Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1907-06-29

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hitherto she had contrived to avoid it,
and she had never foreseen the possibility
OF being asked to receive him under her
own roof. So far she had scarcely heard
even the mention of his name since her
return TO London; the bare fact that his
marriage had been broken off by Mrs.
Widely on the very eve of the wedding
day she knew; but the nine days. won
der and the whispers connecting the rup-
ture with Mrs. Wildley's discovery of
some disgraceful secret had alike had
time to be forgotten before she came
back to England at the close of the pro-
longed honeymoon which Lord Drum
mond had counseled
That her marriage had been a lament
able mistake she no longer attempted to
disguise from herself; it stood, a barrier
of her own making, between her and her
old lover, and in the fact that she had
planned it for Babette's sake there Law an
additional drop of bitterness. since Ba-
bette apparently found her new brother
in-law all sufficing and the sister, who
had sacrificed herself for the child's sake,
held evidently but secondary place in
her affections.
But presently Patricia reused herself
and thrust the letters back into the desk,
locked it, and dropped the key into her
pocket. Lost to her though Stonor was,
estranged as Babette was rapidly becom.
ing, she told herself that much still re-
manned. The beautiful Mrs Forman, aid
ed by her husbands wealth, was rapidly
becoming one of the leaders of society
her toilets were copied in the ladies' pa
| M &c nh sala "A ],
a respect only short of that accorded to
royalty itself; and Patricia knew and
loved. her power.
She rang for her French maid. and
that young person, accustomed though
she was to her vagaries, thought that
never before had madam been quite so
dithcile. Costume after costume, the
masterpieces of Worth and Paquin, were
rejected, and Patricia at last decided
upon a simple white gown which Cecile
inwardly thought entirely unsuitable for
wear in the park, though she was bound
to confess that when her mistress had
doomed a great shady hat without a
touch of color she had rarely seen her
look better.
Excitement had flushed her cheeks and
frightened her eyes. and as he bowled
swiftly round the Ladies' Mile with her
friend, Lady Vaughan, behind the lat
ter's high stepping bays, quite murmur
of admiration followed her. Near the
Achilles statue two men leaning over
the palings raised their hats with marked
empressement.
As Patricia bowed graciously Lady
A1aughan observed with a little side
glance at her friend
$50 Sir Wilfred Stoner is back.
hardly expected to see him quite so soon
People said that after his affair with
Mrs. Widely we should hear no more OF
him for a year at any rate. But as you
SEE
people say much,' Patricia remarked
with a dainty little shrug of her shout
ders. "But as far as / know they have
been remarkably lenient to Sir Wilfred
have never heard of any reason given
for his rupture with Mrs. Widely.
was abroad at the time"
Lady Vaughan lowered her voice
ooh, my dear, there were all sorts OF
rumors, but l fancy no one knew the
truth Sir Wilfred and the widow both
kept their own counsel, and the only
thing certain about the matter was that
it was her doing. did hear whispers OF
an ENHANCEMENT with handsome gypsy
but one never knows"
Decidedly, one never does!" Patricia
echoed, with fine scorn, as she bowed to a
passing acquaintance. what other of.
may l ask?"
Really, 1 hardly remember. Of course
he was always terrible firt," Lady
Vaughan drawled; and at some subtle
intonation in her words the flush in Pa
tricia's cheeks deepened becomingly.
She changed the subject with a quick
word and a Jest, but enough had passed
to remind her that the past, as far as
she and Stonor were concerned, was by
no means forgotten.
But the actual meeting with her old
lover was nearer than she thought. They
had been hidden to n reception at the
house of a very great lady, a grande
dame of the old school, the Duchess of
Dorsstshire. Royalty was expected to
honor the function and the spacious re-
ception rooms, even the staircase itself,
were thronged.
As Patricia, with Forman in close at
tendance, was laboriously making her
wav to her hostess a familiar voice ac-
costed her, well KnOTT TUrfh bowed be-
fore her.
All Patricia's carefully preconcerted
speeches were forgotten as she met the
! look of pleading in the well remembered
blue eyes, and she was only conscious of
rnurmuring a few conventional words as
she received his somewhat belated CON
pratulations At the head of the stair
case Forman was detained by their host
ess, who was by way of being political
as well as a social power, and who was
anxious to attach a wealthy new recruit
to her own party; and Patricia and Sto-
nor raised on together.
Half dazed by the meeting, Patricia
was hardly conscious that Stonor was
leading her away from the crowd to a
tiny lowered recess which opened out on
to the landing. Once seated there with
the curtains drawn. with only glimpse
of Patricias train revealing that the
place was tenanted, they were practical
" alone, though people were passing
within a yard of where they sat.
All Patricia's bright color had faded,
her face looked very pale, her soft brown