The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1909-04-21
CHAPTER XIII.

home. A horrible dream or nall
conscious misery, of dreadful move
ment when all she wanted was to lie
down and be still, of a confusion of
sight and sound, things dimly seen in
strange, unnatural motion, voices all
broken into one bewildering hum, al
ways that sense of being taken some
where where she did not want to go,
when quiet and silence was all she
desired, i%nterposed between the rocky
plateau of the shore and her room, in
which she opened her eyes in the
evening in the waning light to find
Janet and her maid by her bedside,
her windows wide open to admit the
air, and Beaufort in consultation with
the doctor at the other end of the
room. She had opened her eyes for
a minute or two before anything
settled into it's place, and she per-
ceived fully where she was. She lay
in great weakness, but no pain, re-
Numbering nothing, feeling the soft,
all-enveloping peace which had been
round her like a mantle, covering all
her wounds again. Are you there,
my dear, and is that Edward?" she
said. And it was not till some time
after, till the soft shaded lights were
lit in the room and all quiet, and
Beaufort seated by her bedside read
ing to her, that she suddenly remem-
bered what had passed. She put out
her thin hand and grasped him by
the arm. Edward, was that true?"
What, Carry? Nothing has hap
pened but that you have been i'll a lit
tie, and now you are better, my love,
and you must be quiet, very quiet"
1T is true" she said, with her
fingers clasping his arm. my son
did that; my SON."
at is put all right" said Beaufort;
there is no deadly wrong done. And
the girl is very young; she can be
trained. Garry, my love!"
Eyes, I know. I must keep quiet,
and I will. I can put everything out
of my thoughts now God has given
me the power. But he meant that,
Edward"
God knows what he meant" said
Beaufort. He did not realize. Half
the harm these boys do is that they
eve realize"
You say women are often unjust.
Would men-look yer that?"
He got up from his chair and put
down his book. You must not ques-
ton me-" he said, you must not
think of it at all. Put it out of your
thoughts altogether, my dear love.
You must think of the rest Of us-of
me, and poor little Janet" He added,
after a moment, mo one need ever
know"
Certainly Beaufort was very kind.
He behaved in all this like a true gen.
tleman and a true lover. He would
have plucked, but, altogether the sting
of that great wound had it been pos
sible, and he was quite unaware of
the other stings he had himself plant
ed, undermining her strength. She
looked up at him, lying there in her
weakness, with her beautiful smile
coming back, the smile which was so
soft, so indulgent, so tender, so all
forgiving, the smile that meant
despair. What could she do more,
that gentle. shipwrecked creature, In
able to contend with the wild seas
and pillows that went over her head?
What had she ever been able to do?
Janet, who did not know what was
the meaning of it all, but had vague,
horrible farcies about Tom which she
could not clear up, went out next day
by herself in the bright August morn
ing to get a little air. She had enough
of her mother il her to like the sound
of the sea, and to be soothed by it.
And the half-comprehended incidents
of the previous night and the alarm
about Lady Cars state had shaken
Janet. She thought, with the sim
plicity of her age, that perhaps if she
went away a little, was absent for an
hour or so from the room, that her
mother would not look SO pale when
she came back, and Lady Cars smile
went to Janet's heart. 1t was too like
an angels, she thought to herself. A
living woman ought not to be too like
an angel. Her eyes kept filling with
tears as she wandered along, looking
out upon the sea. But gradually the
bright air and the light that was in
the atmosphere and the warmth of
the sunshine stole into Janet's heart
on6 dried tho fao &C IN how o,,o CHI
went into the green Enclosure of the
ruined castle and sat down upon the
old wall looking out to sea. She
could see the place where she and
Beau had come upon that strange
group among the rocks. She had not
made out yet what it meant.
AS she sat there gazing out and lost
in her own thoughts and wonderings.
a voice suddenly sounded at her ear
which made her start-"Oh, my bon
ME Miss Janet" it said, have 1 found
you at last?" Janet turned slowly
around aghast. The color forsook her
face, and all strength seemed to die
out Of her. She had known it would
. come n time or other. She had
steeled herself for such a meeting
every time she had been compelled to
leave the shelter of the Towers; but
o she was far away, in a place
which had no association with him,
surely-surely she should have been
safe now And yet she had known
beforehand, always known, that some
time this would come. His voice