The suburban citizen., 1901-06-29
IN THE LIGHT OF A LIE.


OF Nu luhtdul sUAASlulhS hOb hAuOA
his eyelids blurred the flowers, the
damask the glittering silver Of the
table, even the radiant glowing, gra-
cious young vision beyond.
Come" she cried, Il shall play for
you"
And play she did, while he smoked
and listened, wild, merry, capricious
music that gradually merged into lit
tie sobbing minor strain, Slower it
grew and fainter. Suddenly it ended
in a f;.lse chord. Then there was
silence.
David Farnham rose-crOssed the
room. He laid his hand on his wife's
shoulder. She looked up at him.
Evelyn he said. Evelyn
The pang Of bitter prescience cut him
to the heart. He was too old, too
grave too sad for her. 1t had been all
a terrible mistake. And she-she was
finding it out! For in that long, pene-
trative look he saw that she was weak,
and white, and spent All the light
and bloom Of her beauty had been
blown out as though by an extinguish-
ing breath. A passion Of sorrow slum.
bered in her eyes, and on her lashes
the tears stood large and bright.
David" She stood up. She put
her arms around his neck and hid her
face against his breast. Il wonder
how-how well you love me, David"
How wellr' he repeated, hoarsely.
"God-Evelyn! How wellw
The answer seemed to satisfy her,
for although she did not offer to kiss
him, the clasp around his neck tight
ened. Then she turned away and
went out of the room, and up the
stairs, the rustic of her silken gown
coming back to him with a murmuring
sound that grew momentarily more in
distinct.
He heard the door Of her room close.
Ten hours later, opening his paper
alone at the breakfast table, he started
to his feet, aghast, dismayed.
"Andrewsr he cried. "Andrewsw
There it was confronting him in bold
black and white.
DEATH OF COLONEL FOREST
ANDREWS"
Unexpected Demise Of a Well-known
Citizen at Noon Yesterday" +
So-his friend was dead! But-what
was that? At noon-yesterday At
noon? Why, he had been at the mat
inee He had come out with Evelyn.
She had seen and spoken with him. She
she had said so-that it was he who
was with her. Oh, there must be an
crror-somewhere!
lie pushed away his plate; he could
not cat He drank his coffee and
went into the library. Evelyn paused
on the threshold at sight Of his bent
head, his agitated countenance. He
turned at sound of her exclamation.
She was just from her sleep-her bath
The profuse folds of her white gown
were gathered by blue ribbons at her
throat. The bright hair was braided
in girlsh fashion and hung loose She
had never looked to him so youthful
so innocent. Cunningham's couplet Of
his sweetheart came to him:
"Beauteous she looks like a tall garden
lily,
Fresh from the night, and perfect fo7
the day!"
David" she cried. "What is it?"
In silence he held out the paper to
her. "At noon, yesterday" he said.
She read the paragraph. She went
white as her gown. He thought she
was going to faint; but she laid the
paper down, turned to the open door,
| closed It, came back and stood before
him.
If you will not look at me-" she
said, in a low voice, perhaps-per-
haps l can tell you"
The grim silence was for q space un-
broken. Then she spoke;
II did not meet Colonel Andrews yes
terday. did not see him yesterday,
but l was glad you should think it
was he whom l was with. / went to
the matinee to meet-another man. He
Is the height and general appearance
| Of your friend but younger-much
younger. That Is how you were mis-
taken. You may have heard his name
not that it matters now. / met him
during the last year at school. He
made me think l cared for him; he
made love to me, and II wrote him
some foolish letters. They are not
letters it would hurt you to read-even
now; they were only the silly letters
Of a foolish and inexperienced girl
When later l came TO know you bet
ter, to know you well, l knew that i
could never be quite happy as the wife
Of any other man. | was hoping, i
was praying for months before you
spoke, that you would ask me-what
you did.
Your money had nothing to do with
this desire; he is wealthy, too. 1t was
only that 1 wanted you-you! And ]
knew, too, that when you said at last
the words l had been longing to hear
that you did not love me as a man
should love the woman whom he does
the honor to ask to be his wife. If
hesitated in that moment, you know
the reason now. Then l said to my.
self, You can make him love you'll II
may take years, but you can make him
love your have tried-my best; and