Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1914-03-14

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CHAPTER XIX.
Night
A quicker breeze was stirring %
John Valiant went back along the Red
Road. He had waited in the garden
at Rosewood TIL Shirley. aided by
Emmaline and with Ranston's anxious
face lowering In the background, hav.
ing performed those gentle Offices
which . woman's .fatnttng spell r.
Equires. had come to reassure him and
% say good night.
AZ be threw Oh his coat IN the
bedroom he had chosen for his own,
he felt the hard corner Of the Lucille"
In the pocket, and drawing it out, laid
it on the table by the bedside. He
seemed to feel again tho tingle Of
his cheek where = curling strand Of
her coppery hair had sprung against 1t
when her head had bent beside his
own to read the marked lines.
Z, When he had undressed he sat IN
hour In the candle-blaze. . dressing
gown thrown over his shoulders, striv-
ing vainly to recreate that evening
call. to remember her every word and
look and movement. For breath
her face would flush suddenly before
him, like q live thing; then it would
mysteriously fade and elude him,
though he clenched his hands on the
arms Of his cha ir in the fierce mental
effort to recall It. Only the intense
blue Of her eyes. the tawny sweep Of
her hair-these and the touch Of her,
the CONSEQUENCES Of her warm and
vivid fragrance. remained to wrap all
his senses In q mist woven Of gold
and IRE.
| Shirley, meanwhile, had sat some
time beside her mothers bed, leaning
from a white chintz-covered chair, her
anxiety only partially allayed by reas-
surances. now and then STOPPING to lay
her young cheek against the delicate
arm in its lacy sleeve or to pass her
hand lovingly up and down its outline,
noting with r current passion Of ten.
.dsrness the tr; nSpArency Of the skin
with it, violet veininE and the shad-
ows beneath Il D closed eyes. Emma.
me, moving on soft worsted-shod feet
about the dim room. at lenEth had
whispered.
you 90 tuh bald, honey. I stay
with Mis- Judith till she go tub sleep"
Yes, 60. Shirley" said her mother.
"HaventEI any privileges 1t all? Can't
I even faint when feel like It, without
calling out tho hrebrigade! You'll
pamper me to death and heaven knows
! don't need it,
You wont let me telephone for Doc
tor Southall?"
Certainly not!
And you are sure It was nothing
but the roses
why, what else should 1t be-" said
her mother almost peevishly. II must
really have the arbors thinned out. On
heavy nights its positively overpower-
ing. Go along now. and we'll talk
about It tomorrow. can ring II I
want anything
In her room Shirley undressed
thoughtfully. There was between her
and her mother . me tenuous bond
Of sympathy and feeling - rare, per
haps, a. It was lovely. She could not
remember when the other had not
been q semi-inyalid. and her earliest
childhood recolIectisns were punctu.
ated with the tap Of the little cane.
Tonight's sudden fndisposition had
shocked and disturbed her: to faint
1T . rush Of perfume seemed to sug.
gest q growing weakness that was
alarming. Tomorrow, she told hersen,
she would send Ranston with wagon
lead cs the roses to the hospital at
Charlottesville.
She slipped on . pink shell-shaded
ldressing-gown Of slinky silk with a
riot Of azaleas scattered in the weave.
and then, dragging her chair before
the open widow, drew aside the light
curtain and began to brush her hair.
All Ut once her gaze fell upon the
floor, and she shrank backward from a
twisting thread-like thing whose bright
sanron.yellow glowed sharply against
the dark carpet She Jaw In An in
slant, however. that 1t was nothing
more dangerous than fragment of
love-vine from the garden, which had
chung to her skirA She picked up
the tiny mass OF tendrils and with .
slow smile tossed It over her right
shoulder through the window. III 1t
takes root" she said aloud. my sweet
heart loves me-" She leaned from the
sill to peer down into the misty gar
den, but could not follow its fall.
Long ago her visitor would have
reached Damory Court. She had a
vision Of him wandering. candle In
hand, through the empty echoing
rooms, looking at the voiceless por-
traits on the walls, thinking perhaps
OF his father. Of the fatal duel OF which
he had never known. She liked the
way he had spoken Of his father!
Az abe leaned. oat Of the stiffness
there came to her ear mellow sound.
iIt was the bell Of the courthouse In
the village. She counted the strokes
,S.I,;,- claargv nr family az the slug