The Emmett index. [volume] (Emmett, Idaho) 1893-1925, 1914-07-02
THE VALIANTS OF
VIRGINIA
Continued from Page 81

WHICH ne Hhu CAukHN III uiF OWhs NY
dropped. limp and unresponsive, In
her lap. Shirley" he said brokenly,
maybe you cant care for me-yet.
But II you will marry me, I-Ill be
content with so little, till--you do"
She shook her head, her hair max
ing dim flashes In the firelight. mo.
Chilly" she said. ut makes me
wretched to give you pain. but must
II must! Love isn't like that 1t
doesn't come afterward. know. I
could never give you what you want.
You would end by despising me. as
J-shouId despise myself"
Il won't give up" he said incoher-
emily. Il can't give up Not so long
as know there's nobody else. At the
ball thought thought perhaps you
cared for Valiant-but since he told
me"
He stopped suddenly. for she was
looking at him from an ashen face.
He told me there was no reason why
] should nottry my luck" he said diff
ficultly. Il asked him."
There was silence, while he gazed
ut h'it uitathih6 uSsPdii. iHOh no
tried 10 laugh.
"All right" he said hoarsely. Tt
II doesn't matter. Don't worry"
She stretched out her hand to him
in a gesture OF wistful pain. and he
held 1t a moment between both of
his. then released It and went hur-
riedly out
Ia tho dOOr oincad ChfrIau ant
down, her head dropping into her
hands like a storm-broken flower Val
liant had accepted the flnallty OF the
situation. With wave of deeper
hopelessness 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 tho
sharp misery that had so long been
her companion--an empty numbness
in which, in a 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 II did not ache. Outside
her mothers door. as was her custom,
-. ,..,,.o5 s,,ochorfcaIlv IN lfefan A
tiny pencil of light struck through the
darkness and painted spot OF bright
ness on her gown. II 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
A moment she stood listening to the
low regular breathing OF the sleeper
The reading,lamp shed a shaded glow
on the pillow with its spreadout sill
yer hair. and on the delicate hands
clasped loosely on the coverlet. Shir-
ley came close and looked down on
the placid face. Ii was smooth as a
childs and a smile touched II lightly
as II some pleasant sleep-thought had
Just laid rosy fingers on the dreaming
lips. The light caught and sparkled
frum something bright that lay be-
tween her mothers hands. II 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. II came to her at once
that the picture must be Saesoon's,
and quick thrill OF pity and yearn-
ing welled up through her own dejec-
tion. STOPPING. she looked at 1t close
ly. 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 II must
be the picture OF his father The fact
shocked and confounded her Why
should her mother carry in secret the
miniature OF the man who had
Shirley's breath stopped. She felt
her face tingling and curious weak
ness came on her limbs. Why. indeed.
the thought was like a
wild prayer in her mind--she had
been mistaken in her surmise?
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 new
light, throbbing and roseate. Could
L be? Had she been stumbling along
a blind trail, misled by the cunning
OF circumstance? Her
heart was beating stifiingly. If she
should be mistaken nov! She dashed
ler hand across her eyes as though to
compel their clearness, and looked
again.
II was Beauty Valiant's face that
ay In the locket. and that could mean
- l. /