, 1922-06-07
SYNOPSIS.


CHAPTER Harriet Field. twenty
eight years old and beautiful. is the So
ciai secretary Of the flirtatious Mrs lisa,
Ssrf. Carter oI. at sna acr row1Inass R aassTi
old and impressionable. fancies himself in
love with his mothers attractive secre-
tary. Mrs. Carriers latest AFFAIR" is
with young Anthony Pope. and the youth
Is taking 1t very seriously.
CHAPTER Threading over the tea
cups this summer afternoon, Harriet Is
profoundly disturbed by the arTival Of a
tea party in the city. Blondin makes him
self agreeable to Nina, and leaves a deep
impression on the unsophisticated girl.
CHAPTER III. = Harriet's agitation
over the appearance of Blondin at
that he had been a disturbing element In
her life ten years before. and she fears
him. The man is an avowed adventurer.
living on the gullibility of the idle rich.
He frankly announces to Harriet his In
tention of marrying. Nina. who. as the
is a highiy desirable Catch" and urges
her to aid him. She is in a sense in his
power, and after pleading with him to
abandon his scheme agrees to follow a
policy of neutrality.
CHAPTER Iv.-Harriet visits her mar
ried sister, Linda Davenport, with whom
she had had her home during her unfor-
tunate acquaintance with Blondin. and
tells her Of his temperance. The two
women. realizing the INSCRIPTIONS nature
of the man. view the future with appre
hension.
CHAPTER v, Knowing the tender
feeling she has inspired in Ward Carter.
Harriet is tempted to marry him for the
though realizing she does not love him.
Blondin has ingratiated himself with
Madame Carter. Richards mother, and
she is Enthusiastically in favor of his
marriage with Nina. Ward urges Har-
riet to marry him at once. She procras-
tinates.
CHAPTER VI.-Angered at his wife's
too open filtration with young Anthony
Pope. Richard Carter markedly shows his
resentment. Isabelle, ardently returning
her youthful lovers attachment, elopes
with him on his yacht. and pursuit is
useless. The news of the sensational af-
fair, exaggerated, of course. by gossip,
is kept as much as possible from being
public property.
CHAPTER VII. Ward Carter again
urges Harriet to marry him. but she can
not bring herself to an alliance with him
merely for the sake of self-advancement.
and refuses. The fact of Mrs. Carriers
elopement becomes public. Harriet's ca
pablo managing hand is more than ever
needed at ~"Crownlands." and despite the
complica tons she foresees as Inevitable
she decides to remain.
miss Field" Richard did not have
the manner of interruption, but his
quiet voice dominated the other voice
none the less. Madame Carter fell 81
lent. and watched him with mournful
pride. Miss Field" he said, eve
van your help. The facts are these:
Williams had all the roads watched;
they did not go by motor. Mrs. Car
ter reached New London at FIVE o'clock
yesterday; Pope's boat, the Geislia,
n,rlaJ out - hale nant -t~ No.
what Williams men picked up, at the
dock, Pope did not expect her. was to
have sailed this morning. She ar
rived, and evidently he thought it wise
to hurry their start. The pier had a
dozen boxes for the Geisha on 1t, gro
ceries and what not. that they left
behind They will probably skirt the
coast for a Few days, and put in
somewhere for supplies. But that
he passed his hand YEARLY across his
forehead-"that doesn't concern us
now. We got there at ten last night
hours too late. of course" His voice
fell. he unused. with a knitted brow.
"Well!" he said, suddenly recalling
himself. Now, Miss Field, 1 want
you to get hold of Ward. I want the
boy home at oncel He must know.
But there is of course a chance that
Mrs. Carter Isis planning to return.
There may be a woman friend with
her-it's not probable, but it's posi-
BILE. l don't want any one in the
house. or out of it, to suspect. and II
you think it Is possible, / should like
Nina protected"
Il Understand Harriet said. quiet.
ly. She crossed the hall, and for the
first time in four years entered Isa-
bellies suite unannounced. 1t was in
exquisite order; streams of late after
noon light were falling on the gay
walls and the bright chintzes. The
novels Isabelle had been skimming,
the gold service of her dressing table,
the great four-poster with Its deeps OF
transparent white embroideries over
white. all spoke of the beautiful WON
an who had spent so many hours here.
On the dressing table. with its splen-
did length doubled In the mirror. was
the great fan that her hand had idly
welded, only a few days ago. in an
hour of domestic felicity and happi-
ness
What to tell Nlna?-she wondered,
going downstairs. But Nina proved
pleasantly Indifferent to the maternal
absence when she and Amy came up
from the tennis court for tea. To the
guest or two who came calling Har-
rIet, installed quite naturally now be
hind the cups and saucers. explained
that Mrs. Carter was visiting with
DEMONSTRATING a beautiful time, too,
apparently.
Perhaps Nina suspected that some
thing was unusual. She looked from
her father to Harriet, and after q
moments silence asked abruptly