The Washington herald., 1908-09-06
CHAPTER VII.
4 Splendid Pauper.

omen window Of her private sitting-room
n the Hotel Imperial. in Paris 4 sheet
Of writing paper lay on the little ormolu
table before her She held a pen in her
fngers, and every now and then she
dipped ii into q brass ink-pot. as though
she were about 10 commence a letter.
But tine after time the ink dried on the
nib. and no words were written on the
paper
She had changed greatly during the few
months which had elapsed since her mar
riage TO William Tankerlane. and the
change was not altogether for the better.
Her beauty, 1t is true, had not suffered
and her pale face, crowned with its aure-
ole OF copper-colored hair. seemed more
lovely than IL had ever been in the days
Of Ter greatest happiness But there was
a hard look IN her eyes. and COldness in
the composure Of her features She had
changed from a laughing girl 10 queen
y woman. and the change was not alto
gether 10 her advantage
Il was clear from the luxury OF her
surroundings and the costly simplicity Of
her dress that she had made what many
women would have considered a gOOd
match William Tankerlane had a splen-
did allowance from his father. and. and
being himself a man Of simple tastes and
with no bent toward any Of TIE meaner
vices OF life. he was able 10 lavish his
wealth On his wife with an open hand
Il was a glorious morning in May. a
month in which Paris is seen az its best
Outside the window the double lines OF
trees looked green and cool IN the bright
sunshine Easy-goi=g haneurs Of the bou-
levar5s Ioitered in the shade and chat
JersE 20 one another with unti-i1E Va
vacity- Streams Of pedestrians. bent
either on business or pleasure. passed 10
and fro increasingly Everywhere there
vas life and movement and endless AOw
Of good hunor and serene content.
Slowly and deliberately Laura took up
an envelope and addressed II 70 samuel
Vare. esq Upper Leaze Farm, Laver-
stone and Jhen she laid down the pen
and again stared out Of the window
she had resolved. IN direct defiance Of
her husbands wishes. 10 write 10 her
father From the day after she left Law
erstone. and never arrived al MIS- Toll
by's house. sam Vane had not heard a
word o. the daughter that was lost %
him On the dav following her departure
he received two letters. one from his SIS
ter asking why Laura Tane had not ar
rived ard enc from the girl herself. which
ran as follows
Dearest Father Fer reazcns czu--t explain q
vrU ! have 1G- rlue o. Au-- James ard snail uc-
re-1-u 20 Lar--s7-ue- Do rot 71--~ about re- p
aszs--5 -l-- 7 have cr--- and shall cone 90 I'd
hsEE- Fr--lvc ne t-- this Eter whi-l has beer
forced url1 ne God b-e=s y-1 ard gard you
d-a-sr. Is err the ezruest PRAYER q y1--r l-7il;
d-1E--z- LAURIE
AID rrss message, which was hardly
calc1-a-ed 10 aps- a fathers anxiety
was all that sam Ta-e had heard from
his missing dauEhte-
But uo-. at last she had resolved tr
break The silence Day after day she had
been tortured with the thought Of hel
fathers loneliness and despair She had
pictured him TO herself in the home that
had been left unto him deSoia-e An old
man. bT0keu-learted. vailly crying out U
God for her return Again and again she
had iuDloreG her husband 70 let her write
and lie had refused gently. but viii
fruless. William Taukerlaue. in spite
Ct all his sin. had been very kind 20 her
and she wished 70 obey him But al last
she had resolved 70 write, and could not
frame the sentences which meant 8,
much 70 her
Once more she dipped her pen in Ii.
ink and wrote her name on a slip OF blot
tins paper
Taen she heard rhe sound Of steps and
voices n the passage outside She lCoker
hurr5edlv a. the clock. tore the elveIoP.
in half. threw The pieces into the waste
paper basket under the table. and rose Z,
her feet
4 moment later the door opened an,
William Tankerlaue entered. accouparie,
by a short fair-hai-ed young man. ex
Quisltelv dressed and groomed-
Laura said her husband. as he thrus
forward his blusEinE companion. let m'
introduce you 70 Lord PortIingtor- He d
the son of Lord Crawcour. an old frient
Of our family
Laura TaolerIane bowed. and then ex
tended her hand with a pleasant smile
The name Of PorJiinCI0u had Conveye'
nothing 20 her mind But the name O
Crawcour sent a flush TO her cheek. 70
John SlH had gone as agent 10 the Ear
Of Crawcour. and It was possible thai thi
young man might be able 10 give he
some news OF him
This is an old friend Of mine saIt
Tankerlane. as they sat down by the Opel
window - Piggy PortlinEtcn. We use
q call him when he was al Eton- He
straight as die and won't split on Us.
have told him the reasons for our seCre
marriage and he looked at his wifi
uaea1ingIv- She wondered what reason
he had given
I an YER. pleased 20 meet Lord Port
lington-- she replied 1t is nice TO hav
found a friend fl Paris. We have been
bit lonely"
4 shade Of annoyance passed acros
Taukerlaue-s face. but tire young ma
chuckled genially-
a very jolly sort Of loneliness. he re
Piled 7 wouldn't mind changing place
with TankeTlane-I mean 7 wish I wer
OF my honeymoon, yoC know" and b
blusEed fUriOusly. as though he had sal
something highly improper The othe
two laughed and Ms Tankerlane locke
at the handsome. boyish face with inter
est He was a very pleasant voung fel
low. this heir 10 the great earldom o
Crawc0ur- CaEdor and honesty were writ
ten on his co-nJenance- He was obvious
y fCnd Of outdoor exercise and sport HI
clear keen eyes and tanned skin spoke o
a life spent IN the open air His hand
were muscular and his movements fndi
Gated the strength and suppleness Of tn
athlete
As she looked from this fine specIme
Uf clean living and open-mfnded manhoO
TO the dark. Intellectual face Of her hus
bard she wondered what strange freak q
fate had made the two men friends Fo
never were two men more utterly unlik
each other That frank easy-Eoing ns
turs could have little IN common with II
subtle mind and indoritable viii of VII
IAN TankerIane- Yet she was glad rhs
the two were friends and that her hu.
band had brought round the young ma
70 see her
Pave you been IN Paris long," sh
asked. aSter they had talked about var
ous su15tCfs.