The Washington times., 1901-07-21
THE TRAGEDY OF
A TIFF

tempt at breakfast imaSlnhDie- u
food was excellent; no fault could b
found with the delicately-broiled salmon
the creamy omelette. the appetizing rolls
and a fragrant smell of coffee filled tn
air and mingled with the smoke from hi
Turkish cigarette. as he sat shrouded il
the high folds of the Morning Post,
which screened him effectually from hi
wife's ewes at the other end of the room
She had turned her chair aside, anS
was buried apparently in her correspond
ence ignoring the meal utterly save fol
an occasional feverish sip of tea; and he
eyes II may be added, strenuously avoid
ed the light as she read her letter stead
lily, without realizing a single word o.
the elaborately scrawled page, her brair
frlI to overfowing with the quarrel o.
last nlrirt-
That odious woman, how she hated her
And ite was for this-here the tears
velled up afreSh in the long-lashed eyes
that she had left that peaceful Surrey
home and all she held most dear, to find
when a few short months had passed
how tickle. how incOnstant the most ar
dent of lovers could become after mar
riagei
And Mrs Vindart, of all people! She
recalled every item of the hateful dinner
party and all her rivals" half-veiled in
science. 1T is such a pleasure at last TO
meet you, dear Mrs. Ainsworth. rang in
her ears the cool, contemptuous voice; Il
knew your husband well years ago, when
1 was quite a girl we were the
greatest of friends" And Eve saw again
the mocking smile that had passed over
the beautiful pale face as she finished
mp the sentence with a little suggestive
sigh.
But that was not the worst; she remem-
bered vividly Julian's open admiration,
the eagerness with which they had re-
newed the friendship broken by years.
the covert allusions to what must have
been-in her hypersensitive mind it was
incontestably proved-e more than ordi-
nary Irritation.
She dwelt on the long, miserable drive
home. and her thoughts few off at a
tangent. What, in the name of heaven,
could have induced the Dills to live so
far away? 1t was absurd, and if it had
only been half as far, why then-here
the primary idea reasserted itself-of
course, she might not have fallen into
the fatal blunder of calling Judith Vim
dart what she had done, and have given
her husband the obvious right of stick
ing up for the lady, whom he glorified,
in his deep resentment, by the ambiguous
title of '-one of his oldest and dearest
friends"
In her anger Eve had weakly retorted
that she should not at first sight have
believed her $50 very DID," but that
when a woman once took to making up
It was impossible to really judge her age
by her appearance" and Dennis had cold
ly replied:
81 think you are mistaken: 1 happen
TO know that Judith Vindart's complex
ion is quite her own. and one of the
most perfect have ever seem" and add
ed severely. Il hope you are not so fool
fish, Eve. as to imagine yourself jealous" 4"
And OH the miserable nEht that had
followed. She poured herself out another
cup of tea with a little shiver of pain;
and from behind the newspaper, which
in his heart of hearts he felt to be
cowardly retreat, Dennis Ainsworth
watched his wife covertly, secretly
ashamed at having brought that look of
trouble into her pretty face, but too man.
like TO admit it except by smaller con-
cessions.
He put the paper down at last, and
pulled himself up to his full height.
''Just off to 'Tatt's'" he said airily,
as he threw the end of his cigarette out
of the open window ~ hear some of
Erroll's horses are tc be put up on Mon
day. and l promised him TO have a look
at them
For all his assumed indifference there
was a shade of anxiety in his voice as
he continued:
Il shall be back at 3. and have ordered
the phaeton to drive you down to Rane-
haN an hat ha
day of the military sports. l suppose?"
Her courage rose as she OWNED the
touch of nervousness in his remark.
Il have another engagement. Her
tones were even more successful still.
Sorry. but it can't be helped.'
His face fell. It's the sports" he in
sisted with frown, ''and everyone will
be- there
Then you will probably enjoy your
self" she responded suavely; and un-
equal to further effort, she ended the dis
cussion by gathering up her letters and
retreating to her room.
1t was a perfect day at Ranelagh. The
June sunshine poured down from 4 bright
blue sky on masses of smart men and
well-dressed women. strolling up and
down beside the band or sitting under the
welcome shade of the fine old trees.
Well-turned-out carriages with here and
there a our-in-hand rolled up to the club
house. and discharged their burdens of
pleasure-seekers in an incessant stream;
and yet over all hung a spirit of discon-
tent
For a message had come down from
and the sports were post
poned- ~
OF course there was the polo but that
was an every Saturday affair, and peo-
pie who had thrown over all other en-
gagements for the afternoon were very
annoyed indeed.
Dinners were postponed and parties
broken up. and bad temper, thinly veiled
by the publicity of the place and ordinary
social veneer. was much to the fore.
Even happy-go-lucky Ainsworth was an
noyed as he drove up in the yellow wheel
ed phaeton, but his face frightened as
among the first group in the hail he rec
ognized Mrs. Vindart in a wonderful pale
rose dress, that showed off her fine fig
ure to its fullest advantage, and nulIified
the severity of the sweeping black hat
that shsdowed her pale oval face.
The thought came to him involuntarily,
that as Eve had seen fit to neglect him
there was no earthly reason why he
should not seek for little of the sympa-
thy he so needed at the beautiful Judith's
hands
Unmindful Of his gaze. she passed down
the steps TO the terrace, and Joined a
group Of three, of which two were men
about town he knew slightly, and the
other rather dowdy little lady with a
profusion Of fluffy hair OF the kind one
invariably associates with a wax doll,
and the faded remains of a blonde COM