Show S E N I 1 A L L STORY 1 1 Y 7 th e rea D I 1 ag tha 0 0 by P coures by edth we hunt agton walters mason re y C ate b re wilson I 1 rl ht 1907 by A C mcclurg t co SYNOPSIS lord wilfred vincent and ard arch ball terhune Ter hurie a e introduced at the open ng of the story in angland the latte relating the tale the par pa r on an out ng mi mis their tr in and seel ng on meet the honorable agatha NA eckhoff whose hand Is mud sought atter after be cause of her tier wealth five 0 er agatha Wyck hoffs are introduced the dece decease alet er in an eccentric mon ent mad Ms his will so that the real aaa a he ress to his fo t ne and t e cas ie le at W nye ye anglani might wed med ler 1 er affinity thus thu mrs arn istead chaperon was in I 1 tv bound to I 1 cep the real agath s ident ty v an attempt by terhune to rather a e v tron tro n the chapero falls fall bather berh erh ne no finds old books contain p Is ture of a lormer former Bar baroness oress NN ekhoff wh cl is in exactly I 1 ke as agatha tha whom v hom he Is co arting agitha V fth confesses I 1 er love for N I 1 incent and a so U 11 at s e Is the real he r b he lie spurns I 1 er p many clews cles to identity identify of the leal teal agatha pro e fr agatha rift later confesses she he s not tl e he ess esq more appe 0 ly enfa 1 ng cl ws mater al ize en confesses lo 10 e tor for mrs arm e ea tits t 3 secretary miss ma ala sh who told teri une she is married CHAPTER V continued the inevitable happened for in cent v alth till a half artict late cry like a wild animal raised his clenched flat fist and struck at me fort binately for us both he struck wildly in his anger and I 1 caught the blow on my arm you liar he shouted oh 3 liar and in a rage that shook hv him from head to toot foot he rushed from the room aad and slammed the door I 1 was stele sick at heart as I 1 stood star ng after him to think that matters had come to such suck a pass between vincent and although no man can hear h aselt called a liar ei en ba b his be best bet t friend without resenting it still when the first flash of my cratl had passed I 1 forgave him tor for it tor for I 1 knew tl it at the heat of his pass on would mould permit no satisfaction but ilo to lence and of course if he really cared for the woman the words I 1 had use usel I 1 were about the most insulting possible however I 1 had done what seemed to be my mv duty and I 1 only reproached my self bitterly tor for not having told him of the secretary s marriage before his unhappy infatuation had gained such head headway m ay but he had disarmed my m first susi felons and I 1 had never dreamed that anything so serious was mas on foot that was a restless night for tot me and it was dawn before I 1 tell fell into a light sleep CHAPTER VI when we met at breakfast the next morning there were no signs of the breach between vincent and myself except his unusual pallor which sus sug to me that he too had spent a sleepless night the girls were inclined to joke our solemn faces but so ion long as the meal passed oft off without disclosing that something was amiss between us I 1 did not care all day we saw nothing of each other but this was not unusual as we always pursued different courses I 1 spent most of my time with agatha fourth the only honor lonor able whom I 1 fo to ind to be a really de girl and certainly the posies sor of remarkable musical talent in the evening the others went put to row on the lake and left agatha fourth alone with me she sat at the piano and played eiery everything thing she could think of while I 1 la aa on a aroid divan where I 1 could watch her and listen to the soft music I 1 suppose that my bad night I 1 ad something to do with the fact that I 1 was boor enough to fall asleep while the beautiful agatha fourth was mas pla ing tor for me certainly I 1 know that I 1 was guilty of that appalling rudeness for I 1 was suddenly brought to a state of consciousness by the sound of a clock ing I 1 counted the strokes rally cally there were 12 1 I must hai haie e slept for hours and suie enough the room was dark except for the fire fir light and my slighted hostess was gone from the piano stool As I 1 m was as about to rise I 1 heard voices and turn ing I 1 saw on the other side of ft tt e piano a man and a g ri rl the man was Y as vincent of course and I 1 thought as I 1 looked at him sitting full in the bright fil elight that he had never looked so handsome H s evening dress showed off his s athletic form to the best advantage and h s face was tiesh flesh and strong with mith the b orze of hi hii tan extending to the roots ohis hair which was cut close to conceal a wave in the gold of it it oc curled to me at once that his face had lost much of its boyishness and he tool 1001 ed every inch a man but it tool me some time to realize that the girl who ho bat sat with h in was none other than the ary at first I 1 could not tell m what hat it was as that had so changed her whether it was her shimmering m white hite evening gown or the gleam gleaming ln bracelets I 1 at last it came to me in a flash tuat it was nothing more nor less than the glory of her hair that had wrought the transformation I 1 had i eter ever seen the secre taly with her hail hall done any way but plainly and unbecomingly b t now it was dressed as I 1 knew it sho id 14 have been dressed long ago she wore it low on her long iong slender neck rolled at the sides and rippling loosely back from her forehead in shining waves and d little willful rings I 1 id m n place with th big shell combs and when at last it dawned upon me that it was leally the secre wl 0 w u s N incent s compan companion toa so breathless breata less was I 1 with amaze that at first I 1 hardly realized that I 1 could hear perfectly what they were saying and when I 1 d d realize it I 1 wanted to rise and let them know that I 1 was mas there but on second thought I 1 saw that I 1 must have been there for so long that they would mould never believe that I 1 had not heard the whole of their con furthermore it occurred to me ine that it might be well it if I 1 stayed to hear what miss aliss marsh had to say for hei hedelt elf and so I 1 calmly took the dress and put it on j to amuse myself I 1 heard ard the secie tary saying and did my hair the way may the others do theirs you know and it was so late I 1 thought no one would find me here and if I 1 hadn haan t left my pipe on the table no one would have found you and I 1 think what I 1 should have missed vincent vincents s voice was eloquent of course it was N iery ery vain of me very ery vain she went on but yo i know when a girl has to earn her own living she gets a little tired of all work and no play and sometimes the impulse to pi ebend ahe s fortunate and happy and and pretty the secretary flushed un ler vincent s gaze as she faltered the last word and hurried on and like the others is so strong that it tern ts her to deck herself out in borrowed plumes and sit in an empty di awing room at 12 0 clock at it en enjoying joving the illusion tor for a brief it ur no said vincent softly 1 I don t think it was mas vain I 1 think it was the me moo t natural thing in the world and and I 1 im in glad 3 you ou did it he ended rather lamely the secretary laughed and I 1 won dered tiered what there was about the sound 0 I 1 m not marred marr ed she sa d simply that made vincent rave over it then is his eyes wandered to her hair he sighed why highest thou oh furnace 9 she smiled at him I 1 was just thinking about some thing about you don t want to heard ah ali but I 1 do all right then he guined on her swiftly I 1 was just look ng he said at 0 r hair III bet the angels have halos like that the secretary blushed it its s horrid hair she said giving it a vindictive little pull that only brought it to a n ore charah iii g disarray I 1 hate the color of it why when I 1 was a child I 1 never neier could bear to have the heroines of the fairy tales I 1 ave a shining head of golden hair and I 1 used to th mine was mas gold and one day when I 1 said so and was mas told io no your hair I 1 is led not gold I 1 cried tor for days after ward you poor little thing he said his face as full of saml sympathy symia athy thy as it if those tears had just been shed and for the life of her the secretary couldn coulden t help her lip ti embling though she knew it ma was alaird and was mas very much ashamed of herself vincent broke the silence firt fir t AN we e might do a little on the dead barons of dyckhoff Wyck hoff he suggested it was evident that our affair af last night was uppermost in his mind for his air was very ab sti acted no tl ani aou ou mi my loid told this is mv evening off I 1 am no longer miss maish ti tie e secie tary but HISS miss marsh the lady of leisure I 1 didn dian t think of it as work and t thought you either when allen we me did it together little bos boys ghoul in think ab it u a bad hab t sl e said severely seve sevel iely elv be s des yo I 1 i tall like I 1 in the dolly dia bogues at this vincent vincents s face grew desler desi er ate and I 1 saw that she had goaded him into asking her the question that had been beeh on his its mind all day and I 1 nearly fell off the sofa in my efforts to hear without being seen do 19 he said well be cause I 1 ve something I 1 ve been M want ant ing to ask you all day long it s some t thing hing very personal and of course I 1 ve no right that is you wont won t think so the boy was mas stumbling pitifully piti filly but I 1 ve got to know its it s so bard hard to be ev eva that y boj oa would do it del her abelt Is it true lord I 1 ifred said sahl the girl up vou you must speak more clearly if 3 ou R want ant me to unde stand what you have hane been saving saying its it s this said lord W ilfred facing 1 er abr apty and terribly in earnest someone told n e last night that vou nou a married woman moman Is it true I 1 could not see the face of the sec detary b it I 1 could not help perceiving the ring of truth in her voice I 1 in not married she said s amply I 1 told mr air tern me ine so b cause I 1 wanted to disabuse him of a false im I 1 I 1 assion he was laboring under but what is it to you youa 4 this slid sald wilfierd and he leaned toward her suddenly and grasped hei her hand and put his face within an inch ot of her 1 I cc il it I 1 see by the firelight inq it look of nation and ineffable re lief ilef the secretary gave a little cry and drew back I 1 conjectured thai that wilfred was on the point of making an irretrievable ass of himself so I 1 interrupted proceedings by knocking a book off the sofa and rising to mv my feet at the first sound of the boo bool falling the two had jumped to theft feet and stood the girl shrinking close to wilfred and wilfred with his arn arm thrown around her who goes there he said sternly as he dicoN discovered ered my figure in the th gloom and ah ali its it s you terhune as I 1 came into the circle of light in a tone I 1 hope I 1 may never hear bear from him again As the secretary saw who it was she shiang away and was gone from th the room in a second well nell he said with a sneer as the curtains closed behind ler eaves dropper meddling as usual what N hat can I 1 do for youa I 1 sat down on the stool sit down I 1 said w th quiet authority and we 11 talk it over he ile sat down in mo ments like this he forgets his inde pen dence and remembers that at one time he used to obey me habitually I 1 wanted to comfort him but I 1 kne knew my duty better vincent I 1 said ap don t you see it wont won t do she s no match for you a girl with li family and no money and of her sta tion in life give it up I 1 implore you think of your father there has never been a misalliance mes alliance in the tarn fam ly it would break his heart vincent raised his head mrs arm stead says her family is perfectly resl res actable he said I 1 asked her perfectly respectable I 1 repeated contemptuously think of a vincent malry dairying mair ying ing a girl who has nothing in hei he favor but the fact that her tarn fam ly wa perfectly respectable vincent sighed pathetically and I 1 delivered one more blow think A 4 said your brother edmund is lovei 40 unmarried and a sufferer fron rheumatism of the heart as you know suppose he should die t yov make a more creditable heir to th title it you hadn t tied yourself up acl a wife of obscure origin a penniless american girla and it if you don t come into the title you re only a son and you know yourself your propensity for getting into debt and the foreign office for a boy of your age is not a paying business no vincent you re not cut out tor for making money and its it s certain you cant can t depend on your father forever can t you see how rash and foolish you are to con sider such a I 1 leaned over and put my hand on vincen vincent s sho ilder he turned his head and when I 1 felt his smooth cheek against my hand I 1 knew that the battle was won TO BE CONTINUED |