Evening star., 1912-07-19
CHAPTER V.-Continued.

nc IOTCeO COmpOSuTe upon nlfnSetI VIII
an EFFORT OF will. He must not permit
imagination SO to trick him. What he
fancied was madness. bred OF that shock
OF meeting and recognition. He
drew q deep breath, strode hastily to q
wall bracket. struck match and lit the
gas
Then. when he turned to review his
surroundings, out Of their sombrous OBJ
scurity. warmed to life and color by the
f1aring Jet, leaped the incarnate SUBJ
stance Of his apprchensions. In the
deeper gloom Of the room beyond the
skylight . woman was waiting, disposed
at indolent. graceful ease on an old set
tee. filmy. white draperies dropping round
her like the weary wings OF . resting
moth: an elbow on the arm Of the settes.
her face turned to him, eyes In the
shadow OF her hair OF gold seeking his
face with a look wide. pensive and in
scrutable.
A gust of anger shook him like wind.
He took a step toward her with an un-
conscious gesture of incredulity. as II he
would exercise an hallucination, then
halted and dropped his hand and stood
staring At her
Lefty" he said, in q voice so low that
It was almost q whisper-''Letty!"
Slowly the moth-woman inclined her
head, then, again moveless. watched him
with q regard unwaveringly intent and
curious.
What do you want?" he asked. un-
steadily.
'.To see you, Bruce" Her tone was
calm. even and bell-clear.
He tried to control his own. How did
you get In here?'
She raised the arm that had lain in her
lap, and the gas light struck a myriad
dazzling rays Of iridescence from her
gem-incrusted wrist and the fingers that
offered him q key.
II happened to remember having this. :"
she said. slowly, 'and thought I'd drop
lock. I couldn't find matches-so waited
in the dark. You're late"
A note OF biting raillery blended with
the silken richness of her tones. He felt
it. resented It, lost grip Of himself for
over her. snatched the key from her un-
resisting grasp and tossed 1t away.
through a nearby window.
You've forfeited your right to that
p 80 he said, trembling.
The woman smiled provokingly. You
haven't forgotten how to be meiodra-
matte, have you, Bruce"'
You taught me-" he said. sullenly.
"You made . fool Of me from the first"
Are you sQre?" she asked, with q
vs quiet a,. laugh vondsrsa Ars You sure Bruce'
The distilled malice of her words and
manner sobered him suddenly. His face
hardened even as the eyes that stared
openly into her own until her smile
faded. and a slow. hot color burned In
her cheeks and temples.
NO." he said quietly; you're right
Lefty. have given you too much credit.
You simply improved in your own way
the raw material l furnished YOU"
Meaning. l presume, you were fool
to marry me, Bruce?
That's my meaning" His jaws snap
ped on the words. +
Then why did your?
Because you - Crittenden
broke off, aware that he was raising his
crossed the room and dropped heavily
into a chair.
"Well. Bruce?" the woman goaded
him. well, because I-?"
Because I thought 1 loved you," he
replied in a more guarded tone
And you didn't. really?"
God knows l did,
II didn't value you highly enough, you
think?"
mo. I wouldn't say that: you valued
me exactly-to the last dollar. Lefty"
With q swift and graceful movement
the woman sat up, signals Of danger In
her eyes: but Crittenden was not even
looking at her. His elbows on his knees.
his hands clasped low. he sat with alb
stracted gaze directed toward the floor.
You played the game by thej rules you
knew" he continued, bitterly. You
found me pretty we'll fixed and well
thought Of; it seems only yesterday
they were calling me the coming man
along Broadway. You thought SO. too,
else you wouldn't have consented to
marry me: you had your eye on royal
ties-and q play to exploit yourself in.
You got the former. every damned cent,
and you got the latter-only that failed.
And because 1t failed you rid yourself
of me, just as you'd have sent back a
gown you'd ordered and then thought
shabby. You cast me off like. an old
glove and-went to the arms Of . man
with money. There's only one thing that
saved you 80
From what, Bruce? Did you really
think Of killing me? How dramatic!
Lefty bent forward, watching him close
ly with eyes alight. 81 think that would
have made me love you q little. Bruce
II you'd shown that much spirit Why
didn't you try 1t. anyhow-throw the
bluff, at leastT'
Because I've got decent name, for
one thing" he told her, coolly: "eyen
you couldn't destroy my pride in that.
And then the man you went to-poor
Tommy!-was my friend"
'But either OF those reasons was
enough, Bruce
You forget" he interrupted. quietly;
Tommy knew nothing Of our relations
any more than the world did. You
provided for that when you insisted that
our marriage be kept a secret-it was
who insisted on marriage. you know,
Letty-because you couldn't live without
the footlights, and II managers knew you
were married 1t would work against