Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-02-23
THE HEART
OF A WOMAN
BY
BARONESS ORGY
Copyright. 1911. by George ii. Doran
BARONESS ORGY
CHAPTER XXII-Continuei.

''How you stand, MANI" calculated Col.
Harris, with uncontrolled vehemence.
Great heavens don't you realize that
here is some damned conspiracy as mys-
terious as it is damnable, and that you
will have to look this seriously in the
face, if you don't wish to find yourself
in the dock before the next four and
twenty hours?''
Il am" replied Luke. simply, looking
the matter squarely in the face, sir. but
I don't quite see how I can avoid stand
ing in the dock as you say, before the
next four and twenty hours. You see. l
had quarreled with Philip. and my stick
which contained dagger-was found in
the park, covered with mud, as you say.
and other STAINS
but. hang it all, man! you did not muir
der your cOuSin.
This was not query. but an assertion.
Col. Harris loyalty had not wavered, but
he could not contrive to keep the note OF
anxiety out Of his voice-nor did he re-
iterate the assertion when Luke made no
answer to 1t.
Once more the latter passed his hand
over the back of his head. You know
that gesture. It is so English! and al
ways denotes a certain measure OF per-
turbation. Then he said, with seeming
irrelevance:
II suppose 1 had better go now
His eyes sought Louisa's. trying to read
what she thought and felt. Imagine the
awful moment! For he loved her. as you
know. with that intensity of passion OF
which a nature like his-almost cramped
by perpetual self-containment-is alone
capable. Then to have to stand before
her wondering what the next second
would reveal, hardly daring to exchange
fear for gertrude. because Of what that
gertrude might be.
He sought her eyes and had no difficulty
i'm finding them. They had never wan
dered away from his face. To him-the
ardent worshiper-those eyes of hers had
never seemed SO eXquisitely luminous. He
read her soul then and there as he would
book. \ soul full of trust and brim-
ming over with compassion and with love.
Col. Harris was loyal to the core; he
chung to his loyalty. to his belief in Luke,
as he would to a rock, fearful lest he
ment of surmises, of suspicious. God
help him! But in Louisa even loyalty
was submerged in sea of love. She
cared nothing about suspicious, about
facts. about surmises. She had no room
in her heart for stanchness-it was all
submerged in love.
There was no question. no wonderment,
no puzzle in the eyes which met those Of
Luke. You see, she was just a very ordi-
nary kind of woman.
and all that she conveyed to him by that
look was just love.
Only love.
And love-omnipotent, strange and ca
PRECIOUS love-wrOught a curious miracle
then! For Col. Harris was present in the
room. mind you, a third-if not an alto
gether ndifferent-party, there, where at
this moment these two should have been
alone.
1t was Col. Harris presence in the room
that transformed the next instant into a
wonderful miracle-for Luke was down
on his knees before his simple-souled
Lou. She had yielded her hand TO him
and he had pressed an aching forehead
against the delicately perfumed palm.
In face of that love which she had
given him. he could only worship-and
would have been equally ready to worship
before the whole world. And therein lay
the miracle. Do You not agree. you who
know Englishmen of that class and
stamp" Can you conceive one of them
falling on his knees save at the bidding
of omnipotent love, and by the miracle
which makes a man forget the whole
world, defy the whole world. give up the
whole world, driven to defiance. to for
getfulness, TO self-sacritice, for the sake
of the torturing, exquisite moments Of
transcendental happiness?