The Minneapolis journal., 1906-07-11

Z :
herself upon his pity. No other possi-
BILE course lay before her.
DR.. Philips was In the room when she
entered it; but his belief that this was
an affaire de occur remained obdurate,
and he withdrew into an alcoye, when
made a great business there of discuss
ing the patients condition with the
nurse who had come over from Derby.
Thus Evelyn found her opportunity to
speak freely to the young count. Each
felt, however, that the need of words
between them was small.
Ny dear lady, he began, how
shall apologize for what has happen
ed to met Three days in your house
and not a word of regret that I intrude
upon you. All, that clownish fellow Of
coachman and the. other who was
long remember your English horses,
and, dear lady, 1 am not ungrateful to
He held out his hand and Evelyn
could not withhold her own, which he.
clasped with warm fingers as tho to
draw her nearer still toward him.
It is impossible to speak of graft
tude under such 7 circumstances, she
said in low voice. Ny father
will approve of all that has been done,
count: He is returning tonight from
She paused and looked round the
room, anxious that DR.. Philips should
not hear her. The count, in his turn,
smiled little maliciously as tho fully
aware Of her thoughts. =
"Forgive me-" he said again. ,'tI
came to see your father, but. I. did not
know that he was the earl of Mel:
bourne. Will you not sit down, dear
ladyY You make me unhappy while
He touched her hand again and indi-
Gated low chair facing his bed. Eve
lyn, whose heart beat quickly, sat with
out protest. The. minutes were brief;
she had SO much to tell him, ,.
"You knew my father in Rumania,
did you not?" she asked in tone that
could not hide her curiosity. The count
answered her with a kindly smile.
"He was my fathers friend,' he
the pillow; "that would be more than
twenty years ago. So much has hap
pened since then, Lady Evelyn. Twen-
ty years in man S life and woman IS
-ah, if we could recall even few of
them-'' q r' ~.
"Even the weeks" she said mean;
I ingly, "when we were not ourselves, but.
another whom we wish to forget. Our
friends can help, us to recall those
| weeks, count
Evelyn had not understood the diff
Guilty of confession until this moment.
| Her visit to London had been so en-
/; tirely of her own planning, she had
! locked the dreams of her life so surely
in the secret chambers of her heart,
| that this man was the first human be-
ing with whom she had shared so much
+ as single word of them. Secret ac-
| tions and secret thought alike shame
us when we speak of them aloud. Moth
| ing but dire dread of discovery would
have induced her to face the hurnilia-
tion of this avowal had it not been
| that silence must have meant discov-
cry and discovery might mean disas-
1 ter beyond any she could imagine.
| Count Odin, trained man of the world,
! had perception enough to read her.
story instantly and to understand it's
| full significance. Here was woman
who put herself into his power without
| He rejoiced beyond words at the cir
cumstance, but had the wit to conceal
| his pleasure when he replied with an
apparent generosity which earned her
gratitude:
"Those are the weeks when our
friends should be blind, Lady Evelyn.
i I am glad that you tell me this. Frank
| stand your father 5 objection to the
| theater. Let us forget that the most
charming Eta Romney has existed.
| She came from nowhere. and has gone
away as she came. We shall be so un-
gallant that we go to forget her name,
and the theater and all her cleverness.
| Please to speak no more of it. 1 am
your servant, and my memory is at
your command. If we have met in
London, so shall it be. IF we are
strangers when your father is come
| back, that also I will be ready to re-
| member. Command my silence or my
| words as you think for the best.''
He accompanied the words with a
gesture which would have made light
"This is little thing, let us speak of
something more important. - The act,
however, did not deceive Evelyn. Her
former distrust of this man returned
with new force. She felt instinctive-
tbo shs IneM pay 1o5 eond
imagine, what that price must be. And,
/ more than this. she. rebelled already