Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1922-04-03

the cool dinrness behind her. Her hand
went up to her bosom and fell again.
~ used to know John Camden rather
wen. continued Jarroman.
She stood still. lie peered at her
out her. face was a vague blur. When
she spoke, however, her voice expresscd
no more than conventional interest,
Oh, OF course she said. as II the
explanation had just occurred to her.
! You doubtless had no means Of know :
ing John Camden has. been dead for
nearly nineteen years"
| "ies, ! know" said Jarronan. at
Is his daughter whom am anxious
to get In touch with"
Again there was pause. He had
drawn a little closer to her. and he saw
her face was twitching slightly. She
seemed to find difficulty an speaking.
'Tm sorry, but I'm afraid can't
help you" she said at last. ~ did
not know he ever had daughter.
Are you sure you are not mistaken ?"
The question came shrilly.
,'Quite,' answered Jarroman. II
have have her birth certificate in my
why should you think that VIC
could help you to find her?'
The question came in a nervous rush.
-! thought so from curious little
incident which my daughter related to
me. In connection with a ring she
wears. 1t is hardly worth pursuing,
Lady Gloucester"
"On the contrary, It sounds quite
interesting. What IL the connection
between ring worn by your daughter
and John Camden? It sounds like a
riddle. doesn't itT' she dropped back
into her chn;r and folded her hands In
her lap: Jarroman saw they were
trembling.
THE connection is entirely comet
DENTAL he replied ponderously. NADIA
told me that Lord Doucestcr on one
occasion asked to examine her ring,
when he seemed to recognize it. That
ring was once .mine-I left It to her
after my tria'--for I did not expect
to come out Of prison alive. Now, by
curious coincidence a quite re.
markable coincidencc--John Camden
had ring similar to mine
A sunbeam straying through the low.
cred blind shifted its angle suddenly
and shone full upon Lady Douccster's
face. She made no effort to escaee It
only her eyelids dropped until they hid
her eyes and her lips shriveled under
their paint.
MY dsughter," said Jarroman
slowly, will have an income settled
thousand year. When am dead she
will have more. Good afternoon, Lady
Doucester.'
He bowed and turned to the door.
As his fingers touched the handle he
glanced back. She was gazing after
him, the sunbeam playing on her like
malignant searchlight. He bowed
again and left.
.I,Isl,and and WIFI
Comfortably seated in the Pullman
men surveyed his afternoons work.
That he had accomplished something he
did not doubt. The next move lay
with the Doucesters.
He had not enjoyed the interview.
Looking back on 1t, his moral an,
esthetic sense revo!ted from the methods
which be had been compelled to use.
Then he dismissed his qualms with
a shrug of the shoulders. a man who
set out to fight the organized preju-
dices Of society with kid gloves was an
imbccile.
1t was 8 o'clock when he arrived at
the hote. Hc1 hoped that Nadia would
the suite and with his hand on the
handle Of her sitting room door, hesi-
tated. Nadia was talking to some one.
lie turned the knob and entered.
Nadia cast a glance Of quick relief as
he stood In the doorway, and he saw
that her face was flushed. by her side
was woman whom at first lie could
not recognize. He advanced into the
room and then he knew her.
Claudine, the wife whom he had not |
seen for twenty years and never wished !
to see again, was waiting for him to |
speak to her.
For a moment .Inrroman was too
taken aback to speak. A dull flush |
crept beneath the tan of his face. When
he spoke 1t was to Nadia.
Nadia. will you please leave the
room?" he asked, and he knew that
his voice trembled.
Yes, father"
Jarroman's eyes had not left his |
wife's. At Nadia's reply he saw a
queer g'eam come into them. 1t took
him back over the years as nothing |
else could. Always she had looked like
that when she was examining her posi-
ton. delibcrating her next coup.
He turned away and closed the door
behind Nadia. He was unncrved. and
he knew it, and for that reason made
the moro determined effort to control
HlHlScII. re TOOK SeuL lclsurely.
why have you Gomez" he Ssked.
The green deepened In Claud!ne's
eyes.
That's rather hard, Henry-after
twenty years." she said
Jarroman started. Then he realized
that she was playing the part of re-
pcntant wife. 4 somber amusement
invaded him, and he determined to jerk
her out OF her role.
~ desire to be neither hard nor dis.
courteous to you,' he said. II merely
wish to know why you have come here.
You must have had some object
Isn't it object enough to want to
see-my daughter" cha lengcd Clau-
line.
They exchanged another. long, hard
look. Clever Of her, thought Jarro-
man, distinctly clever: she wanted to
lind out whether he had ever qucs-
tioned Nadia's identity or nor. Well,
in return, he would discover, If he
,ould, what attitude she intended to
take now that she had seen Nadia.
II am glad you did not add your
husband,' he said. II am afraid IL
would have carried ns little conviction
as the other. Your motherhood has
lain dormant for twenty years, Clau.
line. Have you seen your child from
The day you deserted her until now?r
Sho shook her bent head. clenching
her hands.
"You don't mean to be hard" she
said. That's the awful part OF IL.
on don't mean TO be hard--and you're
Il