Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1909-08-19
CHAPTER X.
CONSEQUENCES.

Breathing convulSively, wide eyes a
little wildly fixed upon his face in the
lamplight, the girl stumbled to her
feet, and for moment remained cow
ering against the wall, terribly shaken,
ing box for support. the other pressed
against the bosom of her dress as if in
attempt forcibly to quell the mad ham
mering of her heart.
In her brain, turmoil of affrighted
thought, but one thing stood out clear
The first time it had been different;
she had not been woman had she
been unable then to see that the ad-
venture intrigued Maitland with it's
spice of novelty, new sensation, fully
as much as she, herself, the pretty
woman out of place, interested and at
tracted him. He had enjoyed playing
the part had been amused to lead her
to believe him an adventurer of met
tie and caliber little inferior to her
own-as he understood her; unscrupu-
lous, impatient of the bubble of
meum-et-tuum, but adroit and keen
witted, and distinguished and set apart
from the herd by grace of gentle
breeding and chivalric instincts.
How far he might or might not have
let this enjoyment carry him, she had
no means OF surmising Not very far,
not too far, she was inclined to be-
lieve, strongly as she knew her per-
10 hnu ;rR
far enough to induce him to trust her
out of sight with the jewels. He had
demonstrated that, to her humiliation.
The flush of excitement waning,
manlike soon had he wearied of the
game-she thought; to her mind, in
distorted retrospect, his attitude when
leaving her at dawn had been insin-
| cere, contemptuous, that of a man re-
| lieved to be rid of her, relieved to be
able to get away in unquestioned pos
session of his treasure. True, the sug-
| gestion that they lunch together at
Eugene's had been his. But he had
forgotten the engagement, IL ever he
had meant to keep 1t, If the notion had
| been more than a within of the moment
| with him. And O'Hagan had told her
| by telephone that Maitland had left
| his rooms at one o'clock-in ample
time to meet her at the restaurant.
No, he had never intended to come;
he had wearied; yet, patient with her,
| true to the ethics of q gentle man, he
had been content to let her go, rather
| than to send a detective to take his
| place.
And this was something, by the
way, to cause her to revise her theory
as to the manner in which Anisty had
managed to steal the jewels. If Matt
land had gone abroad at one, and with
out intending to keep his engagement
| at Eugene's, then he must have been
despoiled before that hour, and with
out his knowledge. Surely, If the
| jewels had been taken from him with
his cognizance, the hue and cry would
| have been out and Anisty would not
have dared to linger so long in the
neighborhood!
To be just with herself, the girl had
| not gone to the restaurant with much
real hope of finding Maitland there.
| Curiosity had drawn her-just to see
if But it was too preposterous to
credit that he should have cared
enough. Quite too preposterous! 1t
was her cup, her bitter cup, to know
that she had learned to care enough
at sight! And she recalled with
what pangs of shame and misery
begged expressionD how her heart
had been stirred when she had found
him las she thought) true to his tryst;
even as she recalled the agony and dis
tress of mind with which she had a
moment later fathomed Anisty's I'm
PRESERVATION.
For, of course, she had known that