The Jasper news., 1922-03-30

y
" stood sim, and watched Madame
Carers inagnlhcence settle itself
slowly IN basket chair. The old lady
fteed an eyegiass ribbon deliberately,
Strengthened rune, laid her maya
zine bealde her on a table. s.rhere
wns little matter Of which Iwizhed
TO speak 10 you,s she said. suaveiy.
bringing her distant glance TO resi- AS
passlonatesy fnf moment upon Har-
riefs fnee. <. ~
Harriet waited. amused, annoyed.
impatient.
~ : nnderstund," Madame Carter
said, that you and my son--for some
reason best known to yourselves
have entered into a secret mnfriageT'
Your first object, my. dear, IS not TO
antatonlze his motileri'' Harriet re-
minded herself. Aloud she said mild
~; "You have no reason TO dlsbe-
lieve II, have your Tt
No reason to dlsbelieve my SON.
his. mother echoed. scnDdallzed. swhy
should / have Mr.. Cnrtet-is the soul
OF honor-absoiutely the soul. Upon
my word, don't understand your
II said you have no reason to dlsbe-
llcve him." Harriet repeated. ''You
said that you understood that we had
been married. II is truel''
And she looked or toward the river
with. an expression as composed as
That Of Madame Carter herself.
II suppose yor know that old say
ing: "A secret bride has secret TO
hide r' the OLD woman pursued, pleas
antly.
| II never heard II. l did. not play
much with the. CHILDREN OF The neigh
borhocd when / was child, =. Harriet
answered. my father was very INK
iotfs TO protect us from picking up ex-
.Dressions of that sortr'
< There was a silence. Harriet, be-
ginning TO be ashamed OF herself. did
not look Mt her companion.
4. .'sksglrl OF your age has great deal
sS9,eOnfdence when she marries into
faR)ly like mine" the Old lady said.
presently, in tone that trembled
little. "AIy son is rich nian--he is
II prominent man. He has used his
Own Judgment, Of course. But l con-
fess That IN your place shonId not
carry myself with quite so much an
air OF triumph! 1t seems to me-"
Harriet deterinlnedly rsgained her
calm. and taking The chair next TO the
enraged old hdy, quietly interrupted
the flow Of her angry words.
II hope ] have shown no mir OF
triumph. Madame Carter Harriet
said. ''You yourself--and most wisely
-polnted out 10 us few months ago
that the arrangement hereewas mn
conventional"
"Every one wns talking, n you mind
that" the old lady snapped. But she
was slightly Modified, none-the-less.
But upon my word. you'd think mar
rying into the family was something
TO be done every day she was be-
ginning again, when Harriet inter-
rupted again.
"No--no," she said. sOothlngly, con-
ceCing the last words an amused
smile that itself rather helped to pla-
cate her companion. 1T is, of course.
the most serious step OF my lifei Bnt
the secrecy-as OF course you viii ap-
preciate-was because there has been
so much terrible notoriety this year |
Why. Mr.. Carter tells me that never
In the history OF all the Carriers"
This fortunate lead was enough.
Madame Carter launched forth superb
ly upon a description OF the usual Car-
ter weddings, the ceremony. the state.
In perhaps twenty minutes she was
blandly patronizing Harriet. giving
her encouraging little taps with her
eyeglasses. warning her OF mistakes
that Isabelle had made with Richard
Harriet knew that before three days
were over her terrible mother-in-lnw
would be telling the world Just how
wise. under the trying circumstances
the whole thing was. and Just how
clearly she had foreseen II. She was
still listening respectfully, n trlfe
contusedly. when Ward bounded from
the house. and gave her an effusIvs
+ embrace.
"HeIlo. Mnmmair Ward snid. Har
riet laughed, as she pushed away ths
fillRl arm. Hardly knowing what shs
said or did she made her way to the
house, and up to her own room.
But here. in Nlna's room. were NIps
and Mrs. Tabor, and from their eyes
as she came In. she knew that the,
knew. Nina got up, and came for
ward with a sort Of sulky gracious
ness
Il hope you'll be very happy. Mis-
Harriet--I suppose ! oughtn't to cal
you Miss Harriet any more" MINI
said, with an effort TO smile that Har