Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1912-05-16
THE HEART OF A woman
BY BARONESS ORczY.
Author Of 1.-THE Scarlet PimperneL" "Pettcoat Rule" Etc.

cole and riglltful heir. and l may pos
sibi% be a besgar."
She uttered AN exclamation of incrc-
Ilulity. Luke. a bcggar.' Luke the one
man in all the world. different from
every other man. Luke ousted by that
stranger upStart.
Co hath too much sense of hunnor
10 allow 50 ridiculous a fate to work
her silly caprice.
And. she said with scorn. 'hecause
Of all these absurd possibilities Won talk
OF breaking off your engagement to
mo. Do you care so little as all that,
Luke"
He did no, reply, but continued TO
walk beside her. just a yard or so
apart from her. turning his steps in the
direction of the gates, toward the AL
bert bridge. their nearest way home.
S~he-mrckly row, for already she WAS
Sorry-tur!.ed to look at him. Some
thing IN his attitude, the stoop of
the shoulders. usually so square and
erect. the hands %curiously clasped be
hind his back. told her that her shaft
very thoushtlcssly ~aimed-had struek
even deeper than it should
II am SO sorry. dear" she aid gent
ly.
His look forgave her, even before he
words were fully out of her mouth. but
with characteristic reticence. he made
no reply to her talnt. Strangely enough
she was satisfied that he should say
nothing. The look. which did not re-
proach even whilst it tried to conceal
the infinite depth of the wound so light
ly dealt. had told her more than any
words could do. Whatever Luke de
cided to do. it would be from a sense
of moral obligation. that desire for do
ing the right thing-in the worldly
sense of the term-which is inherent in
Englishmen OF Il certain class. No sen
fyNr At,f .,tsn f1,n ~ a, aA.. A.
of honor would be allowed to sway her
destiny and his.
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES same strained
sense of honor and duty-decreed that
under certain mundane circumstances
II man n woman should not mate.
Differences OF ancestry. of %parentage,
of birth and of country, divergence of
taste. OF faith. of Delief-all these mat
ter not one iot. But let the man be
beggared and the woman rich, and con
vention steps in and says. 1T shall not
be-"
These two bowed to that decree: UNI
conventional. in so far as that they both
made the sacrifice out of the intense
purity of their sentiment to one am
other. They made AN absolutely world
ly sacrifice for a wholly unworldly mo-
tive. Luke would as soon have thought
of seeing Louisa in a badly fitting serge
frock. and paying twopence for a two
tiiiC w VI Oi dS IiS MOllN
expect to see q diamond tiara packed
in a cardboard box, it would be unfair
on the jeweler who had made the tiara
thus to subject it to rough treatment.
and it would be equally unfair on the
Creator of Louisa to let her be buffeted
about by the cruder atoms of this
world.
Louisa only thought Of Luke and that
perhaps he woul feel happier in his
mind III She allowed him to make this
temporary sacrifice.
There is such wonderful balm in self
imposed sacrifice. ~
What" she asked simply, do you
want me to say. Luke?"
Only that-that you won't give me
up altogether unless
Here he checked himself abruptly.
Was there ever an Englishman born
who could talk sentiment at moments
such as this? Luke IA no exception
to that rule. There was so much thai
he wanted TO say to Louisa. and yet
the very words literally choked him
before ne could contrive to utter them.
Don't" she said quietly. .'let us
even refer to such things. Luke. / dc
not believe in this shadow. and I can
not even understand why you should
worry about 1t But whatever happens
l should never give you up. Never.
We will put off fixing the day of oul
wedding; since we have made no an
nOuncement this won't matter at all;
but l only agree to this because / think
that 1t is what you would like. l fancy
that it would ease your mind. AS fol
breaking engagement in the flu
ture-in case the worst happens-well il
shall not be with my consent. Luke
unless YOU really cease to care
They had reached the gate close t.
the bridge. Life pulsated all round
them, the life of the big city. callous
noisy and cruel. Omnibuses. cabs
heavy vans. ratified necessarily past
them. People jostled one another. hur.
rying and scurrying. pigmies and ants
adding their tiny load of work, of care
of sorrow to the titanic editice of his
living world.
Louisa's last words remained unan.
swered Luke had. by his silence, SAID
everything there was to say. They
stood on the pavement for a moment
and Luke hailed a passing taxicab.
At the corner opposite. an omnibus
pulled up OH it's way westward A
man stepped off the curb ready to en-.
ter it. Louisa caught his eye. and hs
raised his hattie man who hal
passed them in the park just now.
CHAPTER VI.