Evening star., 1925-12-06
JOAN N A
/. "The Gracious Gift of God"
\ By H. L. GATES

+ glanced at the shorter of the two
statements. She did not examine the
listed items, but only the total Then
she crumpled this portion of her ac-
counting into a wad and called Marie.
Erin; me a candle. lighted, please.
she commanded
While Marie held the tiny flame be-
fore her Joanna held the crumpled
wad of paper over il until her fingers
scorched. then dropped it into the
candlestick. She watched until the
paper bah had burned. Before she
would let Marie take the ashes away
she stirred them into powder with her
finger. as if she would run no risk of
prying eyes seeking out a secret from
the cindered paper.
The other accounting sheet. which
bore Il long list of bills paid for her
by the bank, she tossed into a drawer.
| Then. with her riding crop slapping
Smartly along her leg, she went out.
Villa Annette had long been one of
the show places of the Riviera, one of
those splendid miniature palaces which
nestle in the semitropical foliage of
the base of Cap Martin--a low. ram
bling house of balconies. trellised WIN
doWS and wide, stately VerandaS. Its
broad acres stretched back onto the
slopes of the hill in serried terraces
that lost themselves in groves of
olives. orange and mimoSa. Below
was the dense blue Of the Mediterra-
mean. Gardens of pink blossoms and
squares of red and white roses over
hung the sea and bordered the paths
that wound through pergolaS heavy
with fragrant clematis. Only the very
rich, and Of these only those whose
whimS were for Splendor, ever had
braved the cost of a seasons rent for
the Villa Annette.
Yvonne once before had tenanted
this palatial estate. Now she shared
1t. at her suggestion, with Joanna.
Yvonne and Joanna We're inseparable.
and yet there had been few conf
dences between them. People had
| learned that to approach the Golden
Girl they first must win the favor of
Yvonne Coutant. And they wondered
a great deal because of this circum-
stance.
With d groom holding the brides of
the two horses. Dorminster awaited
Joanna at the steps of great door
that opened onto the driveway. BY
the time she came out to him he was
sullen. Joanna's eyes danced when
she saw his mood. He helped her
mount. tossing her TO her saddle as
easily as if she We're a feather, and
they turned their horses into the road
that either crossed the frontier and
or led back to Mentome and Monaco.
1T Is too late" DorminSter grum-
bled. for as long ride as San Reno.
Shall we go the other way, down into
the Valley"
Wen go no place" she assured
him. unless you decide not to be
glum. l want TO be talked to this
morning. I haven't any particularly
engaging thoughts"
Il have" he answered shortly. IT'S
my thoughts | wanted to talk to you
about this morning, especially after
last night"
Are you going to remind me again
of such foolish things as I may have
said TO you last night? If SO, I shall
go straightaway back. Roddy will be
around someplace by now, wanting his
tennis"
She made no effort to turn, how
ever. and they rode for a while, horse
to horse. silently. Joanna, buoyant
with her youth, took long breaths of
the scented. lazy breeze that stole up
from the sea. But when Dorminster
spoke at last she swept him with a
quick glance.
The thought of last night that
bothers me is not so much your for
getfulneSS, as the memory of others.
That's what / want to talk about"
She didn't reply, nor did he con-
tinue. They rode in silence again.
until they turned into a bride path
that went in among the trees in the
Condamine, a path that once had
guided the Romans under Caesar to
the hiding place of the Christian
slave who has since become st. De-
vote, the patron saint of a sanctuary
erected over the spot where she was
captured and killed. 1t Is a narrow
path. The horses brushed each other
as they threaded it. Suddenly Joanna
said. softly:
You love me very much, don't you
Teddy?"
And he answered, again shortly,
"Yes."
IT'S true. almost, isn't it." she
asked, still softly, that you have stop
ped loving other women and being
loved by them because of me-"
He glanced at her, to see if she were