The Washington herald., 1907-10-13

Marie's face, which had been pale un-
der the influence of the astonishment
and perpleXity she felt at the incident
now grew crimson. She looked shyly. at
her uncle, then at St Quintin with an ex-
preston which set his heart futtering. Il
wCs, in the most modest way in the
world. an intimatiOn that a gift from him
would be valuable in her eyes. not on
account OF itself. but Of the gt@r
ST Quintin lost his head and stopping
suddenly. so that his eyes looked straight
into hers, he said:
There, You are free. you seei VIII
you have IL? VIII you have" The last
word was formed with his lips. not ut
| tered. But the girl knew what II was,
glanced at him quickly. with an intoxicat-
ing little smile. and held out her hand,
laughing happily
III have whatever you like. Mr.. St
Quintin. whispered she, bending her
head. but contriving. as she did so, 20
see enough of his face TO know how
happy her reply had made him.
Since there was no other way Of at
tanning his object, he had to do 1t thus
publicly. under the full blaze of the
avuncular eyes. Monsieur Leblanc
seemed taken aback by the unexpected
ness, the audacity Of the whole situation
and though he uttered little murmurs
and apparently disapproving CALCULATIONS,
as these disjointed whispers were ex-
changed between the young people under
his very nose, he made no open and dis
tinct objection. having indeed, left him
self no decent excuse for interfering
when st. Quintin, again taking the little
parcel out OF his pocket pressed it into
the pink palm Of the pretty heiress.
Then he took care 10 stand SO that her
uncle could not take the gift away by
force, should he have been so minded.
Miss Densley's opening Of the parcel
was, SO ST. Quintin thought, a most de-
lci0us thing First her little pink fingers
curled round over the string as she care
fully united the knot and undid the paper.
Very slowly she did this, moving her
uncle to some impatience. but her lover
to delight and admiration. Then she re-
moved the paper covering very daintily,
very slowly, as if enjoying the anticips-
ton of a charming surprise of some sort.
st. Quintin marveled and enjoyed the
pleasure she evidently felt, the more that
he was sure she must have experienced
similar sensations over the gifts of other
people, for she was rich now, and al
though her wealth was not yet of long
standing she had certainly received
handsome presents before
He watched her eagerly as she threw
away the paper and then stopped and
picked it up again. BY this time the
pretty little case was exposed TO view.
and she held her head on one side, and
evidently amused herself by guessing
what was in it.
Come, come, make haste. Let us see
what is insider' said her uncle, sharply.
Recalled to herself Miss Densley fin
ally opened the case with the same loving
dilatoriness, not hiding her intense in
terest in the present. When the little dia-
mond-backed watch and brooch were re-
vealed to her eyes, sparkling in the set
ting sun, a cry of pleasure, quite honest
and unaffected broke from her lips.
"Oh, Mr.. st, Quintln Oh, unele May
I--may I-take it?" she cried, like a child
with a new toy.
But the gift meant more than that to
her, much. much more than that. For
she turned abruptly. and said, under her
breath, while the hand that held the
watch quivered with excitement:
Uncle, do you mean-that you allowed
Mr. St. QUintin to make me this pres
ent?"
There was a note of strange, tumuI-
tuous earnestness in her voice as she
looked intently at him and put the simple
question.
Monsieur Leblanc, disturbed and dis
concerted, frowned. coughed, but said
with slight shrUg of his shoulders:
"Of course. of course. you may take
il, child, since l gave my permission"
Both men watched her In perpleXity
and astonishment when she received this
reply, for it altered her whole demeanor.
Instead Of being eager and radiant. she
suddenly became excited and shy and
full of maidenly perplexity They Won
dered what thought was in her mind,