Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1912-06-20

! curing full dress be noticed that she
never appeared in such costume with,
out 1t, One evening when she was thus
attirCd he said to her:
/ why do you invariably wear that
ornament with fun dreSSy"
/ The expression he had noted when he
had first called her 2eRobiS passed
again over her face. and-she made no
reply
He looked nj her. surprised She was
Keeping n secret from him,
/ During nv engagement certain sen.
sitiveueSS or oVcrSenSitivcneSS is apt
to permit uuimpnrtaut matters to re-
main unexplained that had better be
brought out into the open Percy did
not repeat the question but began IL
speak Of something else, No one had
better control OF himself than he. and
he acted outwardly as though he had
veutured upon ground On which he had
no right to tread. lnwardly there was
great change in him toward his
tiauCce.
When he went home that night the
warming he had received against the
American beauty, the hints rs to her
pleheiau ORIGIN, the mystery attending
her Inheritance, all came up before
/ him to throw him into Il fever that ne
other cause could have Effected Sup
pose this CirclCt should have some con
nection with either OF these matters,
Absurd. There was muCh more rea
son To suppose that II concealed Il
hlcmish. n hirthmark, or perhaps one
Of those scars of unusual size and uglt
ness that are left by vaccination
And yet would this woman, about
whom there was an imprcssiveness
that affected every one who came near
her, refuse 10 tell the man she was to
marry that on her arm was Il triding
blemish? II the first superstition was
| absurd the second was more SO No;
| there was some mystery connected
with the circlet-a blot. n weakness
There was n weakness In this strong
woman. n very strange weakness, Il
weakness that no one could conceive
as existing side by side with n being
OF such mental and spiritual caliber.
terry II shielded Percy was not destin-
ed to find ont from Miss Denton. He
was to learn 1t by accident
The secret grew and festered and
throbbed and panied TIL the lover
could stand Il no longer He was u
masterful man In self control and sue
Ceeded In concealing what he felt from
A Ia Ia,
failed to discover that something had
come between them or that she did
not realize that the secret she had re-
fused to tell him was on his mind.
What she did not know was that he
was trying to make up his mind to re-
sign her All the traditions OF his fam.
lily were against his marrying wo-
man who had no pretense to an aris-
tocratic birth and about whom. despite
her evident fine character, he feared
there might be something wrong. He
determined 10 absent himself from her
for awhile to determine II he could
not forget her
He was tempted to go to America
and investigate her past on the ground
where she lived, but he banished the
idea In moment Investigate the past
Of the woman he was to marryl He
would wed no one who would not
make Il clean breast OF her whole life
No; he would go down to Italy. The
beautiful lakes, Magglori. Como. would
inspire him with other thoughts, and
the American--he shuddercd at the
thought TINT she might be nm adyen-
turess- would gradually be effaced
from his mind
So he bid Miss Denton adleu, telling
her that he would run over to the con.
tnent for brief season OF recreation.
intending to advise her OF the pro
longation OF his absence later by lot,
ter The morning after his arrival In
Paris. taking up newspnper~the con
tinental newspapers are mostly socie-
ty journals his eye met the following
item. copied from an American paper:
Miss Helen Denton. an American girl
whose name some years ago was in every
ones mouth IL creating sensation In
London society. Miss Denton IL tho
daughter OF lighthouse keeper on the
New Jersey coast and when sixteen years
old during "A storm carried "A line In n boat
to n yacht that was going to pieces on "A
bar near the lighthouse where she lived,
thus saving the lives OF the yachtsman
and his family lie left an enormous for
tune part OF which went to the heroine
who had succored him and his wife and
children
Percy started from his seat. took the
paper to the window and read the
item again and again.
And this was the woman he was
trying to get away from. But the cir
clet. What could that have to do with
the matter2 He would return to Lon
don and find out.
The next evening he called upon his
nancee and without mentioning 'hs
unexpected return handed her the Item
he had cut from the Paris paper. She
heaved sigh
TITS all out that | am a plebeian. |
release you"
"WlIl you now tell me why you wear
the clrcletT'