The Washington herald., 1912-06-23
AHtkor Of


Deane shrugged his shoulders. "Tha
exact facts are these" he said. SIN
clair's claim to the Little Anna Gold
Mine is worth very little Nevertheless,
he knew that any action he might take
against me in the present state of our
money market here would be somewhat
disastrous. Il would upset our credit
and bring down our prices. Therefore,
his idea, without doubt, was to come
to England and make a bargain with
/ me. He didn't expect the mine What
he wanted was blood money He came,
and, perhaps unwisely, / would have
, nothing to do with him. Rowan was
known to both of us out there. He
came 10 see me a few days afterward,
and / commissioned him to buy this
deed, if he could He went to look for
| Sinclair, they drank together, an old
| quarrel was revived, and they fought.
| The end of that you know. Where tho
| document has gone to, can't imagine,
( but ! can assure you that It was never
meant to be the basis OF a serious claim,
merely the foundation stone of a per-
! feet system of blaclcmailing. II l had
| listened for 1ve minutes to Heferom
| should have been in his power all my
| life. | should have lost my self-respect.
Very soon l should have lost my nerve.
| couldn't do II. / preferred to face
him in a court of justice. He came to
blackmail me, and he deserved to be
punished. If he can prove that It is I
who am the i'll doer, will take my
punishment can say no more"
You talk" Lord Nunneley said,
looking at him kindly. as l would havs
my own son talk. And yet, Deane, this
whole affair is distressing to me- tell
you frankly that it has upset all tho
pleasure with which | consented to your
engagement | cannot bear that any
one associated with Olive should ever
find himself in such a position. This
case, OF course, may go all in your IA
vor, or it may not. If it does not, well,
you know very well that it would be
the beginning Of very unpleasant
things.
Does Olive know of this little lunch
con party Of ours, Lord Nunneley?"
Deane asked.
She does not" Lord Nunneley as
serted. Olive is, above all things,
stanch. She is, l believe. too, sin
cerely attached to you. am speaking
entirely for myself I am speaking, too,
as the father of an only daughter,
whose engagement 10 you was, after
all, little experimental should like
to see my daughter released from that
engagement, Deane"
Deane smoked steadily for several
minutes. Finally. This is a little hard
on me. isn't It, sir2 I have only done
what you yourself would have done
refused to have underhand dealings
with men who made dishonorable prop
ositions to me"
1T is hard on YOU, Deane," Lord
Nunneley declared 1T is very hard
indeed. But remember, I never want
! know YOU, and I like YOU If YOU
plenty of money, ! should not hesitate
for second, for believe that Olive
likes you. But l hate scandal. ! hata
gossip, hate notoriety! This black
mailing case of yours IS going to result
in all three I'd like to 60 home and
lay the case before Olive, and have your
permission to say that if it seems good
to her mother and myself, the engage
ment between you two is broken"
Deane leaned back in his chair. Is
seemed to him that he had so little time
to give to thoughts outside the imme-
diate trend OF the days work 1t was
proposed that his engagement with
Olive should be broken What did it
mean to him. this engagement? How
far into his life had she come? What
place did she hold in his heart? His
thoughts travelled backward He re-
membered his almost meteor-like Access
sion to wealth and influence. He re-
membered how all doors had flown
open to him. He remembered and real
lied exactly where he stood. He
thought of Lady Olive He remem-
bered the first day when he had decid-
ed that she was the woman who would
look we'll at the head of his table, who
would be a pleasant companion for him,
and would insure his having friends,
when he gave up his struggling, among
the class of people with whom he de-
sired to associate 1t was in that way
that he had looked at it from the first
Was it the same now? He had touched
her hands. He had even kissed her
lips. She had come into his arms and
allowed him to embrace her, without
any obvious reluctance Only a few
weeks ago she had kissed him volun-
tarily, absolutely of her own will. Dur
ing their fortnight in Scotland she had
shown herself more feminine than he
had ever believed her. She had insisted
upon taking him for walks by herself.
She had taken his arm, encouraged
Aim to make love to her. had deserted
the bridge table in the evenings to sit
in dark corners with him, had allowed
him to hold her hand, even to snatch
a few kisses If she did not care for
him. at least she was very near il And
as for him-he was fond of her, with
out a doubt. Somewhere in the back
ground of his apprehension there was
some shadowy idea of a greater thing
than this, a love more thrilling, more
passionate, more mysterious-music in
the veins, which no Lady Olive in tho
world had ever created But there was
about these thoughts something abso-
utely unreal. fantastic. They had never
taken to themselves shape, never be-
came associated with any human being.
They were nothing to trust to, he told
He looked out of the
rain-swept window Of the club. Curl.
Ously enough, he had a sudden vision!
Of Winifred Rowan's quiet, set face.
The memory of one passionate moment
seemed suddenly to creep along his
1eartStrings like the wind over the,
strings of a harp. Such folly, he.
thought, frowningl Such absolute follyl
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