen," he said.
"Nor you. Have you been here long?"
81 suppose for about two hours. And
your
I'VE came last night,t she said. He
had turned in her direction, and they
were walking slowly, side by side, down
the path up which he had come. He
could not see her face clearly. but there
was something in her voice that made
him jump to the conclusion that she was
not quite happy. A dangerous desire to
protect her from some indefinite sorrow
sprang up in Fenton's heart. Such re-
sentiment as he had felt against her was
resolved in the first conjecture of her I'M
happiness.
where are you staying?" he asked.
"At the Hotel de PUnivers, by the
PLACE"
"And why in that great, new, hideous
place"
Frank preferred it," she said.
ooh" said Fenton. ''Then you are
going in exactly the wrong direction.
Hadn't we better turn back"
Elm in no hurry to get back" she said.
Frank is resting. He knows I'm fond
| OF lonely walks
perhaps you would rather that left
you"
NO" she said: Tim glad I met you;
I'm glad you are here. Why did you
| conl":"
Il did not know that you were here"
"Of course not. How could you? I
persuaded Frank to bring me to 81. WI
noe quite on an impulse
Indeed: 1t is strange that we both
had that impulse"
why stranger" asked Mrs. Corwen,
with that note Of sudden recklessness in
| her voice which makes a woman danger
ous. why stranger she repeated.
eve were both happy here once. Why
| should we not choose to come again."
81 came" said Fenton, moved for a
moment beyond himself. ito escape from
| CALLING memories. 1t seems, rather, that
| l have succeeded in reviying them"
| what do you mean?" she asked. her
| Eoice grown soft again.
| ~ have NO right to tell you now" he
said. ut is certainly time that you re-
| turned. The evenings are chilly On this
| coast"
| She turned beside him, and they climbed
the steep path again. A light veil OF
mist. which was swayed curiously ut in
| .crvals by gusts of wind hung over the
level. They Quickcned step and. after
a silent walk of some ten minutes,
| reached the head of the sandy track lead
| ing down to the Hotel de fUnivers.
| There Fenton paused.
| LET me leave you here" he said.
"Will you come down and sec Frank?''
| Mrs. COrwpn said this with an indiffer-
| ence that offended Fenton. He had
| known Corwen, and at least, the man wa
honest. He could not understand the OBJ
vious apathy with which his wife regard
ed him. Feuton wished to keep his mem
DRY of her from the slight of what seemed
| very like ingratitude.
Il shall be glad to see Corwen again,
he said II will call tomorrow"
Il may see you again before you meet
l am always out quite early along til,
cliffs. My husband, as you may remem
Der, sleeps well into the morning. HI
does not care for walking. Good night!
| Fcnton held the ungloved hand sh'
offered him for a moment. Standing thu
close together and face to face, thei
eyes met openly for the first time. Their
was challenge in hers that Fenton wal
sure she did not understand, but it moved
him strangely nevertheless, and she wal
very beautiful.
"Good night" he said. Il shall SEE
you tomorrow"
The sun had risen an hour, and the hill
IN which he set his face seemed like {
black and solid shadow against the cleat
wash of gold in the east. At its summit
was n great granite cruciix, facing north
ward, n sign TO ships Mt sea and to MOI
and women on land who toied there
through the changing seasons. As Fen