Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-12-07

her intense annoyance. Clodagh colored.
rs Lord Deerehurst at homer" she
asked.
The servants eyes left the retreating cab.
Have you an appointment with his lord
ship?''
IF he is in, Lord Deerehurst will see me.
I am Mrs. Millbanke."
At the GOODNESS of her tone and her ready
mention of her name his manner changed
though a flicker of curiosity passed across
his face.
Are you the lady his lordship is expect
ing?" he said in a different voice
Yes; Lord Deerehurst is expecting me"
There was a slight pause, then, with the
| air of one who admits a novice into inner
mysteries. he stepped bac-,, ushering her
up into the spacious hall.
viii you kindly step this way" he said.
His lordship is in his study.
Glad that the ordeal of entering the house
was over, Clodagh readily followed the man
across the hall. up wide stair and along
a softly carpeted corridor. AT the end of
the passage he paused in front Of a cur
tanned door and, pushing the curtain back,
entered an unseen room.
THE lady your lordshp is expecting"
she heard him say.
Then he turned quickly and threw the
door open for her. An instant later she
had entered DeerehurStS room.
At the moment her thoughts We're too
confused to permit of detailed observation
of the room, although afterward, when the
interview had taken place and she had
scene and it's central figure were destined
to stand out with the accuracy of a pic
ture that has made an indelibe, if an I'M
conscious, impression upon the observer s
mind
The room was an anomaly, viewed from
a studious point of view but the merely
artistic eye would have found nothing to
cavil at. 1t was not large, as one counts
rooms in great London house, though
elsewhere it would have seemed spacious.
Numberless books in costly bindings were
strewn about on tables and in cases, but
they We're not the books of the thinker.
They were the romances, the memoirs, the
poems of the last half century but not one
volume dealt with science or even with
philosophy. The walls were panelled in
dark red; some beautiful lamps hung from
the ceiling, and in a distant corner a large
silver bowl full of crimson roses set
up, as if in homage to beauty, before an
eXquisitely modelled statue of Venus
In a quick, half-comprehended flash of
instinct it came to Clodagh that she had
never really seen Deerehurst until now, as
he stood backgrounded by the atmosphere
he had been on the night in Venice
when she had first seen him. He
wore the curious1y cut evening clothes
that he always affected and which gave
to his appearance the peculiar distinc-
ton that set him apart from other men; the
diamond ring that she had noticed on that
first night glittered on his hand; and, as
then, the black ribbon of his eyeglass show
ed across his shirt-front But more clearly
than in the dusk of the Venetian night she
saw the long outline of his face the pecu-
liar artificial pallor of his skim the cold
vigilance of his eyes. And in that moment
of entry a faint, indescrbable hestancy
chilled her resolution. 1nvoluntarily she
halted on the threshold of the room.
But Deerehurst gave no time for her in
decision to mature. AS the door closed
upon the servant he came quickly forward
and took the hand she mechanically offered
him.
For one moment he held her fingers close
ly; then he lifted them, and, before she
could anticipate the action, pressed them to
his lips.
That man should kiss a woman's hand
by way Of greeting is not necessarily sig
nificant thing 1t may be slightly osten-
tatious act-but 1t may be nothing more.
Uncertain how to construe the movement,
Clodagh gave a faint laugh and withdrew
her fingers.
''Were you very much surprised to get my
wire?"
She moved away from him into the mid
die of the room. Now that she put it to the
test, the interview seemed infinitely more
difficult than when contemplated from
distance. She felt nervous and ill at ease
Watching her with his close, attentive
look, Deerehurst drew forward a chair.
"Sit down, little lady," he said, in his thin,
impassve voice.
Reassured by the formality of the action,
she took the proffered seat
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