The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1905-06-25

! 10 account fOr the GOODNESS ana severity
which Sir Wifred had shown towards
him. n severity which, to n favorite rela-
| tfon on his recovery from n dangerous
illness, seemed altogether sinaccountable.
But what could 1t have been that could
affect his uncle 80 strongly Maggie
| would certainly not have wished to say
nothing which could injure him. her sole
object having been to vindlcate her fam
i1y. even II In so doing she incriminated
herself, and to accuse Sir Wilfred OF play
Ing the spy upon them.
In al this there would be nothing 80
new, nothing so dlsagreeable. as to war
rant Sir Wifred In resenting the girls
conduct. or In avenging himself upon his
| nephew.
The more Devorill thought about 1t.
the more puzzled he became; and once
more he began to entertain the notion
of calling Upon the Major, wien chance
came to his assistance.
Dudley Carrs called upon him to con-
| gratulate him upon his recovery, and
asked II he wcrc going away anywhere
for change Of air after his Illness.
II hadn't thought OF IT, snid Deverlll
| llstlessly. ''1t's such bad time Of year
for going away"
well, you'd escape the fogs, at any
rate. I was down at Brighton for the
week- end. and 1t was pleasant enough.
BY the bye, l saw your friend, Miss
| Brown there. and she appeared to be
| going It,
Deverll looked up quickly. i
How 'going'?" said he shortly
| Carrs saw that he had made II mis-
| take; and tried 10 back out OF his po-
| sition,
''oh. thought you'd got over your
penchant" said he. "sr Wifred as
sured me you had
My uncle!' said Deverill in surprise.
Eyes. At least that is what ! I'M
| derstood. Perhaps the wish was father
| to the thought. However, l hope not,
for your sake. for really 1 think the
little lady is too lively person to be
| trusted" III
Deveril's ashy-whlte face betrayed
the concern he felt.
"Tel me Just what you saw said
he in n low voice. IS
"Oh, It's all right. She was with her
father, you know, and a girl who I sup
| pose was one Of her sisters, but whom
I didn't notice much."..Ef
Deverill frowned. He could not quite
| approve of the Major as a companion
for his daughters. with his knowledge OF
that gentleman's ways of cking out n
| livelihood fresh III his mind. But Cars
| did not know all that he knew
| Then what do you mean by going
it'?" asked he.
well. she was most extraordinarily
well dressed, for one thing"
She's always tastefully dressed" said
Deverlll shortly. q n
docs she always wear jewelry ut
for a duchess r. asked Cars drily E"She
was at the theatre one night, with an
ornament on her dress which must have
cost II fortune. and a cloak that looked
as II 1t was sable
Deverill shrugged his shoulders.
"a handsome woman looks SO we'll in
anything" said he, with affected care
lessness, that everything she wears
looks better than 1t is dare say, If
YOU had had another womans opinion
on what she had on, you would have
found out that the jewels were paste
and the sable imitation
| VERY likely said Cars. delighted to
get out OF tho difficulty SO easy.
| But Deverill became SO extremely alb
! sent and abrupt In his answers that his
| visitor soon went away, feeling rather
| guilty about his own indiscretion.
| And that very day it is scarcely neccs-
sary to add, Deveril went down to
| Brighton.
| Not that he affected to believe this
| story Of Dudley Cars about Maggie S
fine feathers. a man. he argued is
easily taken in by appearances, and
| Magge's father, who. whatever his de-
| fects might be, was certainly fond Of his
daughters, and careful Of them as far
as he knew how to be. would never allow
his lovely daughter to flaunt In extrava-
. giant clothes under his very eyes. and to
draw upon herself the comments Of the
! curious.
But yet--that was what she had evil
IDENTITY done!
He was In a fever of restless uneaslness
| by the time he reached Brighton; and en-
1 gaging n fly. he drove UP and down the
| parade, in tho first place, In the hope
of meeting Maggie.
He was disappointed in this; but he
| saw the Major. strolling up and down.
| even .swaggering'' might be the better
word, very smart rs &c. clothes. and very
| jaunty and jolly as to expression.
| He did not see Deverill, but when he
sauntered into the Metropolis, neverill
went in there also and at once engaged
Il room.
He was just iE time to change his
coat for dinner, and when no came down
stairs. one of the first people he met
was Claudia. who turned very white. and
looked so horribly frightened that he
thought she was going to faint or scream
| or do something equally sensational at
| the sight of him.
| She was plainly but we'll dressed in
black sIlk-the safe British black slk
OF the dowdy when they mean tc be
/ 'smart"-with slightly open bodice filled
In with lace,
''Are-are you staying here?' she
| gaspcd, when she had half audibiy re-
! turned his salutation.
Yes. said he. I'm very glad to. find
that you are staying here, too"
"Oh, we're going back Tomorrow. -
said she hurriedly.
at least" said Devcrill, with diff
/ Guilty controlling the agony of impatient
! perplexity from which he was suffering
Il shall have the pleasure OF seeing YOU
all tonight. Maggie's with you, isn't
/ she?'
Claudia looked at the door, ana &c
thought there was a half-formcd inten,
ton In her mind of telling Maggie not &c
appear while he was there.
"Oh, oh, yes. she's here. But--she'
very anxious indeed not to meet you
And I'm afraid she'll be very much hurt
when she finds you have broken your
word 10 mo about IL - said Claudia, who