The Washington herald., 1907-10-15
By FoXCRoFT DAVIS
PART VIII

mo such luck" he said: Miss Chan
trey has a fortune; Miss Armytage has
not"
Sir Percy. having finished his tea. put
down his cup and rose.
I shall be very much obliged to you,
Aunt Susan. If you will do as I ask.
Lord Baudesert, of course, will call to-
morrow"
Lord Baudesert growled something be-
tween his clenched teeth. which nobody
could make out, and Sarah cried:
"Oh. Cousin Percy how many times
have 1 heard you say that you would
never marry an American" and Jane
chlrned in, mo one would have minded
in the least If it had been Eleanor Chan
trey"
Perhaps" remarked Sir Percy to Jane,
meanwhile looking Lord Baudesert full IN
the eye, you may yet have the pleasure
Of being allied with the Chantreys Com
mon report has il s=zay i-s=si E5sss5esert
and Mrs. Chantrey are to be married
shortly. Good afternoon" And leaving
this bomb behind him he escaped into the
street
Only to one other did he feel the neces-
sity Of imparting the news himself. This
was to Gen. Talbot and through him TO
Alicia Vernon. He walked to their hotel
and was shown to their sitting room to
await their return from drive He went
to the window and looked down on the
street embowered with trees, an4 with
sidewalks full OF gayly-dressed people.
and smart carriages dashing TO and FRO
in the sunny spring afternoon. He had
heard that day, as had everybody else,
the announcement of Alicia Vernons en-
gagement and it brought him no sur
prise, but only that strange feeling as IL
such q thing could not be. that Alicia
Vernon should become the wife of an
/ honorable man. While ne was watching,
! the carriage with Gen. Talbctt and Alicia
drove up. and the general. with his own
portly grace, assisted his daughter to
alight In a moment OF two they entered
/ the room together, and Gen. Talbot
grasped Sir Percy's hand. and congrotu-
lated him from the bottom OF an honest
and generous heart
I'VE, too have news for you" he said.
smiling. Il will leave II to Alicia TO tell
you. as it is her affair
Alicia fixed her violet eyes on Sir Percy
Carlyon, and in them was the light Of
triumph.
7 think, papa" she said, in the sweet,
affectiOnate voice which she always ad-
dressed her father. IF you viii leave me
with Sir Percy for ten minutes Il would
be kind I want 10 tell so Old a friend
all about II. So here is your newspaper,
and go into your own room for ten min
utes and then we shall be delighted 10
see you
She took the afternoon newspaper of
the table, and. thrusting II into Gen. Tai
bott's hand, with an air Of tender IA
miliarity, led him 10 the door and closed
il after him. and then she came back TO
where Sir Percy stood near the window
and began 10 pull of her long gloves
Have you told Miss Armytage about
that summer at the hill station?" she
asked calmly, with a sidelong glance. Sir
Percy remained silent, but it won for him
no mercy. Il see that you haven't" she
said. yet you think IL right to marry
that innocent girl without telling her all?
Very well, I shall marry Senator March,
but neither shall tell him all"
II occurred 10 Sir Percy 10 ask her If
she meant, like himself. 10 be so true. so
devoted in her marriage that she might
have some little ground upon which to
ask forgiveness. But although he by no
means adopted the specious view that the
law has no variation for men and women.
yet he felt that no one who had violated
the law In any part could rebuke his fell
low-sinner and, therefore, remained OBJ
stinateiy silent. Mrs. Vernon had en-
cOuntered this obstacle before, but 1t
made the situation rather easier for her.
as Sir Percy never cOntTadicted anything
she said. After a moment or two she
spoke again.
ike Senator March. who have never been
tempted. put all poor sinners in the
wrong. I feel it every moment that ]
am with him. 1 never had this feeling
with Guy Vernon, because from the day
! married him his wiekedness and his
weakness were plain to me. But there
is a compelling honesty about man ike
Senator March from which one can't get
away; il Is like my fathers. Senator
March thinks I am marrying him for
love; you thiuk 1 am marrying him for
money. This last Is true and can't deny
It, but I also have a disinterested mo-
tive-it will make my father happy and
put him at ease concerning NE. 1 have
a good many debts Of which my father
knows nothing, and which he would pay,
if he knew of them, with HIS last shilling.
I couldn't keep them from him much
longer and I dreaded to tell him. Now he
Is spared all that. had the satisfaction
Of dealing honestly with Senator March
when I told him that I must still give
part Of my life to my father. He
kissed my hand, and told me he loved me
the better because I loved my father SO
we'll"
Yes. it was the only redeeming love
which Alicia Vernon had ever known, and
It had in it a strange element OF nobility
and perfidy.
"- hope sincerely you may be happy"
was all that Sir Percy Carlyon said.
'T don't know whether wish you to be
happy or not" Alicia replied in the same
low voice
AT least the past is now a closed book
between us"
rs the past ever 8 closed bookf Ger
tainly not to woman. There are some
things which are bloodstains upon the
page Of life. and sink through and
through its pages until at the very last
there is still red stain. Anyway, I
don't hate Senator March, and I don't
wish to make him unhappy. That is as
much as I can feel for. any man now,
but I could chop him to pieces for my
fathers sake or for" The sentence
remained unfinished
Alicia's wild, unreasoning passion,
mingled with revenge, regret, and cha
grin, died hard. There had never been
a moment in which she would not have
considered a marriage with Sir Percy
Carlyon as imprudent and even disas-
trous. But there had never been a mo-
ment, not even the present, when she
would not have rushed into this Joyous
madness. She turned and walked up and
down the room once or twice saddened
as all sentient beings are, when looking
down an abyss in which they long 10
throw themselves. struggling fiercely
against the restraining hand. Sir Percy,
quite immovable, stood In the same place