Ladysmith news-budget. [volume] (Ladysmith, Rusk County, Wis.) 1907-1927, 1917-05-25
Continued from last week.
S0UV " OsISO y 49,

| But Alaire did not seem to hear him
She was staring out into the night
| again. "What a failure I must be p
| she murmured, finally. 81 suppose ]
should have seen this. coming, butt
! didn't. And in his house, too! This
dress is his, and these jewels-every.
thing!" She held up her hands and
stared curiously at the few rings she
wore, as if seeing them for the first
time. "How does that make you feel?'
Dave stirred; there was resentment
IN his voice when he answered: your
husband has sacrificed his claim to
you, as everybody knows. To my mind
he has lost his rights. You're NINE
mine" He waved a vigorous gesture
Of defiance. "Pll take you away from
him at any cost. I'll see that he gives
you up, somehow. You're all have
"Of course the law provides way,
but you wouldn't, couldn't, understand
how | feel about divorce" The mere
mention of the word was difficult, and
caused Alaire to clench her hands.
Were both too shaken to talk sanely
now, so let's wait"
There's something you must under
stand before we go any further" Dave
insisted. ''Im poor; haven't thing
l can call my own, so I'm not sure
have any right to take you away from
all this" He turned hostile eye upon
their surroundings.
money means so little, and it's SO
easy to be happy without it," Alaire
told him. "But I'm not altogether poor
Of course everything here is Eds, but
have enough. All my life I've had
everything except the very thing you
offer-and how I've longed for that
How I've envied other people! Do you
think I'll be allowed, somehow, to have
it?"
eyes! I've something to say about
that. You gave me the right when
you gave that kiss"
Alaire shook her head. "I'm not sc
sure. 1t seems easy now, while you
are here, but how will it seem later
I'm in no condition at this minute to
reason. Perhaps, as you say, it is all
dream; perhaps this feeling 1 have
is just passing frenzy"
Dave laughed softly, confidently.
'It's too new yet for you to under
stand-but wait. 1t is frenzy, witch
ery-yes, and more. Tomorrow, and
avery day after, it will grow and grow
and grow! Trust me, I've watched it
In myself"
$50 you cared for me from the very
firSt?" Alaire questioned. 1t was the
woman's curiosity, the woman's hunger
to hear over and over again that truth
which never fails to thrill and yet
never fully satisfies.
"Oh, even before that, I think When
you came to my fire that evening in
the chaparral, knew every line Of
your face, every movement of your
body, every tone of your voice, as a
man knows and recognizes his ideal.
But it took time for me to realize all
that you meant to me-"
Alaire nodded. eyes, and it must
have been the same with me.' She
met his eyes frankly. but when he
reached toward her she held him away.
mo, dear. Not yet, not again, not
until we have the right. 1t would be
better for us both if you went away
now"
"No, no! Oh, I have so much to say
I've been dumb all my life, and you've
just opened my lips"
please! After I've decided what
to do--once I feel that I can control
myself better-Ill send for you. But
you must promise not to come until
then, for you walld only make it
harder"
At last he took her hand and kissed
her wrist, just over her pulse, as if
to speed message to her heart, then
into her rosy palm he whispered ten
der something that thrilled her.
She stood white, motionless, against
the dim illumination Of the porch until
he had gone, and not until the last
sound Of his motor had died away did
she stir. Then she pressed her own
lips to the palm he had caressed and
walked slowly to her room.