The San Francisco call., 1904-11-20
CHAPTER III.
The Fairy Ride

planning what improvements cOuld De
made and what embellishments pro-
vided against the coming Of Sibylla.
He enjoyed this pottering both for its
own sake and because it was connected
with the thought OF the girl he loved.
For he was in lOve-as much IN love-
IL seemed to him, as a man could well
be. And I ought to know" he said,
with a smile Of reminiscence, his mind
going back to earlier affairs or the
heart more or less serious, which had
been by no mean lacking In his career
He surveyed Il I'M without remorse,
though one or two might reasonably
have evoked that emotion, and with
no more regret than lay in confessing
that he had shared the follies common
to his age and his position. But ne
found great satisfaction in the thought
that Sibylla had had nothing to do
with any Of the persons concerned
She had known none OF them; she was
in no sense Of the same set with any
one of the five or six women Of whom
he was thinking; her surroundings had
always been quite different from theirs.
She came into his life something en-
tirely fresh, new. and unconnected
with the past. Herein lay great deal
of the charm of this latest, this final
affair. For it was to be final-for his
loves sake, for his honOrS sake, and
also because it seemed time for such
finality in that ordered view Of life and
it's stages to which his intellect in
clined him. There was something
singularly fortuRate in the chance
which enabled him to suit his desire
TO this conception, to find the two
things in perfect harmony, to act on
rational lines with such a full and
even eager assent Of his feelings.
BE reminded himself. with his ia
vorite shrug, that to talk Of chance
was to fall into an old 1allacyj but
the sense Of accident remained. The
thing had been so entirely unplanued.
He had meant to buy a place In the
north; it was only when the one he
wanted had been snapped up by
somebody else that the agents sue
ceeded in persuading him to come
and look at the house at AIilldean. 1t
happened to take his fancy and he
bought 1t. Then he happened to be
out of sorts and stayed down there an
unbrOken month. instead of coming
only from Saturday to Monday. Again,
Sibyla and Jeremy had meant
to go aWaV when the rector died and
had stayed on only because Old Mill
House happened to fall vacant so
opportunely No other house was
available In the village. So the
chances went on, till chance cul-
minated in that meeting Of his with
Sibylla-nOt their first encounter, but
the one he always called his meeting
Win neT IN MS own -InOQRnLS--Lndr
wonderful evening when all the sky
was red, and the earth. too, looked
almost red, and the air was so still.
Then he had been with her in his
garden, and she. forgetful Of him.
had turned her eyes to the heavens
and gazed and gazed. Presently, and
still, as 1T seemed. uncOnSciOusly, she
had stretched out her hand and
caught his in a tight grip, silently
but urgently demanding his sympathy
for thoughts and feelings she could
not express. At that moment her
beauty seemed to be born for him,
and he had determined to make It his
He smiled now, saying that he had
been as imDulstve as the merest boy.
thanking fortune that he could re-
Joice in the impulse instead Of con-
demning tan end which q priOri
would have seemed much the more
probable. In nine cases out OF ten it
would have been foolish and disas-
trous to be carried away in an instant
like that. In his case 1t had. at any
rate, not proved disastrous From
that moment he had never turned
back from his purpose. and he had
nothing but satisfaction IN It's now
imminent accomplishment
Absolutely the right thing! I COULDN'T
have done better for myself
He stood alone in the middle of ths
room and said these words aloud.
4
Grantley sat down at his writing
table to answer Mrs. Raymore's let
ter Of congratulation. He had never
been IN love with Mrs. Raymore. who
was his senior by ten years. but she
was an old and intimats friend
perhaps his most intimate friend.
She had been more or less IN his
confidence while he was wooing
Sibylla, and telegram apprising her
OF his success had called forth the
letter to which he now owed a re-
sponse.
'If / had been a poor man. he
wrote, in the course Of his reply, II
wouldn't have married-least OF all a
rich wife. Even as a well-to-dO man
I wouldn't have married rich wife.
You have TO marry too much besides
the womanl And I didn't want a
society woman. nor anybody from any
of the sets I've knocked about with.
But I did want to marry. I want q
wife, and I want the dynasty con-
tinued. It's come direct from father
TO son for five or six generations, and
didn't want to stand on record as
the man who stopped It, I'm entirely
contented, no less with the project
than with the lady 1t will cOmpleta
my life. That's what I want-a COM
pletiOn, not transformation. She'll
do Just this for me. II 1 had taken a
child and trained her, / couldn't have
I'm sure you'll think so to when you
come to know her. Incidentally I ac-
quire a delightful 'brOther-in-Iaw.
He'll always be a capital fellow.
but, alas, he won't long be the jewel
he is now; just at that stage between
boy and man-hobbledehOy, as you
women used TO make me so furious by
calling me-breathing fury against all
institutions. especially those common
ly supposed to be OF divine origin:
ing naught of all that falls under the
categories OF men, women and things:
best of all, blindlv wrath at himself
because he has become. or Is becom-
ing a man and can't help 1t and can't
help feeling it, How he hates women
and despises themi You see. he has
begun TO be afraid / haven't told
him that he's begun to be afraid; II
will be rich to watch him as he
achieves the discovery on his own ac-