San Antonio light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1911-1993, 1926-01-17
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crush him.
"You must have thought me
awfully rude and ungrateful in the
park this morning, Mr.. Swete. |
was so flustered, so annoyed with
tie horse hat l wasn't fit to speak
to. / found out, by chance, who it
was that came to my aid, and
and here / am to tender my
thanks"
("This woman" said Swete be-
meath his breath, ''is the poorest
imitation of fibber I've ever
met. She's come to find out who's
who and what's what and in few
moments her wrist will be ,tingling
as the result of hard slap.")
Aloud:
"Mv dear Miss Anscombe, if |
was able to render you a service
it was a privilege greatly APP
preciated.
("Absolutely stuffed with con-
ceit and platitudes" to herself)
"When | returned home ! told
them | couldn't rest until had
thanked you and apolOgized for
my seeming rudeness. . suppose
L should have written or asked
my father to call on you and ex-
press his gratitude?"
He sat down opposite her; there
was a twinkle in his eye as though
he we've humoring some flapper.
"There was no need to return
thanks at ALL" lie said; "you were
in no great danger. | am ac-
quainted with your father, Miss
Anscombe."
$50 | understand"
There was an awkward pause;
she was conscious of embarrass-
Ment.
Acquainted" he repeated, cal
though I'm :fraid there have Leen
differences between u.s."
81 didn't come to speak about
that" she said lamely 81 was
abroad at the time"
"You are thinking of your late
sister,"
81 take it that she was in your
thoughts when you spoke of diff
ferences.'
Naturally" he said quietly. 81
was very distressed by the tragedy,
but ! don't see that ! could have
done more than ] did to avert it,"
Stella stirred uneasily. you cx-
planned everything to my father, |
believe" she said.
His answer was totally unex-
pected:
Everything that | felt justified
in explaining" he said. '"There!
Do you doubt my honesty in the
matter, or are you harboring sus-
picions like"
She stayed him with a gesture.
81 came simply to thank you
for your timely aid of this morn
ng," she said, fighting down the
impulse to leap to her feet and
accuse him boldly and openly.
'T'm so glad" he said, with a
sigh of relief. Sometimes circum-
stances combine to make fellows
position horribly embarrassing.
You know what | mean? The
more he tries to explain, the
deeper he founders in the mire.
Let's change the subject, shall we?
1t cannot be very pleasant to you
to dwell on the sad affair; can
not put back the clock by repeat
ing what told the, coroner.
Can II"
"Of course not" said Stella.
Well, what had she expected? II
wasn't likely that he would tell
her, stranger after all, any more
than he had told lots of others. He
hadn't spoken with anything like
contrition in his demeanor, nor had
he been hippant. If Margot had not
been her sister she would have
said that he was even philosophic
in his attitude towards that which
was beyond his remedying.
She fancied that he breathed in
relief and a gust of hatred swer
over her.
lawfully glad you recognize
that" he said. "To be quite frank
| fancied that the episode in the
park this morning was but an ex-
cuse to reopen a subject l insisted
should be closed"
That he insisted should be
closed! This rage by which she
was tormented would betray her
if she didn't take firm control of
herself. Her mission in life was to
humble this man, to ruin him in
every conceivable way; not merely
to satisfy the world that he was
responsible, indirectly, for Margot's
death As she glanced around the
room she visualized her sister
standing there, pleading perhaps,
to this man. And he would dis
miss her petition with that half
Indifference with which he pro-
posed to dismiss the conversation
now. He must be propitiated for a
while. The conceit in him must be
humored; his obvious vanity should
be pandered to.
Gravel does tend to broaden the
mind" she said. "Tf it doesn't
sound terribly callous in me, I
should like to saw that I wouId