, 1902-02-22

pasteboard-"Mr. Frank Biyeridge.'
After the first blank moment sh,
crushed it savagely in her hand al
though it were a living thing she coult
hurt. An ignorant fool, that was wha'
she was. she thought unanimously. A
fool that jumped headlong into con
illusions and was properly hurt for ii
And so it was all to begin again, tn,
old torturins unhappiness and weari
ness.
She looked at the clock-a quarter O
eight. He was probably on the way II
her now. coolly exultant, and half pity
ing this easy surrender Of a weaker
nature.
She WINGED at the thought. i
seemed as il the man she had beer
thinking of SO tenderly a half hour age
had turned from a lover into a mock
ing creature eager to witness her hu'
initiation.
There was only one thing to do, sh,
thought. She owed it to herself anC
her W self respect.
When he came she would explain tn,
matter instantly and dismiss him al
she had done before. He would se,
that she was no poor weakling, but 6
woman who stood by her pride an(
gloried even to herself that the disap
pointment hurt her with a pain thai
was almost physical. There would b,
time to realize that afterwards.
She had told the maid early in thu
evening that when Mr.. Essington'
came he was to be admitted to tn.
library at once. She had not thought
to countermand the order. Now
when the bell rang sharply there
seemed only a moment between tn
closing Of a door and the sound of hi
step on the stairs. She put the thought
Of how she would have welcomed Il
an our ago sternly aside.
There was only one thing for her tc
do now-the duty she owed herself. She
realized bitterly as Essington stepped
over the threshold how hard was the
task before her.
In the first hurried glance she missed
the fact that there was nothing of tri.
umph in his appearance. On the con.
trary. his was constrained ant
his face grew heavier as 1t met heI
own. She checked the involuntary
step she made towards him. How
strangely old he looked. Suddenly she
seemed to hate her pride as q slave
hates the master who goads him to an
unholy task. Essington looked at hel
silently.
Have you nothing to say to me
Grace?" he said. TT Is is easy to see
that l am not welcome, but l thought
that perhaps-that YOU" She drew
away from him proudly. You
thought. naturally. l had forgiven
you" she said. 81 wan you to know
l want to explain"
Her voice broke. She was conscious
that she did not want to explain al
all-that she only wanted to repeat
again what she had written that morn
ing and If necessary, despise herself
forever after. AT any rate" said Els.
sington, you must let me say what l
came to say, and then ] will 60 away
at once II you wish. Grace, hasn't this
wretched business lasted long enough!
We were both wrong-not IN the very
quarrel itself. perhaps, but in all the
rest. Oh, my dear, it's all very well to
have q proper mount Of pride and be
none the worse for 1t, but it's deadly
to make q pet of q monster that de-
YOURS you, mind and body and soul.
40, don't stop me-let me finish. Ny
dear. life isn't long enough to let !.
petty, foolish thing like this spoil tn,
best Of it. I've been a fool and a mad
man, and I've come to tell you 80 and
ask You to let me stay. Will you
Grace?
She turned from him in very bitter.
ness of spirit. obi" she cried, why
didn't you come yesterday, or the da,
before? Did you have to wait for tina,
letter."
That letter." he said. What letter,
What do you mean? I've been away
with Benson since Mon,lay, and
thought of you every miserable min
ute OF the time and Of how things wer<
with us last Easter and-all We had
planned for this. and It vas . bit too
much for me. I ran away from Den-
son and same directly here from the
train. There ID only one thing Of any
Importance in the world. 0raca win
you ht this wretched business b. q n
sndf"
Shs looked at him blankly for ! mo-
nsnt; then. with . realization Of what
his words meant, she burst into . hypr
tsrical little sob and held out bseA
her hands.
A Essfngton's hands fell - AsgAI
. sudden knowledge Of how aeG1Ea11o \
= e b humble for-lovsis 49, ma