Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-06-02
CHAPTER XIII.
The Glorification of Monica

GLOWING up, we were almost upon the
~ group, and for once we were welcome to
our enemies. Even Carmona' S face frightened !;
a flicker of hope lit Lady Vale Avons gray
eyes, and the Duchess deliberately courted
us with smile.
AS for Monica, she was radiant a child
who has been surprised by the home coming
of loved ones; yet there was new wistful-
ness in her eyes, despite the joy she showed.
"Oh, how glorious that you have come to
the rescued" She cried, all dimpes and roses.
Still, she looked from me to Pillar, and from
Pillar to me, as if she longed to ask one or the
other some question which 1T was impossible
to speak; and l said to myself that it would
90 hard with me if did not find out before
was many hours older what that question was.
ANY port is welcome in a storm or among
fellow motorists, If you are helpless by the
roadside with several ladies when night is
coming on; and Carmonas first words showed
that he had no scruple in making use of US:
But with the trials he had gone through, and
his natural preference for the help of any other
car rather than the hated Gloria, he was in a
black mood. He wished to be civil, lest we
should be goaded into leaving him in the lurch !;
vet it was plainly such an effort that l could
have laughed aloud. Pillar would have been
able to quote paragraph and page of her Dream
Book.
The worst damage to the car was broken
spring, though something seemed to have gone
wrong also with the ignition in that disastrous
bump They had been where we found them
for a couple of hours, Carmona admitted with
out encountering any vehicle or animal to give
them tow. The first hope had been to stagger
on to Manzanares, which originally they had
meant to pass, with broken spring; but the
bee in the motors bonnet could not be made
to buzz, and in despair Carmona had been
about to send his chauffeur on foot, in search
of some conveyance for the ladies and their
luggage More hours must have passed, at
best, before the man could have returned to
- Iot- lxra yt,<lxy yryac h.r,,rr
The ladies of the Dukes party had to be
transferred to the Gloria; and Dick, with airs
of ownership, urged vague and voluble reasons
why should be their companion IN the ton
neau. We were the masters of the situation;
and Carmonas face, as he was obliged to take
his seat beside the chauffeur who must steer
the car in tow, repaid me for grievous wrongs.
Pillar, not to be outdone IN ingenuity by
Dick, did for me what could not do for myself,
in contriving that / should sit next to Monica.
Though could say nothing for her ears which
other ears might not hear, it was joy to feel
her slight shoulder nesting warm against my
arm, to know that she could not be snatched
from me by her mother or Carmona; but that
as it was now, so it must be for many moments,
perhaps an hour, to come There was also
enemy, humping on behind in his own disabled
car-propelled by our generosity and power
was glaring with malice, envy and all I'm
charitableness at my back. My one regret in
these moments, which should have been per-
feet, was that my prophetic soul hadn't caused
me to write a long letter to Monica which
might have been able to slip into her hand under
cover of rugs and darkness
Ropes had to light the lamps before we saw
more of Manzanares than an Elusive church
spire which kept appearing and disappearing
like will-o' the-wisp. But the petrol held
out, and the Gloria's breathing was regular,
despite the weight she had to tow over ruts
and across cutters. Once, however, Ropes
looked back at me-with an expressive move