New-York tribune., 1902-12-18
A tZ,idosv BY Permission.
BY RITA"

she sighed Another quarrel" she said Il
wonder how many that makes have given up
counting After the first I thought 1 should break
my heart. After the second 1 wanted to break
his. Now-I don't even care
Yet her ear was keen for the sound Of closing
door beyond. The study door behind which lurked
her rivals Those occupations and researches for
which alone her husband seemed to live. 1t mat
tered little to her in these angry. unreasonable
moods that his work required full strength Of
brain and mind; that Fame was already stretching
ana Saintias and comforts of her daily existence
bought by the toll she affected TO dssPise
in defiance OF opinions and prophecies ron s rfa sd
begun to ask If they had not been wiser than her
self. If disparity of age and tastes and teInpera
poverty.
door. and the color swept hotIy back to a face
that had been pale and expectant
self and Fl ri nP leave S BY the Twelve train Instead Of
the two and wont be here to luncheon and wont won{
the Troom: small and compact and pretty enough
eoqaehee eI6 nef Of meaning of that old home had
recklessy flung aside and all the ARTISTIC beauty 5s
was bound-the home of Lady Vanrenpen; ner @
married marie unWisely She had not received condo
lence instead of congratuIation Do well unto unto
trude Vanrennen's motto. and very well IL seemed
vixen sighed as she looked from TO anothesr.
of the familiar objects around her, Ihen, as as q
she she' ss3 her 0 pretty lips firmly and left
carry out her resolution
1t surprised Paul Eddison to find note by his
plate when he came in to luncheon ana 10 ntS see t
him read the note before remarking on ae 6ae
himself to what the parlorrnaid handed He was
OF what he ate or drank, ana, the
t1t9t' BOOK from the pocket Of his shabby coat and
it cTdet ba Rabts that had made
vi irate and led to many quarrels and di1erenees f
to do exactly as one liked and what pity 1t also
was that women could only see IN marriage tns
from the unfortunate beings who had chosen 20
lay liberty of thought and action at ther ncAie
But when he was once more alone he took out
did not smile Perhaps he detected certain some
thing lurking beneath the aS speakns
Vi and WIS wilfulness. yet carried reproaen 10
Il will take you at your word" she wrote !
shall behave as a widow and pretend ssLer4 am =
and all it's worth. Don't write to me while am
at cTO1fOrd. and don't expect me to write e you
He sighed All well. it's only one of her whims.
discovery will be perfected and If IT'S perfected
shall make fortune and thenwwen tneh me tba{ ny
money can buy. Perhaps she'll forgive me then3; d3
deal Pu5nR to put up Win poor child good deal
e. : perhaps I haven't made excuses
The. days drtfted by. Full; occupied, scarcely cnx
even long enough for Paul Eddis4ns work Ghrds1 -
his meals when he was summoned to them. unless
hdDpeQed
of his ai-important Work OF hours. times, seasons
he seemed perfectly unaware. and to postal fnteiii
he found letter beside his plate bearing the CTox-
ford He opened it and glanced sda5e ss 5es
him Between gulps of coffee he read as foiio"s'
you'll be surprised to hear I'm back in Eng
land after all these years and staying mere mere Sl.n
trude is sort of relative Of mine We are almost
like brother and sister I find she has made a
splendid marriage during my absence.
She asked me here for Christmas. and now
am 1ef 6H paft1 amy e manage to have an
commonly good time of it.. But first and foremost
(she tells me that she married to cousin OF
ourselves old boy. I'm hard hit in that quarter.
dancsS SO r and Tssses dViney Indeed there
in and they've flooded the meadows round here.
and we're hoping for some skating; Pity you can I
tells tells me yours ABSORBED in work and never go
anywhere Isn't that PITY Lies LIES short short yoR ~
TO make the best of. But there. it needs a woman
The letter dropped from PauI's relaxed grasp
His face grew suddenly stern SO this ls WnaI IaI
dared She do it? How could Lady vanrennen
He took up the letter again and reread it. The
frown deepened on his brow, "A Joke may S Dc
wife she has no right TO forget thatt'
He lashed himself into fierce anger With 4II al "a a
his own amour propre He reneTnoered 9er p.oTo, 10
resnjiifeIv Ignored any cause for such offences
That must work and woner-watt-wait upon
proverb he believed in And if the waiting some
times. turned to weeping, and sometime to anger.
and sometimes to desperation. that surely was no
fault Of man. but only OF the irrational IncollpFe
sut TO do this he repeated. Iashing himself
into a fresh rage of desperation To play at oeing
a widow and take in such q. good honest fellow
His hand struck the table and set the china
jingng. The noise recalled him in some measure
10 fhe possible exigences of the occasion. What
was he going to do? Explain to Godfrey Druce.
or write TO Vixen. and bid her put an immediate
end to the mistake?
Full well he knew how wtlful she could be; how
elusive how difficult deal with. And If he ex-
planned the position to his friend would II not
must do it. She had evolved the situation in the
first instance. and to her belonged the right OF
}Tstfying her Feas9ps 81 nI1it time she iearnsd
that such tricks could not be played with 1npunity
wears of age Old enough in all conscience for
woman 10 be reasonable and-respectabe.
That word came out sTd6eny @ Sna an6 ~ f XI ni
She Certainly very auLithesis OF that sober
middle class vs ,s-+,,-,-- ba
would write to her and tell her his opinion OF her
conduct and say also that unless she 1d al Gace ex
down Croxford and put an end to this foolish
masquerade - -
took so long that much OF the morning was wasted
So long that 1t seemed only duty TO postpone tne
directed sealed and ne was free TO devote MIN
self to the last and most interesting process IN MS
do not usually carry themselves to the post without
human assistance.
while he betook himself to the experimental one In
the wnasw after two & dayS ne Pc s1 an n
taken his advice BY the end of the week he was
quite sure she had done SO And meanwhile every
xention Id r. Would beneft He lived for nothing
oI=a tEa lima heir