Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1922-12-12

wOuN DC tnat OF q man ubOminaDly
treated by her. ,l
Running away. Mrs. Carmichael?'
said he, with that accent which made
her ordinary title sound intimate. III
nave brought your singer, but 10 no
hostess to receive her." ."
Glover said. conyentionally, ~ am
70 sorry! l was called away on busi-
neS--i was kept. Have the people gone
from the dining room7"
, Ages ago. the young man assured
her, with his eyes upon her.
How dreadful ~ she moved quickly
forward to tho staircase. wen 70
lady who sings" .
:, Here she 1s." said Bobby I.lewelyn. |
For round tho bend of the staircase
there appeared the tall. black and
white figure Of Carmichael escorting
a quite vivid young woman In rose
color. Her dress appeared TO have beer,
in.proviscd almost as IL she were 20.
ing to a bal masquc nt the Galleries)
out OF a gaudy silken shawl, patterned
with daring flowers Of mauve and cream !
and green and fringcd with rose. .col.
ored frtnges out Of which cleaned the
concert singers slim arms. and ankles.
a golden fillet bound her bright yellow
hair; she was very effective in "Chel- |
sea way. Her face, not pretty, but |
cnjoyingly alive with laughter, was |
turned up interestedly to the face Of
This was the group that Clover Car. |
tnichacl saw. Thus for the first time |
she saw Harry Carmichael talking to
unoiner ,won.an apart from her cousins
or her aunts. =
That girl thinks he Is interesting"
was Clover Carmichacl's first swift
thought. "She thinks him good looking.
so he is. / suppose? lie does like
some women. then
Inc couple came down, faced the
other two. At the sight of Llewclyn's 3
dark actor-facc Carmichael's eyes mar.
rowed, for the fraction of second, in
pure surprise. He had not expected to
see this fellow. Here he was again.
close to Glover. holding her feather fan
th4t she had dropped; close to Clover!
Greetings were exchanged; Glover
turning charm little more ''on" for
inc benefit Of the singer. by won.an's
instinct she knew that this other Girl
was thinking: '.The bride is very love.
"; wonder IL she and her husband
are very much In love with each other!"
and had to rush away" Clover
explained, suddenly conscious Of ten
sion In the air; tension that simmered
about Carmichael. as n heat.haze over
the summer horizon. "Buslness, you
know, business! What it is TO be a
mere woman Of affairs, dictated to by @
relentless manager"'
Did he dictate to you. Clover:"
Carmichael asked in an uncertain voice.
:, Much he cared what had passed over
the telephone just now. Only he felt
suddenly that Ire must spenk to her,
must use her name, must induce her to
turn her eyes upon him. must at least
seem ibefore other people) to stand for
something moro than a mere manager
or other employe in the life of this per.
verso girl who intrigued him past nlI
bearing: 80 near, now, was the brush
wood to tho flame! ;
'Clover's glance swept past the tense
face of her husband. in name to the
faces of the other man and of the other
woman. She felt they waited upon
her words, waited to form some judy
mcnt from them. She turned her eys
audaciously, definitely, to meet the eyes
Of Harry Carmichael.
And she said, quite softly although
quite distinctly, What, darling?'
:, At last. There was the spark that
fow." ...': ,'.,..-.'' -! -
-..--..-. A .Curiew to Passion
Three hours later, Carmichael came
quietly alone into the little book room.
green shaded table-light. Mechanically
he sat down in the nearest chair.
Equally mechanically he took out his
pipe, but he did not light it. He did
not even look at it. He sat, perfectly
still. as IL staring intcntly at nothing,
as II listening.
The house was quiet enough. 1t
had ceased to reverberate with those
vague after. ripplcs of sound that
spread even when the gathering that
caused them IL no more. Cover's
house warming that had been such q
success. had come to an end. The
music was over; the buzz Of farewells,
the purring and hooting Of departing
cars. All the household had gone to
bed. Only Carmichael sat there as
If he suddenly lacked impetus to do
nything else. One elbow on the arm
Of the chair, his palm held against his
head. he uttered. aloud to himself and
several times repeated, these words
~ suppose I am, then. suppose I
am. I am.' Z. -
Ho meant--in love with his wife,
His wife! .''~s9.
Sitting there alone in the midnight
quiet, what he stared at was his vision
Of this girl he had married. Now at
last he saw what she was to him, and
what she had always been to him.
since when? He could not tell. The
silent room seemed family sweet, still,
from her presence. Still, in his mind,
echoed the voice that had called him
darling lin mockcry. 1t was that
which had walked him at last to knowing
| that what he wanted Ynoat of all in tbe
world was to hear Glover say darling"
to him again--meaning it.
He repeated, II am. am. Lord !"
Before his eyes, between him and the
table, the blue telephone book, the
paper.rack, there rose now images of
her.
desk, rapping out in the voice Of an
to marry me.
Clover under that leafless oak in
Richmond Park, her fus lifting in the
wind--"It's not sweetbrier, It's some
thing have on"
The Spanish Glover circling with him
to that Haquel tune-~I thought you
couldn't dancer"
Clover's face. fresh and flushed under
the rain. changing as he told her that
most of his own friends had been killed
II am sorry. ! am very sorry -
E1quisitely stately, that bridal Glover
who had played her part under thou
sand eyes, her steady cool hand in
his" till death US do part, and
thereto I plight thee my troth."
Quickly the picture passed OF Clover
at his side in Paris, tho mock bride Of
"a spool honeymoon; her coolly friendly