Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1908-01-10
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confession of completely in til" Castl"
Sullivan outrage AMI I" reflect upon
the many sides nf the man whom
Claire Harding had CuIur ont from
England tn marry. Memories dashed
him by the score. II" had seen how
the tyrant could treat his servants and
his doc" ~" had riti~i the bride In
the abstract. a,i WIS il to be Claire
Uartiiu.:. All WIS he tn stand there
and see them marriedf
His head WAS in II whirl Of conflict
Ing emotions and anxietles. Still stun
ned by the mere shock of seeing her
whom he had never thought to see
again IN that outlandlsh place md all
but another mans bride. he was faced
by an Immediate dilemma which called
for instantaneous decision. If Claire
were to recognize him Mt dinner. then
she was pretty certain TO betrny Sc
cret which Daintree. on the other hand.
was almost as certain to guess II his
servant absented himself after what
had just passed. Well. Claire knew
best why she had made secret where
none was necessary. But II more trou-
bic was to come Of It, let him be there
TO take her part. Let him be there
forever to watch over her In those
passionate hands. And Tom found
himself mechanically lighting the can
dies on the dinner table and lowering
the shades to lessen the chance Of his
face being seen.
While he was so engaged the inner
door opened, and Tom and Claire stood
face to face
Her eyes were great with horror.
She shut the door behind her and then
stood close against 1t. shrinking from
him to whom she once had chung.
II can't bear IT. she gasped. Il
must either speak to you or 60 mad!
Yes. yes. I know we may be caught
] can't help that! Tell me quickly. did
you know who was before I Gamer
mo, indeedr'
Els 1t by accident that you are his
servantT
mo; he sought me out. So you knew
me again. Claire?"
"What did you say? Never call mo
that again. OF course I knew you'll
How could forget you after oil you
have made ME suffer? II only
couldr
The cruelty Of this speech struck him
dumb. He drew himself up and grimly
challenged her with his eye. Her sui
ferings. indeed! What had she sui
fered? She was on the point Of mar
rying q rich man. No doubt 1t was
distressing to her to encounter him
again at that juncture. His lip curlad
at such distress.
She read his thoughts to the letter.
"You think I have not sufferedy' shA
cried In low voice. "You little know,
but this Is the last straw-the punish
ment 30 richly deserve! Mr.. Dain-
tree saved your life. You knew that,
Of course? But I don't think you
know why he did 1t. 1t was because
asked him. 1t was for my saker'
Your he said hoarsely. Il SEQ now
Il see! I might have guessed it long
ago.
"He wanted to do something for me-"
she continued In a choking voice. II
let him do that. deceived him to save
your life. I am here because 1 decciv-
ed him.
He thought he had seen everything.
He had not, but he was beginning to
now. Good heavens! Why was his
heart beating so fast? 1t ought to
bleed instead. Here was the girl be
loved, and upstairs was the man he
had reason to love better still, and they
were going to marry like that. He
tried to forget. to think only Of what
Claire had done for him.
God bless your he murmured. HE
has saved my life twice over and much
more than my lie, and I owe 1t all to
one brave girl who believed in me and
made him believe In me when all the
world
'stop" she cried. II never believed
In you ut all."
"Whatr'
Il was sorry for you"
Aou DeheFeu We guilty., even Whcn
you tried to save my lifeY'
"Of manslaughter-yes!'
LET US split no hairs! You think-I
did it-stillT
Il can think nothing clse."
In the dead silence following these
words the servant heard his master
stamping into evening dress overhead:
he felt his own crested buttons glitter
ing In the candlelight that shone upon
the table he had set 80 beautifully for
the bride. and as she tossed back the
ringlets that he knew 30 we'll and re-
peated with unfiinching eyes what she
had told him in SO many candid words
all that Ind distracted him up to this
moment ceased to do 80 any more
Her coming was nothing to him now.
Her GRAND was nothing; she was vel