Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1901-06-15
CHAPTER XIV.

"My Dear Cousin: 1 shall faithfully obey
your commands. Yours very truly,
III A F. TRISTRAM'
And then below. very formally, THE
Lady Tristram of Blent-'
To write 1t took him more than mo-
rn<nt-even though he wrote first-"The
commands Of the head of the house. and
destroyed that ashamed of the sting and
malice in it. To send it to the post was
the work Of another moment The third
found him back at his Blinkhampton plans
and elevations, Cecily's letter lying neg
lected on the table by him After half an
hours work he stopped suddenly, reached
for the letter. tore 1t into small fragments
and flung the scraps into his waste paper
basket Just about the same time Cecily
and Nina were getting into the train to
return to Blent-
This returning to Blent was epidemic;
2nt so strange, perhaps, since mid-August
was come and only the people stayed in
town who had to. Harry met Duplay over
a BlinkhamptOn. Duplay was to join his
nle~. at Merrion in about ten days He
ran against Iver in the street, liver was on
T. FairhOlme by the afternoon train. Mr..
Na-Ii. he mentioned. was coming to stay
with him for couple of weeks on Friday.
Even Southend. who Harry encountered in
Whitehall. very hot and exhausted, cursed
=
E-utmOuth, Fairholme, Ivers Merton
they all meant Blent- Cecily had gone and
lima. the rest were going there-eVerybody
except the man who three months ago had
looked t. spend his life there as its mas
Ter.
and business Will grow slack when au-
turnn arrives 1t is increasingly difficult
tor a man TO bury himself in deeds or plans
or elevations or calculations when every
body writes that he is taking his vaca-
ton. and that the matter shall have imme-
gate attention on his return. Harry grew
terribly tired of that polite formula. He
wanted to build Blinkhampton out of hand
IL the months OF August and September.
The work would have done him good ser
Vice. He was seeking a narcotic
For he was in pain. 1t came on about
A week after he had sent his curt
acknowledgement OF Cecily's letter, laying
hORyof him. he told himself, just because
he Mad nothing to do, because everybody
WAS taking his holiday, and Blinkhampton
would not get itself bought and sold and
contracted for and planned and laid out
and built II must take holiday myself
said Harry. in moment of seeming inspi
ration. Where, where, where? He suffered
under the sensation OF having nowhere
whittier he would naturally go-no home, no
place to which he could return to his
own. He found himself wishing that he
had not torn UP Cecilys letter. He re-
F1embered its general effect so well that
he wanted TO read the very words again,
in the secret hope that they would modify
and soften his memory. His own answer
met and destroyed the hope. He knew
that he would have responded to anything
friendly had it been there.
Yet what did the letter mean? He in
terpreted IL Cecily had declared he
would. She could not feel mistress of
Blent while he was there
And indeed, he had not meant to 60.
IIe told liver that in perfect good faith.
1t would have been in bad taste for him
to think OF goinS-of going anything like
as soon as this Whence then came this
new feeling of desolation and of hurt
1t was partly that he was forbidden to
Ep II was hard TO realize that he could
see Blent only by anothers Will or SUI
f,rance He could almost say with Nina
and with Cecily herself, This is the end
UAit.''
What then. of the impressions Nina
had gathered from Mr.. Disney's dinner
PARTY IL can only be said that when
people Of impressionable natures study
others Of like temperament they should
not generaliZe from their conduct at par
tgs. In society dinners are eaten in dis
IkIse sometimes Intentional. sometimes IN
conscious. but as a rule quite impenetrable.
If Harry's had been unconscious il the
mood had played the man, the deception
was the more complete.
He went To see Lady Evenswood one
day. she sent expressing her desire for a
talk before she fed to the country. She
had much that was pleasant to say. much
ui the prospects Of his success.
And il you do. you'll be able to think
now that you've done II all off your own
bat" she added
You've found out my weakness. l see,''
he laughed
oh. | doubt Il there's any such thing
as an absolute strength or an absolute
weakness They're relative. What's an add
vantage in one thing is a disadvantage in
another.
L understand" he replied My con-
founded conceit may help me on in the
world. but IL doesn't make me a grateful
friend or pleasant companion"
Il believe George Southend agrees as
far as the grateful friend part of it is con-
cerned. And I'm told Lord Hove does as
TO the rest But. then. 1t was only Flora
Disney herself who said So
And what do you say?"
oh prides tole-able in anybody, except
a lover" she declared.
We'll. I've known lovers too humble 1