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Show ULULjHiii3-sL9slsss9B ' Jhe fell silent Qermnlne nppenrea with a troy, and bcpin to loosen nnd brush the dark hair, nnd Isabella went automatically to the busfness of creamlrtg and rubblnR, still shaken. ,but every (lmlnutc more mistress of herself. With tho thick, dark swljch gone, Harriet was nlmost shocked by the change In thp severely exposed forehe'1 " Tatwiie looked folly her age now, more than her uge. "Well!" said the mistress, somber-eyed somber-eyed still, and with a still heavlug breast "There was something else, Harriet Gently, pleacc, Germalnc, asy head aches frightfully. Oh. ilnr-riet, ilnr-riet, wllPyou see what this Dlondln man wants with Nlnal She tells me he suggested somo sort of summer party In his roof garden ; I don't knov quite whnt It Is. But her. heart Is set on It. They seem to understand each other 1 always felt that when Nina's affairs did begin, she would pick out 'freaks like this I Don't" Germalne bad gone to the bathroom for a hot , towel, and Isobelle dropped her voice, almost affectionately "don't worry about this llttlo scene, Harriet. It will be quite all right I" '.POli, 'awrelyr The companion's Tolce wns light nnd cheerful ; she went upstairs onl. pleasantly excited and thrilled. And at the breakfast trfble next morning Harriet could show thehead of the house the same bright assurance. Richard had come down' stairs early, and they had their coffee alone. ' "Nina!" asked her father. j'She comes' back today," Harriet aid ''Mrs. Carter 1 going to have uer ffiaaaeaae, ao she "won't be down. She asked you to remember that yoi; are dlnlng at the Jays' tomorrow. There's to "be tennis at about four? rtfiata;? 'he ,aald, nodding hmr.wsBt! oat to his car apparently well pleased with himself and Ids life. Harriet started 'for the Hawkee' with a pbllu sophlc reflection or two as to "the ephemeral quality of aaarrled-'quar. rels. She broaght Nina back1" at noon, a garraloM and complacent Nina, who could pity the elder Bawkes as girls who "never had admirers." When Ibey reached the driveway of Crown-lands, Crown-lands, Harriet recognised tJ t car that was already there, and saJd to her. self that Anthony Pope would Join them for luncheon. But Just as she and Nina were about to enter the cool, wide, dark doorway, Anthony himself passed them. He was at-.most at-.most running, and, apparently did not : see. them. He, ran down the shallow steps, anil sprang Into' bis car, which Scattered a spray of gravel as he Jerked It madly about, and was gone 'before she arid Nina 'had ended their look of surprise. Harriet went slowly upstair, with a dim foreboding far back In her heart. ' At ubout three, when Harriet and Nina were Idling on the shady terrace, ter-race, with the hound, the new roaga-tines, roaga-tines, and their books, Hansen brought one of tho small closed can to the side door. Five minutes later Isabe'le, In a thin white coat, a veiled white hat nnd with a gorgeous white-furred wrap over her arm, came out Germalne Ger-malne was with her, carrying two shiny black suitcases. Isabelle, Harriet Har-riet thought, looked superbly handsome hand-some but Germalne had evidently been scolded, and had red eyes. iRnbelle came over to give her daughter a farewell kiss. "Mrs. Webb has telephoned for me, ducky. Tour father Isn't coming home tonight, but have a happy time with Miss Harriot, and 111 be back In a day or two. Good-by, both of you. All right Hansen I" They sweft ;avwv leaving Harriet with a strange sense ofnervousness nndJrtpenserTlie'8mmer air seemed chnrd,wlth',lrienacer and the silence thn fooweijthe noise of the car oddly odd-ly ominous'.' Y VZ "'T1 Madame t (Jarter was on 'the terrace when they carae"lbock,at, Ave from an ldloAtrlpn'toKP,crab?-'reportIntr'1hat her son Had Just returned unexpectedly unexpect-edly from the city, and had gono In to chnngo (or golf. Nothing alarming here, yet Harriet ixperlenced a sick thrill of apprehension. apprehen-sion. Something abnormal seemed to he the matter with them all this afternoon after-noon I "Hid you mil me, Mr. Carterl" She' liui Oly know 'her owu voice, ar he mine down the three broad steps from the Iiouho. Her hands felt cold, and flic was trembling, "Do you happen, to know where HmiKi'ii Is, Miss Field r "Drlng Mrs. Carter to the Webbs' Ht ,Grpat Bnrrlngton," the girl an-swHred. an-swHred. readily. "Mm. Carter left In ii hurry. Sh did not expect you to- nlel'r. Hansen ought to be back at nlimit seven, I should think" He uns not listening to her; ab- .ruplly left, her, When Harriet went frtfr the l0ine hu awn MOthfag qf Jiliii, She made her asualHtUe round, 'finite briefly to a maid' about some fnlle'i dnby petals, consulted with the Imiufkecpur us to tae new cretonne covers, a man was to come ana measure those covers this very afternoon after-noon perhaps this was he, modestly waiting at the side door. But no, this man briefly nnd aim-ply aim-ply asked to be shown to Mr. Carter, remarking that he was expected. He disappeared Into the library; Harriet saw no more of him for an hour, when he silently appeared beside, hci and asked to ee the ckaacTeur Ilticn as soon as he caste. Jllchnrd brought the strange man to the dinner table; but there wns nothing In tliut to make the dinner so unnatural. tTo be suro Itlclmrd nte little, und Rpnke hardly at nil; hut this Mr. Williams was quite entertaining, entertain-ing, and tho old lady In good spirits. At eight Hansen was back, presenting present-ing himself In his dusty road-coat; Mr. Carter Immediately drew him with Williams Into the library. .Nina, loitered up to bed, but the old lady nnd Harriet remained downstairs. They did not like, but they sometimes some-times amused, each other. Suddenly Sudden-ly came the summons: would Miss Field please Mlb Into the library? Hansen was going out as she came In; Richard wns at the big tint-topped tint-topped desk, the man Williams standing stand-ing somewhat In shadow. Harriet's heart leaped; they were going to ask her about Royo). "Just a moment, Miss Field," Richard Rich-ard said. "Will you sit down!" 'And as Harriet, looking at him In frightened fright-ened curiosity did so, he began quietly: quiet-ly: "We are In, some trouble here, Mies Field. I hardly know how b tell you what we fear. Did you notice no-tice anything strange about Mrs. Cnrier'a manner today!" "I thought I did," Harriet admitted. "Did you "think of nny reason for itr Harriet gate the stranger a glance that made him an eavesdropper. "I fancied that It was connected with with what distressed her last night, Mr. Carter." "Tou may speak before Mr. Williams," Wil-liams," Richard said. He looked Harriet Qave the 8tranor a Glance That Made Him An Eavesdropper. down; was silent. "I asked him to help me," he added, slowly. "Was young Mr. Pope here today?" "This morning, I don't know how long," Harriet said, with a great light, or darkness, breaking In upon her mind, "he was leaving when Nina and I cnme.home,". ''"Do you know who took the tele-phonecfill tele-phonecfill from Mrs. Webb?" "No. because nobody did. No person per-son nameld"Webb called from. Great tBarringt'on or anywhere else, today,"' 'said Williams 'breaking In, decidedly? Ids Voice' a. contrast to Richard's 'heat'' tatlng tones. "As a matter of fact, Hansen didn't drive' to 'Great Barring-ton. Barring-ton. Two miles from your gate here, Mrs. Carter gave him other directions." direc-tions." "What directions?" narrlet asked, antagonized by hie manner, and feeling feel-ing her checks get red. The man evidently evi-dently had small respect for womanhood. woman-hood. "He drove to New London," Richard supplied. "Pope's yacht Is there." Hia manner was very quiet, he spoke almost wearily, but Harriet felt as It n cannon had exploded In the study. "I've had New London on the wise," said Mr. WIIIInniB. "Mr. Pone had been getting ready for a cruise. The chances aro that they have already weighed anchor." "On the other band," Richard said, glancing nt bis wutch, "we have an ee cellent prospect o'f flndlng(Uu;m there. I was not supposed to coifee home until tomorrow night T' found Mrs. CarterY message. Vt Ave, "twenty-four hours I esujtier.thas aha expected aae te. Wilt Haas aaay be seletalw, et eeene," to Sal Mm Us to uve. " "Not likely 1" said Williams, with a modest shrug. "However, oven if he is right," Rich-ard Rich-ard resumed, "tho chances nrc that they are still there, and If they are, I will bring my wife back with me tonight. to-night. Meanwhile, I leave tho house In jour care, Miss Field. I needn't tell you that my mother and Nina must be kept absolutely Igmirnnt of what we suspect. You'll know what to tell them, In case I should be loivger nwuy. If our calculations are wnmt, thcro's no telling where 1 muy follow Mrs, Carter. I lenvo thli end of tlmi.to joul" Tni sorrier than I can say," she said, huskily. "I know you urel H " Itlclmrd passed his hand oer ids forehead "it's utter madness, of course, tut, I pltnso God, we can l.eep it all hushed up. Sho has Germnluo with her; Han-ben Han-ben I can- trust, Wero off uov, Miss Field. I'll keep jou Informed If I cnn.'l Harriet went back to tho drawing room with her heart big with pride, lie had mentioned Hansen und Germalne, Ger-malne, but he knew that he could trust herl The etcnt was sensational enough. But back of the excitement lay the Joy'of Icing needed and being trusted. 4 CHAPTER VII. 'XI at Isabrllo'i iimilnoxK would run Its full gamut did not ucctlr to Hurt let until the neU day. Thin, us the .sori'tie houin moMl b, and there wmi no word and no i.Iku fiom Itlclmrd, the possibilities Lefian tj LJvent them-selves. them-selves. It ftVcjipd to htr Iniicdlbte that uuy u'omhn would rhU nil Hint Iwibulle had for Ihu suke of u llcry boy's tlut love, and .set. on the other bund, theru wus nut uieniury of Ihu-belo's Ihu-belo's suffcrm;; two ulgfiln ago, nnd hero were. the unitizing facts to provo it It wns fin few women to enjoy thu popularity Irnhr-llc had known. Rut any woman sight run away with a rich admirer. Harriet's udmlratlou for the cleverness with which Isabelle conducted con-ducted this pretty playing with Die disappeared, and In Its plncc came the sharp conviction that old-fashioned women like Linda had some Justification, Justifica-tion, after all ; It was "dangerous," it did "lead tq stnl" It could Indeed "happen "hap-pen once too cfttil." Harriet felt her own lapsing morality" moral-ity" regaining its standard. Just now, when Nina" most needed her mother, when Richard, was struggling with difficult dif-ficult business conditions, when Word was engaged Sho, Interrupted Iter thoughts here, and tried to make herself feel like a woman engaged to be married.' Somehow Some-how the fact persisted In bafftlM her. There was an unreality about It that prevented"1 fcf, from tasting he fall sweet. Eagaged to a rich' man, and a rich man's -sen.1 Well, perhaps when Ward came beck, It weuldveeeea atore believable. i'L ." , She had been standing at one of the ball windows, a window deep set In the brick wall, and commanding through elms and beeches the path to the tennis court Hands pressed tier eyes tight she came back, to the present pres-ent moment with a start Ward Carter Car-ter was behind her. He laughed at her confusion, and they eat down on the window seat together. Yes, lie was going back to the Bellamys', and so was Blondln, but they had both come In just for lunch and, tho drive. Instantly he brought renssurnuie to her. Ward was such a dcarl Of course she loved him. "But you weren't a very good boy last night I" she aald. Their hands were locked ; but she bad shaken u negative when he would have kissed her. "Rotten 1" he confessed, easily.' "1 played poker, too. No man ought to do thut when ho'a edged. Horry sorry sor-ry sorry. Listen. When we're married mar-ried It' nil off. No smoking, drinking, gambling, w lue, wotntm, or song, what?" "Yon may not know It, but jou never poke a truer word I" the girl said. His shout of laughter waa pleasaiit to hear, "Listen. Does Mother know It? About us, I mean?" "Oh, Ward nobody knows it I Hush I" His mention, of his mother brought back realisation with a rush, and she added uncomfortably, "She's at Great Harrington." "Oh, darn I 1 wanted to see herl Sho wrotu.me, und told me alio loved me, and that sho didn't think she had been a very good mother' to met" He laughed, youthfully, with a bewildered Widening of his ejeii. "I thought she was sick. Well, muy be we can stop there gotug back.1' "Where did you leave Mr. Ulon-din?" Ulon-din?" "He beut it down to the tennis i court Say, listen, Is there a chance that he's stuck on Nina? It looks te me like whnt tho watch cornea lni" 4 Harriet glanced at tier wrist before 'she answered him. Her heart waa sick within her. Close upon her radl-ahl radl-ahl dream had come this shadow, far more u shadow now, when her responsibility respon-sibility had Infinitely Increased, and when she had had proof of tho love and respect in which they held her here. "I don't think sol" she suld, briefly. "I'll find Bottomley, and have lunch put uheud." "You don't like him I" Ward said, watching her closely. "I don't like him for Nina" she amended. '' The boy followed her while she gave her order. Then they went out lnt.o the blazing day together. "Nina Isn't going to have more than a scalp a tky," snld her brother, frntemnlly. "Nina lias a fortune I" the girl re-marked re-marked irryly, opening htr wide white parasol. t "Lord, he could marry a girl with ten tlnifH that) Leok hero, you don't think n mnn IlUe Illoud'n wuuhi mi ldw that!" If protested. "I would ramer 6co rvmn ueno ntni burled 1" Tho words burst from liar-, riet against her will, against her promise prom-ise to Royal. There was no help for It, her essential honesty would hnvo 'tsjjnv. ... . "TaiH. to him!" WurO, rortunatcly, wns not inclined to (Uko her too seriously. seri-ously. "You'll like Mm I Gosh, he ceitnlnly has n good effect on me," added tho youth, modestly. "He doesn't dilnk. and ho talks to me ' jou ought to hear him I about character char-acter being fate, and nil that I Say, listen, lieforo wo get out of the wood? ?" His sudden senne of her nearness und beauty belled tho careless words, llairlct found lls nrma tight about her. her faw tlppcii up to tho young. Iinnd'onio face that was stirred now with trembling excitement. The quick movement iof his breast she could feel ngntust her own nnd the insIon of his kisses nlmost frightened her; ehe wns held, bound, hntMIted off her feet. "Ward!" she gasped, freed at,, last, nnd with one hand to her. disordered hair, while tlih other held htm at arm's-length. "Dear! Please 1" h It was no use. Soul and sentes were enveloped agntn, and close to her enr she heard htm whisper; "I'm mnd about you I Do you know thut? I'm mad about you I" "I think jou are I" slm stammered, hreatlileas and laughing. "You mustn't do that I You mustn't do thut i Why. we might be seenl" Breathless, too, he flung lurk hie hair, and stooped to pick up her parasol. para-sol. "Do you think I carol" lie panted, indifferently. "I wouldn't eaio It tho whole, world saw!" "Sh shp Iiy the tangle only known to youth and womanhood liar-' riet had gathered herself. In'.o Irlm-ness Irlm-ness and calm nailn. She took her paiasot composedly, Her eyes told him tho whole story. Nlnu ijjid. Royal Blondjn were two 'hundred feet nwny, coming up from the tennis court, t "You fool fool fool I" she said to herself. What hud they eeen? What new twist to the situation would, Nina's suspicions nfford? Richard Carter tmsted her; this .was no time to tell htm that she' tovojl' his son.' Did she love Wnrdt-or 'with his keen and kindly eyes would ward's futher see exactly what she saw' In tho marriage? mar-riage? Caught; Klshig"lnnl' w-oods like Rosa of Oermalne; it was unthinkable un-thinkable 1 How ne had wenkeucd her position here I How she had risked her heart contracted with pain severing of her association with Crownlands, Luncheon, under Hs. veneer Hof gaiety and foWinaeeoWeifresh terrors. For old Madame Carter had come dowa, audit oocerred'io Harriet' that If Nina, had teea anything In the I'ood, ,ehe might aatarally ' Interest er madmettterwtta.'iHi 'aeeeaat'ef It Tfee'leM Irty-WMttUfo'taetaittty-to her son.1 '.And Richard Harriet could Imagine him, tired, harassed, heartsick' over the, recent Inexplicable weakness of 'his Nvlf' having to 'fnce another woman'iTireachery, having to listen to the dehrare announcement of the little secretary's, engagement to his son. He was experiencing fhe most oyer whelming shock of, all hja life now; he must shortly, be exposed to 'all the whirl of scandal: the silenced gossip, the averted eye's of 'hfe world, the weeklies with 'their muddy Insinuations, Insinua-tions, the staring fact headlined above his breakfast bacon. Ths yas her time to efface herself and the household, house-hold, to help him to llft'the load. "I'm afraid I wasn't listening, Mr. Blondln?" "Miss Nina and I want to know what day we may have our party?" Royal repeated. "Tho studio party'?" 'The roof-garden party. We're going go-ing to have It from half-past six to half-past secn only, because then it won't be too hot" "Why not have it at night, wth Ian ternT' narrlet said, quite Involuntarily. Involun-tarily. And again a pang of self-contempt swept over her. It was hateful, It was Incredible, but she was playing his game as calmly as If doubts and reluctance had never entered her heart ' At four o'clock Richard came home, and the Instant Harriet saw his face he realized, with a shock even sharper sharp-er than the eriglnal moment of Incredulity, In-credulity, that he 'had had ho success In his search. He was alone. His face was drawn and gray, he looked hot and rumpled nnd utterly weary; more, he who had. always been the pink of well-groomed, perfection looked old. He asked Bottomley briefly If Madame Carter was In her room, and, being Informed tlmt she .was, .went hastily upsta'rs. , "It was to the oldr lady's beautiful sitting room that Harriet was summoned sum-moned a few minutes later. She knew at once that ho had told his mother airhe'knew nnd feareij. Madame Carter was shockingly agitated. agi-tated. She had a deep sense of the dramatic, but"kshe wA notrQittlrely acting act-ing now. Hefaco was1 pale under its roug'e, nnd the painful tears of age stood In her1 eyes. "Miss Plentr said Madame Carter, "we have Just had a most terrible a most'Sinexpe'stod blow I" Hurrlet simulated expectancy, "'Vhcro Is every reason to believe," pursued Mudame Carter," majestically, "that my unfortunate daughter-in-law, Mr. Carter's wife, Isabelle has yield-1 ed to the passion of her lover! No, let me talk, 'Richard," shelnterrupted herself, as 'the man raised haggard eyes to watch her impersonally, "far better to face the facts, my dear I My son tells me, Mies Field thc-the well-utgu' Incredible statement that-forgetting that-forgetting the honor of womanhood, and the tender, claims of Maternity M (featlaaed it weefcn |