The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1903-08-14


Then he said he was getting tircsomc,
and Dicky nodded sagcly at his tcnus
shoes.
On the whole. Miss Wears was pleased;
getting out of her depth occasionally,
without showing it, was good practice,
and then he was never really heavy.
Dicky said something moroSc about miss
ing the hunting, and Mr.. Stau1t Smith
gave his views on the popularizing OF
sport all over Europe. He talked easily
and well, but Dicky's expression was
openly cOntemptuous, and then, for the
first time, his enemy said something that
really hurt him.
do you know, Miss Wears, Mrs.
Wears has been kind enough to ask me
to Moat House for a couple of days:
And simply hadn't the moral courage
to refuse He looked her scarchin2ly i'll
the eyes as he spoke, and she smiled in
answer, though her words were con-
ventional enough. Already this man was
beginning to dominate her; already she
was beginning to be uncertain as to what
to do or say next. And already Dicky
Audley had been thrust aside as Il re-
grettable impossibility; he had always
been that, she told herself, half angrily
Like all we'll brought up girls, Miss
Wears was apt now and again to snub
her conscience, necessity which the flight
of years usually removes.
Mrs. Wears wants me TO play eCarte
with her after dinner" he continued. II
| believe | am to have the honor of driving
you home in Lady Synclair's dogcart, as
| Mrs. Wears went home in her own car
riage sometime before | was introduced
to you. For the first time he spoke
little lamely, as though the crudity of
the arrangement must be of necessity as
| obvious to the girl as it was to himself
Still, she only smiled acquiesccncc, and
he talked hurricdly about ccartc, Of
which he claimed almost complete ignor-
ance.
He could. however afford to be mag
unanimous now, and he termed to Dicky,
who had been looking forward all the
long afternoon to that drive home. his
last chance "All that sort of thing is
more in your line, should imagine, Mr..
Audley:"
Dicky said he didn't care about cards.
He was no longer frowninI ut his tennis
shoes. but standing in front of them.
straight as an arrow, with 4 new hard
ness in his face that drew Miss Wears
attention away from her talkativc add
mirer. She didn't know anything about
Schopenhauer, and she didn't care any
thing about Darwin, but it came to her
like a flash at that moment that Dickv
was man that any girl might be proud
| to love
! Mr.. Stuart Smith read this in her eyes,
and more of which she herself was only
subconscience, and of which Dickv was
hopelessly ignorant.
"Oh, don't know Mr.. Audlcy;it seems
that there is a good deal in cards. Take
poker, for instance. Do you mean to say
that there is not a great deal ofpsycholo-
gical analysis possible in Il game of
poker
He wanted to put i'll the time before the
dogcart came, and he did not want Mr..
Audlev even in the back scat. 1t was
easy to pass from poker to the great
game of life, and he spoke fucntly of the
similarity of maxims applicable to each.
At the end of it all Dicky said few words
that somehow or other stuck in the girls
! memory long after all the rest had becn
forgotten.
II know" he said, slowly, that fellows
like me are not clever. l know that
others play more brilliantly, more grace
fully. don't you know. But" Here
Dicky stopped for a second and for the
first time looked Mr., Stuart-Smith full i'll
the face "But," he continued "whcn we
do play the real game we ante higher
than you others, if we only get the chance;
they can't make the ante too high for
| us"
A year later Mrs. Stuart Smiths
mental perspective had entirely changed.
Looking back as she occasionally did
look back, her engagement, the honey
moon, the few months OF domesticity-
everything had passed i'll a whirl OF:
words. A war was going on across the
ocean, and Mr.. Stuart-Smith was in the
H. a. e h,N,, Ia oil
more necessarily and cleverly than ever,
and his periodical to which he contribut-
ed under the nom de plume OF NIGGA
phone" had become, if not influential, at
all events conspicuous. He himself, the
megaphone, had been constant speaker
on all sorts of platforms, first III favor of
imperial magnanimity and the gospel of
peace, and later III favor of imperial
authority and the Judgment of war
People said he spoke WELL and he was
pleased and spoke more. 1t was sug-
gested that lie should stand for parlia-
ment little later, and, a by election
occurring opportunity enough, he became
a member.
She often thought of Dicky now. His
regiment was at the front, and she had
heard indirectly that lie was considcreda
smart and efficient officer. This fact gave
her much pleasure, for the iueiliciency of
the junior English officers had been a
constant topic of her cousin, both in
public and i'll private debate.
1t was not her day, but several people
had drifted in to afternoon tea, including
her husband. The latter had discussed
the welding together of the empire i'll
phrases on the felicity of which several
women had commented with laudatory
emphasis.
She felt vaguely that people had been
trying to congratulate her upon being
married to a molder of the empire, and
wondered if she had appeared more dull
and irresponsible than usual. In any case
she knew it did not matter. Already she
had come to look on herself as a foil to a
clever husband; role that gives plenty
of time for reflection to people far less
preoccupied. But how surprised Dicky,
would be Dicky, who had looked up to
her as a superior being; Dicky, to whom
suggestion from her had been as an or
der of his commanding officers. She
laughed little bitterly as she handed her
husband a second cup of tea, but he HIM
self was far too preoccupicd for conjugal