The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1907-02-24
L.ATTER-DAY SWEETHEARTS

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who had supposed he had bought
Rnby,s forbearance 4 from troubling his
.fianceo. II any prick Of conscience as
sailed the desperate creature 1t was
at thought of her sworn promise to
John Glynn--a promise about to be
forfeited in most trcncherous fashion
to say nothing Of her loss OF his In.
dlspensable allowance For,Sin stealing
the key OF tho green door from Lady
Cnmpstown. sho had really monnt to
be moro mischlevous and offensive than
openly aggressive. She intended to
keep It until tho chance cnme to give,
rs she termed It, that vindicllve old
bag, Aunt Lucy" a rouslng fright, ana
Mt the same time, perhaps, satisfy her
curiosity as to how things were going
on between Clandonnld and the Win
stanley girl.
And here was her opportunity sooner
than she had hoped. She had sharply
ordered the alarmed Rosa to keep
watch in the cab until her return; had
needed not the woman's beseechings,
for the love of nil the snints not TO
RUN this risk or offending Milady
Campstown; and had lot herself into
Refine des Fees by means Of the key
which Posey had begged Lady Camps
town to use Mt will, now that the
green door was kept permanently lock-
cd. ~
TO cross the forbidden threshold
seemed to inspire Ruby with more
rancorous thoughts than ever before
Why should Clandonnld, also Glynn,
have paid her SO heavily to protect
this girl, already favored by fortune,
whilst she wandered in outer darkness7
She hated Posey the moro. not only
because these two men stood before
her, but because Ruby's best endeavor
had not seemed to do her material
being insignificant and was now rich
and powerful; and lastly, because Lady
Campstown was her best friend.
Ruby knew that by taking the
nearer way she would arrive upon the
scene before Clandonald could do so,
and be safely In ambush watching him.
If he We're merely to enter the house
|! for n conventional call she could do
nothing. and might slip back to re-
| Join Rosa, unseen. But she counted
/ rather confidently upon what she had
7 ascertained from questioning her tool
# that Miss Winstanley and her friend
were generally to be found outdoors
at this hour Of the afternoon.
| The sight of Clandonald walking un-
| concernedly ahead Of her, twirling the
N1altila stick, which she recognized as
a souvenir Of their Joint visit to Blar-
ritz, was as fuel to her flame. Ee
Hooked SO young, so normally vigorous
SO full OF, bounding life: he was so vel
groomed, SO well turned out, as the
men were not with whom she asso-
ciated in tho present phase of her
existence How long 1t was with tho
exception of her talk with Glynn. since
| she had held converse with clean
I wholesome, and courteous gentleman
And she was SO thin, so bloodless
! so unbcautlful; her empire over his
sex was SO nearly gone, she had sc
| little left to hope for!
The immediate result Of this con.
trast between herself and the man who
had once taken her, for better, fol-
worse, at the altar, was to make RUBY
Darien furiously angry AS Clandonalt
| PASSED out OF her sight, between the
4 ivied walls Of the steeply descending
street, she felt that she would hav
liked to spring upon him like a pan
i Their, and-ah! 1t was better that h
! had passed on!
/ Clandonald, as has bean said. lha,
| unexpectedly stepped in through al
arch Of crimson ramblers, to find Posey
whom Helen Carstairs had just lef
1 to go to write her letter to Mariol
weeping alone, and lovelier than evel
he had remembered her.
If Miss Wlnstanley had been oh he
4 guard, or chatting with friend o
4 sitting with her book and looking u,
4 with q pleasant smile as ho sdrev
near, Lord Clandonald might not hay
I Forgotten himself, as he now unques
tionably did!
Fl Without a moments forethought, fol
lowing out the Impulse one has to con
sole a child whom one finds In dis
Z tressful solitude he made toward he
q buoyant movement, taking her han
in both Of his, and dropping upon tn
bench beside her.
In her present period of believin
herself. rs It were. deserted by job
and Helen, who, SO fitted for one an
other, had, tiguratively, scared ava
!, out of her ken upon a rosy cloud, tn
| girl welcomed Clandonald with lip
and eyes too eloquent to be mistaken
Feeling that he must speak, KNOWN
that he ought to choose his words mos
} carefully, he ended by doing nothin
J Of the kind. u
ooh, please don't cry!" he simpl
said. You are too dear and Lowell
, ever to shed n tear! II you wer
mime"
i In books 1t Is where people max
: the beautiful set speeches that com
, out Just right us to semicolons an
! periods, besides fitting exactly int
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