Show I 1 G GUILTY U I 1 L 01 01 1 1 e INNOCENT INN NT 0 Z e e by AMY BRAZIER Z CHAPTER IV continued he casts one quick look at barbara s bent head and sei seis s the tears dropping through her fingers noticing her ders heaving with these sobs that will not be controlled she is cut up at leaving Bou bouverie verle thinks sebast an who just touches her bent dual dusl y head with his fingers come out into the garden barbara the servants are coming into the room to take away the things come his voice is kind and barbara yearn ping ing toi fol saml athy goes so you are going to be transport td sebastian say as she walks meekly at his side down a garden path bordered by thousands of mauve and wh te crocuses sebastian you know it is not non sense barbara says tragically father says nothing and your moth er says play at being engaged it if you like but it is true quite true and father need not take me to tasmania for it will not make any difference speaking vehemently in her excite ment sebastian stoops his dark head you don t expect me to side with Bouverie 7 barbara you do not think I 1 could d dc thata you would it if you were generous enough breathes barbara her wet eyes seeing the crocus border blurred like a rain bow mist sebastian you are my cousin and I 1 haven t a friend in the world the man s dark face Is inscrutable I 1 wouldn t give my faith to george Dou bouverie verie if I 1 were you he says slow ly barbara I 1 cannot be a hypocrite I 1 love you but you shall not trade on my affection to help you to marry another man for it if I 1 can help it you shall be no man a wife but mine the tears that had been welling up in barbara s eyes are checked sudden ly y a look of resolution comes over her troubled face I 1 will tell father everything and he will understand she says almost hopefully after all I 1 think I 1 am glad I 1 am going and it cannot make any real difference we can wait I 1 es I 1 dare say you will have plen ty of waiting sebastian says with cunning familiarity and an evil smile barbara gives him one look from her tear filled eyes a 1001 look of anger and reproach aal an 1 without a word leave him and walks back to the house mrs saville does not think it feces sary to barbara that in the autumn sebastian is to follow her across the sea she pins great faith on distance and change of scene in all human probability the silly love affair between barbara and george bouverie Bou verle will d e a natural death and very few people marry their first lovers sebastian will have a very good chance when he goes out to tasmania and t te honeymoon can be the return journey it is really a charming ar ran gement mrs saville feels quite pleased and it is a great blessing that barbara is taking it all so quietly by and by she comes into the morn ing room where mrs saville is writ ing lists and letters at a great rate barbara has on a pale gray coat and skirt with a white silk waist and a great bunch of violets in her button hole she looks pale but the grave Is firm I 1 am going to Por traven aunt ju lia I 1 am golna to meet george to say good by to nim him she says with an air of decision as it if opposition were to be expected but mra mrs saville makes no objection A parting scene between the lovers Is inevitable and the sooner it Is over the better still barbara lingers aunt julia I 1 know quite well why father has sent for me it is to try and make me forget george but it will be no use we are promised to each other I 1 cannot help it I 1 can never care tor for anyone else her aunt looks at her sees the ris ing agitation and smiles my dear barbara I 1 have never at tempted to dissuade you from edgag ing yourself to mr bouverie it if you choose neither can I 1 prevent you meeting him in Por traven and saying good by you are old enough to know your own mind I 1 do not tor for one moment suppose your father will regard an engagement of that sort as serious in fact I 1 know he will not you see dear I 1 am quite candid and I 1 foresee that some day you will be very glad to have es aped matrimony matri mow mory with a very worthless young man he Is not worthless barbara looks splendid in her in arf as she nobly champions her aa ver dver then she leaves the room and walks away down the gloomy damp avenue and out on the road beneath the budding trees her step Is light and her dark lashed eyes are full ot of hope not very tar far from the court en trance gates a young man with a cou con pie ot of dogs at his heels is sauntering along george bouverie looks it if pos sible more anxious and unhappy than ever his face hardly brightens as barbara joins him looking fresh as the spring morning herself for a second she looks up at him and her heart swells as she realizes that it will be a long long time per naps haps before they meet again s she he will yearn for the touch of a vanished hand she will long with a sick long ing for the sound of his merry voice the sight of his face george she whispers and her voice Is trembling my father has sent tor for me and I 1 am going to tas mania going to tasmania 7 in the face of his other hideous trou brou ble he hardly takes it in and echoes her words mechanically yes barbara says almost in her usual tones I 1 am to sail immedi bately and we have got to say good by still george stares at her with his heavy eyes that look as if they had long been strangers to sleep and be he seems as it if he could not find anything to say but at last words come my darling my darling it is bet ter for you to go away after all he is white as chalk as he gazes down at her but barbara is quite him and he Is dimly conscious of a smile that is quivering and dancing in beiL hez gyes eyes george I 1 have something to say to t 0 you barbara says and clasps both her hands upon his arm come they walk down the road together it is their last interview how shall they crowd in all the vows and prom aises the promises that are axe made when young hearts seem breaking 9 it is over at last the girls girl s face very tear stained and the man s pale with feeling you have promised me she is say ing swear it george you will never bet on a race again tor for my sake for my sake god helping me I 1 never will he says solemnly his golden head bent over hers CHAPTER V when barbara returns to the court with pale cheeks and without her bunch of violets that repose in george bouverie Bou verle s pocketbook as a farewell souvenir it is to find a scene ot of con fusion and a group in the hall con ilig of the servants and they are surrounding a central figure which turns out to be mrs saville lying on the floor A loose stair rod has precipitated her down the stairs with the result of a broken ankle the accident effectually puts a stop to the trip to london when with the aid of the coachman sebastian and the cook she has been conveyed up stairs she turns to barbara with a moan I 1 shall be tied here for weeks I 1 am suffering horribly you must go to london with sebastian don t worry about me aunt julia barbara says pitying the pain that Is shown in the twitching face I 1 can travel alone nonsense As if sebastian would allow such a thing you cab car g go 0 straight to your uncle henry s and sebastian will see you safely on board my toot foot is tearfully fearfully painful I 1 hope the doctor has been sent for yes sebastian rode off for him at once then you may go down stairs and send mason to me what a figure you look barbara I 1 suppose you have been having a scene with that young Bouverie 7 barbara says nothing her aunt Is in pain and pain makes most people irritable so she leaves the room and prepares to continue her own pack ing folding away her possessions with a strange sense of unreality wonder ing lug idly what manner of life she will be living when her gowns see the light of day again it is all over at last the lovers manage a last farewell and then bar bara Is gone whirled away on the first part of the long voyage to begin a life that to her will only be a time of probation till george Bou bouverie verle shall come and claim her within a week sebastian Is home again having seen barbara safely on board and started for tasmania she Is a most extraordinary girl he says sitting by his mothers bed side and giving her a report of his proceedings just fancy she would not buy a single thing for the voyage except a deck chair a rug and some lav lavender der water and she insisted on traveling second class though her father s friends were going first and seemed greatly annoyed they will through barbara barbata s obstinacy be un able to be of the slightest use to her during the voyage what can she meana ejaculates mrs saville looking very grim and grey aa as she reclines on her pillows sebastian shrugs his shoulders who can ass agn any reason for the vagaries of a woman s minda that fool bouverie came to the railway sta tion and they stared into each other others s eyes like a couple of lunatics I 1 thought barbara was going to have hysterics well she has seen the last of him if rumor is right he has about come to the end of his tether he ile looks bad enough and it strikes me his espres sion spells ruin more than grief at los ing a sweetheart it is a good thing barbara has gone mrs saville remarks by the time you go out to tasmania she will have forgotten bouverie and be very glad to see you I 1 hope so says sebastian considering she is to have all the accumulated savings of her father and her mothers fortune as well then his face changes suddenly and it if she hadn haan t a penny I 1 should marry her all the same she is the only woman I 1 ever wanted for my wife rising and leaving the room and while the great steamer cen can barabra in her second class quarters ploughs her way through the grey billows george bouverie once more looks out into the world with hope shining in his eyes and a look of relief on his handsome face today that before sunset Is to be a day of tragedy is as other days with the scent of coming spring in the air mrs bouverie Bou verle has been moved to the sofa and lies like a fragile illy with her white hair and meek quiet eyes george is beside her and her dell cate blue veined bands hands are lying in his broad palm they have had a long talk mother and son one of those rare talks that have brought heart very near to heart the moth ers lips av are tremulous her eyes tear ful fill they have been talking about barbara darbara and it if the young man has given his all to the woman he hopes to makes his wife there is no jealousy in the heart that has loved him since the moment he was born you don t know what she Is mother he is saying I 1 cannot tell you all but she is an angel I 1 don t think there is any one like her barbara has saved me he whispers very low his sunny head bent I 1 am go ing to be a good man mother for her sake to fit myself to be her husband and god helping me she will never have cause to blush for me again for a moment it seems to mrs bouverie that there is bitterness in ill the thought of the easy victory won by a girls girl s love the promises made that all her prayers and tears could not gain but it is only for a moment the mother love crushes down every un generous thought and it is a very ten der smiling face that lifted from the silk frilled pillows my boy my son you have made me very happy george stoops and kisses her some day you will know how bar bara has saved me mother dear I 1 must not tire and worry you when you are so weak I 1 am going to turn over a new leaf and take to farming oh you don t know all I 1 am going to do laughing as he speaks a laugh that is a little tremulous because he feela feels like one who has been reprieved george goes off to Por traven still with that tremulous joy and relief in his heart and feels very humble and thankful george goes to the bank cashes a small cheque a cheque that now he feels ashamed of because the money has been won from a bookmaker II 11 however olev e r it Is the last time he says to himself pocketing the gold and leav ing the bank As he runs down the steps he comes face to face with se bastian saville the two men nod to each other in the manner of those who foster a mutual dislike afterwards they meet at the post office where george Is dispatching a telegram in fact he is transmitting the sum ruin of one hundred pounds through the post postoffice office by telegram A little pile of yellow gold is handed in the office window sebastian stares and george turns first crimson then white and his hands shake he feels the eyes of sebastian saville on him and his confusion increases again the two men exchange hostile glances george finishes his business and swings out of the postoffice post office mr saville buys some postage stamps and goes out into the sunny street again to be continued A lazy man s burdens are heaviest on his mind put your interest in your work and your work will soon be to your interest |