The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1909-08-18
THE Man She LOVED
By EFFE ADELAIDE ROWLANDS.



! there is a great feeling agin him, sir;
he would find it ard to get help from
anywhere, now"
Yes, yes; of course now he
would"-Dr. Waters vas always in
clined to be testy when he was both
efed-"but he may not be in the
county at all, Reynolds; in fact,
should not be surprised If he wasn't
out of England by this time"
The inspector looked a trife dis
concerted. There was no pleasing
DR.. Waters, he said to himself.
"One moment" Gervais followed
the fussy little man into the hall.
Il suppose you can have formed no
idea what weapon was used?"
II can only conjecture that it must
have been a large. claspknife," DR..
Waters answered, thoughtfully; 1.-THE
wounds are narrow and deep as if
| struck by a knife or a dagger. I
have concluded it was the first, as
::~om the description I have gathered
of the man, he would hardly be likely
to have a dagger about with him"
UNLESS it were a premeditated
thing" = : 80
Exactly; but as TO that"of course
we can say nothing. I suppose you
found evidences of a struggle in the
plantations, Lord D~erriman?"
Yes, for a few yards the bushes
were beaten down, and the earth and
bracken disturbed, as though the
dead mar had been dragged along
and then dropped; we could find no
sign of a knife or any weapon, though
had men searching there all day
yesterday, and. they are at it still"
Gervais watched the doctor drive
away, stood for a moment In silence,
and then went back to the library.
He had several things yet to say to
the inspector and his men. No one
could tell how this business worried
the earl; 1t was so horrible to him to
think that a life had been taken so
near to his house; that while all with
in had been probably laughing and
enjoying themselves, the. poor crea-
ture had lain bleeding to death so
|close to them, yet so far away. 1t
was not the disagreeable duties
forced upon him as lord of the manor
and as magistrate from which Ger
vais shrank; he recognized that this
was expected from him, but it panied
him to think what a shadow this
murder had suddenly cast over his
peaceful existence and happy con-
tentment. He had vowed to himself,
when Dorothy became his wife, that
he would ever make her life beauti-
full, a perpetual sunshine; and now
she was plunged into all the horrors
of a most CHASTITY murder committed
in the very precincts Of her home!
1t was Of her he thought first, and
her white face the previous night at
dinner had made him beside himself
with uneasiness and pain.
The police did not remain long at
the Manor House, but they were dis
tributed about the grounds in case
any scent should be found and their
services be needed.
Groves, the gardener. was a person
of much Importance in the kitchen
by reason of having been the discov-
erer Of the body; he was never tired
of detailing the whole story over and
over again to his eager audience, and
most of the men servants, it must be
confessed, were inclined to envy him
his unique position. AS is often the
case with ignorant minds, the domes-
tics were thrilled and not altogether
d%ispleased at the dreadful thing that
had happened in their quiet, smooth
lives; and they could not quite under
stand why all the grand folk should
have hurried away so quickly, nor
why Miss Leslie and my lady should
be so very much upset by it.
my lady, she moa and moa and
seem so i'll; she ave the white
cheek" Virginie said, struggling her
shoulders and putting away at a Gig
arctic which she had stolen from
Gervais' dressing-room. And for
Mademoiselle Enid, she so tranquille,
she, what you say, she vii not utter
word"
Hiss Ends got such a good
cart" was Maria's vigorous reply;
look 'ow kind she is If there's any
of us ILL.,"
cay, that she be, to be sure"
agreed a stout kitchen girl. Virginie
took n notice of these remarks, but
turning her back began to gesticu-
late and chat lightly with the chef,
who at that moment made his ap-
pearance.
You ask MI. Simmonds from the
All, what he thinks Of Miss Enid,
and you'll soon find out if she amt
all I've said" Maria went on; then
in a stage whisper to Eliza, IT can't
abide earring people spoke bad of,
but I suppose furriners can't help
being nasty"
The entrance Of the policemen who
had been sent by Gervais to have
what refreshments they wanted, was
a welcome interruption, and very
soon Groves was made to stand up
and go over bis story again and
again. 49,
And up in her room Enid was
walking to and fro weary with her
long sleepless night-weary with the
ceaseless flow of agitated thought
through her brain, and the agony Of
doubt, fear and pain in her tender
young heart. She tried to dismiss
from her mind the Suspicions that