Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1907-04-29

thing they should have fair play.
"Oh." he commented sharply, "but
the maid is in?'
yes. She is such a stupid girl In
some things. If-if our guest rings you
will hear her. Would you mind asking
Mary what it is in case she gets mud
dledT'
He glanced at her. She was pulling
on her gloves and vastly bothered by a
refractory button.
IF hear IL. bell will inquire" he
said. and she scaped, feeling quite
wicked.
When he was alone he did not re-
sumo his task In the next room. sepa-
rated from him only by brick wall.
was his wife. a wall! Why should
there always be wall between them?
1t was not OF his building. Had she
made 1t impossible during the long
years. And what would be the out
come now that Constance was in daily
communion with her mother? The doc
tor In kindly ignorance had told him
that Mrs. Vansittart was convalescent
days. In response to a question the
doctor added that the lady herself
asked when she might be moved.
What was her plan? Mr.. Trail that
day had written him sympathetic let
Ter. mentioning the fact that Mrs. Van
sittart had voluntarily rescinded her
promise to marry him and indeed,
judged by the light of present knowl-
edge. had determined on that course
since she first knew that her former
| husband was living.
| Suddenly Brand pushed back his
chair from the desk at which he sat-
1.-THE young dogv' he growled. He
| had, in fact. followed the exact mental
process which Pyne mapped out for
! him. The letter, the drive, Mrs. Shep-
| pard's absence, Ends uneasy wrig-
Cling at the door, were all parts of an
! ordered plan. He was to be given an
opportunity OF seeing his wife and dis
entangling TIE twisted strands of
twenty years. He rose impatiently and
| paced the room quietly withal lest the
woman in the next room should hear
J him. A decision had been forced on
him. He could shrk it no longer.
"Pyne has contrived this" he NUT
tered. He thinks he can see more
clearly into the future than a man
twice his age. Enid is in the plot too.
And Connie. No, not Connie. Dear
| heart! She is worn with anxiety, yet
she has never once mentioned her
mother to me since she carried her in
to the house like an ailing child"
Back and forth he walked, wrestling
with the problem. See his wife he
must and before she quilted Cornwall.
Was it advisable in her present state
of health to take her by surprise?
Pyne evidently thought so. And the
doctor! Good heavens! Was the doctor
in the thing too?
At last he tugged at the bell.
MARY" he said. TASK Mrs. Vansit-
tart if she feels able to see Mr.. Brand
There; it was done.
Mary, rosy checked and soft of
speech, dreading only Mrs. Sheppard's
matronly eye. knocked at the door of
the sitting room He heard her deliver
his message. There was no audible
answer. He was lamenting his folly
hoping against hope that no i'll results
might be forthcoming to the invalid
thus taken by surprise, when he caught
Mary's formal "Yes'm," and the CIR
came to him.
please. SIR" she said. "the lady
says she is anxious to see you"
He walked firmly to the door, opened
it and entered. He had made up hi:
mind what to say and how to say it
1t would be best to ask his wife to dis
cuss matters in a friendly spirit ant
for their daughters sake agree t.
some arrangement whereby Constance
should see her occasionally. Their
need be no tears. no determinations, NJ
painful raking through the dust heap
of the vanished years. The passion, tn
agony, of the old days was dead. Thei
secret had been well kept. 1t wa
known only to those whom they coul'
trust, and they might part withou
heartburnings. while Constance woul
be spared the suffering Of knowing
. that her mother and she were sepa
rated forever.
These things were well ordered in hi
brain when he looked at his wife. Sh