Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1908-07-16

looked astonished but his face grew
brighter. Edwards wife had always
stood by him; a true friend; more
a sister The mere mention of her
name made his blood circulate quick
er. None the less he was sensible Of
a shock; he was u%nprepared to meet
this simple, sweet creature; he shrank
from taking her kind hand; he won
dered If he could return her ingeni-
GUS glance. What must she think of
him? For the second time that after
noon he tried to picture himself as
he appeared to others whose good
opinion he had once enjoyed. That
COMPOUNDED Wayfarer, for instance,
turned aside, not because there was
any faint of the Pharisee in him, but
for the unanswerable reason that Guy
had changed, not he. Cynthia, too,
would eve change; the old, pleasant
intercourse with her could not be re-
newed. She would look at him with
sympathy and tenderness, with a COM
passion shining through tears, but she
would see the scarlet letter flashing
upon his heart, as it famed upon the
dress of Hester Pyrnne. Why had
she come?
*Pronounce Charters"
CHAPTER II.
IL shall speak out. l shall speak
out very plainly"
Thus Edward to his wife at the mo-
ment when Guy was passing the Way.
farers' club. Cynthia Charters nod
ded, putting out her delicate hands 10
the fire. She had the air of being
slightly chilled as she sat close by
the fender, rather huddled up, not at
ease as she ought to have been in
such a comfortable chair. Edward
stood upon the hearthrug, looking
down upon her with angry, slightly
congested eyes. He very seldom al
lowed himself the luxury of any ex-
element.
Twill it do any good?" she said
doubtsully. She put her hands near
er to the fire as she spoke.
"You are cold? To me this IS
simply sitting. 1t must be over six
ty-fve degrees"
Mrs. Charters smiled family. Was
it worth while to explain that what
excited and heated him might well
have the contrary effect on her? And,
besides, he was the sort of man who
could never be made to understand
that ONE register heat and cold in
defiance of thermometers.
She said nothing, and looked at the
room.
Some of the furniture had been of
her own choosing, but the finer bits,
and the, arrangement of the whole,
she knew to be the expression of An
eela Tempests ~unerring taste. Gym
thia had persuaded Guy to buy a car
pet, a genuine. old Aubusson. What
fun they had had haggling over the
price with the dealer! In the glazed
C~nippendale bookcase she could see
half a dozen books gwen to him by
her shortly after he left Oxford, and
the bookcase itself had been found in
a curiosity-shop in Bury st. Edmunds.
They had lunched together afterwards
at the Angel Inn. Cynthia never
bought pretty things for herself, be-
cause Saffron Charters was full of
furniture, some good, some e~xcruciat-
ingly bad, good and bad alike being
sacrosanct to Edward, and, standing
side by side as they had always stood,
significant in Cynthia'ss eyes Of the
good and evil in all ancient houses
and systems.
ASio WClC oOIlC lIlSlJlul SllL. cur
nices in the long saloon, for instance.
Cynthia, as a bride, had %entreated Ed
ward to take them down. He had re.
fused. not churlishly, but absolutely,
ON the plea that his mother had placed
them there. Most of the silver, too,
was of the best Georgian period, but
an early Victorian urn, detestably
ford, dominated the breakfast table.
The lady who represented outlying
coverts bought it, and the %cornices
and other solid, indestructible mon
strosities. If, poor thing! she was
indeed married with no more soul-in.
spring motive than to improve the
shooting, she truly had her revenge
albeit an unprecedented one!
In Guys sitting room, with one not
able exception, there was nothing to
offend, nothing to maj the harmony
of the general scheme of decoration.
The exception was a large framed
photograph; the portrait of the lady
upon whose account Edward had de-
clared his intention Of speaking out,
the lady whose name was in the
mouths of men and women and news
boys-especially newsboys. Cynthia
had looked at the pretty, sparkling
race once, as soon as she entered the
room. She glanced at it again,
being one of those who, by tempera.
ament, resolutely decline to contem.
plate what ~exasperates them. Ed.
ward, On the other hand, scowled at
1t repeatedly. This made him warm,
uncomfortably warm-an effect, in
deed, natural enough, for Angela
Tempest was undeniably a source of
heat-so warm that he wiped his fore.
head and opened the window.
And he leaves that hanging there!
Is he a moral idiot?"
Edward indicated a f%ull-length por.
trait hanging above the mantelpiece,
the portrait of Guys mother, of which
mention has been made. 1t was one
of Pynsent's earliest and best pictures
admirably drawn, subtly conceived
mastery in every touch-the counter.
felt presentment of a young woman
painted by a youthful genius. Youth
Informed it, and youths coloring, gay
vivid, selling. Pynsent, l am told, ad.
mits now that 1T was a happy fuke
1nstinctively-for he knew nothing o.
the truth-he had posed this adorable