Troy weekly news. (Troy, Idaho) 1897-1933, 1908-08-28
CHAPTER XIV.


after their marriage. / can imagine him
promising himself to break her in and
bring her to meek submission in the fu-
ture. Pity those poor souls who marry
a bully they have leased beforehand
81 think this is scarcely a time fer
badinsgs," said he, after pause, still
locking upon the ground and tracing the
pattern Of the carpet with the lash OF his
whip. II know 1 am not perfect; but
you must admit that allowances should
be made for a fellow under the influence
of-of emotion"
II ana willing to admit that a man
under that condition is not responsible
for his actions-is that enouShW
"If you admit that, what am l to I'M
derstand by your present attitude! You
seem to forget what took place before
went away" ,-.
But do not You made me an offer
Of marriage; but am l wrong in thinking
that you made that under the influence
of emotion? l absolve you from respon-
sibility for action under that condition.
May l not suppose that you were beside
yourself when you made that proposal,
and overlook the mistake as readily as
that you have committed since"
"It was not a mistake, Gertrude
loved you then as | love you now; have
come here this afternoon to ask you again
if you will have me, faulty as l am-yet
an honest fellow-and be my wife,"
Nurse Gertrude was not greatly moved
with this speech, which had very little
appearance of depth and sincerity in 1t,
despite the quavering of that manly voice.
May l ask why you have thought it
necessary to ask me a second timer" she
asked, trying to fix his ,shifty eyes, and
learn the truth from them.
well, your manner seems to imply
that you consider the engagement broken
Off"
II did think 1T broken off. Had l not
reason to think 500"
"Oh, yes the way 1 spoke to you and
little Laurie was objectionable"
He paused and looked down again to
escape from her fathoming eyes. He had
probably thought that there would be lit
tie difficulty in his way, and that he could
just reconcile Gertrude, il she should re-
sent his silence, with few words or
kiss or two, and without going into any
more vexatious explanation than a mere
avowal of manly weakness under trying
circumstances. DR.. Awdrey had told him
to confess the truth, and conceal nothing,
adding that a woman would forgive the
man she loves anything except duplicity.
But Lynn, in his own conceited, pig
headed way, had fully relied on his own
cleverness; his contempt for women in
general disposed him TO tell them no more
than was necessary. He would rather
have avoided an explanation which,
though 1t presented a certain attraction
in being untruthful, would require good
deal Of bolstering up to support his as
sumption of honesty and generosity. How
ever he had bungled 30 dsastrously In
his OWE attempt, that he saw no escape
from his dilemma but by acting now on
Awdrey's suggestion.
"The fact is" said he, changing his
tone with a slash at his leg, II was pur-
posely brutal to little Laurie and you.
l wished you to take offense and relieve
me from the engagement"
That is what l thought was the
only construction I could put upon your
behavior" said she.
Il dare say you wonder what my rea-
son was. 1 will tell you. can't conceal
the truth, and 1 know we'll enough that
there's nothing loving woman will not
forgive, except duplicity"
A new warmth glowed in Gertrude's |
heart She liked those words; they were |
good and true-it never struck her that |
they might be DR.. Awdrey's
Il knew that through Keene's delay I |
was ruined-that had nothing whatever |
to expect from my uncle's will l knew |
that L must no longer cherish the thought |
OF making you my wife, in debt, and pen |
niless as l was, snd-but there, you can |
imagine the rest"
You wanted to give me the opnort,,-
nifty OF breaking the engagement, before II !
might appear that our separation was due
to mercenary considerations on my part.
Oh, that was generous !" exclaimed Nnrse
Gertrude, carried away by her own impul-
sive and generous recognition of an nm
selhsh-nay, chlvalrous motive on his
part All my warning was forgotten in
an instant
Il did not want to tell you this" he
said, In tone that seemed to diacla;u
any merit to gratitude.
But ycu wronged me, Lynn" she said
gently-"'you wronged me, to think
insight wish to break the engagement be-
cause you were less rich than You en-
pected to be when you made me an offer.
She held out her hand to him frankly
and he took 1t. If he had been wise
enough to tell her all that had passed be-
tween him and Audrey, she would have
been bis without doubt. In return for an
open svewal, she would have swept aside