Evening bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1895-1912, 1903-01-16


Yes, dear. ! must run away. after |
all. have just remembered another
call meant to pay close by"
"You will pass him in your car.
rage, perhaps. Do peep out and tell
me if IN is looking said. Write this
evening and tell me-"
Il will. Good-by darling"
And she kissed Mrs. Maine. and
went across the hall TO her carriage.
Ill.
As soon as Belle had gone Mrs.
Maine went upstairs, ordered her car
rage. to the dismay of the coachman,
and wrapped herself in furs.
Drive to Lambe's Gallery. in Bond
With some difficulty the coachman
found his way there, and Mrs. Maine
entered the gallery, and, under the
preteXt of choosing some etchings, en-
tered into conversation with one Of the
attendants, a polite young man. whose
one desire in life seemed to be to af.
ford his employers customers eXclu.
sive information on all matters con.
Eected with art.
You haven't any pictures by Roger
Slade for sale at present suppose?"
she asked eventually with an affecta.
ton of careless Indifference that she
was far from feeling.
No. they had none ust then, she
was told.
/ 81 hear his prices are going up"
Mrs. Maine continued warily.
| To her surprise and delight the
| young man acquiesced. Mr.. SHADES
fame was increasing rather than d.
minishing in the art world, he declar-
ed. Theer was tremendous run on
all his work, and dealers were quite
prepared to pay very large sums for
the smallest outcome of his talent.
This was all that Mrs. Maine desired
TO know, and she drove home well
pleased, but trife puzzled.
II wonder how Belle came to make
such a mistake!" she thought. There
Is evidently nothing of the waning ce.
lebrity about my lover"
She picked up his card again In the
drawing room, and smiled as she look.
ed at the Up. =. c." in the corner.
81 wonder what he felt like when he
stood on my doorstep and wrote those
three letters?" she said to herself.
We'll, after dinner will sit down and
write him a note that will put him out
OF his misery. | wonder II Belle saw
him as she was going away, and wheth.
er she will send round to tell me how
he looked"
But no communication arrived from
the Comtesse de Rlnsh, and Mrs.
Maine could only go on wondering.
IL was just after o'clock when she
sat down to write to the artist. She
had thought things thoroughly over.
and had quite made up her mind that
she was tired of being a widow, and
that Roger Slade would be the ideal
husband; handsome, affectionate. and,
best of all, completely successful. Yes,
she was assured of that last and most
important fact now, and the assurance
made her eyes glitter with eagerness
and her cheek flush, ass he picked up
a pen and drew a sheet of paper to.
wards her.
mr.. dear Mr., Slade," she wrote, and
then she was interrupted by the en-.
trance of the footman with a salver.
"A note for you, ma'am," he said.
There is no answer"
| Mrs. Maine took II up and saw that
the address was In Roger SHADES hand
writing.
| She smiled. "He has reconsidered
his p. p. c." she thought. and writ.
ten again to beg me to marry him. How
he loves me-" And she tore the note
open and read 1t swiftly
Dear Mrs. Maine:-As | was leav.
ing your door this afternoon, after re-
ceiving your reply to my letter, en-
countered your friend, the Comtesse
de Rinski. who told me she had just
been with you. She drove me home,
and somehow | was moved to tell her
of my trouble-a trouble that | have
put away from me now, | hope, for
ever Although she stood up for you
in your strange and-forgive me for
saying it-cruelly heartless conduct to.
wards me, as a friend should, | could
see that | had all her womanly sympa-
thyf, and-well, to make a long story
short, | asked her TO give it to me for
all time. At first she refused abso.
lutely; she said that 1t was impossible,
after what ! had just told her. But at
last she consented to be my wife-out
of pity, perhaps. Yet pity grows often
into love. She is true woman. Give
me your congratulations. That is all
ask of you now. Yours sincerely,
ROGER SLADE"
Mrs. Maine stood still by the table
with the letter in her hand; her face
was very white. Then she let 1t slip to
the floor as she murmured, with trem.
bling lips: "a true womann Yes, and
the richest widow in London!"
A new thought seemed to strike her,
and she shuddered as If with cold, as
she added in whisper And she kiss
ed me as she vent"
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Eina toh nrintIn1 ak tha n,,lIaJI,.