The herald., 1922-05-04

luh'u, ana Then We went 10 tlc huitl
where he was staying. We were regis
tered there rs Mr.. and Mrs. Blondin; 1t
was all quite taken for granted"
Harriet stopped; her face was
drawn and white, her words coming
with difficulty, the phrases brief and
dry. Richard was paying her absolute
attention, his eyes fixed upon her
face.
I'VE had dinner upstairs" she said.
She paused, her lips tight pressed.
81 can't tell you" she began again,
suddenly, II can't tell you how 1t was
that l came suddenly to know that l
was too young for marriage In Miriam
Streets little studio, where they were
laughing about the baby and the sup
per. 1t seemed different. But here, in
hofel. suddenly wanted my sister,
wan;ed to be home again.
1--WE were talking and planning
naturally enough. Royal was coming
and going in the two rooms; l had
plenty OF chance TOTO escape. Every
time l let one go by my heart beat
harder"
He could rt1l from her voice that her
heart was beating hard now with the
memory of thSt old time.
IF had let Eaem all go by" she re-
commenced, my life would have been
different In few weeks we would
have come back " Watertown, as man
and wife, and perhaps had a studio
near the Streets, and perhaps found a
solution. But cOtl,dn't.
II caught up my .Oat; left my hat
and bag. / went dn'sn the stairs, not
daring to wait for tho elevator. And l
went to Mrs. HarriDgton's. She was
very kind and took me in; she said
that perhaps 1t would be better to wait
until I was older. l cried all night,
and the next day Mrs. Harrington lent
me the money and i went back to
Linda.
"Of course, II was terrible, at first.
But they were kind to me, in their
way. And was-cured. went into
Mysteries at the first mention of the
whole hideous thing. They saw Roy,
and they told me that need never see
him again. The papers-for 1t got to
the papers said that a divorce had
been arranged, but there was no need
for a divorce. 1t was all hushed up
Linda and Fred never spoke of it. L
ah, well, couldn't!
But when Fred's brother, David
who was In dental college then, began
to like me, then they began to make
light of It," Harriet remembered
There had been no marriage, OF
course, either in law or In fact. They
all knew that. And I suppose If hat
married David II might have been hap
pier for me. But as it. was. angeret
them. l didn't want to marry David
And so it was what folly girls go
themselves into-what the world
thought of a girl who had been talked
about'-what the least breath of scan
dial meant!"
"And you went back to Blondin?'
Richard suggested.
az? No, never saw him again unit
year ago In this garden!" Harrie
said.
"You never saw him again !" the mai
CALCULATED.
mot for nine years."
"But-my God, my dear girl, h
spoke of you as his wife!" Richar'
said.
, "He said had been. Not that wa
. nowl"
The man looked at her, looked ava
at the river, and shrugged his shou
ders as If he were mystified by tn
. ways Of women.
: "Bot-you were never his wifeT b
! said, fatty.
: "Oh, no! You didn't think" Harrie
said. hurt, "that / would have marie
| you, or anyone else, If had beenT'
! "You let him blackmail you 70
( that?" Richard further marveled.
| 81 knew-in my own mind, of cours'
] that / was not to blame" the girl salt
t anxiously. But 1t sounded-horrible
4 Richard bit his lower lip, locke
I critically at his racket, slowly shoe
| Ills hSuu.
81 didn't mind what any on
Y thought" Harriet said, reading n
4 thought. "But they did,"
g "TheyT" Richard repeated. padentl'
n Everyone" she supplied. promptl
k "Your wife, your mother, Mary Pu
= naml Even Mrs. Tabor"
e 81 suppose sol" he conceded. after
n pause. And beneath his breath he adj
v ed "Isabelle-Ida TaborW
Q His tone was all she asked OF e
Y Quisite reinsurance.
v at hoped you wouldn't" she sal
e standing up with clasped hands and
e sudden Frightening Of her tired and &c
d orless face. That's what I tr1ed
d make myself believe you would feel
'. wanted so to leave all behind. l thougl
e he had gone. that 1t was all over. TIL
II what Il was mattered more than VIII
Is II sounded likei thought could say
? Nina better, with what / knew. tins
y any one else! But last night" Harri
E. added, proved to me that l had bee
u all wrong. I've been so worried" 81
added. with utter faith in his decisio
n .I don't know what you think We hi