Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1915-12-29
CHATTER XII.
Quid pro Quo.


It was his blessing that had done
it; up to then she had controlled her
feelings in fashion worthy of the
title just bestowed upon her. If only
he had stopped at that, and kept his
blessing to himself! 1t sounded so
very much more like a knell that
Blanche had begun first to laugh, and
then to make such a fool Of herself
(as she herself reiterated) that she
was obliged to run away in the worst
possible order.
But that was not the end Of those
four superfluous words of final bene.
diction; before the night was out they
had solved, to Blanche's satisfaction,
the hitherto impenetrable mystery of
Cazalet's conduct.
He had done something in Austria
liza. something that fixed gulf be-
tween him and her. Blanche did not
mean something wrong, much less a
crime, least of all any sort of COM
plicity in the great crime which had
been committed while he was on his
way home. But she believed the
his friend, Mr.. Potts, and to get en-
gagged or perhaps actually married to
somebody in the bush.
There was no reason why he should
not; there never had been any sort
or kind OF understanding between her
self and him; it was only as lifelong
friends that they had written to each
other, and that only once year. Life.
long friendships are additionally fatal
to romance. They had both been
free as air; and if he was free no
longer, she had absolutely no cause
for complaint, even if she was fool
enough to feel it.
All this she saw quite clearly in her
very honest heart. And yet, he might
have told her; he need not have flown
to see her, the instant he landed, or
seemed so overjoyed, and such a boy
again, or made so much Of her and
their common memories! He need not
have begun begging her, in minute,
to go out to Australia, and then never
have mentioned it again; he might
just as well have told her If he had or
hoped to have a wife to welcome her!
OF course he saw it afterward, him.
self; that was why the whole subject
of Australia had been dropped so sud
denly and for good. Most likely he
had married beneath him; If so, she
was very sorry, but he might have said
that he was married.
Curiously enough, it was over Mar
tina that she felt least able to forgive
him. Martha would say nothing, but
Ter unspoken denunciations OF Caza-
ct would be only less intolerable than
/ Ter unspoken sympathy with Blanche.
\ fartha had been perfectly awful about
he whole thing. And Martha had CON-
united the final outrage of being per-
'fectly right, from her fdiotic point of
view.
Now among all these meditations OF
b long night, and of still longer day,
in which nobody even troubled to send
her word of the case at Kingston, II
would be too much to say that no
Thought of Hilton Toye ever entered
fhe mind of Blanche. She could not
help liking him; he amused her I'M
mensely; and he had proposed to her
twice, and warned her he would again.
She felt the force of his warning, be-
cause she felt his force of character
Ind will. She literally felt these
lbrces, as actual emanations from the
ntrongest personality that had ever
mpinged upon her own.
Il In the day of reaction, such consid-
9rations were bound to steal in as
Jingle spies, each with a certain con-
eolation, not altogether innocent Of
Comparisons. But the battalion of |
Ioye's virtues only marched on
A1anche when Martha came to her, on
ne little green rug of lawn behind |
ne house, to say that Mr.. Toye him |
IF had called and was in the draw |
eg-room.
blanche stole up past the door, and
8ckly made herself smarter than she