Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1921-12-17
CHAPTER xxXvIII
A Dlf4r,tlf MSetius

the sound Of his voice my heart seemed
10 sicken and die with uncomfortable
longing.
mo. i did not know that you knew
the frnsers," forced myself 10 an.
swer.
II don't" he agreed coolly. but
Mrs. Fraser is a sister OF Shelters.
Perhaps you know shelter, the lawyer
he Is sitting at the far end OF the
table opposite, h gray haired man.
had to come to town on business to see
him, and knowing that l was ct a
loose end this evening, his sister kindly
included me in her dinner party. As
matter of fact, think she was pleased
to have me, as some other man had
failed her Mt the last moment"
II know Mr.. Shelter" l said; but
! did not know he was Mrs. Ffaset's
brother, or, II did, I've forgotten. ."
And then silence fell. and It seemed that
IL 1t was left to me TO break Il asain.
It would never be broken until the end
OF all time and eternity.
Mrs. Alberry tells me that am to
congratulate you, Mark said, and there
WAS not a shade Of emotion In his voice.
We might never have been anything
but the merest acquaintnnces; It
sounded to me as II his congratuia.
tions were sincere.
i said: "Ses-thank you. II YOU
mean that l ain engaged to bs mar
rled." And he said "Yes, that Is TIE
only piece Of news I have heard Of you
since you left Devonshire, and I must
congratulate you heartily. Champion Is
very rich man."
j felt the color beating into my face.
You are not very polite"
He raised his brows.
II beg your pardon, / Am sure. l
understood that it was your ambition to
marry n wealthy man, but perhaps ain
mistaken In thinking that you once
told me So"
l laughed recklessly.
oh, l once told you a great mnny
things that ! did not really mean" /
said nippantly. "But. tell mellow are
the Alberrys and the dear old farm
It seems ages and ages since l left
there"
'"rhoy are very wcll," Mr.. Anderson
said casually. "Of course, they had no
idea l should be seeing you, or / nm
sure they would have sent kind mes.
sagcs."
"And-and your aunt-and-Nina 2"
l forced myself to ask.
Very well, thank YOU"
With the desperate feeling thar |
must not let the ball of conversation
drop again, went on: My SISTER
Winnie Is here somewhere. Oh, there
she Is, next to the man with the sandy
hair. DO you think she Ia like me ?"
Mark looked across the table to
where Winnie was sitting, very pretty
and very self conscious in dnffodil yel-
low.
II am not very good at finding family
rcSemblances. Mr.. Anderson said.
But mol" And now his eyes came
back to my face. Il don't think she l.
nt all like you" There was a little
pause. And you have altered great
deal since we lost met" he added
quietly.
Have /? I'm so glad. was al
awful baby In those days, wasn't ~
I'm grown up now. It's wonderful
how soon London knocks anybody into
shape. You see, MS only little while
since l came home--how long Is 1T
three weeks7''
"A month on Friday" said Mr.. An.
dcrson.
Iie hnd remembered, then.
1T seems much longer" | said IN
thinkinsly. "At lcast-you Zee. I've
had such a round Of gayetS since then"
II am sure you have"
And your" rushed on. What do
you do nowadays? The same old
things, ! suppose; walk over to the
Alberrys and drive over into Lang
He nodded. gravely.
"fes-it's pretty drive now-the
primroscs are In flower. and the
bracken is all coming up in curly
fronds. you know"
Said "Ycs. yes" eagerly. could
picture it so faithfully.
There followed another impossible
silence, during which ] rackcd my brain
for some safe topic of conversation, but
each thought that came to my head
began with: Have you forsottenT'
or Don't you remember" tin was
afraid to speak.
"Of course, you are not thinking OF
leaving your farm?" broke out at
last. | wished he would speak Of it
without a prompting from mcS, but ap-
parently he had no such intention.
He laughed.
well. II you had asked me that
question week ago I should have told
you that II already had passed out Of
my hands, but things have"
"Changed?" echoed as he stopped
"Yes. 1t sounds like a story, I con
fcss, but In this case 1t Is n true one
An old relation Of mine died and left
me sufficient sum with which to pay
of the mortgage on my property. ]
say my property, but 1t never was
mine until" he hesitated, until about
IL o'clock this morning to be exact"
l felt my face glow. There was such
q happy note in his voice, and II was
all due to me had been his fairy god.
mother.
] glanced down the table to where
Lionel Sat. and found his eyes upon
me. Jealous eyes, they were, Allied
with a vague suspicion, but I did not
care. had got to marry him, but
Just for tonight l meant to have my
dance OF death.
And ] looked up at Mark Anderson,
as I said with deliberate intention:
That mortgage was very nearly
paid of on another occasion. Oh, yes,
/ can tell you about It now, ns IT'S ~
long ago, and all ended and done with.
IL was when every one thought
you and I were to be married" The
last words came with a rush. I felt
like a horse who takes Il difficult fence
and finds itself safely landed, unhurt,
on the other side.