Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-06-07
CHAPTER XIX.
Confdences.

MISS ROWiE mad already received onc
| bulky letter br the mornings post. Inc
third morning she received another.
| That night. when Stephens maid had
! left her there came a gentle tap al her
door. and an instant after the door
! opened. The tap had been warning.
not request. IL had in m oasur' pre-
! rared Stephen. who was not surprised
20 see her aunt in her dres ng gown,
though il was many long day since she
had visited her niece's room at night.
She closed the door behind ner. saying:
There is something l want to talk to
you about. dearest. and | thought II
would be better to- do 90 when thare
could not be any possible interruption.
And besides here there was a little
break in her voice. II could hardly sum
mon up my courage in the daylight" shs
stopped. and the stopping 0ld its OWE
story In an instant Stephens arms
were round her. all the protective instinct
In her awake al the distress of the
woman she loved The old lady took com
fort from the warmth of the embrace
and hello her tight while she went On:
1T is about these bills. my dear. Come
and sit down and put candle near me-.
l want YOU to rad something.
Stephen wheeled an armchair close to
table on which were candles. Then
she gently placed her aIsn: in the chair
and seated herself on the great arm of It..
leaning affectionately against the Shout
der of her companion with her arm
round her neck.
Now go on. auntia. dear" she said,
graveiy. The old lady. after a pause
spoke with certain timidity:
They are all paid: at least all that can
he. Perhaps l had better read you the
letter ! have had from my solicitors:
Dear madam: In accordance with
your instructions We have paid all the &C
counts mentioned I'm schedule \ lin
closed,. We have placed for your con
venienca three columns: ID The original
amount of each account. CD the amount
of discount which we were able to ar
range and "a the amount pa d. We regret
that we have been. unable to carry out
your wishes with regard to the items
enumerated in schedule B Cnclcssd). We
have. we assur, you, done all in our
power to find the gentlemen whose names
and addresses are therein given. These
were marked debt Of honor In the list
which you handed to us Not Having
been able to obtain any reply to our let
tiers. we sent one of our clerks flrst to
the addresses In London and afterward
to oxford. Tina: clerk. who is we'll used
to such inquiries, could not find any trace
of any of the gentlemen. or. indeed. of
their existence. We have. therefore.
come to the conclusion that either Their
must be some error with regard TO ta)
no such persons exist. As il would be
very unlikely that such errors could oc-
cur in all the cases, we can only CON
clude that there have not been any such
persons. If We may venture TO hazard
an opinion-it is possible that. these
debts beng what young men gall debts
of honor" the debtor. or possibly the
creditors. may not have wished the
names mentioned. In such case fictitious
names and addresses may have been sub
stituted for the real ones.
I've have already sent to You the re-
ceipted account from each of the creditors
as you directed. viz, Received from
Miss Laetitia Rowly in full settlement 20
date of the account due by Mr.. Leonard
Everard the sum of" etc. etc. And,
also. as you further directed. duplicate
receipt of the sum total due in each case
made out Received in full settlement
to da;e of account due by etc. etc
with regard to finance we have car
ried out your orders. etc. etc, etc. etc.
She hurried on the reading. These
sums together with the amouns of nine
hundred pounds sterling. and seven hum
dred pounds sterling lodged to the &C
count of Miss Stephen Norman in the
Worcester branch Of the Bank of England
as repayment of moneys advanced to you
by your written instructions. have fX-
hauSted the sum, etc. etc. She foided
up the letter with the schedules. laying.
the bundle of accounts on the taba. Ste
phen paused a while: she felt il necessary
to collect herself before speaking.
''Auntie. dear. viii you let me- see that
letter? Oh. my dear dear auntie. don't
think l m:strust you that ask II. l do
so because love you. and because l want
10 love you more If IL is possible TO do
so" Miss Rowly handed her the letter.
She rose from the arm of the chair and
stood beside the table as though TO get
better light from the candle than she
could get from where she had sat.
AS her aunt looked at her low
ingly and admiringy. A beautiful picture
she made The flowing lawn of her
n.ghtdress fell In delicate folds from her
noble young figure. tall and straight
dart with the slender lines OF youth and
the soft swelling curves of budding wom-
anhood Her glorious red hair simply
tied back with a ribbon of the delicate
pink of the blush rose. fell in thick
Of it, catching the light of tb. candle.
shone like FURNISHED gold. Altogether
she seemed. as she stood motionless in
tent on her reading. like divine figure
Of goddess wrought In ivory and gold
by the cunning hand of greater Praxi
teles.
She read slowly and carefully to the
end: then she folded up the letter and
handed 4 to her aunt She came back
to her seat on the edge Of the chair and
putting her arms round her cOmpa MONS
neck looked her straight in the eyes. TIE
elder woman grew embarrassed under
the scrutiny; she colored up and smiled
In deprecatory way as she said:
Don't look at me like that, darling.
and don't shake your head SO. 1t Is all
right. told you had my reasons, and
you said you would trust me- l hav.
only done what ! thought best
But auntie, you have pad away more
than BALI your little fortune. l know all
the figures. Father and uncle told me
everything. Why did you do it? Why
did YOU do it, The old woman held out
Der arms she said:
Come here, dear one. and sit on my
knee as YOU used to do when you -were
child. so that I may have my arms
close round you. and l will whisper YOU"
Stephen sprang from her seat and almost
threw herself into the loving arms held
OUT to her. For A few seconds the two.
claSped tight to each others heart. rocked
gently TO and fro. The elder ssed the
younger and was kissed impulsively in
return. Then she stroked the beautiful
bright hair with her wrinkled hand and
said. admiringly:
What lovely hair you have my dear
one"' Stephen held her closer and
waited.
Well, my dear did it because l love
you
Il know that. auntie: you have never
done anything else all my life.''
nat is true. dear one. But il is RICH.
that should do this Now you mus.
listen to me and not speak till / have
done. Keep your thoughts on my words,
you can do your own thinking about them
afterWard. And your own talking. too:
shall listen as long as you rke"'
Go on. I'll he good
My dear. |, is not right that you should
appear to have paid the debts of a young