Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-05-16
! THE MISCHIEF MAKER !
E. PHILLIPS OPPENFiEM
= OopynsAt > .
E. PHILIPS OPPENEIEIM


I What about herr" Carraby demanded.
She's bound to be civil TO you now.
| anyway"
| us she?. Mrs. Carraby replied. rs
she. indeed. Well. her civility this after
| noon has been such that shall have to
give up my stall. / can't stay there
What do you mean?" he demanded.
Nothing, except that before everybody
she once more cut me dead. cut me wick
edly." Mrs. Carraby declared. You don't
understand the tragedy OF this to wom-
an. You are not likely to. She did Ii In
| such q way this time that there isn't a
person worth knowing I'm London who
| isn't laughing ABOUT IT at the present
moment
Beast OF a woman he muttered.
Mrs. Carraby came a little farther into
and sat there. Her hands were tightly
clinched, her face was hard and cold. her
| tone icy. Yet one felt that underneath
tempest was raging.
I'VE had some hard times when You fret
began to make your way q little. When
we first took this house. even things
weren't altogether easy. Americans can
come from nowhere, do the most out
rageous things in the world and take Lon
don by storm. London. on the other hand.
| is cruel to English people who have only
| their money. She was cruel to us. Al
| gernon. but with all the snubs and all the
| difficulties I ever had. nothing has ever
happened to me like today"
You'll get over It.
"Get over it," she repeated. Yes. but
thought that that sort OF thing was at
an end. I thought that when you were
q cabinet minister no one would dare
treat me rs though I were social no
| body
has special reason he reminded her.
II suppose it's that Portel affair"
Yes" Mrs. Carraby agreed. 1t is the
Portel affair."
They were both silent. There wasn't
much to be said for the moment.
Have you heard" he inquired. present
ly whether Lady Anne is with him In
Parish"
mo" she replied. Somehow or other
people don't seem to talk scandal about
Lady Anne. They say that she Is stay
ing for a time with an old friend there.
A! !.ys.s.
'Is it true that you are doing 80 badly
at the foreign Officer" she asked. bluntly-
A little flush mounted almost to his fore
| head.
Il have had the DEVILS own luck" he
muttered.
II can't take up a newspaper" she con-
tipued. bitterly. without finding IL full
of abuse of you. They say that during
six weeks the entente cordale has van
ished. They say that you have lost the
friendship of France that she trusts US
no longer. and that Germany's tone be-
comes more threatening and more bully
| ing every day. solely on account OF your
weakness
I'VE can't afford to risk a war" Car
raby explained. Il am a radical minister.
have represented a radical constituency
ever since l came into parliament. What
the devil should have to say TO my peo-
pie il within a couple OF months of TAX
ing office We were plunged into war;"
81 do not pretend" Mrs. Carraby re-
! marked, Ito be an active politician, but
1 have heard 1t said that the best way
xz,;I Su et,-
afraid Of it. They say that that is where
Sir Julien Portel was so splendid. Do
you know that the leading article Of one
Of your own papers this morning declares
have said SO much to US IL she had not
known that she had only a puppet to deal
with in the cabinet? You know what all
the other papers are limiting at? Is il
true. Algernon. that you gave two hun
dred thousand pounds to the party"
Whether il is true or not Carraby re-
torted. 1T makes no difference | wanted
this post wanted II for your sake as
much as my own, and / wish TO heaven
that it was al the bottom of the sea. I'd
resign tomorrow IL / could do so with dig
nifty. I can't now. of course. Every one
would say l was chucked. To make
there come these internal letters OF
PorteIsv'
Mrs. Carraby raised her eyebrows.
why, I've heard Ii said that those let
tefS are the one nope THIS country mas.
I have heard 1t said that but for those
letters France and England would be as
far apart today they ever were. L
heard IL said only this afternoon that
those letters were our only hope OF peace.
They were compared with the letters OF
Junius. whoever he was. Lord Cardng-
ton told me himself that they were tho
most splendid political prose he had ever
read in his life.
THAT may be true enough" Carraby
growled, ''but they make II all the harder
for me. No doubt Portel was q good min
lister. No doubt he was doing very well
in bis post. Now he writes these letters
every one remembers 1t. every one is ask
ing for him back again. It's hell. Mabel!
/ wish to God we'd let the man alone!
Mrs. Carraby looked at her husband
steadfastly. She was a little taller than
he. She looked at him, from his well
brushed hair TO the trim patent boots
which adorned his small feet. She looked
at him, and in those strange-colored eyes
of hers were uncomfortable things. She
turned away and walked to the window.
In Imagination she was back again in Ju-
liens rooms. She lived again through
those few minutes. II he had answered
Inherently!
Go be continued tomorrow,