The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1914-05-02
"Ail right" he said hoarsely. "1t-

IN a gesture Of wistful pain, and he
held 1t moment between both Of
his, then released 1t and went hur.
redly out.
AS the door closed. Shirley sat
down, her head dropping into her
hands like storm-broken flower. Val.
liant had accepted the fnality Of the
situation. With q wave of deeper
horslessness than had yet submerged
her, she realized that, against her own
decision. something deep within her
had taken shy and secret comfort in
his stubborn masculine refusal.
Against all fact, in face of the impos.
sible, her heart had been clinging to
this-as though his love might even
attain the miraculous and somewhere,
somehow, recreate circumstance. But
now he, too, had bowed to the decree.
"A kind of utter apathetic wretched.
ness seized upon her. to replace the
sharp misery that had so long been
her companion-an empty numbness
in which, in q measure, she ceased to
feel.
An hour dragged slowly by and at
length she rose and went slowly up
the stairs. Her head felt curiously
heavy, but it did not ache. Outside
her mothers door, as was her custom.
she paused mechanically to listen. A
tiny pencil Of light struck through the
darkness and painted spot Of bright
ness on her gown. It came through
the keyhole; the lamp in her mothers
room was burning. "She has fallen
asleep and forgotten it," she thought,
and softly turning the knob, pushed
the door noiselessly open and entered.
I; A moment she stood listening to the
low regular breathing of the sleeper.
The reading-lamp shed shaded glow
on the pillow with its spread-out sill
yer hair, and on the delicate hands
'clasped loosely on the coverlet. Shir-
ley came close and looked down on
the placid face. It was smooth as q
child's and a smile touched 1t lightly
as If some pleasant sleep-thought had
just laid rosy fingers on the dreaming
lips. The light caught and sparkled
from something bright that lay be-
tween her mothers hands. 1t was the
enamel brooch that held her own baby
curl, and she saw suddenly that what
she had all her life thought was a
solid pendant, was now open locket-
wise and that the two halves clasped
a miniature. It came to her at once
that the picture must be Saesoon's,
and a quick thrill Of pity and yearn-
ing welled up through her own dejec-
tion. STOPPING, she looked at it close
~. She started as she did so, for the
face on the little disk of ivory was
that of John Valiant.
An instant she stared unbelievingly.
Then recollection of the resemblance
of which Valiant had told her rushed
to her, and she realized that it must
be the picture of his father. The fact
shocked and COMPOUNDED her. Why
should her mother carry in secret the
miniature of the man who had
Killed
shirley's breath stopped. She felt
her face tingling and a curious weak
ness came on her limbs. Why, indeed.
unless-and the thought was like q
wild prayer in her mind-she had
been mistaken in her surmise
Thoughts came thronging in panic
haste: the fourteenth of May and the
cape observation-disclosures might point
no less to Valiant than to Sassoon.
But her mothers fainting at the sight
of the son-the eager interest she had
displayed in Shirley's accounts of him,
from the episode of the rose and the
bulldog to the tournament ball
seemed now to stand out in a new
light, throbbing and roseate. Could
1t be? Had she been stumbling along
blind trail, misled by the cunning
dovetailing Of circumstance? Her
heart was beating stifingly. If she
should be mistaken now! She dashed
her hand across her eyes as though to
compel their clearness, and looked
again.
It was Beauty Valiant's face that
lay in the locket, and that could mean
but one thing: it was he. not Sassoon,
whom her mother loved!
The lamplight seemed to grow and
spread to an unbearable radiance.
Shirley thought she cried out with a
sudden sweet wildness, but she had
not moved or uttered a sound. The
illumination was all about her, like
q splendid cloud. The impossible had
happened. The miracle for which she
Historically prayed had been wrought!
When she blew out the light, the
aiming still remained. That glowing
knowledge, like vitalizing and phys
zeal presence, passed with her through
the hall to her room. As she stood in
the elfish light of her one candle, the
poignancy OF her Joy was as sharp as
her past pain. Later was to come the
wonder how that tragedy had bent
Beauty Valiant's life to exile and her
mothers to unfulfillment, and in time
she was to know these things, too.
But now the one great knowledge blot
ted out all else. She need starve her
fancy no longer! The hours with her
lover might again sweep across her
memory undenied. She felt his arms.
his kisses, heard his whispers against
her cheek and smelled the perfume of
Madonna lilies.
. She drew the curtain and opened
the window noiselessly to the light.
Only a few hours ago she had been
singing to her harp in what wretched.
ness! She laughed softly to herself.
The quiet night was full Of his voice: