Show CHAPTER XIII Love In Two Shades All the next mornlnr the snow fell persIstently and Sagan might have been as far as appearances went a castle built In the all Above below around the snow eddied like n fairy torrent beating against the solId walls and curlIng in curious ringed swIrls about its bUttresses as water beats about a rock In mstream But the dominant gray of the outsIde world c11st no appreciable Tetlectlon on the spirits of Mine de Sagans guests wIth whom gayety bad wIld devices for klillng time were necessary and familiar fa-miliar thi1u But to Valerie the same suggestion or fear und unrest that had oppressed heron her-on the previous evenIng still held Its silent sway over the place She stood at the road window of tile main staircase staIr-case watching the swift atoms or snowdrift snow-drift jlqst each one by Itself a mere melting poInt but In their millions mIght She shivered and looked round wIth anodd sense of apprehension as if the vague bUnd storm outsIde had its counterPart In a ague blind dan gel within A Jall man came leaping up the staircase staIr-case tIe stopped beside her She look cd up at him her deep ees were full of some disturbing thou hf CaptaIn Ralldod UlYOU tell Ma J i l < 1 < 1 jor Counsellor from me she begin at once in a low hurrIed voice that In spite of what he has heard of me he must still believe Iaasau inthe dearest dear-est thIng on earth to me Tell him that If needful I am ready to prove it with my life He may make quite sure I meant all I said to him yesterday = yes-terday Rallywood stood silent The passIon of her voIce and speech echoed In her own ears and sUddenly seemed all excessive and uncalled for a blush half anger halt sham rushed over her face brInging tears to her eyes Why was it decreed that she should always al-ways in some small foolish way ap pear to disadvantage before this wretched Englishman I wIll tell him saId Rallywood at last though I cannot understand Xo you cannot understand You are so cold so selfcentered that the feelings and tumults which trouble most of us appear as weaknesses to you SInce you cannot understand us you should not judge us we others who in our own spasmodic way love our country as you serve yourssteadll and with a whole heart Now John Ralwood was perplexed He longed to set himself right wIth her Her very accusations her readiness readi-ness to find fault whIch might have made matters clear to some men only dIsheartened him with u renewed sense of her dIslike You hate my nation he saId after a pause of consideration therefore you condemn me not because of anythIng I have done but on general grounds putting the worst construction onon everything I wonder Why you judge me so hardly i ValerIe laughed her red lip finely edged with scorn un the Conuar you judge us Who made you a judge over usi You regard USou EngUshwith that straight steady look 1 suppose you feel what futile creatures we others are with our shifting moods and passIons our lIttle furIes and desperatIons Do you remember re-member the night you joined the guard the nIght In the cloister at St Anthony An-thony How I trembled and feared for you Ishe laughed agalnI even wanted to help you How absurd it all seemed to you dIdnt it I remember you were very cool and quiet and I suppose you thought It very foolish one oC those unnecessary extravagant emotions in whIch we inferIor races arc apt to indulge Stop Rallywood cut her short wIth a peremptory word I will not allow al-low you to say such things of yourself norof me ValerIe threw back her head with the slIght haughty lift he knew so well You are rather too certain of your own power she saId You any you remember that nIght not 10 well as I do You think I am very sure ot myself And yet I have been mistaken on points that touch me I close I thought that night when I knew I mIght never see the morningI dared to fancy that weJou and Iun derstood each othera little He waited waIt-ed but ValerIe had turned away her profile looked exquisite but cold against the dark shutter as she watched watch-ed the drIving snow So I was the fool after all you see he ended lamely lame-ly I According to the ImmemorIal fashion of love they understoood and misunderstood mIsunder-stood each other alternatively playing high and low at every other moment upon the wIde gamut of feeling touching touch-Ing faint sweet notes that would echo forever Rallwoods selCcontrol was giving way a little and she instinctively felt her power and used It 1 wonder what you really think of us behind that quiet alertness of yours she said lightly 1 believe I did Imagine Iunderstood you a little that nIght but I imagine It no longer Perhaps I misjudge you now but It cannot matter you told me once you knew how to wait and of course you arc certain that all unfaIr opinions of you must come right In the end But RaU1wood passed OVer her many I sentences to seize the central Idea that appealed to hIm I Yes I have learned to walt I told you that everything comes to him whO waits Unfortunate I a proverb Is true I often not always One thing can never come to me however long I walt For me there Is no hope I I < 1ont know what you hope for replied the girl slowly as If she were choosing her words but she hardly knew what she saId she was lost In a I multitude of dreams and her words but filled In the rare crevices between I them I thought that every man car I ned hIs own fate In his own hand A man can fight the tangIble but no I man can struggle against the ordinary laws of social life Ve may laugh at conventional method but even In Re vonde there are some which must be yIelded tot to-t dont think saId Valerie we yield to many In Heonde RaU woo < 1 saw a group of people advancing ad-vancIng toward them Valerie wIth her I changes of mood and manner distracted distract-ed hIm and drove him to say what he had resolved never to be tempted into saying j I am a soldleronl a soldier I gaIn a lIvelihood but no more I have no luck and no genius To make a fortune I for-tune or a name Is beyond me And without wIth-out fortune many desIrable things are I Impossible I Valerie turned upon him a bewildering bewilder-Ing smile 1 shall know for the future Captain RallJwood what you are thinking of You wIll be thinking for all those grave eyes of yours of the fortune you I cannot make I Not ouite that madamolselle he answered I shall be thinking of the girl I cannot win Vlllerie found herself drawn away i from him by the passing group She was aware of a warm throb at her heart she was trembling a little and I the fear of the mornIng had temporarily tempora-rily vanished For 110 definite reason which she could afterward dIscover she felt sUddenly happy By evenIng the tsa had blown away the snow clouds for the time and a thin moon gleamed fitfully over the wIde xpansesof whlte Remote muffled muf-fled in leagues of snow and alive wIth hungry ptissions and unscrupulous strength the castle of Sagan dId not on that wild January nIght offer a desirable de-sirable houslnj to the Grand Duke of laaEau He had Jet some thirty hours to spend as his cousins guest before he could return to his capital without showIng suspicIon or givIng offense A hundred times he wIshed himself back In hIs great palace by the river bank where the squadrons of the guard lay wIthin call But be bore hImself well notwIthstanding and although oh the plea of chili and fatigue he kept to hIs rooms more than usual his short appearances ap-pearances In public left In one sense nothIng to be desIred He did not carry hImself as a man In mortal anxIety but was as dissatisfied as It was hIs custom to be I Late In the afternoon Mme de Sagan retired to take some rest before dinner din-ner Wrapped In lace and silk she was I standing In front of her mIrror with her women about her when the count I I mtered At his first Imperious word the I I I Jttendants vanished I Isolde continued to stare Into theI glass like one fascInated for In It she I not only saw the reflection of her own slender whiteclad figure but over her I shoulder the fierce face she dreaded For n long mInute husband and wife remained readIng each others faces In I the looking glass She had seen aversion and menace in the counts lowerIng face many a time before and was at length beginning to I believe the almost ImpossIble fact to be true that a man lIved who hated her 1 over whom her beauty had no power The young countess shivered In mortal I mor-tal terror SImon she walled suddenly you are changedyou do not love me any i more I I A broad smile flitted across the say = s old face You are a fool hut a very pretty fool Isolde and for that a man mIght I forgive you many thIngs Now listen tome to-me After you retire to your rooms for the night keep close to them no mat I < c t < h I ter what you hear There may be a disturbance dIs-turbance and qou had better have SelpdoCs daughter Ed keep you corn i pan His xpres Ion changed as he spoke of Valerie There Is danger she gasped danger dan-ger What Is it Oh tell me what it is Her first fear leapIng toward Rat lJwoo He stared Into her shrinking eyes If you ever hope to be Duchess ot lIaasau he answered significantly leave Valeries lovers Unziar and the Englishman to take care of themselves Keep your tongue silent Remember He caught her slender wrist roughly as he spoke and pressed it to enforce the command The countess made no reply but her fingers Iosed in upon her palms Come gIve me a kiss and promise me to do so much toward making yourself your-self a grand duchess He brushed her lips careleSsly wIth his moustache The caress brought no response but as he bent oer her she whIspered Have mercy 011 me Simon it was a prayer born rather of some vague instinct In-stinct of danger than any defined fear dont kill me He put his thick arm round her and shook her impatiently Kill you Isolde Are you mad You are tar more useful to me livIng than dead Get rid or your silly fears and remcmbersllene Then putting hbrbaclc on the couch with more gentleness than mIght have I been expected of him he walked out of the room For a lIttle while she sat listening then Opened her eyes and glanced about her Yes he was gone But it was characteristic of her that at such a time her chief and overpowering thought was Valerie as a rival a leries lovers rnzldr and the English man A score of trifles rnshed back upon her melJOpqut o 1t could note not-e 1t was one of the counts amiable was to suggest causes of jealous to his wife He meant nothing for what QuId he know The soothIng conviction convIc-tion grew upon her that the taunt was thrown at her for what It was worth Oh how she hated Saganhated hIs bloodshot beasts eyes his mockIng laugh hIs cruel hands hIs crueler gtbes She pushed back the lace from her wrist and saw the thIn blue parallels ot bruIsed flesh his fIngers had left entirely unawares it must be owned upon her whiteness Ah she would show these to Rallwoodas a proof that she was In danger that she actually act-ually needed his protection and so wIn hIm from his post whIch tonIght would become the post or death All her lIttle vaIn soul thrilled withIn her at the possibility ot triumphot defeating de-feating the honor ot such a manof winnIng Wm from his watch for loves sakf overcoming the scruples that had for so long a time stood out against her wiles And yet In her poor way she loved hImloved him as she would vrobablv never love another Some women are made in that way they take prIde In the loftiness of the height from whIch they drag men down Then he must be saved she told herself at all costs 8aved He would lIve to thank her yet A thought of hIm lying dead In his blood by the dark embrasure that masked the entrance to the royal apartments apart-ments flashed across her mind she stretched out her arms with a soft call lila a birds 0 love love I wIll save you TO BE CONTINUED |