The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1907-02-15
Ine to appear unconcerned.

ing to appear unconcerned.
"All right" he answered. laying
down his pipe. ,s
Il only came to tell you because Mrs.
Sheppard is out too
Obviously Enid was determined that
If Pyne's calculations were worth any
thing they should have fair play.
"Oh." he commented sharply. "but
the maid is inY' Fl
ayes. She is such q stupid girl in
some things. Tiff 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 the bell 1 will inquire" he
said. and she escaped. feeling quite
wicked.
When he was alone ne 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 kine'y ignorance had told him
that Mrs. Vansittart was convalescent
and would be able to travel in few
days. In response to q 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 a sympathetic let
ter, mentioning the fact that Mrs. Van
sittart had voluntarily rescnded 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-
"The young dogv' he growled He
lad, 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 the twisted strands of
twenty years. He rose impatiently and
paced the room quietly withal lest the
woman in the next room should hear
him. A decision had been forced on
him. He could shirk 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.
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 10 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. Yansit-
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 girl
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 his
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 and
for their daughters sake agree to
some arrangement whereby Constance
should see her occasionally. There
need be no tears, no determinations, no
painful raking through the dust heaps
Of the vanished years. The passion, the
agony, of the old days was dead. Their
secret had been well kept. 1t was
known only to those whom they could
trust, and they might part without
heartburnings, while Constance would
be spared the suffering of knowing
that her mother and she were sepa-
rated forever.
These things were well ordered in his
brain when he looked at his wife. She