The Washington herald., 1908-06-30
CHAPTER I.

Charters gave a last glance at the
room wherein he had suffered so acutely;
a suffering rlgidly suppressed during
three weeks. Even now. when he stood
alone. disregarded by few officials and
attendants, his face retained its express
sion Of impassivIty. the "callous indif-
ference" duly ehronicled by the report
chlmber. which outwardly presented so
SNUG and conventional an appearance.
pulled to pieces. branded. pilloried. And
this for the sake Of a woman whom
once he had loved, but who had never
loved him. as the evidence abundantiy
proved:
To-day the decree had been delivered;
within six months It would be made alb
solute, unless the Kings proctor inter-
vened. Considering this. and ali II i'm
Piled Charters caught the eye of his
chief inqusitor. McAllister. X. c., hur-
rying off 10 the club of which Charters
was also a member.
The great man nodded genially. He
looked human. When his victim and he
next met-probably at a bridge table
they would talk with enthusiasm about
dry ily fishing and deer-stalking- And
the judge. that grave and learned signor,
so impeccable of appearance. whose re-
lentless summing-up had presented a
kinsman as a blackguard and a bound
er. would not he. even he, the express
sion and epitome of law human and d.
vine. come UP 10 Charters in the pad
dock at Sandown. or elsewhere, and as
likely as not ask for a-tip on race
course his lordship was no better than
anybody else.
An Official delivered a telegram.
Ought to have reached you before,
sir" he said respectfully.
Charters caught the subservlent infiec-
tlon, and smiled. Everything had been
taken from him except his income. His
gold might be furnished, but II remained
gold. He tore open the envelope.
Waiting fer you AT your fat Edward"
Edward Charters was his half-broth-
er. the head Of the family a man nearly
twenty years his senior, whom nobody,
not even his wife ventured TO address as
Ted" or "Teddie." He lived at Saffron
Charters. in Suffolk, a moated Eliza
bethan manor house; and he was said
10 manage other folks business more
successfully than his own. For Edward.
Charters had enormous respect. never
warming into affection. In Edward he
acclaimed great qualities-devotion 70
what Edward conceived to be duty. a
cut-and-dried code OF ethics, a strenuous
belief I'm himself. in his family (Which
had hourished since the Heptarchy). In
the Church of England, and in the Con-
servative party.
Their father-let US speak OF him as
the squire-married: first, lady who
represented some outlying coverts and a
thousand acres Of arabic hnd. to-day
much deprecated in value. Her full
length portrait hangs in the hall az SAT-
from Charters; no stranger looks at il
twice. The squire married his second
wife-so said the gossips-for love; but
she also was an heiress. the only child
Of brewer. She had beauty and charm,
and we shall see her portrait presently.
The squire's elder sisters, with many
shakings OF early-Victorian ringlets. pro-
nounced her pleasure-loving and frivo-
lous. an amazing example of the unex-
pected, inasmuch as her upbringing had
been puritanically strict.
Till she married, she had never been
in a theater or a ballroom.
There was a story. too. of an lnfatua-
uon for her fathers secretary, dispatched
10 Timbuctoo. whence he had not re-
turned Il Is idle 10 ask why she mar.
ried the squire middle-aged man, stuck
fast in Suffolk clay, surrounded BY q
mOat spanned by a drawbridge. lifted
every night. The squire, 20 be sure. wa.
masterfUl-a strong. handsome, ruddy
Englishman. he bore a romantic name
and he lived in an adorable house. I'm
happily. she died-perhaps of disappont-
ment-shOrtly after Guy was born.
The brewer left a large fortune 10 hi,
daughters son. a fortune which doubled
itself during the boys minority.
Edward. II must be remembered, after
his succession to Saffron Charters, re-
NAMED a poor man, the poorer because
many-acred. Guy, owning not rood Of
land, was rich. Nor would Edward ac
cept a farthing from Guy when tina
young fellow came OF age and offered t
clear the estate Of encumberances. AnC
since, again and again, money was Of
fered and obstnately declined. Edward
and Guy had been educated at Eton. Ed
wards four sons were sent to a les
famous and expensive school
Guy put Edwards telegram into hi
pocket. where It lay next to another al
most similarly worded:
l shall wait for you at my fat
Angela"
Edward was a man of few words
Angela Tempest a lady OF many. Gu,
decided TO see Edward first He wake,
out Of the courtroom, along the stone
Tagged passage. and into the thickeninl
fog Of a bleak November afternoon. Pass
ing the small door TO the right OF HI
central entrance, the door through which
after mounting an intermlnable circula
staircase. you gain access to the gal
leries. Guy found a group Of persons as
sembled. lie felt their sharp eyes pierre
ing the fog, trying to pierce also the out
er crust OF the man whom the yellow
papers stlgmatized as black as the ac
Of spades.
He don't care a tinker's curse" NUT
tered a girl. in a large picture" hat
Her companion peered impudently int
Guys face; he could see the paint OF
her cheeks.
why should he give hisself away f
us?' she demanded hoarsely.
Her shrewd. beady eyes met Guy
glance in a fash OF interrogation.
Thank you" said Guy, In her ear.
Pushing on. he heard some Kisses, an
half a dozen threatening murmurs. A
lrnni1lan eolznd him 10 turn and cnnfrnr