Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1919-11-20
THE LADY EVELYN

A Story of Today
BY MAX PEMBERTON

her face was so familiar to himI
Every hour that he lived at the Hall
quickened this impression OF familiar
ity. Her very voice could make him
start, as though one whom he knew
we'll were speaking to him. Her state
ly movements, her gestures, tor
mented his memory as though incit-
ing 1t to recall forgotten scenes for
him. At the luncheon table. upon the
second day, he made bold to tell her
Of his immovable idea.
I'VE have met somewhere, Lady
Evelyn" he said, ~ cannot tell where;
but It was in some such house as this
in the gardens of such a house. And
that is odd, for to my knowledge
was never in Tudor house before.
Now, say that am dreaming It; that
It is just one Of those foolish ideas
which come to one in sleep and are
remembered when waking. 1t could
hardly be anything else, OF course"
Evelyn flushed crimson while he
was speaking: but she retained her
composure sufficiently to declare that
she had no recollection Of such an oc-
casion.
I'VE rarely go from here" she said
evasively. II cannot recollect visiting
any Tudor house in England-you see
30 many, Mr.. Ord. 1t would be natu-
raj to have such an idea, think"
"Oh, perfectly and perhaps foolish.
Our brains play us strange tricks, and,
often enough, the widest Of them
have the least meaning. know a
man in Paris who dreamed three
nights running that he would be
thrown out of motorcar on his way
to Monte Carlo. He put OF the visit
in consequence and was knocked down
next day by a cab in the Rue Quatre
Septembre. / don't mean to say that
he was killed, but he had a nasty fall,
and that was the price he paid for
dreaming. l try to dismiss these things
as soon as they come to me. Here's a
case in point. You and I clearly have
never met-unless it were in London"
he added, with another keen glance at
her.
Evelyn could not suppress the high
color in her cheeks, and they were
crimson when she found her fathers
eyes watching her curiously as though
some train Of thought had been set in
motion by the argument. Perfectly
we'll did she know that Gavin Ord had
seen her in London, on the stage OF
the Carlton Theatre; and that discov-
cry had looked her in the face twice
in as many months. This time, how.
ever che feared 1t less; for she had
come to believe by this time that she
would presently be compelled to tell
her story to all the world before many
weeks had passed.
I'VE are not often in London" the
Earl said dryly; with such house as
this. why should We be? Lady Evelyn
cares nothing for society. regard it
as the refuge of the mentally desti-
tute. II travel, 1t Is from one soil
tude to another. A man is never SO
much master Of himself and of the
world as when he is alone. Can we
consider the modern life as anything
but a glorification of the aggregate
and not of the individual? Your pro-
fession is the best friend you have,
Mr.. Ord. Those who follow noble
ends establish nobility in their own
characters. That's creed / wish
had known twenty years ago. You
are young man and should recite 1t
every day while your youth remains
to you"
Gavin replied that a man was neith-
er older nor younger than his ideas;
and the drift of the conversation being
changed, to Evelyn's evident relief
they fell again to their plans for the
restoration Of the Hall and that which
must be done before the wet weather
set in. Until this time, Evelyn had
scarcely noticed Gavin or taken any
interest in his coming to the Manor.
The truce between her father and
herself left her in a dresm.world
from which there appeared to be NO
gate Of escape whatever. She had
neither counsellor nor friend. To
Count Odin she had said, "You shall
have my answer In three months
time" Her fathers almost passion
ate desire for this marriage, which
his own youth had contrived. won
from her no promise more definite
than that which she had given to the
Count. The time had passed for any
but the frankest expressions upon
either side. In the plainest words,
the Earl told her that this Roumanian
had crossed Europe to demand the
liberty of q man who had long been
but number in a prison upon the
shores OF the Black Sea. ~
let Georges Odin be released" he
had said, "and unless you are his
sons wife, he will kill me-"
Lady Evelyn knew this to be no
chimera Of weakness or fear. The
vengeance OF the mountains would
follow Robert Forester even to the
glades OF Derbyshire. Witnesses To