Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1921-06-18

Ch mad heard Oh Charlotte'S re-
N turn. He was perhaps the the
truth of why she disappeared
that night, and it would have amused
him if he had not been concerned
about the part he had played in her
life, and the suffering that she had
endured. When the rumor had gone
Nick had wondered about it. He
knew women well, and he had I'M
derstood Charlotte and liked her. She
was a lovely, imaginative child,
with the bloom Of youth like an aura
all about her. He had talked with
her as only an older man can talk,
listening to her shy comments on
life, encouraging her to tell him
her ideas. He saw in her something
different, something infinitely more
precious than the average young girl
possessed. She had a definite per-
done their best to suppress in every
way possible.
AS for Tony, he was too young to
have for a wife a girl like Charlotte,
he was too selfish to appreciate her
save as she gave him pleasure. He
was too youthfully arrogant to per-
ceive anything of rare sweetness in
this girl, whom his mother had en-
couraged him to think beneath him.
ANlCh sd" IL oil ClScIIy, anu ISSOlNeu
to cali on Charlotte just as soon as
she was settled.
He did not stop to think that his
re-entry into Charlottes life might
cause trouble. The general gossip CT
society had been that Tony's wife
was an unsophisticated little thing,
not at all the type to hold Tony, and
that her disappearance had been ar
ranged by Mrs. Hartman so that she
oh p o111notin,o oil = N
lines. Evelyn Hartman herself hao
taken care not to allow the night of
the country club dance to be connect
ed in any way with Charlotte'S dis
appearance. She had not announced
the fact that her daughter-inlaW had
gone until three days afterward,
and the servants had all been pledged
to secrecy.
Nick knew, because he had seen
Tony's angry face and Mrs. Harr1-
mans frozen society smile directed
on the culprit. 1t had amused him
than any one else present and the
fact that the girl genuinely liked
him and responded SO readily to his
monopoly of her had rather touched
him Loyal as she was to Tony, for
Nick had never succeeded in draw
ing a word of anything from her
concerning her life, Nick knew that
had been selfish. He wouldn't have
harmed hair of Charlotte's head,
but he knew that she cared nothing
for him, and he had, therefore, de-
termined on that night deliberately
to make Tony jealous. Now he was
eager to discover the truth of the
matter, to verify his suspicious, and
he was actually eager to see Char
lotte again, to discover whether or
not she has changed. Her startled
gasp over the telephone told him that
she was surprised.
spects," he said lightly. IF 1 may"
There was a moments silence, and
then Charlotte's voice%slow and with
a strange reserve.
'I'm afraid it won't be possible for
me to see you, Mr.. Fowler"
But Why?" the words were sur
prised out of him.
Its difficult to explain over the
telephone"
'Then let me come and see you. l
want 20 talk things over with you.
Surely you don't mean that we are
not going to be friends any longer"
Charlotte felt suddenly hemmed in
bird shut up in a cage, surrounded
with all that she could eat, but de-
prlved of her freedom. This man had
been kind to her and whatever his
life had been, Tony had been entirely
unbearable in his attitude toward
him. 1t wasn't that Nick's friend
ship meant so much to her, for 1t
actually didn't, nothing seemed to
matter. But she did hate to be rude
to him. 1T was humiliating to have
to confess that she could not see
him. Nevertheless, she draw a long
breath and said with little air of
finality:
"I'm sorry"