Hopkinsville Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1889-1918, 1910-09-29


window and Carlotta leaning forward
% the old mahogany divan listening
,.ltly to whatever he had to say,
face rejecting her interest.
For a grown man. DR.. Duval was
bovishly homesick and heart
Gertrude Whitcomb parted from
. at The hotel with some irritation.
20 '-p home had been dull She had
Cd herself for a man so adj
toto1 that he had scarcely answer.
4 'a St.li. she comforted herself, II
.Is because Of his disappointment.
Sc really did not imagine he had
.-an so desperately devoted to herl
/ Z was rather pleasing on the whole.
and in very satisfied frame of mind
ne turned to the question of what
gown she should wear down to din
ner for the delectation of the other
guests.
DR.. Duval at the same time was on
a car speeding out toward the ram
bling cottage. 1t was almost like old
times to be so welcomed and fused
over and graciously forgiven for his
winters desertion.
you are so busy with your work.
we understand" Mrs. Morgan had said
as she got out his favorite preserves.
And Carlotta, the wistfulness of
whose face was hidden from him by
its Joy in his presence, was like some
graceful white wrath in the shadows
of the big room.
Il had forgotten" he told her with
the privilege of lifelong acquaintance,
how wonderfully pretty you were,
Carlotta! What have you been doing
with yourself? You seem to shine"
Don't talk about me-" begged the girl,
nervously. A great fear was hers lest
this stupid, laundering man should
discover 1t was her happiness In see
ing him again that had transformed
her. Tell me of yourself, of what
has happened to you this winter'"
He had come to tell them-selfshly
to demand comfort for his wounds
yet he held his tongue. A dim sense
that he had no right to appropriate
this sweet understanding and ready
sympathy so ruthlessly was struggling
10 consciousness, a realization brought
10 light by absence that Carlotta was
a personality. not merely a haven OF
refuge
1t was a comfort Just to watch the
curves Of her face, the brooding light
in her eyes. BY contrast his memory
Of Gertrude Whitcom's face showed
Is brilliantly haunting, a little cold and
hard
He stayed late at the Morgans. and
when he left he felt oddly contented
and at peace for q man whose heart
had only that afternoon been broken.
He was surprised when ext he saw
Miss Whitcomb that he 1T none of
the bitter resentment which had at
f1rst been his at her refusal. In some
strange way that fever had burned
itself out as though a cool hand had
banished 1t utterly. He simply did
not care. She was Just as beautiful
and fascinating as ever, but his ro-
nance had crashed that afternoon In
the foothills and he had no desire to
pick up the broken pieces she was
too glittering for comfort, and she had
hurt his pride by her carelessness.
does a stab at his pride Besides,
Carlotta's smile stayed in his memory.
1t was not, as he argued to himself
some weeks later In a sort of Mortified
dlsmay. that he was tickle and man
| of unstable affections-it was simply
that he had been under a spell, luckily
now broken, and had gone back to
where he belonged, -,..-'...--'r'''
Having once found his welcome in
the rambling cottage, he found him
self drawn there irresistibly oftener
than in the years before. 1t was abb
sence, he told himself, that had
awakened him and shown him Car
iottas real loneliness, her sweetness
and womanly sympathy. And when,
! half tearfully, before the summer was
over and when Gertrude Whitcomb
was only a vague memory, Dr. Duval
told Carlotta Morgan he loved her. he
realized he had always loved her and
always should
Il don't deserve anything so won
derFul," he told her, "as that you
should care about me, Carlotta! I've
been stupid in many ways-but I'm in
my right mind now!"
I've always cared" she told him
simply. For a moment she hesitated
The previous winter when he had
deserted the cottage, often troubled
her But with all her sweetness Car
iotta Morgan had clever Instincts.
That winter was past and he was
hers now for always, and she was the
rare woman who knows when not to
question.
The night fragrance of roses foated
in through the open window as they
talked of the future in serene hapIi-
ness. In the mans heart was a thank.
lul and wondering content that things
L..